Live music, thoroughbred horse racing, brews, and BBQs!
Returning for 2022 – This event is now a TWO DAY EVENT combined with a FULL family-friendly CARNIVAL!
MAK GRILLS presents the 9th Annual Winners’ Circle BBQ Championships, a premier all-American Celebration of family fun and America’s cuisine – BBQ!
Featuring the West Coast’s best BBQ – YOURS!. The 9th Annual Winners’ Circle BBQ Championships will be held on Saturday, April 2, AND SUNDAY, April 3, 2022 at beautiful Santa Anita Park. Talented cooks from all over the United States will compete for TWO California State BBQ Championship titles and some of the highest cash purses in all of the state.
The Santa Anita Winners’ Circle BBQ Championship is NOW a TWO day, high volume event that attracts thousands of attendees. With free event parking at gate 6 and expanded marketing, plus the addition of a FULL FAMILY friendly CARNIVAL we look forward to even greater attendance than ever before! This is a very fast-paced, high energy TWO-day foodie mecca. Our past events have received overwhelming praise from our BBQ vendors, many who wanted to immediately sign up for future years. Very few vendor spaces will be open for this event in 2022.
NEW FOR 2022 – 90% RETURN ON TICKETS
As a MAK Grills People’s Choice (PC) Challenge competitor your emphasis should be on quality and pleasing your BBQ fans. All BBQ is sold to be the public using a ticket system, tickets are $1 each to the consumer, and $0.90 each back to you the teams. Each of your servings should be approximately 2 ounces. Two-ounce servings typically sell for two tickets. No single menu item can be priced more than EIGHT tickets. Teams should, if possible, also have a single ticket menu item, so that if a customer has few tickets left you can get them all 😉
All items served in the MAK Grills People’s Choice (PC) Challenge must contain and should be focused on at least one BBQ component, examples; Nachos which contain – chips, sauce/cheese, and pulled pork or a baked potato topped with a BBQ meat and sauce. If your menu item does not contain a BBQ component, you will not be able to sell it at our event (no sides of just slaw!), but things like cobbler cooked on your smoker with crumbled bacon is fine! MAK Grills People’s Choice (PC) Challenge teams will need to provide all needed supplies for this contest (serving cups, forks, napkins, etc.).
A W-9 is required and checks are usually in the mail within 10 days of the event. We return $0.90 for each ticket turned in to us at the end of the day.
To recover the $160 LA County Environmental Health Department (EHD) Temporary Food Facility Fees (TFF), that we pay for in advance, we may institute a minimum required servings/tickets collected so that we can at least cover those costs (this will be determined and spelled out more clearly as we get closer to the event).
Welcome to the 9th Annual Santa Anita Winners’ Circle – MAK Grills People’s Choice (PC) Challenge.
Kindly read and review the following very carefully. While not much has changed from past years, we anticipate that everyone could use a bit of a refresher.
The MAK Grills People’s Choice (PC) Challenge is the largest event of this type in California. It is a “voter-driven” contest where your BBQ is judged by the public attendees. Only a limited number of teams are invited to participate!
Menu Planning – You may serve additional meat-based items such as pig candy, ribs, moink balls, and even featured dishes at various price points ranging from 1-8 tickets. Be creative and make your BBQ stand out, here is our suggested pricing:
1 ticket: Pig Candy, Moink Balls, etc.
2 tickets: 2-ounce servings of BBQ meats
3 tickets: one rib (this will be the standard price)
4-8 tickets: Featured Items – pulled pork sammies, BBQ Sunday, bbq nachos, etc.
Our intention is to give teams more creative freedom and a higher ticket value without the worry of providing a huge multi-item menu (we STRONGLY recommend a focused menu selection which you can produce with quality AND quantity over a huge variety of harder to manage menu items). And, the public (your judges) benefit from having the option to get more than just a taste when they get to your window, with something unique to you.
Lastly, for the fun stuff, the Los Angeles County Environmental Health Department (EHD) Regulations, Rules, and Requirements Summarized:
Your serving and preparation area must be fully enclosed with 4 walls and a roof; we will place you on concrete or provide wood flooring for ONE 10’x10′ booth.
Your serving and preparation area must have pass-through windows for customer service (no bigger than 216 square inches, each).
Barbecues must be located next to the booth and safely away from the public.
Your serving and preparation area must have a handwashing facility with water at least 110°F, a catch bucket, a single service soap dispenser, paper towels, and a trash container.
Your serving and preparation area must have a three-compartment ware washing sink with hot (120°F) and cold water. Up to 4 booths may “share” a ware washing sink.
Teams will be required to complete their EHD forms in a timely manner.
