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Tournament of Ribs
Monday, April 5, 2010
RIB-OFF! And the winner is ...
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 12:45 PM
64 rib joints. Four weeks. And you.
For our 2010 Tournament of Ribs, we put our faithful readers in charge of finding the best ribs in the Bay area. Baby back or spare, fine-dining or smokehouse, it was in your hands the entire way. And boy howdy did you pick up the gauntlet we threw down.
Well over 100,000 votes were cast in the CL Rib-Off head-to-head matches over the past month, in races that had as few as a couple dozen people participating to one massive battle (Brady's Backyard BBQ versus Smokin' Rib Shack) that had over 12,000 votes in a week's worth of voting.
That much participation is glorious, to be sure, but it also came with a few problems. Some fans experienced difficulty refreshing the voting pages, causing some serious frustration. Some matches had voting so regular and consistent that it seemed a bit, hmm, let's call it mechanical. Here at CL we learned a lot about how passion can overcome software and will be looking at different voting options for future tournaments.
In the end, though, the tournament came down to just two places:
RIB-OFF! Critic's tasting of the Pinellas eight from the Savory Sixteen
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 12:31 PM
After tasting through the Savory Sixteen rib joints -- chosen by voters in our Tournament of Ribs Readers' Poll -- I can only come to two possible conclusions. Either the east side of the Bay has a significantly better barbecue scene, or the Pinellas voters have no idea what constitutes good ribs. Even the least successful ribs on the Hillsborough side of the bracket beat out most of the Pinellas offerings, although there are a couple of standouts in St. Pete to give Tampa a run for its pork.
Here are my thoughts on Pinellas' eight Savory Sixteen rib joints, in order of preference:
Thursday, April 1, 2010
RIB-OFF! Readers' Poll Championship voting: Jaymer Que BBQ versus Spoto's Steak Joint
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 11:57 PM
This is it, the culmination of four weeks of voting in CL's 2010 Tournament of Ribs. Now we're calling upon you to put forth one more serious effort, and tell us who you think has the best ribs in all of Tampa Bay.
Voting will cease at Noon on Monday, April 5.
Monday, March 29, 2010
RIB-OFF! Critic's picks -- Hillsborough
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Just look at local elections and you'll immediately see the value of a little oversight when there's a serious popularity contest in the offing. Add in CL's unstructured voting -- a la Chicago's aldermen elections, or any high school homecoming court balloting -- and that oversight becomes even more necessary. Luckily, I'm here to add a little perspective to CL's Rib-Off.
This week I anonymously visited Hillsborough's eight Savory Sixteen finalists, surreptitiously taste-testing their ribs in the hopes of finding out which joints deserved their spot. I found some that should have been dumped in the first round, some that can serve to quench a barbecraving emergency, and a few that just might deserve to top our Tournament of Ribs. Next week I'll take a look at the Pinellas finalists and crown my own Rib-Off champion.
First, in order of preference, are my takes on Hillsborough's final eight:
Slideshow
RIB-OFF! Finger Lickin' Four voting, Hillsborough Championship: Kojak's House of Ribs versus Jaymer Que BBQ
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Voting for this Finger Lickin' Four match will end at Midnight on Thursday, April 1!
RIB-OFF! Finger Lickin' Four voting, Pinellas Championship: Angry Pepper versus Spoto's Steak Joint
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 10:09 AM
Voting for this Finger Lickin' Four match will end at Midnight on Thursday, April 1!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
RIB-OFF! Edible Eight Voting: Kojak's House of Ribs versus Uncle Rodney's Rib House
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:15 PM
Voting for this Edible Eight match will end at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 29!
RIB-OFF! Edible Eight Voting: Jaymer Que versus Lupton's Fat Man BBQ
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:14 PM
Voting for this Edible Eight match will end at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 29!
RIB-OFF! Edible Eight Voting: Tony Mac's BBQ versus Spoto's Steak Joint
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:13 PM
Voting for this Edible Eight match will end at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 29!
RIB-OFF! Edible Eight Voting: Z Grille versus Angry Pepper
Posted by Brian Ries on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 8:13 PM
Voting for this Edible Eight match will end at 10 a.m. on Monday, March 29!
