Timothy Chapman
Four-hundred-eighty-eight teams competed in the American Royal World Series of Barbecue from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 in Kansas City with the Rio Grande Valley’s own Fred Robles taking first place in the Brisket Open Contest.
American Royal is a not-for-profit organization that hosts the annual competition. According to its website, the American Royal World Series of Barbecue is the largest barbecue contest in the world.
Competitors from across the globe join in the competitions to be crowned the Grand Champion. The competitions consist of the Invitational Competition, Open Competition, Sides Competition and Kids Que.
Rio Valley Meat Butcher Shop is located in Harlingen and has previously won in the brisket competition of the American Royal World Series of Barbecue in 2017. In 2019, the local shop won the overall championship.
Owner of Rio Valley Meat Butcher Shop Fred Robles expressed the feelings he felt with his family and friends when he found out he won the brisket competition last month.
“Just hearing, ‘Rio Valley Meat,’ there at the end, I was sitting next to my wife and a bunch of our friends from Texas were there as well,” Robles said. “you hear that and you hear all kinds of screaming and shouting and high fiving and hugs and tears and all kinds of emotions running through it, it’s super exciting, especially on a stage like that. That’s the biggest stage in the world. So, it’s definitely an experience for sure.”
Robles explained he goes into every contest wanting to do well but tries to stay humble
every time he competes because he just never knows what the judges are looking for on that particular day.
“At the end of the day, what I want to do is turn in a product that I was really happy with and that once it’s turned in, it’s really all up to [the judges],” he said.
Co-owner of Rio Valley Meat Butcher Shop Yadi Robles said her husband does all the cooking, but she assists him any way she can, including adding the final touches to make the plate look presentable as well as the final important step, which is taking the plate to the judges.
“Some people might say, ‘It’s not a big deal, right? You’re just going to turn in the plate,’” she said. “But there’s the whole thing. Like, there’s the whole stress behind it because if I don’t make it on time, they don’t accept our tray, So, it’s kind of like that’s half the battle, right? Just actually getting there and turning that in.”
She expressed how proud the family is of her husband’s accomplishments.
“It’s a great feeling when you win,” she said. “And so the kids like to brag about their dad and they’ll tell their friends, ‘yea google my dad’s name,’ and a bunch of pictures come up about that, the contest that he’s won. So, we are very proud of him and we hope that he knows that.”
The next competition Rio Valley Meat Butcher Shop is expected to compete in will be the Briscoe Ranch BBQ Cook-off from Dec. 8 to 9 in Uvalde, Texas.
To see the final results of the 2023 American Royal World Series of Barbecue, visit americanroyal.com
This is Timothy Chapman for Vaquero Radio.
Comment Excellent commentary very well written!