Photo Credit: Nathan Vogel

Two happy couples have shared their unique stories with us of how they said “I do” and celebrated in a very special way- with Krystal!

Justin and Diane Miller

Justin and Diane Miller tied the knot this past weekend in Chattanooga, Tenn. at a beautiful ceremony complete with all of the traditional elements; red roses, black tuxedos, a beautiful white dress and a matching mountain of red, black and white Krystal boxes. These two lovebirds are huge Krystal fans, and what better way to share their love of each other (and those sensational square burgers) with their friends and family at the reception than to feature Krystal burgers as the dinner item! Their favorite menu items at Krystal over the years have been the ever-tasty Famous Krystals, delicious Krystal Chiks with cheese and bacon and those addicting Chili Cheese Fries. Congratulations Justin and Diane! We can’t think of anything more romantic than starting off your lives together with smiles on your faces and Krystals in your hands.

Hall and Emily Hunt

More often than not couples like to incorporate individual elements into their wedding ceremonies and receptions that are important to them to make the day more special and personalized. So naturally, 2008 Krystal Lovers Hall of Famer and #9 ranked in the world competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt could not have gotten married on Monday, June 14th to the love of his life without including the love of his stomach- Krystal! Hall and Emily had a Krystal burger shaped groom’s cake, served Krystal burgers to their guests and also had Hall’s friend and #1 ranked competitive eater Joey Chestnut challenge the newlyweds in a cake eating contest at the reception. Even though Hall put away a whopping 60 Krystal burgers in 8 minutes to set a Jacksonville record, rookie Emily pulled through and beat our her new husband and his friend when it came to the cake. We know that happy stomachs make happy couples, and these two seem to have it all figured out. Congratulations Hall and Emily! Check out pictures of their wedding here.

Jacksonville residents are very familiar with the Krystal brand and know a thing or two about terms such as “Sackful,” “Steamer Pack” and “Krystal Sized.” What they might not know is that Krystal is breaking ground on a brand new restaurant in Jacksonville, which is scheduled to open fall 2009.

Situated at 9166 Baymeadows Rd., this state-of-the-art Krystal will join the Jacksonville community, making a total of 28 Krystal restaurants in the area. This is good news not only for guests who live and work nearby, but also for local competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt, who will have a new convenient location to stop in at and practice eating for the upcoming Krystal Square Off.

Guests can expect to see Krystal’s same great food and service at the new Jacksonville location along with a sleek, stylish interior showcasing innovative design elements including in-store digital menu boards that display animated food photography and meal options that change by the day part.

The Jacksonville restaurant will offer its complete line-up of signature menu items along with exciting new choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time. We suggest trying out Krystal’s latest and greatest menu item, Sweet Bites, which are available anytime of day. Read here to find out what makes Sweet Bites taste so good and check out these customer reviews.

If you need a little more substance, try one of Krystal’s Big Angus Burgers featuring a large, 100% Angus chuck patty that’s served with your choice of seven premium toppings in a basket meal with a heaping pile of fries and tasty drink. A little tip from us: add bacon. It’s crispy, delicious and will make your taste buds very happy.

And of course, the new Jacksonville Krystal will be an official “Krystal HotSpot,” offering free Wi-Fi Internet access to guests. After all, shouldn’t Internet be free everywhere?

Hall "Hoover" Hunt (at left) competing against fellow Krystal competitive eater Pat Bertoletti (at right) in the Czech Republic.

Our good friend and Krystal hamburger competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt just posted a recap of his trip to the Czech Republic for the plum dumpling eating contest.

Sounds like he had a rough trip over there, and he had to do some serious soul searching to make it through the first event, which included pizza, pickles and ice cream – gross.

According to his recap, the second day wasn’t any easier with the plum dumpling contest, as he struggled to remove the pits from each dumpling.

Head over to Hunt’s blog to read more about his trip and to see the full results, including how fellow Krystal competitive eater Pat Bertolleti fared in each contest.

And don’t worry Hall, you won’t have any pesky pits to worry about in the Jacksonville Qualifier for the Krystal Square Off, where we’re guessing you’ll compete. Although, we hear you may have a certain number-one ranked female competitive eater to contend with.

*photo courtesy hallhooverhunt.blogspot.com

We found this video of Pat Bertoletti training for the Krystal Square Off while stumbling around on the streets of Chicago.  Bertoletti is on his way to Prague today with fellow Krystal hamburger competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt for a plum dumpling eating contest.

Below is the video along with what Bertoletti has to say about his KSO training and the trip to Prague – all this via Yardbarker.com

“This is me doing my best hasslehoff impression but I’m actually training for the krystal square off on sept 28th. Who could have thought that a drunk craving can also turn into usefully training session and pabst blue ribbon sponge. I leave tomorow for Prague. There is a 35 year old plum dumpling contest that is taking place that will include myself and Hall hoover Hunt competing against other czech eaters. It will be an hour of eating and should be a blast. I will upload videos and picture links when I return.”

Thanks to our good friend and Krystal Square Off competitive eater Hall “Hoover” Hunt for the May edition of the Eater’s Poll. As we mentioned in a previous post, the Eater’s Poll rankings are determined by a group of competitive eaters and media that cover the sport. They basically vote to determine who they think make up the Top 25 in Major League Eating.

There aren’t really any surprises with the rankings as you can see from the top five, which we’ve listed below. It’s always good however, to see our Krystal competitive eaters remain on the top.

For the complete poll rankings, visit Hunt’s blog.

1. Joey “Jaws” Chestnut

2. Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti

3. Takeru “The Tsunami” Kobayashi

4. “Humble” Bob Shoudt

5. Tim “Eater-X” Janus

Below is a video of Chestnut breaking the record for the most Krystal burgers eaten in two minutes. Just in case you needed a reminder as to why he’s ranked number one.

The Eater’s Poll Board of Voters, which is made up of competitive eaters and media that cover the sport, has come out with its rankings for March and the list is pretty interesting – especially the tie for 8th place between Takeru Kobayashi and Erik “The Red” Denmark.

Our good friend and Krystal competitive eater, Hall “Hoover” Hunt, has the full rankings on his blog along with some of his thoughts about each eater. If you’re a fan of competitive eating, definitely check it out.

It’s good to see so many of our Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating competitors at the top and looking at this list is making us very excited about this year’s competition.

Anyone else think “Humble” Bob Shoudt may take the title from Joey Chestnut this year?

Krystal Competitive Eater, Crazy Legs Conti, discusses Super Bowl eating tips with USA Today.

Because this Sunday’s game is more about the food and less about the football, USA Today interviewed some of the top competitive eaters from the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship to get their advice on how to eat a lot of food in a short amount of time. While Crazy Leg Conti’s suggestion of dunking and eating wet food (like deviled eggs) is slightly disgusting, you gotta trust a man who can eat 45 Krystal Hamburgers in 8 minutes. Check out the rest of the eater’s tips here. Also, don’t forget to take photos of you and your friends downing Krystals during the Big Game and upload your best shot to the Flickr group “Krystal Big Game Photo Contest“. The top three photos will win a $100 Krystal gift card, 2 tailgating chairs, 2 trucker hats and more.