Blog Post

Longest chimichanga: Macayo's Restaurant sets world record

Oct 07, 2021

Longest chimichanga: world record set by the Macayo's Mexican Restaurants

Ahwatukee, Arizona, United States--A team of about 25 employees from the Macayo's Mexican Restaurants gathered in Ahwatukee to assemble a massive deep-fried burrito from dozens of flour tortillas, 500 pounds of shredded chicken, 250 pounds of refried beans, 250 pounds of rice and multiple gallons of salsa; the 25-foot, 7-inch chimichanga sets the world record for the Longest Chimichanga, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

The record attempt has been two years in the making and is part of Macayo's 75th-anniversary celebration, said Ashley Negron, director of marketing and brand management for Macayo's Mexican Restaurants.

To commemorate their anniversary, Macayo's set out to make history with a 25-foot-long chimichanga 3,750% longer than their regular menu item.

In the end, the official count was 25 feet, 7 inches, and included dozens of flour tortillas, 500 pounds of shredded chicken, 250 pounds of refried beans, 250 pounds of Mexican rice, and gallons of salsa.

Macayo's claims to have invented the chimichanga in the 1940s when someone accidentally dropped a burrito in the deep fryer. However, others claim that the chimi was created at a restaurant in Tucson, Arizona, under similar circumstances.

Woody Johnson and his wife, Victoria, opened their first restaurant, called Woody's Macayo, in 1946. Over the years, the family opened more restaurants around the Valley.

In 2017, the Johnson Family sold the brand and its restaurants to Kind Hospitality, a Mesa, Arizona-based restaurant group that also owns some O.H.S.O. Brewery + Distillery, Panera, and Barrio Brewing Co. locations. Since then, Macayo's has opened restaurants in Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe, and has one reportedly in the works in the West Valley.

Over the years, the restaurant chain has sold 5 million of the hearty, tortilla-wrapped meals.