Chili Cook Off 2010 - Bend Oregon

On Saturday The Athletic Club of Bend and Scanlon’s hosted up to 17 restaurants and chefs who cooked up their best chili concoctions. All proceeds donated to the Education Foundation for the Bend La Pine Schools.

Some friends, the Wife, and I made it over to the Athletic Club of Bend for this event and had a great time. After paying the measly $10 per person we were warned to "pace ourselves" but of course I did not. I sampled 16 of the 17 recipes and I really enjoyed about many of them. I applaud all of the restaurants for showing up and helping to raise money for a good foundation.

Jake's had one of the best Pork Verde's amongst the lot. Yeah, Jake's Diner had the best Pork Verde. They also had a sirloin chili that I liked a lot but everyone at our table couldn't stop talking about the verde. Turns out, since he had two, they could only turn in one for judging and it was the verde that went out as their entry.

Zydeco had this white bean and duck ... uh ... stew? I wouldn't classify it as chili but it was very good. They served it with crunchy bread crumbs and topped with crispy duck skin that had been smoked. That skin was insane! So good.

Joolz offered a very unique take on chili and I ended up giving them my vote as my favorite. Elk, chickpeas, a light Feta, tabbouli, and of course...the main attraction of any good chili...Fritos!

I'm joking about Fritos being a key ingredient but damn if I don't love some Chili Cheese Fritos. Not the flavored ones, the plane ones with a scoop of chili over them covered in cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Pisano's had the most technically sound chili in my mind for a chili competition. No beans, only red sauce and meat. That a boy! He said it was mild but it ended up being one of the spiciest of the bunch. I would gladly have that chili over a dog any day.

Country Catering made a classic chili con carne with smoked brisket and everything was cooked perfectly.

After completely stuffing my face on chili, I passed out on the couch. The Wife made a pot of coffee and then passed out as well while it brewed. Heard one of my friends did the same as soon as he got back to his place. Loved it! What a great Saturday!

Restaurants that participated in the 2010 Chili Throwdown:

Scanlon's - Chef Brad

Zydeco - Chef Steve

28 - Chef Travis

Country Catering - Chef Cody

Joolz - Chef Ramsey

Broken Top - Chef Matt M.

Deschutes Brewery - Chef Matt N.

The Bagel Stop - Chef Dave

Elk Lake Resort - Chef Tony

Jakes Diner - Chef Jim

Parilla Grill - Chef Jeff

Sysco - Chef Kevin

La Rosa - Chef Roberto

El Burrito - Chef Jason

The Oxford - 10 below - Chef Sam

Pisano's - Chef Ed

Lake Creek Lodge - Chef Ann

El Burrito

My last visit to El Burrito was ok, not great but just ok. So the Wife and a friend that was with me on the last visit, and I went back to El Burrito to give it another try.

The chips and salsa arrive at the table immediately and I was happy as I remembered them being quite good. Normally I don't like to complain about a freebee like chips and salsa but these weren't good. The chips were stale and the salsa was bland and had the consistency of koolaid. It felt like they were running low and simply added water to it like when the Wife adds water to the bottle of dish soap and shakes it up. Makes it last longer fo sho. (Wife sings in the background "In the ghettooooo")

Well I ordered the carna asada with some flour tortillas which are supposed to come with the meal, they never came. The steak was ok. The sides all lacked any sort of flavor. Everyone at the table had the same sentiment, it was just blah. The wife received her tortillas and when I asked about mine I was told that they were all in the same container. There were only three tortillas in the case and since she got the fajitas, it makes sense there were three for her. Lame. She was cool enough to give me one though.


It wasn't the best experience I've had and it will be difficult to get my friends to give them another try. I'm not sure if it was just an off day or not but it will be a while before I feel the urge to make a return visit.

El Burrito
335 NE Dekalb Street
Bend Oregon 97702

El Burrito - Bend Oregon

Some Mexican food lovin friends of mine met me at El Burrito for some lunch last week. It is no secret that I and a huge fan of Mexican cuisine. I'd eat it for every meal if I could. El Burrito was off my radar until I took a wrong turn looking for Stars and ended up on the wrong side of 3rd street.

I'm kidding. I wasn't looking for Stars...shoot, I KNOW where Stars is. I'm just not allowed to go. The wife doesn't really mind the naked ladies, just doesn't like the idea of me giving them our money. It just occurred to me that I have not reviewed the food at Stars yet. Mmmm stripper glitter on my steak like some sea salt sounds good right.

Anyway, one of my friends uses tacos as his benchmark for whether a Mexican joint is good or not. He orders three tacos; al pastor, carna asada, and pork/carnitas on "a comal" (soft corn) tortilla shells. I totally bit off him and ordered the exact same thing. I LOVE tacos and I don't care that I ordered the exact same thing as someone else at the table.


I didn't fall in love with El Burrito like many of the loyal followers yet. I do want to go back to try something else. The tacos were ok but not great. The al pastor was really salty and the carna asada was a bit dry.

The chips and salsa were just like I like them, free and spicy. Nothing on the menu is overly priced and I am looking forward to trying something else soon.

El Burrito
335 NE Dekalb Street
Bend Oregon 97702