Both professional chefs and chefs in training will pull out all the stops to create the best fried chicken in the Lowcountry. Several area restaurants will be part of the second annual Southern Fried Chicken Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 8. This family-friendly event is set for noon to 6 p.m. at North Charleston Riverfront Park, 1061 Everglades Ave.
Participating restaurants include Page’s Okra Grill, Fleet Landing, Harold’s Cabin, Cru Catering, My Three Sons, King Street Dispensary, Blind Tiger, Republic, and Ink and Ivy. New this year, culinary students also will compete in the challenge. Students from West Ashley High School, Military Magnet Academy and Wando High School will be putting their best fried chicken dish forward.
Spend the day enjoying live music, activities for kids and a VIP area all while indulging in samples of the South’s favorite comfort food. VIP tickets are $65 each and include 10 tasting tickets, a swag bag and access to a VIP area with open bar and a TV playing the day’s college football games. General admission tickets are $10 each. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Tasting tickets will be available for $2 each. Purchase tickets online at www.southernfriedchickenchallenge.com.
Last year more than 2,000 people attended the Southern Fried Chicken Challenge - giving life to an idea that was sparked during a simple downtown Charleston lunch.
“After discovering that one of downtown Charleston’s best seafood restaurants served an amazing fried chicken lunch special each week, we were blown away,” Jabari Seabrook, event director. “We wondered how many other restaurants and caterers might serve delicious fried chicken dishes that we didn’t know about?”
And so the Southern Fried Chicken Challenge was born, and the hunt for Charleston’s best fried chicken began.
Bringing the music to this Southern showdown is The Dubplates, whose latest album “Box Full of Steel” topped the Billboard charts as the No. 1 reggae album. Also performing are Sounds of Sands, Tidal Jive, and Kang Louie with Quentin Ravenel.
A portion of the proceeds from the Southern Fried Chicken Challenge will be donated to the Charleston Animal Society, MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, Charleston County School District Career & Technology Education programs, and YEScarolina (Youth Entrepreneurship South Carolina).
