Bacon and Beer Lovers Turned out in Droves for the Bacon and Beer Classic at the USTA

The Award Winning Bacon Bacon Bacon Burger from Clinton Hall

Cannonball Productions brought its highly acclaimed, nationally-touring Bacon and Beer Classic back to the Big Apple on Saturday, September 29th. The Classic, which is known for taking over entire professional sports stadiums, brought the festival to USTA National Tennis Center in Queens, NY.

From savory to spicy to sweet, ticket holders experienced bacon like never before. Over 50 NYC restaurants including— American Cut, Queens Bully, In Good CompanyHospitality, Tipsy Scoop, Wafels & Dinges, What the Dillaz, The STUF’D Truck, Schmackary’s, Sands Jerk Hut, Rudy’s Cuties, Route 66 Smokehouse, Marcha Cocina, La Bella Torte Truck, International Wings Factory, F. Ottomanelli Burgers, Dang BBQ, Corfu Grill, Burger Envy, Brooklyn Pizza Market, Brooklyn Baked & Fried, Adril’s Kitchan, Hoodoo Brown Barbeque and The Nugget Spot — served up their most original bacon dishes. The event also had a Hormel Chef Showdown where celebrity chef alum from Chopped and Hell’s Kitchen including Chef Ariel Fox, Barett Beyer, Frank Bilotti, Chef Sterling Wright and Chef T created their most unique bacon bites. That tasty grub was complemented by unlimited samples of craft beers from local and regional breweries including Wartega, Avery, Port Jeff and Downeast Cider House.

A panel of esteemed judges included Man v. Food host Casey Webb, NYC Hospitality Alliance Executive Director Andrew Rigie, Barstool Sports video personality Glenny Medoro, WPLJ’s Joe Pardavila, Chef and Food Stylist Ashton Keefe, Food Instagrammer Dara Pollak, The Brooklyn Brewery’s Eric Brown and certified cicerone Gabrielle Barry. They awarded Clinton Hall’s Bacon Bacon Bacon Sliders the Best Savory Dish at the Classic, Sweet Chili’s Spicy Bacon and Peanut Caramel the Best Sweet Dish, the CBBR Dilla from What’s the Dillaz as People’s Choice and BarBacon’s Kentucky Fried Bacon Bites with Thai Chili Honey as the Best Overall Dish at this year’s event. Honorable Mention went to Cuzin’s Duzin and Staff Choice went to Queens Bully. Best Overall beer went to the Zoktoberfest from Kings County Brewers Collective. DuClaw Brewing Co. took home top prize for best dark beer. Five Boroughs Brewing Co. won top honors in the Pale Ales and Lagers category. Sloop Brewing Co. won best IPA. Harlem Brew had the night’s best Amber/Red/Wheat beer. Kings County Brewers Collective also won the best Sour category. Ace Cider was awarded best cider at the Classic and the People’s Choice award went to BrewDog.

This year’s event offered attendees a slew of new games and activations in addition to old favorites. IHOP debuted their all-new seasonal IHOPS Pumpkin Pancake Stout at the Bacon and Beer Classic and in between bites and sips, guests bobbed for bacon, danced to live music, partied in a biergarten, played corn hole and giant Jenga at the Mobile Man Cave and got to watch the Hormel® bacon eating contest where the lucky winner was awarded a year of free Black Label® bacon.

VIPs enjoyed exclusive access to Court 17, which was full of additional bites, a donut wall and adult beverages. Those exclusive ticket holders also got a one of a kind opportunity to tour Arthur Ashe Stadium and get on the court for photos.