Atlanta BBQ Festival

Ugh sums it up, I guess. My friend and I love BBQ so we decided to attend the 2015 festival. $ 6 (+ processing fee) tickets seemed really reasonable and we were excited to try out the different samples. Feel free to park in the Atlantic Station parking deck. There is signage pointing you towards the event parking. This parking is on the Target side, bottom deck. We decided to park in the hood so we didn’t have to worry about time. Turns out it didn’t matter.
We arrived around 3pm. At that time, alot of the vendors were already done serving. What?! There were still 5 hours left of the festival. There was a sign when we entered saying how many businesses were still serving samples (great price at $ 1). But I don’t think it was most up-​to-​date. Note alot of places were done serving period, not just the samples. The space was ample for the number of restaurants there. We took our time and walked around. After five samples we actually had our full of meat. Meat and sauces ranged from meh to great. We really wish that we could have bought some sides individually. Can only eat so much BBQ before I want some baked beans or coleslaw.
We were out of there in less than an hour. Feel no need to return next year.
NOTE: Easy check in with ticket and fast to get into the actual festival. No outside food or drinks allowed period. Even water.

Wish I had read these reviews before buying tickets.
1. It’s the end of summer in Atlanta and its freaking hot. No, there will not be a «surprisingly brisk weekend,» don’t trick yourself when buying tickets in advance. At least if there were some tents, fans, shaded areas, it would have been a little more bearable. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was just a hot mess for me. Ok ok, I’ll admit it. I was the hot mess.
2. We paid for the Bourbon Experience on top of the entrance fee. We hoped those tokens we were provided would also be for the food. No, they are only for the bourbon experience. I love alcohol, but there’s only so much bourbon I can handle in 90 degree humidity, I’m sorry. It was really cool getting the chance to drink the Kavalan whiskey, though. A famous and award winning whiskey, this Taiwanese liquor was well worth the ⁴⁄₁₀ tokens we were allotted. Other than that, I had no desire to drink up on the hot sweaty weather.
3. Food is not free. Tastings are available for anywhere between $ 1-​$ 3. Some were pretty tasty, while others reminded me of Costco samples. Except Costco samples are FREE. You could also purchase other full portion meals or treats for additional cost. ATM’s were available at the entrance, as all the booths we ate at were cash only, although some drink sellers were taking card via the Square app. I made the mistake of only bringing my ID and credit card, and no debit card or cash.
4. There was really nothing else to do but wait in line for food and drink, stand around and bake in the sun, and listen to some live music at uncomfortably hot chairs and tables.
Not my favorite event at Atlantic Station… The beer festivals are so much more fun in the fall.

I was not too impressed with the Atlanta BBQ festival this year. I went on Friday night and I was expecting it to be more lively. My cousin participated in the Bourbon experience and we did enjoy that and thought it was a great deal, but the «live music» and «live cooking demonstrations» were better on a poster than in actuality. There were ample choices for BBQ, but barely any free samples or getting to try any different types of BBQ. It’s nice there are so many choices so close to each other, but also makes a difficult choice. Deep fried brownies were a bust. Jim and Nick’s ribs were pretty good, but we could have gone to a Jim and Nick’s anywhere. The prices here were not any less than what they would be at a stand-​alone restaurant. We also enjoyed the brisket at J n D BBQ. The deviled eggs at Blue & Freckled food truck were amazing. I don’t think I would spend money here again to enjoy good BBQ food.

This is right there with one of the worst events I’ve attended for a few reasons.
SCORCHING HEAT, SWEAT AND PARKING LOT. If any of these three things excite you, ignore the rest of the review. This event is right in the middle of August, on a sun heated cement area and nowhere to escape the mess. Has anybody considered more tents than one? Some cool water sprays where people can go cool down? Doing this in the grassy and shaded area of Atlantic station?
TOTAL RIP OFF. You pay $ 10 to enter and that is not credit towards food. It’s just to enter so you can pay more and see nothing.
LINES. LOTS OF THEM. Way too many lines, it was horrible. Every good place required you standing in the heat for extended periods until you regret it completely and don’t even want the bbq.
CASH ONLY AT MANY PLACES. They are sponsored by some bank atm firms and vendors are not required to use Square. Come on, these days, there should be no reason that anyone has to carry cash to eat. Especially since prices are not that low at all and any credit card fees should be coming out of $ 10 that I paid upfront. But no, I had to pay atm fees on top of it.

