Drum roll please… The Krystal Square Off VI World Hamburger Eating Championship is finally here and will kick off in grand fashion this afternoon with the annual “Running of the Krystal Square Off Grill,” a Media Square Off featuring Chattanooga’s most recognizable news personalities and a new-rules eating exhibition by the number two-ranked eater in the world Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti.

And that’s not all! The weekend festivities will continue tomorrow with the KSO VI Open Registration, where amateur hopefuls can sign up to get the chance to be one of the five people selected “on-the-spot” to compete against Bertoletti at the Chattanooga Qualifier.

Bertoletti will be joined by the following eaters in the eight-minute qualifying contest:

• Bill Myers of Breinigsville, PA
• Paul Barlow of Kennesaw, GA
• Mike Nafziger of Chattanooga, TN
• Rick Petralia of Ooltewah, TN
• Tom Knopp of Signal Mountain, TN
• Brian Smith of Chattanooga, TN
• Kevin Lewis of Chattanooga, TN

It’s a match up you won’t want to miss. To view the full KSO weekend schedule, see below. And remember, all Krystal Square Off Events are open to the public and free for anyone to attend, so there’s no excuse not to join in the celebration and cheer on your favorite eater.

As always, for the most up-to-date Krystal Square Off news, follow @ksquareoff on Twitter and check out the KrystalSquareOff.com. We’ll see you at the Square Off!

OPENING CEREMONY ACTIVITIES – Friday, Aug. 21

1:00 p.m. – Lighting and Running of the Krystal Square Off Grill
Krystal Headquarters at 1 Union Square

2:00 p.m. – Media Square Off
Chattanooga Riverfront

2:20 p.m. – Eating Exhibition by Pat Bertoletti
Chattanooga Riverfront

KRYSTAL SQUARE OFF QUALIFIER – Saturday, Aug. 22

2:00 p.m. – Open Registration for Five Amateurs Spots
Chattanooga Riverfront – Main Stage at Southern Brewers Festival

3:00 p.m. – Chattanooga Qualifier
Chattanooga Riverfront – Main Stage at Southern Brewers Festival

Love is in the air. Don’t you feel it? Well, maybe not quite yet, but with Valentine’s Day right around the corner and with the introduction of Krystal’s new Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry MilkQuake, it will be. And what better way to keep your romance alive (or start one) than by sharing something sweet with your sweet?

Krystal’s Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry MilkQuake features all-natural ingredients including premium vanilla ice cream and real strawberry puree mixed with HERSHEY’S Magic Shell and topped with light, airy whipped cream.  The Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry MilkQuake is served in a 20 oz. cup at the suggested price of $2.99.

The new flavor is available in all Krystal restaurants throughout the entire month of February for couples to enjoy. Now, we know what you’re thinking. What if I’m single this Valentine’s Day? Don’t fret. We’ve heard many tales of love stories (which we’ll tell you more about soon!) that began thanks to Krystal’s hot and steamy menu items. We’re sure that many more romances will spark over the Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry MilkQuake. So, don’t sulk at home, get in the game. It might be your lucky month of love.

Food addictions. They can be hard to beat, but sometimes you just don’t want to let them go.  And why would you when they’re so tasty and delicious? I know I’ll never be strong enough to eliminate chocolate fudge brownies from my diet – even for only a limited time. However, 2008 Krystal Lovers Hall of Famer, Sally Jones, had enough will power to take a break from her favorite food for 40 days of Lent, but on day 41, it was back to Cheese Krystals. Ahh, that’s what we like to hear!

We were excited to share Jones’ love of Krystal with her friends and family this past Wednesday, where she was recognized for her continued loyalty to the little, scrumptious squares of goodness. After all at age four, Krystal was her biggest sacrifice and now at age 11 she has many more stories to tell as it’s still her number one restaurant of choice.

Just look at the smile on her face.  It says it all!

To read more, click here for the full story from the Rome News Tribune.

If you would have peaked through the windows of the St. John’s Bluff Rd. Krystal last night, you would’ve seen a restaurant packed with Krystal fans laughing, eating and enjoying some local entertainment. That’s because 2008 Krystal Lovers Hall of Famers Hall “Hoover” Hunt, John Evans and John Hires joined family and friends as they told their personal Krystal stories first hand at their official induction ceremony.

Krystal’s executive team recognized these three by unveiling the life-size illustration of their very own Krystal hamburger box, by preserving this honor with a Krystal plaque to be hung in their beloved Krystal eatery for eternity and by celebrating with their favorite Krystal meal, compliments of Krystal. After all, with a combined consumption of over a thousand Krystals, it’s only fair that they get to enjoy a few on the house!

Check out the video footage and more photos below…

Ben Griffith and his family are headed to Chattanooga for the VIP Vacation Getaway.

