Trip Report: Silicon Valley BBQ Championships, Santa Clara CA

[Chris Allingham]

Two days of fun and festivities were had at the Silicon Valley BBQ Championships on June 26-27, 2015 at Central Park in Santa Clara, CA. Forty-nine professional teams and 24 backyard teams showed up to compete for cash, prizes and bragging rights at what is expected to be the largest KCBS-sanctioned contest in NorCal in 2015.

Last year I was unable to judge this event because I had a cold and couldn't taste anything. This year, my tastebuds were in tip-top condition and I dove right in to 24 boxes of championship barbecue. I had a good time, as did all the competitors I spoke with after the event, and the big crowds that showed up to sample barbecue and beer were having tons of fun, too. There was a big public turn-out on Friday night as well as on Saturday afternoon.

Congrats to GC Bowling Over Pigs and RC My Smokin Grillfriend! Also, my friends at Too Ashamed to Name for taking #5 overall. I also want to thank the good folks with the Rotary Club of Santa Clara who sponsor this event...great to have a contest of this caliber here in Northern California!

Hope you enjoy these photos.

Caution...Judges Ahead.

Judges getting ready for the big event. Luxurious indoor accommodations with air conditioning and real flush toilets included.

Custom-painted Weber kettle lid trophies await the GC and RC winners. These were done by Kevin Walsh, internationally-known artist in the surf and skateboard community.

Meat category trophies for the professionals.

Ric Gilbert and his team were in the house.

Weber Smokey Mountain Cookers were well-represented in Santa Clara among professional teams.

How many WSMs can you count in this photo of Son of Smoke's cook site?

Festival food for the hungry masses.

My friends at Armadillo Willy's BBQ were vending 'que and sponsoring the event in Santa Clara.

Continued...

 

[Chris Allingham]

Live music was enjoyed on Friday night and all day Saturday.

Barbecue sauces and hot sauces, jerky, other food stuffs and crafts were all on display for sale.

This guy makes the best corn nuts in the world using white corn! Guaranteed tender, you won't crack a tooth!

My friends from Lord of the Ribs were doing People's Choice at Santa Clara.

The backyard teams were cranking out chicken and tri-tip for the judges.

Here's the chicken...

...and here's the tri-tip.

The backyard teams know who makes the best smokers and grills...

...and some brought out the big guns...

...and some brought out the trash cans and rust buckets. But all had fun!

Continued...

 

[Chris Allingham]

The beer and wine flowed freely for the adults in the Beer Garden...

...while the kids had fun on the rides in the Kids Zone.

More Kids Zone fun.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Here are the contest results.

Silicon Valley BBQ Championships, Santa Clara CA, June 26-27, 2015

Grand Champion: BOWLING OVER PIGS
Reserve Champion: MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND

Overall
1 BOWLING OVER PIGS 677.7488
2 MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND 676.5828
3 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ 673.0856
4 SMOKESHOW 669.7488
5 TOO ASHAMED TO NAME 665.7028
6 ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT 662.3084
7 G & Pop's BBQ 662.2744
8 Get Some's BBQ Assassins 658.2284
9 PIRATES OF THE PIG 656.0228
10 RHYTHM 'N QUE 655.4168
11 155 South Bar-B-Q 655.3260
12 SMOKIN YANKEES 654.7428
13 PIG PIMP'N BBQ 651.4400
14 SMOKEY LUV BBQ 649.0400
15 CANYON RIDERS BBQ 647.9084
16 FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. 647.4632
17 KNOCK UR SOX OFF BBQ 642.1368
18 JUICY O'S BBQ TEAM 639.9772
19 MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ. 639.4516
20 RIC'S RIGHTEOUS RIBS 639.2800
21 PORKTERA BBQ 638.1940
22 SON OF SMOKE 637.0624
23 MEAT FIRE BREW BBQ 636.5368
24 Starvin Marvins Bay Area BBQ 636.5028
25 Hog Eat Hog BBQ 636.4688
26 SMITTY'S SMOKE PATROL 628.5716
27 Smoke Slayers` 622.1712
28 GRILLIN' THE SHED 620.9484
29 M.A.C. BBQ SHACK 619.8624
30 2 ROLLING BONES 618.2060
31 NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT 617.6336
32 RBQ 615.9544
33 Smokestack BBQ 615.0060
34 V10 BBQ 611.2684
35 WINE WITH SWINE BBQ 609.5200
36 Caddyshack BBQ Team 595.9432
37 RIGHT ON QUE - CA 595.2576
38 LORD OF THE RIBS 593.0624
39 LOOSEN YOUR BELT BBQ 584.4000
40 Holy Smokers: Raisin' the Q 575.9772
41 PROPS BBQ 571.9196
42 Jopa's BBQrew 558.8116
43 Quixey 555.3716
44 ALL REASONS MOVING 548.4912
45 3 Brothers BBQ 532.5716
46 BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ 521.6800
47 BAD S. BBQ 467.8284
48 Smokein 288.5600
49 DBL D BBQ Boyz 282.3320

