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
Jennifer Chandler has been a restaurateur, a cookbook author, a food stylist, a writer and a TV and radio personality.
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