Overall fun event with BBQ vendors everywhere. Only a few recognizable names; guessing the rest were competitors who do BBQ for a hobby. I thought the $ 6 admission price would cover food but it just gets you thru the front gates. Most vendors offered $ 1 samples which only filled one of those tiny plastic sample cups. Lines were long so I’d ask the folks eating their samples if the line was worth it. We didn’t get through much b/​c it was so hot outside I thought I was going to have heat exhaustion. Wish these events would be held during cooler weather but as my friend said, BBQ isn’t BBQ if it’s not in the hot summer.
We did have Pit Boss BBQ’s pulled pork b/​c I love their Hapeville location. We also got some free BBQ from one of the competitors who was generous enough to share their leftovers — their brisket tacos were delicious.
One advice for event organizers — your ticket lines were super disorganized. There were two long lines and after we finally made it to the front, they said the line was for people who needed to buy tickets and we needed to go to the other line if we had tickets. Neither line had any signage, and no one was making announcements that the two lines were different. We saw many go thru our same experience. Super frustrating and didn’t provide a good first impression of the event. Hoping next year they fix this.

My first time and I enjoyed it. However it could use more covered seating.

This was our first time attending this event. It could have & should have been so much better. We arrived at 4:40pm & we had prepaid $ 26 to enter; one general admission, and one bourbon experience; our two toddlers gained free entry. There weren’t many free samples being handed out. My husband & I came across one booth that offered two samples of a tortilla chip with salsa & a pita bread with horseradish sauce; another booth offered a minuscule sample of rum cake. There were many bbq vendors selling food: Jim & Nicks, Hottie Hawg’s Bone Lick, Sonny’s bbq, Williamson Bros…
We purchased small portions of food from Hottie Hawg’s: Beef plate with french fries & coca cola collard greens. The fries were pretty good! The collard greens were HOT! The husband & I couldn’t eat it & definitely neither could the kids, so it was a waste. It felt like I was holding a red chili pepper in my mouth. I don’t know whose idea it was to put hell in a pot with a batch of greens, but it was obviously approved by the owner. They a yellow sauce (so sorry I don’t know the name), that is really, very good with the shredded meat. If I had my wits about me, I definitely would’ve asked if I could’ve purchased a bottle. The thing is, some small pieces of greens were mixed up in the sauce as my husband I were sampling each other’s food, & I initially thought that the yellow sauce was too spicy, but I was wrong; it was the hellfire greens on my plate. I will be heading to their establishment to pick up a bottle sometime this week though.
J.D’s BarBOne: Sample Plate; pulled pork brisket, sausage, ribs were ok. It’s nothing I haven’t had before, regarding seasoning & bbq.
Bone Lick: Ribs & wings, were good, but wings were good, ribs were too peppery.
Sonny’s: Pulled Pork Sandwich. I don’t think I’ve had a better pulled pork sandwich! Definitely a winner.
We went by Nice Rack & they didn’t have any food ready so I don’t know if they were not selling because they were competing or just unaware of the time, although it was well after 5pm.
We purchased a funnel cake from the Pound Cake company to share & that was smart thinking bc my kids took one to two bites & said it was «too much sugar». I know, I’m baffled too. It was so good.
The music band, The Howling Tongues, was really good. I truly enjoyed their music. Delta Moon was good as well; the kids jumped up & danced.
The HIGHLIGHT of the event & the ONLY reason I gave this event two stars instead of one star, is Keurig. They handed out free samples of iced tea & iced coffee ALL DAY, as much as you wanted! I got to sample a few teas that I liked & disliked. This family is definitely a fan of the Vitamin Burst Acai Berry.
The lemonade we had was DELICIOUS! It had some Swedish Vodka mixed in; it was so good & of course, I forgot the name of the vendor.
Before we left, my husband purchased a $ 2 drumstick, don’t recall the name, but it was very basic bbq you make at home. It was spicy, that’s about it.
All in all, we spent 80 American dollars on food & kid activities. I planned to spend money; roughly $ 60, not $ 80, but those are the breaks. It was an experience, not as good as I would’ve liked, but an experience none the less. I won’t be back to this bbq festival but I will definitely attend another.

