Hot Dog Eating Champ Joey Chestnut Proclaims: “Long Island Bagels Are the Best”

When Nathan’s hot dog eating champ, Joey Chestnut – considered to be the greatest competitive eater in history – speaks about food, his words carry weight. And after a recent visit to Long Island to sample the cuisine here he’s finally made up his mind about where the best bagels in the country are made.

“Long Island bagels, I feel like they might be the best,” Chestnut, 42, said after trying out a number of locally-made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. “You’re getting a little different, little bit better. It’s kind of cool.”

Chestnut toured Nassau and Suffolk counties in April to chow down on the aforementioned sandwiches at four different eateries: Dominick’s Deli in New Hyde Park, Syosset’s Bagel Master, Kerber’s Farm in Huntington and Wally’s Bagels of Babylon.

He was lured to Long Island by GOAT USA clothing co-founder TJ Cristina of East Williston, who extoled the virtues of our bagels to Chestnut; holding 55 world records, ranked first in the world by Major League Eating, and winner of the Mustard Yellow Belt a world record 17 times, he received an enthusiastic public response at every shop he showed up at as part of his tour.

“Competitive eating — it’s kind of weird. We all know this,” Chestnut said. “But the people who really think it’s weird, they don’t recognize me, the people who do recognize me, they’re always good people, and they’re happy, and I’m just super lucky.”

And how does the top of the eating food chain take his bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches? “I love a good garlic bagel…sometimes an everything bagel,” adding that he likes to polish them off with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Occasionally, he also might throw on some avocado.

As for hot dogs, Chestnut is currently in training for the upcoming Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest on America’s 250th birthday on Coney Island, having set the current record of 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes back in 2021.

“Even though I’m 42, I’m still going to be trying hard to make a record,” he said. “I need to bring it. You have to be willing to go farther than anyone else in order to do what nobody else can do.”