Last year this event was called the Fort Worth Pitmaster's Picnic. This year they decided to offer less BBQ and rebranded the event The Ring of Fire. This was a very fun event, even with less BBQ, though one obnoxious "new rule" threw a bit of a damper on the fun. Venue was the same as last year and the set-up and setting was as nice as 2018.
We had grabbed VIP tickets awhile back, but Scott found out he had to be out of town. He passed his ticket on to our friend John and he got to enjoy his first BBQ event. There was a threat of rain on the day and a quick check of the radar before we left meant we were prepared for a great deluge. Fortunately, the rain stayed south and we kept all the rain gear packed in our bag. We arrived about 12:30 and found ourselves about 15th in line waiting for the 1 pm VIP entry. The staff went down the line with their handy scanner gadget, checked everyone in, and provided wristbands. Their check-in is easy and efficient.
As we waited, the VIP line snaked out behind us.
Finally, 1 pm arrived and we headed in the gate to the feast. On the way they passed out little plastic plates and cups. The plates were pretty much superfluous. As usual, every single vendor handed out little cardboard boats or polystyrene plates with their food samples. There's an expense the fest could save, right there. The little cup was more useful as that is how you got your beer and booze samples. Once again, we brought our little cardboard boxes so we could run around and gather a bunch of samples before sitting down to eat. This proved to be an issue with somebody at the fest. More on that later.
The first problem we had at this fest is that several of the vendors were not prepared to start serving at 1 pm. What's up with that? When you pay extra to get in early for the fest they should be ready to serve you on opening. It took 10 minutes to get our first two samples. Things moved much better after that and we quickly picked up about half the food offerings and found a table to begin chowing down. After the first round we repeated the process til we had sampled all the food offerings. There were 17 food vendors and we managed to sample everything in the first hour, despite the slow start.
At 2 pm they opened the gates to the general admission ticket holders and the lines swelled. At that point we switched to sampling the beer and spirits vendors as our meat coma began to sink in. A Johnny Cash tribute band played throughout, taking a short break every now and then. Recorded music filled the air between sets.
We really did not have any bad food. There was one piece of undercooked brisket that I found inedible but I went back to the same vendor later and had a nice piece. Bacon burnt ends (aka cubed, sauced, and smoked pork belly) seemed to be a thing this year with 3 different vendors having them on offer. Meat Church went all out with their Apple and Brown Sugar Habanero sauce coating. They practically melted in my mouth.
Not Just Q offered some more tasty pork belly, but their sample came as a slider sandwich. Our buddy from Midland loved the slaw that came with that slider but I must admit I popped the pork belly and left the bread and slaw alone. The photo at the top of this post is from one of their sliders.
Beef ribs were available at Ten 50 and Cousins. Both were excellent.
Black's had the best brisket I had all day. But I was not as crazy about their whiskey and Coke pulled pork. I would have gladly traded it for some of their jalapeno sausage.
Speaking of sausage, there was little on offer this day, which was a bit surprising. The only sausage I saw was from Cousin's and Raw Republic Meats. The latter was supposedly jalapeno cheese but I saw no flecks of cheese or green and had no flavor of either in that meat (even though there was plenty in evidence when I made the rounds for photos). Maybe I just got an end piece. Kreuz, Heim, and Micklethwait need not worry.
There were lots of "other" items on offer including chicken paella, crawfish, beef stew, and Carolina pulled pork sandwiches. However the best "other" I had was the dessert from Fort Worth institution The Swiss Pastry Shop.
After chowing down we went on to booze it up, thanks to my Mrs, our designated driver. We found a couple of beers and spirits we liked and I actually bought some of each the next day. That's the best thing about fests like this. You get to sample a bunch of food and drink, then you can add the restaurants or brands you enjoy the most to your regular patronage.
While this is a really enjoyable festival, I was a bit annoyed when one of the officials told us our BBQ boxes were not allowed. WTF? After attending literally dozens of BBQ festivals across Texas in the last 14 years, that was a first. I pointed out to the lady that we had no problems with food gathering boxes last year and she said it was a "new rule". Of course this "new rule" did not appear anywhere on their website and it wasn't until we were inside waiting in line that it came up. WTF? After some discussion she walked away and we just kind of ignored it and did our thing, but I still found it obnoxious. At this fest, as well as every other fest we attend, the unanimous consensus of the other attendees and the vendors is "Gee that's a great idea. I wish I had thought of that!" It's just so much easier to go gather a bunch of samples then sit down and enjoy them. You can't do that with an 8 inch square plastic plate. Every single vendor provided cardboard boats or plates for their samples. Try juggling 3 or 4 of those at one time. More than likely some of your food will end up on the ground. Not to mention when you have sauce on a sample from one vendor, you don't want to get all over a sample from someone else. I betcha the vendors feel that way, too. Feel free to post a comment and let me know what you think. I just don't get it.
That's the first time I have been made to feel "unwelcome" at a BBQ fest. I guess that means that BBQ fans in Houston and Austin, who have custom built wooden and plastic BBQ trays and attend every year, would be unwelcome in Fort Worth, too.
As usual, another post of food and booth photos follows below. As always, you can click on any photo for a larger view.
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