I attended the Atlanta BBQ Festival on Friday, August 15, 2014. This is the sixth year of the annual festival, which has recently been held in Atlantic Station (second year in Atlantic Station I believe) and Turner Field before that. The festival is organized by the Atlanta BBQ Club and is an officially sanctioned event of the Kansas City BBQ Society.
General admission tickets were $ 6 in advance and $ 10 at the door. When you check-​in, you’re given a wristband which allows you access to the grounds. The festival is held in the special events area in Atlantic Station. This is the big, open, outdoor area behind the retail district where other festivals and Cirque du Soleil are held. You can see it from the highway. The best place to park is Atlantic Station’s parking garage where the first two hours are free.
I enjoyed myself at the festival, but I also knew what to expect after reading reviews about the 2013 festival. Unlike an event such as Taste of Atlanta, where tickets gain you both admission to the event *and* food samples, the Atlanta BBQ Festival’s tickets do not include any food. The food must be purchased separately.
There were over 60 tents set up. The BBQ tents were either designated with a blue flag (BBQ competitor) or red flag (BBQ vendor). Most of the tents were competitors. When I went (Friday evening), the competitors had no food samples. The program said competitors would offer $ 2 wings on Friday and $ 1 pulled pork samples on Saturday.
Since the competitors weren’t offering any samples, we were left trying the vendors’ food. I don’t think the vendors were actually competing in the festival. They were just there to sell food. Vendors present included Bone Lick, Hottie Hawg’s, Five Star, Pit Boss, JD’s, Jim ‘N Nick’s, Sonny’s, and Williamson Bros. I’m a fan of some of these restaurants (e.g. Bone Lick and Williamson Bros.), but some of metro Atlanta’s best were noticeably absent. These included Heirloom Market, Fox Bros, Community Q, Dave Poe’s, and Sam’s BBQ 1.
In a sense, our experience was like paying to get access to a food truck park to buy food from the food trucks. There were a handful of promotional tents handing out free stuff. The best one was the Keurig tent. They were giving away free iced beverages from iced coffee to acai berry juice. These were the perfect refreshments for a hot summer day.
It was very easy to get filled up here because the vendors were offering not only samples, but full-​sized portions as well. As a result, I only got to try a couple different vendors: Hottie Hawg’s and Jim ‘N Nicks. Here’s a quick rundown of what I tried:
Hottie Hawg’s:
St. Louis ribs
Kashmir Kurry wings
Corn on the cob
Coca-​Cola collards
Jim ‘N Nick’s:
Two bone spare ribs
Half ear of corn
Sweet pickles
Pork ‘n grits
The BBQ was great. I liked both the ribs from Hottie Hawg’s and the ribs from Jim ‘N Nicks. I’d been to Jim ‘N Nicks before, but not Hottie Hawg’s. After trying the BBQ from Hottie Hawg’s, I want to go check out their main restaurant now.
The ribs ($ 2 for two) from Hottie Hawg’s were thick and moist. The sauce was delicious. The Kashmir Kurry wings ($ 1 each) were sweet and very spicy. My mouth was on fire and I actually shed a tear from the heat those wings brought. The corn on the cob had a little kick to it as well, thanks to a dusting of cayenne pepper. The Coca-​Cola collards were tasty, though I’m not sure I could really taste the Coke flavor in them.
The Jim ‘N Nick’s ribs were comparatively tougher/​leaner, but still tender and flavorful. They were satisfying as was the half ear of corn. The tart and sweet pickles were a nice contrast to all the savory, meaty flavors. It was $ 6 for the whole set. The pork ‘n grits ($ 4) were very good. This small tray consisted of pulled BBQ pork over buttery grits. The BBQ sauce from the pork oozed into the grits.
Credit cards were accepted at some of the vendors such as Jim ‘N Nicks. However, competitor tents were cash only.
Aside from the BBQ and promotional tents, there was a main tent for dining. Near this tent was the music stage (live music throughout the festival), cooking stage (cooking demonstrations), and kids’ area/​playground. There is free water at the event, but it amounts to two containers on a table with a stack of small plastic cups. One of the containers dispensed unpleasantly warm/​hot water. Restrooms were porta-​potties.
As a general admission festival goer, I’m not sure I would return to the Atlanta BBQ Festival. I would rather just go to one of the vendors’ actual restaurants and have a nice sit-​down meal inside. If you’ve never been to the festival and like BBQ, it’s worth checking out once. Plus, it’s hard to resist the mouthwatering smell of all that smoky BBQ as it wafts its way through Atlantic Station!

