Hungry contestants devour hot dogs

Vienna beef was the hot dog of choice for the Wolves Head Pizza and Wings' first annual hotdog eating contest.

John Breiner, owner of the bar and restaurant, said he cooked up 120 dogs for the competition, just to make sure there were enough. Five contestants tried to choke down as many hot dogs as possible in 8 minutes—the winner, Justin Poppa, managed to eat nine. The secret to his success? "Hunger," he said. 

Breiner said the contest came about after he and the restaurant staff discussed the hotdog culture back home—a lot of them are from New York and New Jersey, he said. They joked around about betting how many they could eat, and he decided to try out the contest. 

Brendan Limbaugh, also a Sarasota resident, works at Wolves Head and entered the contest. He placed second with five hot dogs.

"I had to channel my inner Joey Chestnut," he said. 

Pete Torillo, the third place winner, ate four and a half hot dogs. Torillo is a self-proclaimed hot dog enthusiast from New York, and said he prefers Boar's Head skin-on dogs. He also roots for the New York street-dog.

"I like a New York dirty-water hot dog," he said.

After the competition, Wolves Head had a craft beer tasting featuring Bold City Brewery from Jacksonville.