Home Place: The Great Mac and Chili Challenge

Get Ready to Celebrate Comfort Food at Its Finest!

Get ready cuz it's back!

The 3rd Annual Great Mac & Chili Challenge to be held Sunday Nov. 5th at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport.

“You never know where you might find a great chili or mac n' cheese” say event director Jim Keenan. “For example, you wouldn't expect a great mac n' cheese from a pizza joint, would you? Well you can find an incredible Alfredo Mac recently entered in this year from Pizza Planet in Norwalk”.

That's just one example as you can find other examples like a great pesto mac n' cheese from the Cast Republic in Norwalk or a spinach and artichoke mac from Killer B also from Norwalk.

All of the chili entries are just as amazing. From local classic favorites to creative chili entries like a Yankee white bean and seafood chili from Harbor Harvest in Norwalk and a green hatch chili from Geronimo in Fairfield.

“Your taste buds will be dancing” says Keenan!

This people's choice competition determines who has the best classic chili, creative chili, classic mac and creative mac n' cheese! And everyone who attends will be given a spoon, ballot and pencil when they arrive. That's right! YOU'LL BE THE JUDGE!

You'll rate each entry on a scale from 7 to 10.5 and the restaurants with the highest rating average in their category will be declared this year's champion.

“I love how seriously everyone takes this event” said Keenan. “First, they grab a complimentary coffee or tea from the New England Coffee Company or Harney & Sons , then discuss their strategy about whether they start their day with chili or a mac n' cheese. They bring a muffin tin from home to carry their samples. Some break-up and head in different directions and meet in the middle to discuss who they think are the best and compare ballots.. They take their voting seriously as they know it determines who is declared the best”. Keenan says it's great fun and to come early, come hungry and bring your muffin tins!

Joe's American Bar & Grill from Fairfield along with Pizza Planet from Norwalk recently joined the competition that now includes: Firehouse Grill in Monroe, Hub & Spoke in Blackrock Bridgeport, Little Pub from Wilton, Fairfield, Ridgefield and Greenwich, Prime 16 from Orange, The Blind Rhino from Norwalk, Cask Republic in SoNo, Stamford and New Have, Geronimo of Fairfield and New Haven, Harbor Harvest of Norwalk, Simply Delicious of Norwalk and Westport, Burger Bar & Bistro in Norwalk, Peaches Southern Pub & Juke Joint of Norwalk, Bobby Q 's Cue & Company of Norwalk, Killer B of SoNo and Old Post Tavern of Fairfield.

Those who attend can add Hummel hot dog “bites” to either their chili or mac n' cheese samples grilled up by the DogTracks food truck.

To cap all the sampling, attendees can enjoy sweet samples of Farmer's Cow ice cream and milk, or try amazing cookie dough form the CT Cookie Company and grab a sample of those famous NECCO wafers!

The Great Mac & Chili Challenge

11AM to 3PM on Sunday Nov. 5, 2017
Sherwood Island State Park in Westport CT.
$15 Adults at the door or online HERE
$5 Kids 6-12
Parking: FREE

For additional information please visit the event website: www.MacAndChiliChallenge.com

The Great Mac & Chili Challenge is sponsored by: The Farmer's Cow, New England Coffee Company, Hummel Brothers, Cabot Creamery, Connecticut Cookie Company, New England Confectionery Company, Acadia brand water, WEBE 108, Clover, Lowe's, Harney & Son Teas and City Carting & Recycling

Vote for your favorite

Connecticut Mac-n-Cheese and Chili

At the Great Mac & Chili Challenge

Who has the best mac n' cheese and chili is as controversial as the current presidential election but one thing is for sure, at least one election this November will be more than just palatable, it will be delicious!

The Great Mac and Chili Challenge, sister event to Yankee Magazine's top event of the season Chowdafest, comes to Westport's Sherwood Island State Park on Sunday November 6th just two days before the national election. “We love the timing of this event” said Jim Keenan, event director. “Voting is on everyone's mind especially this year so why not vote for something all-American like who has the best mac 'n cheese and chili”.

There are twenty entries featured in this event over three categories:

Classic Beef Chili,
Creative Chili and
Mac n' Cheese.

Restaurants include defending champions, Chili Bomb of Fairfield (classic chili), Little Pub of Fairfield, Greenwich, Ridgefield and Wilton (creative chili), along with Simply Delicious of Norwalk (mac n' cheese).

Keenan says that like Chowdafest, this event is designed to promote terrific chefs and their restaurants, giving people a “little taste” of why they should visit these restaurants. “If you think this is good, wait to you try the rest of the menu” Keenan says. He adds the timing is great as the weather is perfect for comfort food and it will help the restaurants create momentum into the upcoming holiday season.

Other restaurants in the competition include The Blind Rhino in Norwalk, Bogey's of Norwalk, DrewbaQ a food truck in Fairfield County, Hub & Spoke of Black Rock Bridgeport, TruNorth of Black Rock Bridgeport, Walrus & Carpenter of Black Rock Bridgeport, Liquid Lunch of Shelton and Milford, Hoodoo BBQ of Ridgefield, Old Post Tavern of Fairfield, Geronimo of Fairfield and New Haven, Chef's Table of Fairfield, and Judy's Bar & Kitchen of Stamford.

Some of these restaurants have entered in more than one category.

Previously, this event has been held over Super Bowl weekend the past couple years and was formerly known as Chilifest. When asked about the date, venue and menu change, Keenan said “Most chili cook-offs are held outside mainly because it's difficult to find an indoor venue big enough to accommodate all the chili lovers but also because the fall weather makes us appreciate warm comfort foods even more. We tweaked our name because we wanted to be different from all the “fests” that are around because we're a different kind of an event. Calling it “The Great Mac and Chili Challenge” has a great Charlie Brown, Fall kind of vibe to it which brings out the kid in all of us. We're thrilled to move the event to Sherwood Island as it's been an ideal venue for Chowdafest. However, we'll be in the open air covered pavilion as this event is smaller than Chowdafest. From the emails and Facebook comments, people seem really excited about coming in a few weeks. It should be a hot ticket.”

The event uses the successful people's choice format of Chowdafest, giving everyone a spoon, ballot and pencil upon entry. However voting is slightly different as people are given three votes per category. “Sometimes it's just too hard to narrow your favorite to just one” Keenan noted. However, for those who can narrow their choice to just one or two, people can give all three of their category votes to just one restaurant or break them up giving one restaurant two votes and assigning the third to someone else. “The restaurants work very hard at trying to get more than just one vote in their favor”.

Tickets to the The Great Mac and Chili Challenge are just $15 adults, $5 kids (6-12) and parking is free. The event runs from 11AM to 3PM and the ticket includes sampling of ice cream and milk from The Farmer's Cow too.

Purchase tickets HERE

The event will benefit the Turtle Shell Fund and Friends of Sherwood Island.

For additional information about The Great Mac and Chili Challenge, please visit www.MacAndChiliChallenge.com or email event director, Jim Keenan at jimk@twistbrandraising.com

The Great Mac and Chili Challenge
Sherwood Island
Sherwood Island Connector
Westport, CT 06880
www.MacAndChiliChallenge.com