Can my husband and I have our $ 20 back please? I feel like we would’ve been better off just setting it on fire.
The Atlanta BBQ festival ran from 12−8pm this past Saturday. We got there around 4pm. There should be plenty of BBQ left, we thought. Well I’m not sure if there was ever any BBQ but there certainly wasn’t any when were there.
The tents flying «blue» flags have samples for $ 1. The tents flying «red» flags are selling full meals. Nothing in between ala Taste of Atlanta, let’s say.
Well at 4pm there was one tent flying a blue flag. We thought Jim n’ Nick’s must be REALLY good because they had a crazy long line. Now I think they were they only ones with ANY food. Oh and they were a «red» flag.
There were tons of tents with competitors. They did not have blue or red flags though.
After doing a loop and looking for BBQ samples we decided to leave.
Don’t get duped like we were.

This was my first time at this festival. Held at Atlantic Station, the place was filled with all things bbq. I got there early, at around noon. There was a line already formed, but they were very efficient with getting everyone through pretty quickly. I bought my ticket for $ 6 in advance; it was $ 10 at the door.
I thought there would be more vendors, but I got to try quite a few bbq samples. You could get a small sample of pulled pork at many vendors for a dollar. I didn’t see where anything else was offered as a sample for that price.
I went for Jim ‘N Nick’s for a meal. They offered two bone ribs and a ½ cob of corn for $ 6. The grilled corn was delicious. The ribs were just okay and a tad bit tough. Believe it or not the star of the show was the Keurig station where they were giving away free full cups of tea or iced coffee. You brewed it yourself, which was a fast and simple task. It was hot and these drinks were refreshing and plentiful. I had both an iced coffee and the acai berry beverage. Both were wonderful.
There was a decent sized covered seating area so people could get out of the sun and eat. It stayed full as was to be expected. Upon entering, everyone was given a map that showed where water stations, bathrooms, and varied areas could be located.
There was a stage where live entertainment took place. I did not enjoy the music very much. Also, there was a question and answer session in the stage area where people could ask questions as it related to beer and bbq. This happened in between a music act. There was a kid’s area too.
I was able to sign up for the bbq club. Overall, this event was okay, but I expected more.

Outside of the Very Major National BBQ competitions — This was one of the very best BBQ Festivals I have attended and also one of the most smoothly run BBQ Competitions from a Certified BBQ Judge’s perspective.
After judging the competition BBQ, from a festival-​goers perspective, the music was fantastic, the vendors were open and enthusiastic and the food sampling was great!
I can’t wait for next year!

Bigger and better than last year. More vendors inflatables for the kids and more teams competing. I am already looking forward to next year!

