4th Annual Estel’s BBQ Rib Cook-Off Is A Screaming Success For Diners & Charity

Six grill masters, 7 judges, 120 tickets sold, two charities, everyone’s favorite beachside breakfast spot, a full band and a plateful of delicious ribs.  Screaming success is the only way to describe it.  I mean…look at this pic someone snapped of me helping Kelly McGuire auction off some of his stuff for charity.

No I didn’t win…I was just having a great time!

(Photo by Helen Mott)

Let me first show you what was going on when I first walked in.  All of the grillers were in action.

Kevin (who has participated in ALL of the cook-offs) has a new smoker/BBQ that’s pretty snazzy.

He’s also got the body of a god.  Kevin is from Orange Walk but has been in San Pedro for years.  He now has his own restaurant – Kevin’s Kitchen – just south of town.

Confidence.  I like it!

We’ve got Rick from Kansas City.  Perhaps you’ve heard of their BBQ?

We’ve got home town favorite Charles!  Who works the BBQ at Estel’s every single weekend.  His food is FANTASTIC.

We’ve got Jim…the one most likely to appear on TV with Guy Fieri.  He just looks like a pit master and he’s got personality to spare.

There were two newcomers in the mix.  Randy and Ali.  Ali from California.

No matter who was grilling, the ribs were looking divine…

and it was a gorgeous day.

Chef Chris with his new ridiculously cute puppy Lola.

Coconut Leo taking it easy.

And Kendall from Ecologic Divers and Sailing Charters.

Kelly McGuire auctioned off some merchandise for the Scholarship awarding charity – The Sunshine Foundation.

And this lovely lady later won the 50/50 raffle.  Congratulations.  Left to Right:  Barrington, the MC;  Eve, one of the charity organizers and the winner!

The judges were served first and I was there to stick a camera in their faces while they were eating messy ribs.

Chris, the chef at Blue Water Grill.

Dorian, the Editor of Ambergris Today.  Thumbs up!

Kelly McGuire…well I doctored up his picture just a little bit.  Not fair to show someone with rib in his teeth!

Chef Jeff from Rojo Beach Bar knows how to make sure his photo isn’t taken like that.   Hold up a dirty rag?

All seven judges were all business.  Hard at work.

So I went to find my color coded ribs.  And was so quick to dive in…that I forgot to take a picture!

How embarrassing.  But know that the colors went like this:  Yellow (SPICY!) = Jim, Orange = Rick, Purple (reminiscent of a Tootsie Roll – in a good way) = Kevin, Green = Charles, Blue = Ali and Red = Randy.

Here is how I ended up voting.  I would have put the beans (made by Estel’s) as #1…but I wrote them in instead.  Yum.

 

And then, after lots more music, the announcement was made.  The guys lined up and…

AND THE WINNERS!    Judges’ Choices:  1. Ali (Blue) 2. Charles (Green) and 3. Rick (Orange) and Kevin (Purple) Tie

Peoples’ Choices:  1. Rick (Orange) 2.  Charles (Green) and 3.  Jim (Yellow)

Congratulations everyone.  What a super fun day and $10bzd of each ticket went to the Sunshine Foundation.

For lots more FANTASTIC pics, check out Dorian’s article in Ambergris Today.  And for posts about some of the earlier cook-offs, check out the blog posts below.

LONG LIVE BBQ!