Man ate at Benihana 579 times last year and shed 20lbs in the process

• Jack King, with 579 trips to Benihana locations, won Benihana's 2014 Passport Challenge
• Benihana says approximately 19,000 people participated in the contest
• The company is going to award King with a gift card worth $1,000 and a trip for King and a guest to a U.S. Benihana location that he can pick out

By Zoe Szathmary for MailOnline

Published: 17:51 EST, 23 February 2015 | Updated: 08:08 EST, 24 February 2015

A Utah man won a Benihana competition after making hundreds of visits to the restaurant chain - and reportedly lost twenty pounds along the way.

Benihana is going to award loyal customer Jack King for the multiple 2014 visits he made, it emerged last week.

King, with 579 Benihana trips, won the restaurant company's 2014 Passport Challenge, according to reports.

Loyal customer: Jack King reportedly made 579 trips to Benihana locations last year

He took the top spot in the contest's division for overall restaurant trips, according to theSalt Lake Tribune.

King, 51, told the newspaper 'I normally go four times a week. It's Salt Lake's best-kept secret for lunch. It's the same meal you get at dinner only slightly smaller portion.'

The 2014 Passport Challenge also featured a division for visiting individual U.S. Benihanas, the newspaper reported.

Benihana told the Salt Lake Tribune that approximately 19,000 people participated.

According the newspaper, Benihana is going to award King with two prizes: a gift card worth $1,000 and a trip for King and a guest to a U.S. Benihana location he gets to pick out.

Salt Lake City Benihana general manager Susan Gutierrez told the newspaper 'He was here almost every day anyway, so we said, "Jack, you've got to do this." He got it in his head that he was going to win the contest, and he did.'

According to Benihana, approximately 19,000 people participated in the company's 2014 Passport Challenge

King went to Benihana for dinner and snacks when he was unable to eat lunch there, the newspaper reported.

King explained another tactic for racking up visits to ABC News, saying 'I went seven days a week this year. And if I was out of town in a bigger market, I’d hit a couple a day.'

Another manager for the Salt Lake location, TJ Chagzoetsang, told the news outlet 'Jack is a regular and a very nice customer. We had quite a few people participate, but in our region nobody came even close to him. We’re very happy for him.'

The total cost for King's 579 visits came to approximately $6,900, ABC News reported.

King explained to the website 'Average meal with tip is about $12 and anytime I go eat out for lunch anyway it’s $7 to $15 anywhere, so I think it’s good value for the money and I think they do a good job and keep things pretty healthy.'

ABC News reported that King may take his trip to the Anchorage, Alaska, Benihana, with the location in Key West, Florida being another option.