Barbecue pitmasters from Valley and beyond unite for food festival. Guests can try them all
Want to try barbecue food by various pitmasters from around the San Joaquin Valley and beyond all without driving to different locations?
Then the San Joaquin Valley BBQ Festival is where you’ll want to be Sunday.
Bringing together 13 barbecue pitmasters who all specialize in different foods and flavors, the San Joaquin Valley BBQ Festival will give guests a chance to try a variety of barbecue all in one place.
It’s not a barbecue competition but rather a coming together of different types of foods cooked on the grill.
And while no scores will be assigned, when it comes to barbecue gatherings, bragging rights are always on the line.
“It’s a celebration of barbecue where people get to come out and enjoy many of their favorite barbecue foods, but also try other things that they might never have thought about when having barbecue,” said organizer Anthony Vallejo, who also is one of the pitmasters at the event as the owner of Fresno-based restaurant Mega Texas Barbeque.
While the menus for the fest had yet to be confirmed for some cooks, event organizers are expecting that there will be a strong mix of tradition barbecue plates (such as chicken and ribs) but also creative platters.
Like a pulled pork sandwich with a jelly donut as a bun.
Or pork belly pupusas.
Or how about birria sausage?
“One drawback about barbecue competitions is that everyone is cooking the same meat and there’s not a lot of variety,” Vallejo said. “This being a festival, some of these cooks who are coming, they’re looking to push the envelope when it comes to barbecue foods.
“I’ve got a feeling, we’re going to see some unique stuff. And I bet it’s going to be delicious.”
The festival runs 12 p.m-4 p.m. Sunday at Casa De Phlorez at 233 N. Polk Ave., which is roughly 7 miles west of downtown Fresno.
The event is for adults only and tickets are $100 each. Because the maximum capacity for the event is 150 people, those looking to attend the food festival are advised to buy tickets in advance online.
Included in the ticket is essentially an all-you-can-eat pass at the event. Guests are encouraged to try food from each of the pit masters (food could run out at some point).
Each purchased ticket also serves as a raffle ticket in a drawing for a 120-gallon custom offset smoker, which was donated by Southern California-based welding company SG Metalworks and valued at $4,000
A portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to the West Coast Fire Foundation.
“It’s an all-inclusive barbecue road trip that comes to you,” Vallejo said. “Usually, if you were to drive to all of these barbecue places, you’re looking at like 40 hours of drive time in the car.
“It’s going to be a great event for those who like to eat barbecue and especially for those who do their own barbecue.
“Because the best way to become better at cooking barbecue is to try other people’s food,” Vallejo added. “It’s inspiring and you get to learn tips.”
Here is the festival’s lineup of barbecue pitmasters:
- A’s BBQ (East Los Angeles)
- BBQ Queen (Fresno)
- Big Vic’s BBQ (Turlock)
- Cali Q BBQ (Dos Palos)
- Casas De Humo Barbecue (Salinas)
- Don’t Bite The Bone (Dinuba)
- El Mero Mero Taquero (Los Banos)
Hagman Barbecue Joint (Clovis)
- HB BBQ (Bakersfield)
- Los Mexiqutioners BBQ (Hollister)
- Megas Texas Barbeque (Fresno)
- Meat Hustler (Portland, Ore.)
- Ruff House BBQ (Oxnard)
Event organizers said the group consists of award winning, locally and nationally recognized pitmasters who have been featured on various podcasts, newspapers, TV shows, Eater Magazine and The New York Times.
“Really, what barbecue is,” Vallejo said, “is an opportunity to bring people together and just enjoy good food and good people.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 8:36 AM.