Remember us telling you about Ben Griffith?  He is the up-and-coming competitive eater from Covington, Ga., who was coming off an arm injury to train for this year’s Krystal Square Off V.

Perhaps you remember seeing him compete live on Fox’s Good Day Atlanta against Super Paul Barlow and Steve “The Pie Guy” Martin.  Or maybe you even remember seeing him in Perry, Ga., and at the Gwinnett County Fair in 2006, hoping to secure a spot at the Krystal Square Off III final table.

Well, unfortunately, even despite his hard work and training this past year, Griffith was not able to secure a spot at the over-crowded Atlanta qualifying table.  So his chance of seeing the Krystal Square Off V finals live and meeting Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi, his favorite competitive eating superstars, seemed slim.

But, as fate would have it, Griffith and his entire family now have perhaps the best seat in the house at this year’s World Hamburger Eating Championship Event as they were selected out of 750 entrants to receive the VIP Family Vacation Getaway to Chattanooga for the Krystal Square Off V.

That’s right. After being featured on Good Day Atlanta, Griffith’s wife, Brittany, began searching online for footage of her husband’s television appearance that morning.  That search lead her here to us, where she read about and registered for the exclusive Family Vacation Getaway Package.

Now, the entire Griffith family is packing their suitcases for a once-in-a-lifetime weekend in Tennessee’s Scenic City where they’ll spend two nights at the fabulous Sheraton Read House, receive VIP treatment at one of Chattnooga’s area attractions and then enjoy the luxury suite “sky box” at the Krystal Square Off V complete with catered food and beverages as well as the best view of the contest.

And even though they haven’t decided yet what area Chattanooga attraction they’ll visit first, what they do know is what famous competitive eater they’re most excited to meet: Kobayashi.

“He’s the only eater my husband hasn’t met yet, and we are just so excited,” exclaimed Brittany.  “We can’t wait!”

*photo courtesy of The Newton Citizen.

Competitive-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi shows of his stomach after devouring 89 Krystal burgers in 8 minutes.

Sorry for not posting on Friday, but we have a legit excuse.  We were busy escorting Takeru Kobayashi, the three-time Krystal Square Off Champion, around Birmingham for various media interviews.  He was in town for Saturday’s Alabama Krystal Square Off Qualifier, but prior to the competition, the local FOX, CBS and ABC affiliates all wanted to sit down with the eating legend.

You can check out Kobayashi’s appearance on FOX’s Good Day Alabama here.  Also, special thanks to Mika, a lovely UAB student who served as our translator and helped make the day possible – thanks Mika!

Ok, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s recap this weekend’s competition in Birmingham.  As you know,  Kobayashi was in town to compete in his first Krystal-eating contest since the 2006 finals.

And he did not disappoint.

He devoured 89 Krystals in eight minutes, setting a new qualifying record for the Krystal Square Off.  He plowed through 20 in the first minute alone and began experimenting with technique and slowing down in the last two minutes, as he held a firm lead over the other competitors.

While this is impressive within itself, according to the Krystal Square Off blog, Kobayashi reportedly ate over 100 Krystals in less than eight minutes the night before the contest.  Umm….watch out  Joey Chestnut, sounds like Kobayashi may be ready to reclaim his title in Chattanooga this Sunday.

Yesterday, the final qualifying event for the Krystal Square Off V took place at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis. We’ll bring you those final results later this afternoon or tomorrow a.m.  We promise.

For now, enjoy some pics of the Krystal Square Off event in Birmingham by clicking here.

Lauren is our Krystal Chik for September.

Ok, so we’re a little late on this one. But as they say, better late than never right?

Here’s introducing our Krystal Chik for the month of September, Lauren from Daytona Beach, Fl.

Lauren is a public relations major at the University of Florida, and says her dream job is doing PR for “that famous mouse”.  Yes, that’d be Mickey.

Her guilty pleasure is reading cheesy, romance novels, and she says she loves everything at Krystal, as long as it has chili.

For more photos of Laruen, you can check out krystalchik.com.

Welcome to September!

Courtesy of the Krystal Square Off Blog:

The Krystal Company and FSN South have inked a broadcast partnership for the Krystal Square Off V.

Details of the deal include the sports network broadcasting live from the final championship event in Chattanooga on September 28. The special, one-hour broadcast will air beginning at 2:00 p.m.

In addition to the live event broadcast, FSN South will also air weekly updates covering the seven-city qualifying tour beginning Aug. 23.

For more information about the partnership, check out the press release here.

Our photo for Friday is of the Hamburger Harley owned by no, not the Hamburglar, but Harry Sperl of Daytona Beach, Fla.

Obviously Sperl is a burger enthusiast and in addition to the Harley, he owns over 1,000 pieces of burger odds and ends.

According to DVICE.com, where we originally found this photo, Sperl has also “tricked out a car to turn it into the ‘Good Burger Mobile,’ and has been collecting burger related items for nearly a decade.