Chili Cook-off - the sequel

Building off of the success of last year’s 1st ever Chili Cook-off, Bubba’s is once again hosting the event this weekend (October 20, 12pm-5pm), which they alliteratively proclaim will be “bigger, better, and with more room to roam.”

For starters, we have moved the cook-off to the street that runs alongside Bubba's Bar-B-Que (between us and Marriott Hong Qiao). It is a nice, tree-lined street and we're gonna close that sucker down to traffic and allow pedestrians and cooks only. Oh sure, we'll have music, games for kids, and games for adults as well.

Second, this year's event is sanctioned by CASI, which is the Chili Appreciation Society International. This is huge as we are the first organization in Asia to gain such a credential. What it means for the future is that the winner of our cook-off will gain an automatic entry to compete in the grandfather of all cook-offs.....Terlingua, which takes place in Texas each year.

It will be a bittersweet Saturday for Shanghaiist, as we were originally slated to be one of the judges for the cook-off but had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict (why oh why must new Chinese parents throw lavish parties to celebrate their babies’ first 100 days?). We’ll try to scramble over later in the afternoon to partake in the festivities, which will cost 50 RMB to get in and taste and vote on the entries. Bubba’s expects over 20 entrants to strip defending champion City Diner of its chili crown and over 600 chili-lovers to make it the trip out to Hongqiao. Please save some chili for us.

Bubba’s Texas-Style Bar-B-Que & Saloon, 2262 Hongqiao Lu, next to the Hongqiao Marriott (虹桥路2262号，在上海万豪虹桥大酒店旁). Tel: 62422612.

Eric Hu is Shanghaiist's Food Editor. Email tips, recommendations, and news and gossip about Shanghai's food scene to food at shanghaiist.com