The sound of sizzling meat and wafts of cooking smoke will return to Park Ridge starting early on Saturday, Aug. 24 for the eighth annual Vine Street BBQ festival and competition. Amateur chefs and pit masters will compete to see who can offer the best BBQ. Proceeds from the event will go to local charities.
Jamie Rubin, the event’s coordinator and co-founder, said this year’s competition will consist of 41 amateur teams with about four people on each team. The competition is part of the Kansas City Barbecue Society, and judges will decide who has the best chicken, ribs, sauce, and dish in Park Ridge before it’s all over.
Rubin said the food prepared by the competitors will only be available to the competition’s 41 judges, who are certified by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, a Kansas City-based non-profit dedicated to promoting and enjoying barbecue. The judges will score the food on taste, appearance and texture.
Aaron’s Full of Flavor Barbecue, Soul & Smoke, Nicky C’s Red Hots, Forno Pavese Pizza, Tamales Express, Rita’s Italian Ice and Triple Scoop’d will be on-site to sell their food.
Pam DeFiglio / Pioneer Press
Park Ridge’s Hodges Park will welcome back Vine St. BBQ Fest on Aug. 24. From a previous year:Forty-one teams competed, and raised money for local charities, in Park Ridge’s Vine Street BBQ Fest Aug. 20. (Pam DeFiglio/Chicago Tribune, Pioneer Press)
Last year, the festival raised $28,000 for the Cancer Survivorship Center of Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Avenues to Independence, the Maine Township Food Pantry and the Park Ridge Community Church. The Cancer Survivorship Center received $20,000, Avenues to Independence received $5,000, the Maine Township Food Pantry received $2,000 and Park Ridge Community Church received $1,000.
So far, the festival has received $19,000 and this year’s charity recipients will be the same as last year’s, except for the Cancer Survivorship Center at Lutheran General, with those funds instead going to the hospital’s Ronald McDonald Family Room, which opened October 2023. This year’s sponsors are Tito’s, RG Construction, Tunnell Insurance Agency, Dream Town Real Estate/Christine DePaepe, State Farm Neal Salah, Holt’s, 33 Realty, Groot and Vertical Chimney Care.
Previous winners and participants are welcome to participate in the competition over and over again. Most of the team names contain amusing puns and parodies, including: South Pork BBQ, Porklandia, Smoke Show, and Pig Floyd.
Competitors will only be allowed to cook using natural heat sources like charcoal and wood. Electric and gas grills and smokers are banned from competition, Rubin said. Many competitors set up shop in the morning before the festival formally begins at noon and goes on until 10 p.m.
Brothers, Donald and Todd Mills of the TJD Smokehouse team captured top honors during Saturday’s Vin
Brian O’Mahoney / Pioneer Press Brothers Donald and Todd Mills of the TJD Smokehouse team captured top honors in the 2018 Vine Street BBQ competition in Park Ridge. This year’s cookoff will take place Aug. 24. Brian O’Mahoney/Pioneer Press)
Live music ranging from rock, classic rock and acoustic will kick off at 1:15 p.m. and go on until 10 p.m. StoneDrift will be the closing act at 7 p.m.
Last year’s Best Dish winner was The Bacon and Hockey Podcast BBQ. Best Sauce went to Tricky Pig BBQ. Best Ribs went to Hillbilly Deluxe and Best Chicken went to Miami Heat. Makdaddy BBQ was the overall winner.
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