Eats, Sips, Games Rule the Waterfront Cook-Off

A BBQ-zingy showdown, plus craft brews, plus a horseshoe toss, will pop up near the big boat.

What to Know

  • Long Beach
  • Saturday, May 11 from noon to 5 o'clock
  • $35 general admission (includes five tasting tickets)

The middle-ish of May is definitely not summertime, and pretending it is can be a bit foolish, since the school year is still in cracking the books, and May Gray is hanging around, and our feet aren't yet rocking a pair of flip-flops.

But, honestly? Summer can sometimes visit us in May, in small ways, all to give us a taste of what will truly rev up come the later part of June.

The Waterfront Cook-Off at the Queen Mary surely must be one of summertime's favorite spots to pop by in May.

For the foodie festival offers all of the classics of the warmest season, including BBQ being barbecued, right before your eyes, er, nose, and cold craft brews, and a host of under-the-sun fun pursuits, including a horseshoe toss, cornhole, ladder ball, and more.

The "Cook-Off" element present at the May 11 event? "SoCal's top BBQ pitmasters and chili experts (will) compete for trophies" during the afternoon affair, which is sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, a deal as big as sauce is spicy.

There's a chili-themed competition, too, which gets has an International Chili Society stamp o' sanction-awesomeness.

The Scene

Want to find new things to do in Los Angeles? The Scene's lifestyle stories have you covered. Here's your go-to source on where the fun is across SoCal and for the weekend.

Theodore Payne Foundation's ‘poppy-ular' Poppy Days Spring Sale is about to sprout

The Broad is broadening: The contemporary art museum just unveiled a major expansion plan

The barbecue styles'll feature both Texas and Memphis styles of cooking and seasoning meats, while the chili offerings'll cover a wide swath of interpretations, chile verde and vegetarian both set to make a savory showing.

Going with the general admission option? That's $35, and you'll enjoy five tastings. There's a VIP option, too, for more money, but that nets you more tastings.

You can read all, at the Waterfront Cook-Off page, and get a sense of what the summer-in-springtime celebration will be like. 

And when we say this is "at" the Queen Mary, we mean the rib-fragrant revelries'll pop up adjacent to the big ship and not on it.

Parking, too, has a fee, so read up.

And sparkle up, if you're a summer lover, for your favorite season is about to make a cool cameo, in Long Beach, on the savory Saturday afternoon of May 11, 2019.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us