Pro eater completes challenge at local restaurant

Schuyler ate three 16-inch pizzas with two toppings each stacked on top of one another in under 10 minutes, she said.

The challenge, known as “The Gladiator,” was for two people to complete in a half hour or pay the $49.99 at the time.

“Honestly, the pizza was delicious,” Schuyler said. “This was a good pizza, especially with the triple layers.”

Earlier this month, Schuyler, who visited Pizza Leone in 2020, posted a video of her completing the challenge on her YouTube channel, which has more than 260,000 subscribers. The video was missed previously, and did not get posted by mistake, she said.

This was Schuyler’s first triple layered pizza challenge.

“It wasn’t difficult at all,” she said, noting that pizza challenges are never the same.

There are some places, where the pizza is “super soft” and “squishy,” while others provide more crust, she said.

In the video, she described the restaurant’s pizza as “soft” and “cheesy.”

“This thing is a beast. It’s massive,” she said in the video, estimating it weighed about 8 lbs.

Schuyler said she is “the number one female independent eater in the world. Independent means I don’t have a contract with anyone.”

Pizza Leone Owner Giuseppe “Joe” Monteleone named the challenge “The Gladiator” in keeping with the restaurant’s theme, as if it were a battle between a lion and a gladiator.

“I created a one-of-a-kind pizza-eating experience,” Monteleone said. “I have never seen it anywhere in the world. I brought it into existence. It cannot be explained, only experienced.”

Since the challenge was introduced at the restaurant in 2018, dozens of people failed to complete it, according to Monteleone.

Schuyler was the first person to complete the challenge in 2020, Monteleone said. He said he knew she would be successful in the challenge, but he did not expect her to finish in under 10 minutes.

Pizza Leone no longer runs “The Gladiator” challenge, but customers “can make it their own challenge” and order it in the restaurant for $59.99 plus tax. It includes three pizzas and two toppings of their choice on each, stacked in three layers.

For carry-out, customers would need to assemble the three layers at home, Monteleone said.

Monteleone means “the mountain of the lion,” so that is where the lion theme for the restaurant came about, he said.

“This is a family-run business. I spend every day of my life with my family,” Monteleone said. “Everyone that walks through the door is an extension of my family. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Pizza Leone will celebrate 10 years since opening its doors in September.

“We would like to thank the community and customers for supporting us,” Monteleone said.

The restaurant, inspired by his father Bernardo Pietro Monteleone, features photos of his life and a powerful tribute in calligraphy on a special corner wall.

Born in Carini, Sicily, in the south of Italy, Bernardo came to “the land of opportunity” in the United States, starting in New York and eventually opened Mamma’s Pizza in Biglerville in partnership with his cousin on Dec. 11, 1981.

After the pizza shop “was a success,” he bought out his partner after six months. The restaurant was handed down to Monteleone in 1993. Monteleone handed down the restaurant to his younger brother, Claudio in 2008.

In the inscription on the wall about Bernardo, Monteleone wrote, “I wish I could introduce him to you in person, where he would shake your hand and call you, ‘my friend.’”

From school communities to reunions, the restaurant, 1665 Waynesboro Pike, Fairfield, draws people from Gettysburg, Waynesboro, and even Maryland.

The lion-themed menu has many popular items including pepperoni pizza, the ultimate carnivore stromboli, grilled chicken Caesar salad, mega cold bite cold sub, mega Leone steak sub, the di Leone fries, and more.

Despite higher costs due to inflation, the restaurant prides itself on using top-quality ingredients for their creations.

Monteleone said it still feels like yesterday since opening the business’s doors on Sept. 4, 2013.

“I am sure I will come up with something,” Monteleone said to celebrate a decade of service. “I am here to support the community and help in any way I can to the best of my ability.”