This Kentucky pizzeria has an 8-pound pizza. And yes, they have a dining challenge.

For husband and wife Scott and Belinda Anderson, the restaurant business is a welcome way of life. To say they are passionate about it would be an understatement.

At one point, the couple owned and operated seven separate restaurants in Muhlenberg County — located two hours southwest of Lexington — while each also simultaneously worked full-time elsewhere.

In 2011, the couple decided it was time to downsize, slow down, and concentrate on simply operating one restaurant. That would become Stellian’s — an unpretentious pizzeria in downtown Central City, Ky., “Home of the 8 lb. pizza.”

You read that correctly. An 8-pound brick oven, Chicago-style, deep dish, stuffed crust pizza, “The Stellian’s Special” ($27.99).

Choice of “Meat Lover’s” (ham, sausage, beef, pepperoni and Mozzarella) or “The Works” (pepperoni, Italian sausage, beef, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, banana peppers and Mozzarella).

Go deep or go home.

It is definitely not your Domino’s ‘thirty-minutes or less’ variety pizza.

How long does it take to bake an 8-pound pizza?

Each epic version is created with a thick house-made crust stuffed with layers upon layers of preferred toppings, mounds of Mozzarella cheese, a second layer of crust, a proprietary house-made special sauce and more Mozzarella.

The massive — some might say outrageous — individual slices each weigh in around one full pound.

Eight eye-popping pounds of pizza perfection, all in all.

Bake time: 45 minutes in one of Stellian’s two brick ovens.

I have had legendary deep-dish pizza in Chicago; however, I have never had pizza so thick, so filling, so gut-busting. Especially not in Kentucky. Until now.

Has anyone eaten Stellian’s 8-pound pizza by themselves?

According to the Andersons, to their knowledge, not a single customer has ever been able to finish one of the enormous pizzas by themselves in a single sitting. One gentleman reportedly came close but ultimately left a ring of crust.

Stellian’s — named for Scott’s beloved dad, Stellian Virgil Anderson — recently started to offer its “8 Pound Chowdown Challenge” wherein if you finish an entire special pizza and an over-the-top milkshake by yourself in 40 minutes, it is free — and they’ll throw in an “I survived” t-shirt. So far nobody has done it by themselves, but a YouTuber who goes by the name Brandon Da Garbage Disposal Clark and has more than 75,000 subscribers threw down the entire meal with the help of a partner.

After I failed to finish even one slice, all I can say is, good luck to those who attempt to finish an entire pizza of such magnitude.

People wait two hours to eat at Stellian’s

Each of Stellian’s delivery vehicles is vinyl-wrapped to resemble a NASCAR race car and features the number “8” to represent their famous 8-pound pizzas.

Pre-pandemic, it was not unusual to encounter a two-hour wait to get a table on weekends. More recently, the wait time is around one hour and the Andersons estimate as much as 90 percent of the customers are from out of town or out of state.

“We are definitely a day trip destination,” notes Scott. “Customers come from Evansville, Glasgow, Elizabethtown, Louisville, and Lexington. People have come from as far away as Nashville and Arkansas just to eat here.”

The food is also popular with National Guard members who regularly train in nearby Greenville. The cast of “Moonshiners” and actor and country music singer John Schneider, “Bo Duke,” from the former hit television series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” have also dined there.

“We haven’t had a president visit us yet, but some day we might get the governor here,” Scott adds.

(Note to Governor Beshear: go, you won’t regret it. Go hungry.)

The Andersons cannot quite recall when it began, but several years ago, customers began taping one-dollar bills with personalized messages on the restaurant’s walls and ceiling. Presently, hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars decorate the interior.

Stellian’s menu: More than stuffed pizza

While the extraordinary pizza has been on the menu since nearly the beginning, it did not become as widely sought after until Stellian’s began offering “Freak Shakes” in March of 2019.

The popular novelty shakes are also gigantic. Each flavor, Chocolate Overload, Strawberry Cheesecake, Cookies-n-Cream, Peanut Butter Smore, and rotating seasonal flavors, comes piled high with assorted tasty toppings ($9.59).

As word of the new shakes spread and customers flocked to Stellian’s to sample them, the popularity of the 8 lb. pizza also increased.

According to Belinda, who was initially nervous about adding the specialty shakes to the menu, in the beginning the goal was to sell ten shakes per month. Today, Stellian’s can serve up as many as 250 shakes “on a good night.”

Everything at Stellian’s is seemingly enormous.

The batter-fried mushrooms appetizer ($9.49) is jaw-dropping. Who knew mushrooms could grow so large?

There is also a full bar, but people come primarily for the noteworthy and memorable comfort food.

Earlier this year, Stellian’s began also offering an “Over the Top” burger-of-the-month. Variations have included The Rip (Wheeler) Bison Burger (for fans of the TV series “Yellowstone”), the Bloody-Mary Burger, and most recently, the Maple Bourbon Burger.

Self-control and diets are out the window.

For those with less hearty appetites, there are more traditional items on the menu including build-your-own and standard specialty pizzas, pasta dishes, assorted salads and sandwiches, various appetizers (try the Mozzi bread), and chicken wings by the pound.

Despite their impressive success, the Andersons manage to take it all in stride and understand better than most that in today’s business climate, with staffing and supply chain challenges and rising costs, the restaurant business is difficult even on its best days.

Scott sums it up thus, “We want to stay humble. After all, we could close down tomorrow.”

Stellian’s Pizzeria

Service Options: Dine-in, carryout, delivery

Address: 116 E. Broad St., Central City, Ky.

Phone: (270) 757-1622

Hours: 11 am to 9 pm Sunday - Thursday; 11 am to 10 pm Friday - Saturday

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stellianspizzeria

This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 7:00 PM.