Fifty ounces of beef, a mountain of curly fries, and a ticking clock. That is the proposition at a Kansas City burger joint that has been challenging appetites for years.
The Super Flea stacks five patties with bacon and cheese, then piles on two pounds of fries. Finish everything in thirty minutes and the meal is free, along with a T-shirt and a spot on the wall of fame.
Fail, and you pay for the privilege of trying. Only a handful of people have ever succeeded.
The burger itself has won awards for three decades straight, drawing locals and travelers alike. It is a place where the food is serious, but the atmosphere stays relaxed.
Pool tables and pinball machines line the back, and the staff treats everyone like a regular. In Missouri, this is where burger lovers go to prove themselves.
Some come for the challenge. Most come just for the taste. Either way, they leave full.
The Super Flea Five-Patty Challenge
Picture a burger so tall you would need both hands and a serious plan of attack just to get started. The Super Flea Five-Patty Burger Challenge at Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill is exactly that kind of over-the-top creation, and it has become one of the most talked-about eating tests in Kansas City.
Each patty weighs in at ten ounces, and there are five of them stacked one on top of the other, which adds up to a genuinely absurd amount of beef sitting on a single plate. That is not a typo or an exaggeration, that is just how they build it.
What makes the whole thing fun is that it is not some gimmick invented last week for social media attention. The restaurant has built a reputation on burgers first, and the challenge grew out of that reputation rather than replacing it.
If you go in thinking you might attempt it, my honest suggestion is to skip breakfast and maybe lunch too, because this is not the sort of meal you casually slide into. Missouri has plenty of good burger towns, but few of them ask you to prove yourself quite like this one does, and that alone makes it worth seeing.
Everything Else Piled Onto That Burger
Here is the part that really got me, because the patties are only half the story. Along with all that beef, the challenge burger comes loaded with ten strips of crispy bacon, six slices of cheese, and six pieces of bun holding the whole tower together.
Think about that for a second, because six bun pieces means the sandwich is essentially layered like a building, with structure built in so it does not collapse onto the table before you take your first bite.
The bacon and cheese also change the math in a big way, since fat and salt tend to fill you up faster than plain beef ever would. Anyone who has attempted a big eating challenge will tell you that the extras are usually what ends the run.
You will find this place at 817 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO 64111, tucked into a neighborhood that has been a gathering spot for locals for a very long time.
Even if you never order the challenge, seeing one arrive at a nearby table is honestly worth the trip, because the reaction around the room tends to be pretty entertaining and everybody suddenly starts paying attention.
Two Full Pounds Of Curly Fries
Just when you think the burger is the whole battle, the fries show up and completely change the conversation. Finishing the Super Flea means clearing two full pounds of their curly fries alongside every last bite of that burger, and there is no negotiating your way out of it.
Two pounds of fries is a genuinely enormous pile, the kind that would normally feed a whole table of hungry people sharing plates and still leave leftovers behind.
Curly fries also have a sneaky quality to them, because the twisted shape holds onto seasoning and oil in a way that straight fries simply do not. They taste fantastic, which is exactly the problem when you have to eat a mountain of them against a clock.
Most people who study these challenges will tell you the smart strategy is to alternate between burger and fries rather than saving the potatoes for last. Cold fries get heavy and dense, and nobody wants to face that at the end.
Honestly, the fries here are popular on their own, so even a normal-sized order gives you a pretty good idea of what challengers are up against in this corner of Missouri.
Thirty Minutes On The Clock
Every good food challenge needs a ticking clock, and this one gives you exactly thirty minutes to finish the burger and both pounds of fries. That is the whole window, and it goes faster than you would believe once you actually sit down.
Do you think you could keep eating steadily for half an hour without slowing down? Most people find that the first ten minutes feel easy, the middle stretch gets rough, and the final push is where things fall apart completely.
Pacing matters far more than raw speed here, because burning through the first patty too quickly tends to backfire in a big way later on. Experienced challengers usually settle into a rhythm and stick with it rather than sprinting out of the gate.
There is something oddly fun about watching a timer count down while somebody works through a plate that size, and the whole room usually gets invested in the outcome.
If you are the sort of person who thrives under a little pressure, this might be your kind of Missouri afternoon. If not, ordering a regular burger and cheering from a nearby table is a completely respectable choice.
