A winner has been announced in the third annual Bama’s Best Beef Contest. Kayla Greer, Alabama Cattlemen’s Association director of social media and communications, tells who it is.
Winner Announced in Bama’s Best Beef Contest
Pelham Restaurant Home to Bama’s Best Beef
The filet kabobs dish from Smiley Brothers Specialty Foods of Pelham has been named Bama’s Best Beef in a contest sponsored by the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and the Alabama Beef Checkoff Program.
The contest, driven by fan interaction on Facebook, seeks out a unique beef dish served at an Alabama restaurant or food truck. Upon its nomination in the “Variety” category of the contest, the filet kabobs went head-to-head in a series of bracket challenges to earn their way to the title of Bama’s Best Beef.
During the first week of photo challenges, the dish earned a win over the “Roast” category finalist, Claunch Café’s (Tuscumbia) roast beef sandwich. After securing their spot in the final round, the kabobs sat out a week as “Brisket” finalist, Big D’s Butts N’ Stuff’s (Monroeville) brisket panini, battled it out against “Steak” finalist, SALT at San Roc Cay’s (Orange Beach) 45-day house dry-aged Mishima Reserve Wagyu Tomahawk ribeye. After the brisket panini earned its spot in the final round, the “Variety” and “Brisket” representatives battled it out for the title. After falling behind the brisket panini in reactions (votes), the filet kabobs came back late in the week and won by nearly 400 votes.
Following the first round of photo challenges, the team at Smiley Brothers Specialty Foods wrote on its Facebook page, “We are so humbled and thankful for such [amazing] and positive support from our community and friends! There were votes on both pictures from all over the country and even around the world. What a positive thing for Alabama to draw so much attention to local businesses across the state!”
Throughout the lifetime of the contest, the four finalists received extensive exposure on social media as the contest reached over 454,500 Facebook users, garnered 211 nominations, over 29,000 reactions, comments and shares and earned over 14,500 photo clicks.
The restaurant — new to the Pelham dining scene after Criss Smiley recently retired from 35 years in the national food and beverage industry — focuses on food and family. The restaurant’s “About Us” web page reads: “In this family, a passion for food is basically genetic. We aim to provide our customers with the highest quality food and a staff that is knowledgeable and passionate about amazing food.” Others on the team at the specialty butcher shop and deli which offers meats, cheeses and ready-to-heat meals are Executive Sous Chef Joshua Swinford and Sous Chef Jon Green.
“The edge Smiley Brothers has is their locally-sourced beef and aging process to give you a mouth-watering bite time after time with every cut of their meat,” said personality behind Dining Out With Comedienne Joy and Birmingham food critic Joy King.
Smiley Brothers Specialty Foods is located at 214 Huntley Parkway in Pelham, Alabama and on Facebook by searching Smiley Brothers Specialty Foods. For more information on the third annual Bama’s Best Beef contest, contact Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Director of Social Media & Communications Kayla Greer at (334) 265-1867 or kgreer@bamabeef.org.