Elvis Presley's Favorite Sandwich Featured Peanut Butter, Banana, And Bacon

It's no secret that the King was a man of singular taste: From his rhinestone-studded jumpsuits to the shag-carpet-covered Jungle Room at Graceland, nobody would ever accuse Elvis Presley of being understated.

The same goes for his appetite: As with his razzle-dazzle style, the King's culinary tastes ventured into the flamboyant and idiosyncratic. And over time, his dietary preferences have become nearly as storied as his music.

For starters, there's his penchant for a behemoth sandwich he first discovered in Denver, Colorado. As the story goes, after a 1976 concert, Elvis and his police bodyguards ventured to the now-closed Colorado Mine Company restaurant for a bite to eat. There, he ordered a Fool's Gold Loaf—a sandwich made with a loaf of sourdough bread, a pound of bacon, a jar of peanut butter, and a jar of jelly. (Estimates put the sandwich at a whopping 8,000 calories.)

Fast forward a bit, and back at Graceland, Elvis got a late-night hankering for the loaf. And just as any good rock 'n' roll legend would do, he hopped on his private jet with a couple of friends in tow and flew to Denver. The owners of the restaurant met him at the hangar with a pile of the enormous sandwiches (some say they brought 22, others say 30); he enjoyed his Fool's Gold Loaf without ever leaving the hangar (stories say he paired it with Perrier and champagne), then headed back to Memphis.

Of course, it should come as no surprise that the quirky combo was enough to make Elvis hop on a plane, as he's long been associated with a simpler (and much more manageable!) version of the Fool's Gold Loaf. His take included two pieces of bread, spread thick with creamy peanut butter, topped with sliced or mashed banana, crowned with thick strips of bacon, and fried in a skillet. It's this sandwich that's since become known as The Elvis, and variations of the King's signature snack appear on menus across the South.

So next time you pull out a loaf of bread and peanut butter for lunch, fire up the griddle, slip on your blue suede shoes, and make an Elvis instead.