Chicken
1 155 South Bar-B-Q 173.1428
2 Starvin Marvins Bay Area BBQ 172.5600
3 G & Pop's BBQ 172.0000
4 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ 170.8344
5 TOO ASHAMED TO NAME 170.8228
6 SMOKESHOW 170.3200
7 KNOCK UR SOX OFF BBQ 167.4056
8 SMOKEY LUV BBQ 166.8228
9 BOWLING OVER PIGS 165.1200
10 Smokestack BBQ 164.6400
11 MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND 164.5484
12 PIG PIMP'N BBQ 163.4172
13 CANYON RIDERS BBQ 162.8456
14 RIC'S RIGHTEOUS RIBS 162.8228
15 SMOKIN YANKEES 162.8116
16 FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. 162.2860
17 M.A.C. BBQ SHACK 161.1312
18 MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ. 161.1200
19 Smoke Slayers` 160.5600
20 PIRATES OF THE PIG 160.5600
21 Hog Eat Hog BBQ 160.5028
22 ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT 160.0112
23 MEAT FIRE BREW BBQ 159.9656
24 RBQ 159.4400
25 Get Some's BBQ Assassins 159.4056
26 GRILLIN' THE SHED 157.0972
27 JUICY O'S BBQ TEAM 156.5716
28 RHYTHM 'N QUE 156.5484
29 2 ROLLING BONES 156.5372
30 WINE WITH SWINE BBQ 154.8112
31 SON OF SMOKE 154.2740
32 Jopa's BBQrew 150.2856
33 PORKTERA BBQ 149.6684
34 Quixey 148.5944
35 SMITTY'S SMOKE PATROL 147.3600
36 Caddyshack BBQ Team 146.8800
37 NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT 146.2740
38 DBL D BBQ Boyz 145.1888
39 RIGHT ON QUE - CA 141.6800
40 3 Brothers BBQ 141.2344
41 V10 BBQ 140.0000
42 LORD OF THE RIBS 139.3940
43 Holy Smokers: Raisin' the Q 138.8572
44 LOOSEN YOUR BELT BBQ 138.8000
45 ALL REASONS MOVING 136.0000
46 BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ 133.7484
47 PROPS BBQ 133.1428
48 BAD S. BBQ 20.0000

Pork Ribs
1 Get Some's BBQ Assassins 177.7372
2 ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT 176.5600
3 BOWLING OVER PIGS 175.4744
4 MEAT FIRE BREW BBQ 174.2856
5 G & Pop's BBQ 173.7488
6 SMOKESHOW 172.5828
7 MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND 172.0344
8 RHYTHM 'N QUE 172.0000
9 TOO ASHAMED TO NAME 169.1428
10 PIG PIMP'N BBQ 168.0456
11 FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. 168.0000
12 PIRATES OF THE PIG 167.9884
13 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ 167.4400
14 LOOSEN YOUR BELT BBQ 165.7372
15 NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT 165.1312
16 PORKTERA BBQ 165.1200
17 CANYON RIDERS BBQ 161.7028
18 Hog Eat Hog BBQ 161.1316
19 RIGHT ON QUE - CA 161.1316
20 BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ 160.0456
21 JUICY O'S BBQ TEAM 159.4400
22 LORD OF THE RIBS 159.3712
23 RIC'S RIGHTEOUS RIBS 158.8228
24 SMOKEY LUV BBQ 158.2744
25 Smoke Slayers` 157.6912
26 GRILLIN' THE SHED 157.6800
27 155 South Bar-B-Q 157.0744
28 SON OF SMOKE 156.5256
29 KNOCK UR SOX OFF BBQ 155.9772
30 BAD S. BBQ 155.9544
31 Starvin Marvins Bay Area BBQ 154.2744
32 PROPS BBQ 153.7140
33 SMITTY'S SMOKE PATROL 152.0228
34 RBQ 152.0116
35 Smokestack BBQ 150.3088
36 V10 BBQ 149.6228
37 SMOKIN YANKEES 149.6228
38 MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ. 149.1544
39 ALL REASONS MOVING 145.1200
40 WINE WITH SWINE BBQ 145.0744
41 Caddyshack BBQ Team 141.6800
42 Jopa's BBQrew 140.5260
43 2 ROLLING BONES 138.7772
44 Holy Smokers: Raisin' the Q 138.2628
45 DBL D BBQ Boyz 137.1432
46 3 Brothers BBQ 131.4056
47 M.A.C. BBQ SHACK 130.1828
48 Quixey 126.7772

