denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Clearfield, Pa., holds the record, boasting a 123-pound burger on its menu. It claimed the honors last year from a restaurant in Thailand that serves up a comparatively paltry 78 1/2-pound burger.

Owner Steve Mallie says today's indulgence will destroy the current record holder. The ARB will top out around 150 pounds, he said. He's so confident he's already reprinted the bar's menus in anticipation of today's triumph. The goliath sells for $350 and requires customers to order at least 24 hours in advance. The menu acknowledges the zaniness of the enterprise: "There is ABSOLUTELY no reason for this burger but if you order it, we'll make it, and you figure out what to do with it!"

"It's just a giant version of our house hamburger," said Mallie, 39. "We like things big here. We don't like anyone leaving here hungry."

Kim Dickson, a manager at the Beer Barrel, said people come from all over the world to that establishment. She remains skeptical of Mallie's quest. "Everybody keeps trying and trying to break our record," Dickson said. "It's been fun."

Mallie and his staff spent the last four months planning, engineering and developing the burger. One does not just call up Guinness World Records and inform them one has broken a record after all, explained Jamie Panas, marketing assistant for Guinness World Record.

"There's a lot of prep work involved," Panas said. "It's very important to get the guidelines first."

The guidelines for the "largest hamburger commercially available" say the ingredients must be found on a traditional sandwich. It must appear on a menu. Authenticated weights and measures are vital. A community member above reproach must bear witness to the event and vouch for the record seeker's moral soundness.

"The mayor's going to be here," Mallie explained.

Grosse Ile resident Chad Hammonds is a regular at Mallie's, located just over the railroad tracks at the corner of Northline and Allen roads. He wished the eatery success. "The food's great. The waitresses are hot. There's a good selection of beer. What's not to like?" said Hammonds, 28. "I think they're going to break the record. They already know how to make big burgers. There's no other bar in Michigan that I know of that serves a 6-pound burger."

Mallie's chef Arthur Laramie figures the meat will take about eight hours to cook. He'll fit the meat into a specialized pan 27-inches across. The mold fits -- barely -- into the kitchen's convection oven, where he'll cook it at 300 degrees. It's similar to how a meatloaf is cooked and the test runs have been encouraging.

"The record kept changing on us and getting higher," Laramie said. "So we figured lets just shoot for the moon and blow the record away. This one is going to be hard to beat."