Awesome event — Great BBQ, Well managed and a ton of fun for Competitors as well as for fans. Would highly recommend to anyone who loves BBQ

An explanation of a BBQ Festival for the general public:
I see a lot of people upset in their reviews that more people weren’t selling BBQ at this festival. As a competitive BBQ team, I wanted to explain this to everyone. You saw many tents there with lots of people cooking BBQ, however 53 of these tents were there is the KCBS (Kansas City BBQ Society) BBQ Competition competing for over $ 10,000 in prize money. This is how a BBQ festival works. Typically very few teams are selling food to the public. There are restaurant vendors for this (Sweet Auburn, Bone Lick, Williamson Bros, Fox Bros, etc)
The teams competing are generally not restaurants, and not allowed to sell food to the public. Teams can participate in a samples contest, which is the tents that had red or blue flags hanging offering pork or chicken for $ 1 or $ 2 a sample. Of course some teams slip samples to the general public, but they are technically not allowed to do this. It’s a liability issue. Most teams are not licensed and insured to sell food, so if someone gets sick, you could be in trouble. Most of us have full time jobs doing something else, and BBQ is our hobby.
Anyways, I hope this helps explain why you could not purchase food from all 53 sites you saw at the festival. Most BBQ festivals will have food for sale from restaurant names that you already recognize.

I have been to many BBQ festivals from Owensboro Kentucky to Austin Texas. Every one of those festivals had an open area for the general public and a separate, lined off area for competition and backyard teams. How did we know what was what? There were signs. Imagine that! There was no rhyme or reason in the layout for the festival in Atlanta and there certainly wasn’t any signage to indicate what teams and restaurants were and were not serving. The site map was incorrect and didn’t give you any of this information either.
If you walk up to a tented area set up like a carnival and there are signs all over with their name, sauces for sale, t-​shits, hot plates and catering dishes laid out, you assume they’re serving-​until you ask and you’re denied. This is exactly my point. If you’re there for the competition, put up a sign, don’t roll your eyes, look annoyed and be short with the crowd that foolishly came to a BBQ festival expecting of all things BBQ.
They have been marketing this festival for months and each billboard, sign and radio commercial I saw and heard they would boast «over 50 BBQ vendors on site!» The term «vendor» to me, and every other human being, is someone that sells something. If I was told up front, there is only going to be 5 BBQ restaurants serving food and 48 competitors, I would have not been as angry. I don’t appreciate not being told the full story until I pay $ 10 to get in and am disappointed.
After we did our first lap we noticed several restaurants pushing food priced higher than their regular menu prices. Why did I just pay to get in here and get up charged at EVERY vendor when I could go to their restaurant and pay half of what I was just charged?
After we figured out only 5 vendors were actually serving food, we started out with Sweet Auburn Market. The brisket was on point, deliciously moist and pulled perfectly. You can never go wrong with their brisket.
You could hear the Hottie Hogs section from 5 vendors away! We got the pork sundae and fresh corn. I was impressed how cheap it was as the sundae was $ 7 and the corn was $ 3. The sundae was a great idea for a festival sample. They handed me a cup with pulled pork as the bottom layer, covered in baked beans, sauce and cole slaw on top. Very cute and easy to hold, which I appreciated! The corn was deliciously sweet and still had the stalk on which made it easier to hold and eat.
We discovered a BBQ place I had never tried before, Swamp Cat. They were pushing their candy bacon and let me tell you, for $ 2 a piece it was a steal compared to what other vendors were selling their ‘cue for! I’ve never had candy bacon before but if it is like anything Swamp Cat sells, I need to know who else sells this stuff? The bacon was cut thick in a long strip and covered in what I assume is maple syrup, molasses and sugar and smoked. My man friend and I were literally fighting over bites before we went back for another piece and a sample of their ribs. Swamp Cat was one of our favorites!
45 minutes after the gates opened, Bone Lick was finally serving food. We stood in line and ordered 1 rib for $ 3.You can tell this restaurant is not used to festivals considering the girls were wearing dresses, no one made eye contact or pushed coupons or asked us what we thought of the food. It was like a sad cafeteria line where we lined up, got our food and moved on. The rib they gave me was not even 3 inches long and barely had any meat on it. I looked at the couple next to us and both of us said to each other: «This is 3 dollars of meat!?» I took a bite and all I could taste was dry rub. It was bitter, had an awful chew like beef jerky and I immediately threw it out.
The entire thing was marketed and set up wrong. If you’re going to claim you’re having a BBQ festival-​have one. But if you’re going to have a BBQ competition call it a competition. Don’t excite the city and have nothing to show for it but 5 restaurants.

