Update (Oct. 6, 2021): The record is now official! A spokesperson for Guinness World Records confirmed to ABC15 that Macayo's has set a new world record title for the longest chimichanga at 25 feet, 7 inches.
Original story
A team of nearly 25 people spent six hours Saturday layering pounds of tortillas, chicken, beans, rice, cheese, and salsa to build a 25-foot-long burrito, and then deep-fried all of it in hopes of setting the first-ever Guinness World Record for the longest chimichanga. It was then shared with the community.
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.
There is currently no record for the world's longest chimichanga in the Guinness World Records database. But, Negron said Guinness did set some preliminary guidelines, such as that the first chimi had to be at least 23 feet, 7 inches long, she said.
So, they went a little bigger than that.
Guinness also stipulates that records involving large quantities of food have to either be consumed or distributed for consumption. They also have to be able to be measured and challenged (ie: able to be broken) in the future.
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.
Though, it's not an official record yet. Macayo's has to send an application and evidence of the record attempt to Guinness to be certified. Once that happens, they'll be the official record holders.
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.
Either way, the chimi is undoubtedly a favorite in the Valley.
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.