Pork
1 155 South Bar-B-Q 174.8572
2 SMOKIN YANKEES 171.9656
3 FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. 170.8572
4 MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND 169.7028
5 TOO ASHAMED TO NAME 168.6056
6 BOWLING OVER PIGS 168.5944
7 ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT 168.5828
8 SMOKESHOW 168.5716
9 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ 167.9884
10 SMOKEY LUV BBQ 167.4172
11 CANYON RIDERS BBQ 167.4056
12 Get Some's BBQ Assassins 166.2972
13 Hog Eat Hog BBQ 165.7144
14 Caddyshack BBQ Team 165.1200
15 G & Pop's BBQ 165.1200
16 PIG PIMP'N BBQ 164.0228
17 RBQ 164.0000
18 SON OF SMOKE 163.9772
19 M.A.C. BBQ SHACK 162.2856
20 SMITTY'S SMOKE PATROL 162.2744
21 PIRATES OF THE PIG 160.5828
22 V10 BBQ 160.5600
23 MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ. 158.8800
24 RHYTHM 'N QUE 158.3200
25 NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT 157.1084
26 KNOCK UR SOX OFF BBQ 157.0856
27 Smokein 156.6056
28 PORKTERA BBQ 155.9884
29 2 ROLLING BONES 155.4516
30 WINE WITH SWINE BBQ 155.3828
31 Smokestack BBQ 153.7372
32 Starvin Marvins Bay Area BBQ 152.5256
33 GRILLIN' THE SHED 152.5140
34 JUICY O'S BBQ TEAM 152.0000
35 3 Brothers BBQ 151.4400
36 Holy Smokers: Raisin' the Q 150.8572
37 MEAT FIRE BREW BBQ 150.2972
38 PROPS BBQ 150.2628
39 RIC'S RIGHTEOUS RIBS 149.6572
40 Smoke Slayers` 149.6456
41 BAD S. BBQ 149.0972
42 LOOSEN YOUR BELT BBQ 147.3828
43 Quixey 146.3200
44 Jopa's BBQrew 145.7256
45 LORD OF THE RIBS 144.5600
46 RIGHT ON QUE - CA 142.1944
47 ALL REASONS MOVING 134.2628
48 BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ 125.1544

Brisket
1 JUICY O'S BBQ TEAM 171.9656
2 SMOKIN YANKEES 170.3428
3 MAR-B-QUE'S BBQ. 170.2972
4 MY SMOKIN GRILLFRIEND 170.2972
5 BOWLING OVER PIGS 168.5600
6 RHYTHM 'N QUE 168.5484
7 RIC'S RIGHTEOUS RIBS 167.9772
8 2 ROLLING BONES 167.4400
9 PORKTERA BBQ 167.4172
10 SMITTY'S SMOKE PATROL 166.9144
11 PIRATES OF THE PIG 166.8916
12 BIG B'S DOWN-N-DIRTY BBQ 166.8228
13 M.A.C. BBQ SHACK 166.2628
14 SON OF SMOKE 162.2856
15 KNOCK UR SOX OFF BBQ 161.6684
16 V10 BBQ 161.0856
17 SMOKESHOW 158.2744
18 ROYAL SMOKIN' HOT 157.1544
19 Starvin Marvins Bay Area BBQ 157.1428
20 TOO ASHAMED TO NAME 157.1316
21 SMOKEY LUV BBQ 156.5256
22 CANYON RIDERS BBQ 155.9544
23 PIG PIMP'N BBQ 155.9544
24 Get Some's BBQ Assassins 154.7884
25 Smoke Slayers` 154.2744
26 WINE WITH SWINE BBQ 154.2516
27 GRILLIN' THE SHED 153.6572
28 MEAT FIRE BREW BBQ 151.9884
29 G & Pop's BBQ 151.4056
30 RIGHT ON QUE - CA 150.2516
31 155 South Bar-B-Q 150.2516
32 LORD OF THE RIBS 149.7372
33 NUTIN2IT BUT2QIT 149.1200
34 Hog Eat Hog BBQ 149.1200
35 Holy Smokers: Raisin' the Q 148.0000
36 FLAME THROWER BBQ CO. 146.3200
37 Smokestack BBQ 146.3200
38 BAD S. BBQ 142.7768
39 Caddyshack BBQ Team 142.2632
40 RBQ 140.5028
41 PROPS BBQ 134.8000
42 Quixey 133.6800
43 ALL REASONS MOVING 133.1084
44 LOOSEN YOUR BELT BBQ 132.4800
45 Smokein 131.9544
46 Jopa's BBQrew 122.2744
47 3 Brothers BBQ 108.4916
48 BLAZIN BY THE BAY BBQ 102.7316

