“The Lake Monster” burger from Papa’s Pizzeria. (Photo: Special to the Register)

Located between Saylorville and Big Creek Lake lives a lake monster that you won’t find under murky water. You’ll actually find this monster on your dinner plate.

On Feb. 4 Papa’s Pizzeria, located on the square in Polk City, will be celebrating the release of a new sandwich challenge, “The Lake Monster,” with a reveal party starting at 6 p.m. The festivities start with a food-eating contest of three challengers versus “The Lake Monster.”

The challenge weighs in at just over three pounds, including a base of an entire small thin crust “meatza pizza.” It’s stacked with fried pork tenderloin, a ¾ pound bacon cheeseburger, four chicken strips, macaroni and cheese sauce and lettuce with a homemade bun that’s surrounded by 12 ounces of onion rings. Challengers have just 30 minutes to complete the enormous meal in order to win a free T-shirt.

Shawn Comer, owner of Papa’s Pizzeria, built the Lake Monster from scratch. “I wanted to do something unique and make a sandwich that was unique, and with the bottom bun basically being a small thin pizza, I think that makes it unique,” Comer said. “If you put all the ingredients together, it’s really good.”

Who will receive the honor of being the first three to take on the vast sandwich? Anyone willing to compete will be entered into a randomly selected drawing. Whoever completes the meal first will walk away with the first T-shirt, a gift card to Papa’s Pizzeria and the fame of being the first to complete the sandwich challenge.

With the sandwich challenge comes an entirely new menu set to release the week of the event, complete with wraps, the sandwich challenge and new “kid-friendly” pizzas like The Crazy Ivan and Macaroni and Cheese. Comer said the famous pizzeria will also become a craft beer hub for Polk City, the first of it’s kind, and will serve a variety of ever-changing beers on tap, including pints and growlers. There will also be discounted specials served during the release party.

The name Lake Monster came from a customer after Comer hosted a naming contest on the pizzeria’s Facebook page. “I liked The Lake Monster because we are in between Saylorville and Big Creek and it really promotes Polk City along with papa’s pizzeria,” Comer said. “I really like to promote Polk City along with Papa’s.”

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