Houston lumpia eating contest winner downs 52 in 10 minutes

Chris Nguyen representing poke joint Seaside Poke won by successfully downing 52 lumpias. SCREENGRAB

A popular Filipino restaurant and bar in Houston, Texas, held its second annual lumpia-eating contest to boost the morale of local small businesses recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic.

Seven contestants from different Houston small businesses competed last July 4^th at Be More Pacific: Filipino Kitchen & Bar’s chow-down by eating as many fried lumpia rolls as they could in under 10 minutes.

Chris Nguyen representing poke joint Seaside Poke won by successfully downing 52 lumpias.

Seven contestants from different Houston small businesses  at Be More Pacific: Filipino Kitchen & Bar’s chow-down. SCREENGRAB

According to Be More Pacific co-owner Giovan Cuchapin, the lumpia eating competition was created to drum up support for the local restaurant industry and other small enterprises affected by the pandemic.

“Last year, businesses were just kind of creeping out of COVID,” Cuchapin was quoted as saying. “We’re just doing our part to help everybody out and to get out of that funk and get everybody where they need to be.”

This year, contestants represented businesses including Clutch City Insurance, Seaside Poke, KetKar Law Firm, and more.

KPRC2 reporter Rose-Ann Aragon served as emcee for the event.