Backyard Overall
1 .KJ's Big Boy BBQ 311.9884
2 Hello BBQ 310.8344
3 .Rob's Nearly Famous Backyard BBQ 307.4744
4 .Griilin Gils BBQ 305.1428
5 .Burnin' Down The House 300.5712
6 .Smokin J's 300.0344
7 .City of Santa Clara Parks Department 299.4516
8 .Beer and Bones BBQ 295.9544
9 .Seer Team Six 295.3256
10 DOUBLE TROUBLE BACK YARD BBQ 291.4172
11 Cutting Edge Barbeque 290.2400
12 .Pit Bull Bar B Q 289.6456
13 .Breaking Rad BBQ 288.0460
14 We are Sparta 285.6224
15 .My Spot Catering 282.2744
16 WHERE THERE'S SMOKE 278.9028
17 .Herb's BBQ 277.1772
18 .WeDat 276.5716
19 .Santa Clara Fire 275.9200
20 .Spokes 'N Smokes 273.5656
21 .Dish Ditty 271.9660
22 .Quail Hollow Kitchens 270.8684
23 The Heavy Hitters 266.8572
24 .A Smokin' Rack and Sausage 242.2052

Backyard Chicken
1 .Griilin Gils BBQ 160.0456
2 DOUBLE TROUBLE BACK YARD BBQ 160.0000
3 .KJ's Big Boy BBQ 156.5712
4 Hello BBQ 154.2628
5 .Smokin J's 152.0000
6 .Rob's Nearly Famous Backyard BBQ 151.9656
7 .Beer and Bones BBQ 150.8228
8 .City of Santa Clara Parks Department 148.0344
9 Cutting Edge Barbeque 147.9772
10 .Seer Team Six 146.1828
11 .My Spot Catering 145.7484
12 .Herb's BBQ 145.7256
13 We are Sparta 145.0740
14 WHERE THERE'S SMOKE 144.0000
15 .Quail Hollow Kitchens 141.7256
16 .Spokes 'N Smokes 141.0628
17 .Pit Bull Bar B Q 140.5712
18 .Breaking Rad BBQ 140.5600
19 .Burnin' Down The House 138.8456
20 .A Smokin' Rack and Sausage 137.6568
21 .WeDat 137.1772
22 .Dish Ditty 136.5944
23 The Heavy Hitters 130.3200
24 .Santa Clara Fire 129.6456

Backyard Tri-Tip
1 .Burnin' Down The House 161.7256
2 Hello BBQ 156.5716
3 .Rob's Nearly Famous Backyard BBQ 155.5088
4 .KJ's Big Boy BBQ 155.4172
5 .City of Santa Clara Parks Department 151.4172
6 .Seer Team Six 149.1428
7 .Pit Bull Bar B Q 149.0744
8 .Smokin J's 148.0344
9 .Breaking Rad BBQ 147.4860
10 .Santa Clara Fire 146.2744
11 .Beer and Bones BBQ 145.1316
12 .Griilin Gils BBQ 145.0972
13 Cutting Edge Barbeque 142.2628
14 We are Sparta 140.5484
15 .WeDat 139.3944
16 The Heavy Hitters 136.5372
17 .My Spot Catering 136.5260
18 .Dish Ditty 135.3716
19 WHERE THERE'S SMOKE 134.9028
20 .Spokes 'N Smokes 132.5028
21 .Herb's BBQ 131.4516
22 DOUBLE TROUBLE BACK YARD BBQ 131.4172
23 .Quail Hollow Kitchens 129.1428
24 .A Smokin' Rack and Sausage 104.5484

 

[James N]

Grate write up and pictures Chris.

 

[Peter Gallagher]

looks like a fun event - I love reading the team names....

nice setup! - Hopefully these guys were next to the tetanus shot booth