The Moody Ques will be competing in Best Memphis Burger Fest this coming Sunday, August 28. The festival is at Tiger Lane from 10:30 AM to 6 PM. We will be turning in entries for Bloody Mary, Veggie Burger, Anything-Goes Specialty Burger, and Traditional Cheeseburger.

If you’re standing at East Parkway looking toward the Liberty Bowl, our team booth is in the left-hand lane, on the left side, third from East Parkway. You could think of it as “Burgers with Friends,” because several teams we know well will be nearby. Weekend at Porky’s will be our next door neighbors. Across the lane from us will be Squeal Street BBQ and Cowboyardee (Memphis Flyer team). Three doors down from us will be the award-winning Fabulous Burger Boys (many of whom compete with Porkosaurus at BBQ Fest).

Throughout the day we will be cooking sliders and feeding them to the public, in exchange for a suggested donation to Memphis Paws, a nonprofit that promotes responsible pet ownership and which provides funding for rescues and pet-related organizations around Memphis.

It’s $10 to get in, also benefiting Memphis Paws. There’s also a $50 VIP ticket that includes an air-conditioned, shaded, covered area, catered food from noon to 2, a T-shirt, poster, souvenir cup and some other goodies.

The event is kid-friendly, with sponsor Jack Pirtle’s providing a Kidzone where your kids can enjoy themselves. There’s a pickle-eating contest kids can enter at 1 PM.

If you want something other than burgers, there will be six food trucks, including MemPops, Joy Ride, Sushi Jimmi, Rawk’n Grub, Kona Ice, and Soul Pig. Live music by The Fast Mothers at noon, Frankie Hollie & the Noise at 2, and Allen, Mack, Myers, Moore at 3:30. If you’re good at cornhole, there will be a tournament at 1.

Burger Fest is a qualifying event for the World Food Championships, so if we do well, we could find an extra food fest on our calendar later this year.

We hope to see you Sunday! Any questions, let us know.

On Saturday, August 13, the Moody Ques had a burger tasting at Frank’s house. We sampled three different burgers: A spicy Specialty Burger, a Traditional Cheeseburger, and a black bean-based Veggie Burger. Thank you Frank and Laura for hosting us, and thank you Frank and Erik for your hard work cooking and preparing the burgers.

If you were there and tried the burgers, the cooks would like your honest feedback. You can email us at moodyques@gmail.com and they will see it. Don’t hold back – if the burgers were good, tell us so, but if there’s something you think needs to be changed, tell us that too. We’re all in this together and your input can help us vault into the Top 10 in these three categories.

We hope to see you all at Best Memphis Burger Fest on the 28th!

Here are some photos of pitmaster Frank Howell at Best Memphis Burger Fest class this past Saturday at Memphis Barbecue Supply. Vice-president Erik went as well, and served as photographer.

Don’t forget, we are having a burger tasting Saturday August 13, 6-10 PM, at Frank’s house at 87 N. Highland. Frank and Erik have several ideas for Burger Fest and they want your feedback. Please RSVP to moodyques@gmail.com if you plan on attending, so we know how much meat to purchase.

BBQ Fest ’17 info coming soon! There’s a change in the dates this year, and as soon as we get a little more information we will post.

(Edit: Sorry these photos are sideways, I thought I fixed their orientation in WordPress…)

Above: Frank getting cooking tips from Best Memphis Burger Fest co-founder Seth Agranov.

Seth tweeted this photo and said, “The Moody Ques ain’t playin!”

Hello team! It’s been a couple of months since we’ve been in touch, since nowadays we in the BBQ off-season. However, we do have a competition coming up this month. This is a break from BBQ, a “just for fun” competition and excuse to get the team together: We will be competing in Best Memphis Burger Fest on Sunday, August 28 at Tiger Lane. Along with around 50 other teams, we will try to place at the top of Best Bloody Mary, Best Veggie Burger, Best Anything But Burger, and Best Memphis Burger. Although this event started off small several years ago, it’s not anymore: As many as 3 Burger Fest teams could qualify for the World Food Championships in Orange Beach, AL in November.

Frank and Erik took a burger class, held by Seth of the Best Memphis Burger blog and festival, last Saturday to learn the insider tips to make it to the top. Now it’s time to put what they learned to good use! This coming Saturday, August 13 at 6 PM, there will be a burger tasting for the team at Frank’s house, 87 N. Highland Street. Frank and Erik will be cooking several variations on what they learned, and they are looking for feedback from YOU on which burger recipe is the best.

If you can come, please RSVP to moodyques@gmail.com. This will let us know how much meat to buy for this event. BYOB, and the burgers are on us.