GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — HopCat celebrated its 11th anniversary on Saturday, in part with a fry eating competition. This year it had a new name: Cosmik Fries Eating Contest.
Akiem Harshman, the winner of this year's contest, had never been to HopCat before and he had never eaten their signature fries. But on Saturday, he ate nearly two pounds of them.
"Really good fries," Harshman said after winning the competition. "I'm definitely coming back."
For his efforts, Harshman won a $500 HopCat prize package. He will also be invited to compete in the Cosmik Fries Eating Contest World Championship at the Michigan Brewers Guild's Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti this July.
HopCat recently changed the name of their signature fries from Crack Fries to Cosmik Fries, stating a goal of being a more "inclusive" company. Mark Gray, CEO of BarFly Ventures, HopCat's parent company said the name was original intended to be a "tongue-in-cheek" joke, but that "drug addiction is no joke."
The Grand Rapids-based restaurant and bar announced the name change on Monday. The recipe has remained the same.
"We are embracing the name change," said Dave Zick, the assistant general manager at the downtown Grand Rapids location of HopCat. "The community seems to be really supporting that."
Since HopCat opened their first restaurant 11 years ago in Grand Rapids, they've expanded to 17 locations across the country. They're expected to open an 18th in Holland this year.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.