Three slices of the hottest pizza on Earth, a Carolina Reaper pepper, and five minutes without a drink. That’s the challenge Mikey’s Late Night Slice is putting in front of eight brave (or deeply questionable) souls this month.
Mikey’s Late Night Slice is bringing back Fiery Death, the Columbus pizzeria’s famously brutal, unofficially self-proclaimed “Hottest Pizza on Earth.” The extra-spicy pie returns Oct. 26 at Mikey’s new Grandview location at 1312 Grandview Ave., and it’s only sticking around while supplies last.
But if eating a dangerously spicy pizza sounds like a fun way to spend your Wednesday night, things get even more intense a couple of days later.
On Oct. 28 at 7 p.m., Mikey’s will host its Fiery Punishment Contest, where eight contestants will compete to see who can handle the heat. The challenge? Eat three slices of Fiery Death, down a fresh Carolina Reaper pepper, and then sit for five minutes without any food or drink. No milk, no water, no emergency ice cream run. Just you and the consequences of your decisions.
According to Mikey’s, Fiery Death is made with three of the hottest commercially available peppers in the world: Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, and Bhut Jolokia, also known as the ghost pepper. The pizza also features scorpion-pepper sauce and sausage tossed in Sriracha, because apparently somebody in the kitchen decided regular spicy sausage simply wasn’t enough.
The pizzeria says hot-food fans travel to Columbus from across the country to try the pie, which is returning after a two-year hiatus. And if you’ve been waiting for your chance to prove your taste buds are made of tougher stuff than the rest of us, this might be your moment.
Contest entry costs $6.66, and Mikey’s is accepting just eight contestants.
First place gets a prize package featuring a $300 Late Night Slice gift card, a Mikey’s T-shirt, concert tickets from PromoWest, and additional swag. There’s also a prize for second place, so at least one other person will leave with something besides a story about their questionable life choices.
Prefer to watch other people suffer? Spectating is free, and honestly, that might be the wisest decision anyone makes all night.
You can sign up for the Fiery Punishment Contest through Mikey’s Late Night Slice website. Fiery Death itself will be available starting Oct. 26 at the Grandview location while supplies last.
Good luck to everyone brave enough to participate. We’ll be over here with a much milder slice and absolutely no regrets.
