Milwaukeeans are proud of our ability to polish off a plate of sausages, eat a multi-meat sandwich topped with sauerkraut, and knock it all back with a fully-garnished Bloody Mary.
And now, we can watch someone else do it on national television.
One of the Travel Channel’s most popular series, Man vs. Food, will feature the Brew City.
On the show, which will air on Aug. 7, host Casey Webb’s first stop in town will be at Sobelman’s Pub & Grill in the Menomonee Valley, where he will have the restaurant’s famous pitcher-sized Bloody Mary that includes an entire fried chicken.
Owner Dave Sobelman is used to the television cameras. In 2010, he and AJ Bombers owner Joe Sorge battled it out on the Travel Channel’s “Food Wars” for best cheeseburger.
Sobelman’s will be featured on both Man vs. Food and Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise,” although Sobelman has not yet been told when that episode will run.
“When we first put the Bloody Mary with the chicken on Facebook, I was just trying to be ridiculous,” Sobelman said. “But everyone seemed to be thrilled with it. Now I sell 15 or 20 a weekend at our original location.”
Sobelman said the national exposure has been a lot of fun and he doesn’t get nervous when the television cameras begin to roll.
“It’s really cool,” he said. “I just get pumped up and ready to go.”
After Sobelman’s, Webb will head to downtown Milwaukee and dine at one of the city’s oldest restaurants, Mader’s where he will be served German beer in a boot, a huge tray of traditional German sausages and one of the chef’s specialties, a pork shank cooked for hours.
Webb will then head to Miller Park, where he will get a pep talk from the Milwaukee Brewers and former Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig.
He’ll need it.
Webb’s last stop will be Jake’s Deli.
Jake’s employees have created a special challenge for Webb: the Commish Challenge. Made with two-and-a-half pounds of homemade pastrami and corned beef and topped with sauerkraut, jalapenos and Swiss cheese and then loaded onto an entire loaf of rye bread, the sandwich is nearly five pounds.
Webb will have to eat it in 45 minutes.
The Travel Channel was filming in Milwaukee for four days at the end of March and in early April.
Tyler Barnes, spokesman for the Milwaukee Brewers, said the players enjoyed hanging out with the television crew.
“We enjoyed hosting the show very much and had an opportunity to involve several of our players,” Barnes said. “We’re all looking forward to seeing the finished show.”
Sean Wille, director of marketing and public relations for StandEatDrink Hospitality Group, which owns Jake’s Deli, said the Travel Channel spent one day at Jake’s and the staff came up with the Commish Challenge beforehand.
“We reinvented a sandwich challenge that had previously existed, but we were able to update it with a twist,” Wille said.
Jake’s staff members have attempted to eat the sandwich in 45 minutes and only a few people have been able to do it.
“It’s right at five pounds, so it is no small feat,” Wille said.
If you want to see if a non-Milwaukeean is able to eat an entire chicken while drinking a Bloody Mary, can stomach a plate full of sausages or is able to eat five pounds of meat, tune in to the Travel Channel at 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 7.
