DAILY DIRT: Culinary Week begins with ‘The Quadruple Coronary Bypass’

Daily Dirt for Tuesday, June 3, 2025

I would at least try all of the following except No. 5. No way, simply no way … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,304 of The Daily Dirt

1. Welcome to The Daily Dirt’s inaugural “Cuisine Week”.

Over the next five days, we’ll break down some of the five strangest food offerings around the nation and planet. Today we open with — for a lack of a better term — the five most sickening U.S. sandwiches:

1. Quadruple Coronary Bypass, Atlanta, Ga.: First, there are SIX stacked sirloin patties, eight slices of Texas toast, numerous slices of American cheese, eight bacon strips AND four fried eggs all smothered in relish, mayo and grilled onions. It also comes with a side of tater tots and fries drenched in cheese sauce and bacon bits. This sandwich — or monstrosity — is featured at The Vortex Bar and Grill.

2. Mac and Cheese Burger, Chicago: There are two versions of this burger, one featuring the mac and cheese stuffed between the bun and sizable burger patties. The other sees the mac and cheese deep fried into discs and serve as the “buns,” crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. 

3. Peanut Butter Bacon Burger, California and Nevada: This rather bizarre sandwich has peanut butter slathered on a bacon-infused beef patty. The sweetness of the peanut butter is designed to play off the salty, smoky crunch of thick-cut bacon. It is often served with jelly. Well, of course it is.

4. Ramen Burger, New York: A specialty in Brooklyn, this little dandy is held together not by buns, but pan-fried Ramen patties topped with scallions, arugula and a soy-based secret sauce. The crunch and chewy offering is designed to blend Japanese street food with American diner culture.

5. Tarantula Burger, North Carolina: A massive burger is topped with oven-roasted tarantulas. The tarantulas are crispy, salty and have a soft inside that tastes vaguely like crab (their words, not mine). The tarantula(s) are laid atop the burger, along with cheese and a spicy chili sauce at Bull City Burger and Brewery in Durham. (Note: This is only available during “exotic meat month” at the restaurant, which is an annual April feature.)  

Coming up Wednesday: The strangest McDonald’s menu offerings around the world.

2. Did you know (Part 384)

• That it takes around 540 peanuts to make a jar of peanut butter.
• That we are roughly as far from the attack on Pearl Harbor as Pearl Harbor was to the start of the Civil War.
• That the late Freddie Mercury was born with four extra teeth in his upper jaw, giving him his distinct smile.
• That the last telegram was sent (in India) in 2013.
• That U.S. Secret Service special agents, those assigned to presidential protection, earn (on the average) $125,000 per year.

3. Have you ever wondered what film has had the most sequels?

Well, wonder no longer:

James Bond movies include 25 sequels, which are far and away No. 1, followed by …

“Star Trek”: 13 sequels.

“Fast and Furious”: 11 sequels.

“Star Wars”: 11 sequels. 

“Batman”: 10 sequels

“X-Men”: 10 sequels.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Think about this one, baseball fans. Hideki Matsui, while playing for the Yankees, never spat on the Yankee Stadium turf because he considered it sacred.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He never spits on the ground at Quincy Raceways.