Table Talk: Patio Porkers prepare for Handy Park
Patio Porkers on Beale hosted their first barbecue cooking contest in May 2023 in Handy Park on Beale Street. The Metal Museum of Memphis hand-crafted the trophies for the 2023 Patio Porkers on Beale barbecue cooking contest. (Courtesy Patio Porkers on Beale)
An old but new barbecue contest is returning to Beale Street on Saturday, Aug. 24 — back to where Memphis in May’s World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest began in 1978.
A handful of teams competed in the Orpheum Theatre parking lot on Beale Street back in 1978, with Memphian Bessie Lou Kathy winning that very first competition.
The next year, the contest moved to Tom Lee Park; it stayed there until last year when Memphis in May dropped the Patio Porkers division.
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Patio Porkers Beale Street La Palapa Jimmy Stovall SOB Hospitality Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Jennifer Chandler
A cookbook author and former restaurateur, Jennifer Chandler has been writing about food and dining for more than 25 years. In her role as the food and restaurant writer for The Daily Memphian, she covers food news, provides readers an inside look into their favorite restaurants and offers suggestions for what to order at eateries across the Memphis area.
Chandler’s stories and recipes have been featured in national publications such as Real Simple, HGTV Magazine and Woman’s World. She’s also appeared on a number of national broadcast cooking segments including Food Network’s “Dinner: Impossible” and Ducks Unlimited TV. She also hosts a radio show “The Weekly Dish” on Memphis’s NPR station WKNO-FM.
She is the author of four cookbooks: “The Southern Pantry Cookbook,” “Simply Salads,” “Simply Suppers,” and “Simply Grilling.” While she boasts a degree from Le Cordon Bleu, this Memphis native is about making real food accessible for real families.
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