SUSAN DEVILDER
The Star Courier
“I feel pretty good about it,” said John Taylor, seated at a booth at Fernando’s Place in Kewanee on a busy Wednesday night.
By 6 p.m., patrons were starting to fill up the small corner restaurant on Cinco de Mayo, a commemoration of the Mexican victory against the French forces in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Taylor had eaten light in preparation for the challenge just watermelon and juice so far. Across the booth from him was his father, Bob Taylor, who had come to offer his support.
Taylor laid the idea to tackle Feranando’s Burrito Challenge of eating a giant burrito in under nine minutes squarely at the feet of his father, who provided him with a gift certificate to purchase the $38 menu item. That idea came after Galva City Administrator David Dyer had reached out to Taylor when the city decided that Wiley Park needed a dance floor for the park’s stage, hoping Taylor could help them secure the needed funds.