Free Food, A Shirt, And Wall Of Fame Glory
Winning here comes with a pretty satisfying payoff, and it goes well beyond just not paying for lunch. Finish the entire Super Flea burger and both pounds of fries inside the time limit, and the whole massive meal is completely on the house.
You also walk away with a free t-shirt, which is honestly the kind of souvenir that actually means something, since you cannot buy one at a gift shop anywhere.
Then there is the Wall of Fame, where your photo joins the others who managed to pull it off. That wall is one of my favorite details about the whole setup, because it turns a silly eating contest into a little piece of restaurant history.
Walking past those pictures gives you a real sense of how few people actually clear the plate, and it makes the whole thing feel like a genuine accomplishment rather than a stunt.
Bragging rights in Missouri are apparently earned one enormous burger at a time, and if you ever manage it, you will absolutely have a story that holds up at every dinner party for the rest of your life.
A Kansas City Hangout With Real Mileage
Set the challenge aside for a second, because this place would be worth visiting even if the giant burger did not exist. Westport Flea Market Bar and Grill has been part of the Kansas City scene for well over three decades, which is an eternity in the restaurant world.
The name itself is a leftover from its earlier days, when the building genuinely operated as a flea market with vendors filling the space. That history is baked into the whole feel of the room.
What I love about spots like this is how stubbornly they refuse to modernize themselves into something generic. The decor is funky, the layout is a little unusual, and none of it feels designed by a committee somewhere far away.
You get the sense that the regulars would riot if anything major changed, and honestly they would be right to. Character like that cannot be installed during a renovation.
Walking in feels like stepping into a neighborhood living room that happens to serve incredible burgers, and that combination is getting harder to find anywhere, including here in Missouri where casual food traditions run deep.
You Order At The Bar, Not The Table
Here is a practical tip that will save you some confusion when you first walk in. Food orders go directly to the bar rather than through your server, and the folks taking them are affectionately called Orderologists.
Servers still take care of drinks and check on your table, but the actual food conversation happens face to face at the counter with the people who send it back to the kitchen.
The reasoning behind it is pretty sensible, since talking directly with someone about how you want your burger cooked cuts out the middle step entirely. Your request goes straight from your mouth to the person writing the ticket.
Newcomers sometimes sit and wait, wondering why nobody is taking their food order, so knowing this ahead of time makes the whole visit smoother.
It also gives the place a friendly, slightly chaotic energy that fits the rest of the room perfectly. Quirks like this are exactly why I keep recommending independent spots over chains, and this Kansas City institution wears its oddities with obvious pride rather than trying to smooth them out.
The Regular Burgers Are The Real Draw
Skip the challenge entirely and you still end up with one of the better burgers in the region, which is really the whole point of this place. Locals have argued for years that these are the best burgers in Kansas City, and plenty of visitors leave agreeing with them.
The beef comes from McGonigle’s Market, a longtime local butcher shop with a serious reputation of its own around town. Sourcing like that tells you a lot about how seriously the kitchen takes the basics.
Food Network came calling too, featuring the restaurant on the show Meat and Potatoes, which brought a wave of curious travelers through the door.
A normal-sized burger here is still generous, so do not expect anything dainty just because you skipped the five-patty version. One patty is plenty for most appetites.
Pair it with those curly fries in a reasonable portion and you have a meal that explains why this Missouri favorite has stayed busy for so many years without ever needing to reinvent itself or chase whatever trend happens to be popular that season.
Pool Tables, Shuffleboard And Trivia Nights
Eating is only part of what keeps people hanging around here long after their plates are cleared. The place is set up for lingering, with pool tables, shuffleboard, video games and regular trivia contests filling out the space.
Shuffleboard in particular is one of those games that seems simple until you actually try it, and it has a way of turning a quick stop into a much longer evening.
Trivia nights pull in a friendly, competitive crowd, which gives the room a completely different energy than a typical weeknight dinner service.
What I appreciate is that none of it feels forced or overly polished, since the games are there because people genuinely use them rather than because someone thought they would look good in photos.
Bring a group and you can easily spend hours bouncing between the table and the pool cues without anybody rushing you along.
Between the food, the games and the general looseness of the whole operation, it is the sort of stop that turns into a highlight of a road trip rather than just a place you grabbed lunch, and that is exactly the kind of night out worth planning around.
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