Quite a variety of different vendors. A lot of hype and not quite the food to match it. Many of the vendors were out of food when we went (at 2PM). Out of food after an hour is poor planning! It was a nice day and a great setup with friendly staff. However the food is too limited and after 1.5 hours of walking around you have had it. The amount of food actually serves in $ 1 increments is not convincing. Cut the line and go straight to Fat Matts. Much better use of your time and better food.

What a great way to spend a Friday evening. There was a little of this and a little of that and of course a lot of BBQ. The only negative is that it was hard to choose what to get, so I ate too much.
I really enjoyed the ribs at Bone Lick but not their sides. All of the food I tried at Williamson’s was great. The ribs, sausage, cole slaw and beans. We also tried the $ 2 drumsticks from some of the competing BBQ teams. Yum! All of the prices were very reasonable too.
There were lots of giveaways and free samples. Good times!

I had a great time on Friday eating at several local area BBQ joints all gathered @ Atlantic Station and that fun continues today. There really is nothing better than good weather, music, friendly people and good BBQ!!!
The air was filled with smoke and the awesome smell of grilled meats as a buddy joined me to indulge in one of my favorite food categories… BAR-​B-​QUE. We got lucky at the ticketing booth by running across a girl wanting to sell her Groupon discounted tickets. We paid her $ 5 for TWO entry tickets (regularly $ 10 each at the gate). We received our wristbands and from there we walked around for a while before finally deciding to sample foods from these vendors:
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HOTTIE HAWGS BBQ

The owner here is some character as he walked around the fairgrounds dressed in all white like Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard. I took a picture with him before realizing he had been featured on a reality food show called Catering wars. Dude is bubbling with personality, so get to talk with him if you can. As far as the food, we sampled:
* the pork sandwich (3 stars) good, but average
* bbq fries (2.5 stars) meh
* grilled corn (4.25 stars) great flavor
* pork wings (3.5 stars) fun new discovery
WILLIAMSON BROTHERS BBQ
I’ve tried this restaurant several times, but never at their main location. They always seem to have a presence at local fairs/​outdoor concerts around town and I must say I’ve never been a fan. HOWEVER, today changed all that. The RIBS I sampled were fantastic. Moist, excellent flavor and OMG tender! (4 stars)
SWEET AUBURN BBQ
Here is a hit/​miss experience. They have a dry rub with amazing flavor! This is the type of BBQ I typically love most. The only problem I has was the ribs were bordering on being dry (they weren’t, but were very close) and they were very small bones. Seriously could have been 5 stars if they had been larger and had better moisture. I also tried the mac n’ cheese and was not impressed. They use huge tube macaroni pasta and a very runny cheese. 3.75 stars for the ribs and 1.5 stars for the mac n’ cheese.
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BBQ FESTIVAL INFO
TODAY (September 14^th, 2013) on top of multiple BBQ vendors (including Jim n’ Nick’s, Bone Lick, etc.), there will be a cook-​off of over 50 BBQ teams competing for the title of Best BBQ. We stayed late after last night festival closed talking with the teams competing today. Most if not all stayed overnight as they smoked their meats. Good Lord it smelled soooo good. Everywhere you looked there were smokers, some used huge contraptions while others had rows of green eggs going strong. Amateurs to pro’s were tending their grills as their families set up tents for the night.
The head chefs of JW Marriott will be competing along with several UGA and Georgia Tech grads, but look for the guy who is using Wagu beef briskets! I’m told many of these competitors will be offering their meats after the competition is over for $ 1 a sample.
There is a play area with rock walls, crafts and jumpers for the kids, BBQ merchandise vendors, and GREAT music. I don’t know why, but BBQ, beer and Blues just go together. Groupon was offering discounted tickets, so get out and enjoy!