Best in the West Rib Cook-Off

[scooterdoug]

Hello all of you out there in TPR-land,

Well, a couple of weekends ago, we had the annual rib cook-off here in Reno (well, Sparks, technically...which is right next to Reno), hosted by The Nugget (a hotel/casino). As the title suggests, it's the biggest rib cook-off in the west. Restaurants from all over the country come to compete. This was my second year going, and I made sure to bring my camera. My friend Joel and I sampled many wonderful (and not so wonderful) ribs. By the end of the night, Joel had 12 total, while my utter lack of self control led me to consume 16 ribs. I was definitely uncomfortably full, but it was soooo worth it. I also learned that I'm not a huge fan of the midwest style of rib cooking (no offense to you midwesterners), but down south...yum! It was a sinful evening of many 3-rib samplers from all over. So, on to the photos. Enjoy the journey.

-Doug

To finish, I leave you with a happy picture of open flame carnivorous happiness. Thank you for joining me on my decadent journey!

Watch out for the hot sauce. No, I didn't try it. Yes, I'm a wimp.

Once again, midwest ribs disappoint me. The "Sweet & Smokey Sauce" was to die for. But I wasn't very impressed with the ribs. The meat was fatty and kinda tough, but had a nice, clear pork flavor (ugh, if only my rabbi heard me saying this).

Back up north, Desperado's (which won second place last year) is based in Cleveland, Ohio.

More distractors. I still won't be fooled! I have just enough room for one more sampling.

An interesting style of rib cooking. Not too heavy on the sauce, which was very sweet. The rub was VERY savory, even a little spicy. Left my lips warm for a little while afterwards.

Moving west from Florida, our next sampling hails from Louisville, Kentucky.

This is what I call a "distractor". Deep fried carbs, designed to fill you up so you can't enjoy any more ribs. You're not fooling me, on to more ribs!

Doug to rib: "I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!"

The best all around ribs of the evening. Tender, falling off the bone meat, perfectly seasoned rub, sinfully rich BBQ sauce. I could have eaten just those all night.

Back down south again, this time it's Florida. I decided to go there simply because the girl working behind the counter was hot. Ended up being a good decision, as the ribs were outstanding.

Joel and I pigging out. Joel has already made a mess of himself, I'm about to start. Honestly, there's no neat way to eat ribs.

I was pretty underwhelmed with these. The sauce was tasty enough, but the meat wasn't all that great. Too fatty and alot stayed stuck on the bone.

Now we move up north for our first taste of midwest ribs.

The best ribs of the night! I wasn't very impressed with the sauce, but the ribs themselves were amazing. A savory rub and the best, tastiest, most succulent meat.

Our first sample comes from Texas. This was my favorite of last year. Though they didn't win (such an outrage!).

...the rib cook-off! Now we're talking. My stomach is empty, and I'm ready to get down to some serious gluttony.

We start off with a view of the hotel that hosts this annual event and a shopping bazaar in the foreground. We don't care about shopping...just ribs. So, we make our way through the vendors to...

[bigstevet07]

Great Report! We just recently had Ribfest across the river here in Omaha. I love going to these because you can try so many different styles of BBQ.

 

Desperados was here and they also won 1st at our contest. I wasn't too impressed with them either and thought they were about middle of the pack.

 

Was Big Boned BBQ there? I loved their ribs. They used a very good rub seasoning, and the ribs were by far the most tender of the contest.

[ash.1111]

YUM!

 

Reminds me of the good old days at Lone Star.

 

EDIT: Good report!

[USCoaster]

I went twice this year and I don't think I took a single picture. The last two years, I had been lucky enough to work someplace that purchased tables in the Rib Village which was cool because it was all you can eat, but only had one sauce available from each of the stands.

 

This year, my favorite was probably the place from New Jersey. I think they got the people's choice for their sauce.

[spaceace12]

UMMMMMMM RIIIIIBBBBBBSSSSSS.

 

I haven't had much ribs, but just love the ribs that are so tender they just fall off the bone. Texas Roadhouse has them like this. I usually get steaks when I eat there, but my mom gets the ribs and I usually get some of the meat from her ribs.

[larrygator]

awesome PTR! Damn, now I'm hungry

[TheRapidsNerd]

^What he said! While not a ribs fan, it's hard to deny those looked really good.

 

Great Futurama reference in there too. Thank you for posting this.

[USCoaster]

Speaking of the hot sauce with the warning light on it... We tried it because we thought the other sauces were too sweet. It was very hot and the burn stayed with us for quite a while. You were wise to avoid it.

[scooterdoug]

^^Way to catch that reference. I was wondering if anyone would notice that. I just love the evil alien newscaster...and his vapid, giggling sidekick.

 

Bigsteve07, Big Boned BBQ was not one among the cookers this year. However, I will keep my eyes peeled for them next year.

 

Thank you all for the nice comments. We've definitely got some good BBQ happening in Reno. Now, if we could only get some coasters. I mean, I'd even be happy with an SLC...something...ANYTHING!

 

-Doug

[TheRapidsNerd]

^^Way to catch that reference. I was wondering if anyone would notice that. I just love the evil alien newscaster...and his vapid, giggling sidekick

 

Lol! I thought you were quoting the big fighting robot from the Bender/URFC episode. Hey, you've gotta love Morbo's intensity, particularly in sharing recipes.

 

I have to stop reading this TR. It makes me hungry every time!

[Nrthwnd]

And all I have to say about this thread is...

 

 

Must. Get. Ribs.

 

Soon.

 

Ours is called Memphis Blues. Just around the corner from us. Good stuff.

 

Thanks for sharing the tour.