Downtown Chili Contest Returns as Cold Weather Comes In
Story originally appeared on FoodCary.
Cary, NC – For the fourth year, Cary residents can try some of the best chili in the state and vote for their favorites in this new annual tradition.
Vote For Your Favorites
The Triangle Chili Challengeis this Sunday, November 10, 2019 from noon to 4 PM. 11 different restaurants and chili chefs will hit Downtown Cary with their chilis for people to taste, with both a judge’s pick and a people’s pick for best.
The competition is put on by Downtown Cary Food and Flea and Jessica McCarthy, one of the flea market’s co-founders and the owner of the Humble Pig, said visitors have come to appreciate the wide variety of chili available, with past years having everything from vegetarian chili to chili with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences.
“People like the unique chilis. They want to see people’s new spins and takes,” McCarthy said. “We want everyone to come out and visit Downtown Cary but you have to get here early because the chili will run out.”
To get that tasting spoon and voter card, visitors pay a $5 fee, which will go to the Special Olympics of North Carolina.
“It’s all going to a great cause, and it’s helping a group of people that can get overlooked,” McCarthy said.
The Triangle Chili Challenge has partnered with the Special Olympics in past year’s events and McCarthy said she’d like to see that expanded to also include local charities, particularly connected to hunger and poverty.
“We’re an affluent area but we still have hunger here,” McCarthy said.
The Triangle Chili Challenge meets on E Chatham Street between S Academy Street and Walker Street on Sunday, November 10, 2019 from noon to 4 PM.
To read the full story, go to FoodCary.com
Story by Michael Papich. Photos courtesy of the Triangle Chili Challenge.
