On a rainy Father’s Day in Manhattan, a Brooklyn lighting technician walked away with free burritos for a year—and sudden internet fame—after judges at Son Del North’s inaugural Pedro Pascal look-alike contest named him “Pedro No. 5.” George Gountas, 38, a former Daily Show lighting designer, topped nearly 30 other hopefuls lining Orchard Street in the Lower East Side. His take-home reward was $50 in cash plus a weekly burrito for twelve months, a promotion tied to the restaurant’s first birthday.
Chef-owner Annisha Garcia said the idea sprang from Pedro Pascal’s 2023 jab that the city lacks decent Mexican food: “We’re here to prove otherwise.” The pop-up drew enough Father’s Day foot traffic that staff halted regular service to control the crowd, rain and all.
Many contestants credited partners for volunteering them; Gountas’ wife called the event his “Father’s Day treat.” Surveying the audience, Garcia quipped that the scene was “better than Hinge.” Co-owner Wim Shih said the light-hearted showcase offered “a bit of sunshine” during uneasy times.
The Lower East Side spectacle follows a wave of celebrity doppelgänger showdowns ignited by last October’s Timothée Chalamet contest in Washington Square Park, which Men’s Health dubbed the “most 2024 trend ever.” From Chalamet to Stranger Things actor Joe Keery—who joked on The Tonight Show that he finished third at his own event—these gatherings have multiplied across social feeds and parks nationwide.
Pop-culture scholar Lauren Rosewarne says the craze lets fans “participate in celebrity culture” through harmless play while sharing a communal moment. An online timeline lists at least a dozen such contests on four continents since late 2024. For Gountas, whose phone still lacks social-media apps, the fame may fade fast, yet the burritos—and bragging rights—are secure for the next 12 months.
