Cynical BBQ

09/07/2026

Headed to Meridian, Idaho for the Meat and Tater BBQ Fest this weekend. Spent my birthday cooking with some of the best of the best on the bbq circuit. The competition was stacked and one of the toughest contests I have competed at to date. Thanks to my wife for pushing me to do the contest and tagging along for this wild ride.

3rd Chicken with a 180!
4th Ribs
3rd Pork
32nd brisket ( is what it is)

Our FINAL score was a 706.2284 just squeaking by .02 ahead of RGC for the GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP also punching our ticket to the BBQ World Cup in 2027. Congrats to the “GOAT of BBQ Darren Warth of Iowa Smoky D’s on RGC Also a big congratulations to our friends on their super close third place finish.

Congrats to all who heard their names called and walked away with some pretty amazing prizes. HUGE thank you to for putting on a fantastic event!

09/06/2026

07/28/2026

After a quick turn around from the last comp, we made it to Hawaii ready for the 2nd Annual Curley Que BBQ Competition! Lisa and Crash put on a great event and had us in a location that offered beautiful views of Pearl Harbor.

After the last two Hawai’i comps and taking RGC at both, we were determined to get that win, and, persistence paid off! We ended up with some more turtles to add to our beautiful collection!

Results:
8th Dessert (out of 8 teams 🤣) tried something new
4th Chicken 🐔
7th Ribs 🐷
1st Pork 🐖
1st Brisket 🐄
Overall 706.274 and GRAND CHAMPION! Congrats to on RGC, and everyone else who hear their name called.

People always say it takes a village and that could not be more true this weekend.

We want to thank Mel and Jason with who were our travel buddies this time around and not only came out to compete, but were a huge help in making sure we ALL had what we needed for our cooks! From COUNTLESS trips to MULTIPLE Safeways, Walmarts, Home Depot’s, Chefs stores and who knows where else, they made sure we were set! BBQ comps are so much more than a competition they are a time spend with our bbq Ohana! 🌺

Last, but definitely not least is a thank you to Les Sutton! This would not be possible without his incredible generosity! We truly cannot thank you enough for all you do!

Hawaii never disappoints and we cannot wait for next year, but, until then, we rest up for a week before Felton and then get ready for Lynchburg in October!

07/21/2026

03/19/2026

11/25/2025

Thanks The Kansas City Barbeque Society for the recognition! Always great to make the list!

11/25/2025

BBQ Jackpot 2025 in the books! A big thanks to Christie Vanover for yet another other amazing contest in Vegas, the biggest on the west coast!! So many great teams and cooks. Took home some trophies and ended it all 6th out of 90* teams. Great way to round out the bbq season!

11/20/2025

We would like to invite all competitors to an 8:11 breakfast shot at Cynical BBQ’s site Saturday morning! Safe travels to everyone and see you all soon! BBQ Jackpot BBQ Jackpot

08/12/2025

Beautiful weekend cooking under the redwoods in Felton Roaring Camp Railroads Big thanks to Fire It Up Events for putting this double header!

As always we had a great time with our bbq fam and all those who came by to say hi! Cooked some carnitas Friday night for everyone and it was so good! Was missing my side kick Jennifer Martos Yeszin, but she came late on Saturday to surprise me! Think she brought some good luck since my day two cook was better than my day one. Still had a great time cooking with everyone and enjoying the weather!

Day 1
16th Chicken 🐓
19th ribs 🍖
9th Pork 🐷
4th Brisket 🐄
Overall 12th place 😑

Day 2
4th Chicken 🐓
4th Ribs🍖
14th Pork 🐖
5th Brisket
Overall RGC

Congratulations to on their GC and on RGC day one and on their GC day two! Congrats to the teams that heard their names called! It was definitely a great group!

Now we take a little break and gear up for Vegas in November!

07/28/2025

Hawaii never seems to disappoint. Was able to squeeze in some family time while we were in Oahu for the first annual Curley Que Classic Hawaii KCBS BBQ contest and World Food Ancillary Contest at Kaiser High School in beautiful Honolulu. Not only did we cook our four meat contest, we tried our hand in a couple ancillary categories.

We did the seafood and dessert. Not knowing what to expect, we did a spin on SYD Signature seared ahi tuna with a Maui onion dressing, but added some ginger, a wasabi sesame crust and a mango bell pepper chutney. The results did not disappoint and we took first place and a golden ticket to the world food ancillary contest.

Next up was dessert. Nothing to new to us as we have dabbled in this back home, but this time we gave it an island twist. We did our signature cheesecake but added a fresh Maui gold pineapple compote. With the help of my wife and daughter, the judge’s seemed to love it as we not only walked away first, we got a 180 and another golden ticket to the world food ancillary contest!

The main contest was nothing short of great in our eyes. Judges eyes though, is another story. We came up short in the end but walked away with SEVERAL calls, a 700 pin and RGC! (Reserve Grand Champion)

2nd place Chicken 🐔
1st place Ribs 🐖
6th place Pork 🐷
5th place Brisket 🐄
Overall score 705.1084 (0.0116 behind GC)

Congratulations to for their GC and all the teams who heard their names called. Big congrats to the local Hawaiian teams who completed for their first time and heard their names called and were able to take a walk!

We will be back next year and look forward to another great event!