Twenty-two restaurants and 23 chilis fought to out-flavor the competition at Pearly Baker’s Alehouse’s 28th annual Chili Cook-Off on Sunday.
“It’s Super Bowl Sunday — it’s just a good day for chili,” said Kerry Harrington, who oversees the alehouse.
Local restaurants each brought a pot of their chili to the Bank Street Annex, an event venue downtown that Harrington also manages, armed with samples to feed hundreds of guests.
A panel of six judges chose Mueller’s General Store & Kitchen’s chili as their first-place winner for the second year in a row, while Riegelsville Inn and Braveheart Highland Pub claimed second and third, respectively. Competitors were judged by state Rep. Bob Freeman and two Lafayette College football coaches.
“It’s always difficult to make a choice because there’s so many great chilis,” said Freeman, who has been a judge of the competition since its inception.
In addition to the judges’ decision, the guests of the cook-off voted for the People’s Choice Award, won by Porters’ Pub by a single vote. A single vote also separated second place, Lutzi’s Restaurant, from third, Vault Brewing.
Sette Luna head chef Adan Campos said he brought a green chili with pork shoulder, tomatillos, jalapeño, cilantro and green peppers, a blend he said could “represent Sette Luna.”
Campos said that competitions like these are good for involvement within the city.
Chili consumers included Lafayette students, Easton residents and visitors from neighboring towns.
“There’s a lot of cultural difference here,” said cook-off attendee Harrison Zoller ‘27 about the chilis.
Lafayette football coaches began participating in the Chili Cook-Off as judges three years ago.
“It’s important to get back down into the city of Easton and give back, to be a part of the community as much as possible,” said defensive coordinator and judge Mike Saint Germain.
“The college is part of Easton and Easton is a part of us,” cornerbacks coach Jeff Sejour added.
Sophie Freiling, the director of football operations at Lafayette, also visited the cook-off. She said the department often brings high schoolers to Easton and Pearly Baker’s Alehouse during recruitment.
“It’s a great community,” she said of Easton. “We love to show that off and our players have a great time connecting with the locals.”
This year’s Chili Cook-Off raised over $3,000 between the $5 door charge and the raffle, according to Harrington. $500 of this money went to the judges’ chosen winner and the rest is donated to a different nonprofit every year. This year’s nonprofit is the Pennsylvania Water Rescue, a volunteer program for water-related emergencies, for the second year in a row because it was unable to host one of its traditional fundraisers.
“The funds that we raise from here go directly into our equipment fund so that we can maintain our emergency response capabilities,” said Branden Bachman, the chief of the nonprofit. In 2020, Lafayette College renovated a building in Easton to act as a new station for the organization after it was unable to renew the lease of its former property.
“We’re extremely grateful,” Bachman added.
The competition used to be hosted in Pearly Baker’s Alehouse but was moved to the annex in 2024 to accommodate a growing crowd, according to Harrington.
Local attendee Josh Pencil has been attending the cook-off for “probably 20 years” and described it as a “good way to celebrate the start of the Super Bowl with family.”
“It’s been tradition,” he said.
