Smokin’ Good Time for 3,500 at Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival

There were winners all around as a perfect fall day and a new venue brought out 3,500 fans of kosher barbeque for the 6th Annual Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival and Competition Sunday at the new City Springs in downtown Sandy Springs.

The Brisketeers of Lodge Carmel, Hebrew Order of David, were grand champions among the 20 teams that spent the previous night smoking brisket, ribs and chicken and cooking chili. We Don’t Give a Ham and Limp Brisket/Griller’s Pride took second and third, respectively, in the overall competition.

“The win for the Brisketeers was very special, and we feel honored to have participated in such a worthy philanthropic event,” said team captain Charles Goldberg. “Our primary goal for participating has always been to raise money for several amazing charities in Atlanta and to bring Atlanta’s Jewish community together.”

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Suncoast Multimedia, LLC // Brisketeers were the grand champions among the 20 teams.

First place winners in the food categories were:

• SS PD Blue Smoke for brisket
• Limp Brisket/Griller’s Pride for ribs
• We Don’t Give a Ham for chicken
• Sons of BBQ for chili

BBQ’N Hebrew Hillbillies won the celebrity judges’ vote for the best booth, and Bubbe-Q from the Jewish Educational Loan Fund won the best name vote. The nightgown-clad, gray-wigged bubbes were also voted fan favorites by attendees.

Suncoast Multimedia, LLC // Atlanta Jewish Times team with this year’s slogan: “May the Sauce be with you., as presenting sponsors two years running.

Keith Marks of Keith’s Corner Bar-B-Que, a founder of the AKBF, was presented with the Enoch Goodfriend Mensch of Meat Award for his continued outstanding support of the event. The presentation was by Avi Goodfriend, Enoch’s son and a big supporter of Maccabi Games.

Suncoast Multimedia, LLC // The nightgown-clad, gray-wigged bubbes of team Bubbe-Q received the fan favorite, and best name votes by attendees. They were also the big winners as the primary beneficiary of the event.

JELF was the big winner as the primary beneficiary of the event, given by the Atlanta lodges of the Hebrew Order of David International with the Atlanta Jewish Times as the presenting sponsor. Other beneficiaries will be the charities chosen by each of the four lodges, Carmel, Bezalel, Magen David and Shimshon.

Suncoast Multimedia, LLC // The Sandy Springs fire and police department made their debuts, as two of four first-responder teams in the competition this year.

“The festival was everything we hoped it would be,” said Jody Pollack, festival executive director. “The teams faced cold, windy conditions while working all night, but the day was beautiful. Every item in our silent auction sold, and attendees told me they loved the venue and the food. It raised our game a notch, and we hope this was the start of a long smokin’ relationship with City Springs.”

Suncoast Multimedia, LLC // An estimated 3,500 attend the 6th Annual Atlanta Kosher BBQ Festival located at City Springs in Sandy Springs.

Pollack was especially heartened by having four first-responder teams in the competition this year. The Sandy Springs fire and police department teams made their debuts, while the Cobb County Police Department and Dekalb County Fire & Rescue returned from last year.