Marina's holds pizza eat off

In an eat-off battle between local law enforcement officers and firefighters this morning at Marina's Pizza, representatives of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office walked away with bragging rights.

When leftover pizza was weighed around 10 a.m., — after about an hour of eating — Capt. Ron Couch and Maj. Dennis Dummer of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office came out victorious, leaving only 39 ounces of pizza compared to East Manatee's 50 remaining ounces. Engineers Otter Kersey of Myakka City Fire and Rescue and Chris Galbraith of East Manatee Fire Rescue represented East Manatee firefighters.

"They did great," said Ivan Colandrea, who co-owns Marina's Pizza with his father, Antonio.

The two-person teams attempted to eat an entire 28-inch pizza in an hour. In total, the pizzas each weighed about 13 pounds. Colandrea said the 28-inch pizza is equivalent to three of Marina's large 16-inch pizzas, or about five large pizzas from pizza restaurants such as Dominos.

Marina's Pizza today is celebrating its 28th anniversary. The restaurant, located at 1723 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Lakewood Ranch, is offering pizza for 28 cents per slice all day. The offer is dine-in only and each person is limited to four slices.

For information, call Marina's at 747-0054.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

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