South African restaurant crafts a nearly 10-foot Gatsby sub

A South African restaurant recently made headlines by serving a massive 3-meter-long (9.8 feet) sandwich, showcasing its flair for supersized dishes. Annies Ladies Bar in Cape Town created this giant submarine sandwich following their previous record-breaking burger from 2019, which weighed an incredible 124 kilograms (273 pounds).

This colossal sandwich featured an impressive ten layers of fillings and weighed in at 65.27 kilograms (145 pounds), balanced on a special tray for weighing. Preparing the sandwich took over four hours and cost around $160 for the ingredients, according to Joe Redelinghuys, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Annie.

The ingredients were quite extravagant: 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of tomatoes, approximately 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of assorted meats—including three types of sliced sausage, steak, burger patties, and chicken fillets—along with three layers of french fries totaling about 10 kilograms (22 pounds) to complement the meats. There was even a layer of calamari for seafood lovers, topped off with a generous amount of onion rings. Various sauces like garlic, cheese, pepper, mushroom, and tartare were included, depending on the filling.

One of the biggest challenges for Redelinghuys was finding a bread roll large enough to contain all the fillings. He had to specially bake three 1-meter (3 feet) long rolls and join them together to create the sandwich.

This gigantic creation is a unique twist on the Gatsby, a beloved South African takeaway that originated in Cape Town during the mid-1970s.

Traditionally, a Gatsby consists of “slap chips”—sloppy french fries—combined with meat in a chunky bread roll and is typically large enough to share among several people.

The dish was reportedly named after “The Great Gatsby” movie, which had just been released.

Inspired by discussions in the bar about creating another supersized dish, Redelinghuys decided to take on the challenge, proclaiming, “Next Saturday, I’m going to make the biggest Gatsby in South Africa.”

He has been in touch with South African record officials to get the sandwich recognized as the largest Gatsby in the country.

However, it won’t compete for the world record, which is held by a restaurant in Roseville, Michigan, for an astonishing 2,467-kilogram (5,440-pound) sandwich made in 2005, according to Guinness World Records.

Once completed, the giant Gatsby was shared among regular patrons of Annies Ladies Bar, feeding approximately 140 people.

“We invited a lot of our regular clients to come and eat the sandwich,” Redelinghuys said, “and they invited friends. And their friends invited friends.” This community spirit not only celebrated the incredible sandwich but also brought people together for a memorable dining experience.