‘World’s Largest’ Cheeto Lures Stream of Tourists to Iowa Town

ALGONA, Iowa — Tom Straub’s greatest fear never materialized this summer when 10,000 bicyclists passed through here on Iowa’s annual 500-mile bike ride across the state. None of the sweaty, hungry cyclists tried to eat his prized Cheeto.

“It’s not insured, so it’s always a concern,” Straub said. He displays the “World’s Largest Cheeto” within easy reach of diners and drinkers in his Sister Sarah’s Restaurant. “Only once I had a problem. I loaned it to be in a parade, and some guy took a little nibble. There’s a tiny indent on the side you can’t see.”

The Cheeto, weighing in at six-tenths of an ounce, is slightly larger than a silver dollar. It sits on a small velvet pillow in a glass-enclosed box on a mantle across from the restaurant’s bar.

This particular Cheeto was discovered three years ago in a package purchased by Mike Evans, a Navy petty officer stationed in Hawaii. Quickly realizing this was no ordinary glob of enriched, fried cornmeal, he did what many would do: He offered it for sale on eBay.

This drew the attention of Bryce Wilson, then a radio show host for KLGA, an AM and FM radio station here. His on-air campaign to “bring the Cheeto to Algona” so impressed Evans that he donated it, providing that a suitable display could be found. The money raised was given to a local charity.

“Amazingly, half the town was kind of irritated by the whole thing,” Wilson said. “They thought it made us look like a bunch of hicks. I thought it would just be one of those things that would last a few days and disappear.”

In fact, you won’t find a Cheeto mention in any of Algona’s promotional brochures. Vickie Mallory, executive director of the local Chamber of Commerce, is quicker to note a building designed by famous architect Louis Sullivan and the Camp Algona POW Museum -- the town housed 10,000 German prisoners during World War II -- as the top local attractions.

But hardly a week passes without a visitor coming to Sister Sarah’s to view the Cheeto, a trip requiring some effort. This rural community of 5,600 in Iowa’s northwest corner is 50 miles from the nearest interstate highway, I-35.

“For some reason, we seem to be big with Japanese tourists,” Straub said. “We got on a couple of those oddity lists at first, then Jimmy Kimmel did a remote when we unveiled it, and it’s been a steady stream since. I never thought in my lifetime I’d be turning down David Letterman because I made a commitment to Jimmy Kimmel.”

The folks at the Guinness Book of Records say Cheetos are not in their purview. But officials with the Frito-Lay company, which has been making the snack since 1948, confirmed to Straub and to Wilson (who has since moved to Minneapolis) that it’s a record as far as they’re concerned.

“If somebody’s got a bigger one, I say bring it on,” Straub said.