MARIETTA - Barbecue and all the fixings took center stage Saturday during the third annual Brick Street BBQ Competition at The Parking Partners lot on Second Street in downtown Marietta.
In addition to the chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork and brisket, those at the event could purchase ice cream, lemonade and other drinks were also available.
A total of 26 teams made their way to Marietta for the competition. While 20 of the teams came from the Buckeye State, there was one team each from Florida, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and two from Maryland.
Article Photos
Tim Griggs, left, of Lancaster, Ohio, and Chris Vann, right, of Marietta, of ROWCO BBQ of Marietta, work on preparing a brisket for the third annual Brick Street BBQ Competition. ROWCO BBQ won third place for pork ribs and finished 15th overall on Saturday. (Photos by Jeffrey Saulton)
Hunt Brawley, development director for the Hippodrome-Colony Historical Theatre Association, said the two-day attendance for the event was about 5,000 this year on Friday and Saturday.
The overall winner was Saucehound from Watertown, Mass. In second place was 2 Worthless Nuts from Cleveland and Chix, Swine and Bovine BBQ from Columbia, Md., was third. Fourth place went to Velvet Smoke from Hilliard, Ohio, and fifth went to Smitty's Real Pit BBQ from Newark, Ohio.
Brawley said $10,000 was the total cash prizes at the competition which was the first part of the Ohio BBQ Triple Crown Series. Brawley said the winners in Marietta will be eligible for the Jack Daniels and American Royale competitions in Memphis, Tenn.
As part of the event, Brawley said organizers were also selling the old Colony Theater seats that will be removed as they start taking bids for new plaster in the theater.
"We will be able to recover some of the Art Deco seats and others will be replaced," Brawley said. "People will be able to have their names permanently on seats in the restored theater. The old seats may be purchased as is or restored."
To be eligible for the national competition the teams must also compete in the Ohio Veterans Barbecue Cook-off in Kettering on July 8 and 9 and the Ohio Smoked Meat and Barbecue Festival in Nelsonville on Oct. 14 and 15.
