2018 Silicon Valley BBQ Championship

By Lizzy Barron

Photos by Andy Ratterman

Silicon Valley BBQ Championship 1st place ribs
and Grand Champion; Burnin and Lootin

On Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23, the Silicon Valley BBQ Championships completed its 7th annual competition. The event was held at Santa Clara’s Central Park and is co-hosted by the Santa Clara Rotary Club and the City of Santa Clara. Throughout its tenure, the event has grown from a small competition to one that brings teams from various parts of the West Coast. It holds three competitions. Pro teams battle it out in chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder, and brisket. The Backyard Competition, comprised of mainly local residents, vie for the winning spot in chicken

Silicon Valley BBQ Championship Reserve Grand Champion; Bone Rubbin BBQ

and tri-tip. The event also has a Mayor’s Cup competition in which various city departments, within the Backyard Competition, square-off for yearlong bragging rights.

This year, over 50 Pro teams and 32 backyard teams competed in the KCBS sanctioned event for $25,000 in prize money. The Grand Champion of the event was Burnin and Lootin (http://www.burninandlootinbbq.com) from Corona, CA with an overall score of 694.80. Bone Rubbin BBQ, from Stockton, CA was the event’s Reserve Champion with an overall score of 683.95. In the Backyard Competition, T&A BBQ, two retired firefighters from San Jose, CA, won with 326.27 points. Finally, for the third year in a row, Parks on Fire, from the City of Santa Clara’s Parks and Recreational Division won the Mayor’s Cup.

Silicon Valley BBQ Championship 1st place brisket; The Smokin Hills

The SVBBQ is a true community event with great food, music, and drinks! Various music bands played while couples, families, and friends danced to the music. Some of the teams sampled their one-of-a-kind BBQ food, much to the delight of the attendees who voted on the “People’s Choice,” or the BBQ team who sampled the best food. Attendees browsed a diverse selection of items sold by business/arts and crafts vendors. As an event run by volunteers, 100% of the proceeds raised from the event support various projects sponsored by the Santa Clara Rotary Foundation to help

those in need in the local community.

Next year’s SVBBQ Competition is currently slated to be held on June 21st & 22nd.

Silicon Valley BBQ Championship 1st place chicken; Pirates of the Pig

For more information, please visit svbbq.com.