What is the messiest food?

I nominate barbecue.

Maryland crabs. There’s a reason they hand out bibs to everyone, and put piles of napkins on the table at crab houses.

deffnitally depends on how you eat anything.
sloppy joes are pretty messy if you ask me!
great for food fights

Pomegranates always seem to stain me somehow.

Ripe mangoes have no competition. Particularly when you draw blood while trying to get the peel off.

(Hooray. Another addition to my “definitely” variations.)

Ripe, juicy mangoes. My grandmother used to make us eat them over the sink.

Damn gail. You beat me.

@Tiny; Do you touch-type? If not, that gives me better odds.

I plan to eat mangoes either in the shower or outside from now on. And how do you peel them?

Philly cheesesteak can become messy if the proper handling technique isn’t respected. Hot wings with Franks red hot sauce definitely can turn your fingers blood red.

Indy; The only way to avoid full-frontal catastrophe with a Philly cheesesteak is to eat it off a plate with a knife and fork…no fun, I know.

I second barbecue as the messiest
.

@gail, I know you did not just say knife and fork when referring to a cheesesteak. That’s blasphemy in the greater Philadelphia area. I usually eat with abundant napkins available and start from top to bottom, not side to side. Gail, I hope you eat your cheesesteak in the privacy of your own home and not at my local sub shop because will tease you. :)

@gail: Cut mangoes into 3 slices (2 big pieces and the pit/seed), then cut a checker pattern in the 2 fruity pieces and eat by spooning/scraping out the cubes. No mess!

Yes definitely depends how you eat. Those home-made burgers (you know the huge grilled ones that are part of every road-trip diet) are really messy for me. I always find my hands covered with ketchup holding a giant chewed-up patty hanging out between burger buns the size of a dime.

Giant hamburgers with lots of sauces.

I’ll have to second (or third) the mangoes. Juice down your chin, neck, and forearms during the eating of it, and shreds of stringy fiber in between your teeth after. I never eat mangoes without some floss in my back pocket.

2nd, I’d have to say crab legs. What. A. Mess!

1. barbeque
2. mango (as long as I survive peeling them!)
3. buffalo wings (at least for me!)

Beets stain my fingers.

I’m with the chicken wings. A mess on the hands and face. Plus, the sauces seem to go right through the napkins.

True Randy, but all those things could also be said about barbecue! ;-)

Randy, you need a tarp and wipes for wings, at least that is what I’ve figured out! They are so messy, as a rule, I only ea them at home. Plus the fact that I’m a klutz and drop them…not very pretty!

@Indy: How do you eat a cheesesteak from top to bottom.?That takes all the fun out of it. And note that I carefully did not say that I (moi) ate the PCS with a knife and fork. Now that I no longer live in Philly, PCS’s are just a fond memory. But the stains linger on.

I can’t believe no one has said corn on the cob. What a buttery disaster. The messiest part is probably your teeth after you’re finished, though.

Alternatively, buttered popcorn makes your hands greasy AND goes everywhere and leaves tiny oil stains behind. The kernels also get stuck in teeth/gums for so long. Extremely frustrating!

Ezra: the corn in your new neck of the woods will be ripe soon; eat it w/o butter. It is absolutely delicious. (But keep dental floss in pocket anyway.)