Weekend Chili Cook-Off Heats Up Harvard Square

UPDATED: February 7, 2017, at 12:02 a.m.

This weekend, El Jefe’s Taqueria was in it to win it.

With hundreds of locals gathered Saturday afternoon in Harvard Square, the competition was on. Beat Brasserie, Crema Cafe, El Jefe’s, Grendel’s Den, En Boca and the Sinclair were all after the same goal: the Harvard Square Chili Pot trophy.

In the ninth annual “Some Like it Hot Chili Cook-Off,” the six restaurants served up chili to win the votes of samplers and local judges, while percussion group Grooversity played on. El Jefe’s won the contest in its second year participating, taking home what some refer to as the “Stanley Cup of Harvard Square.”

The Harvard Square Business Association hosts the annual contest to promote its member businesses and draw traffic to the Square.

“The most important thing that we can do for our members is to give people a reason to come to Harvard Square on a cold Saturday in January and February,” said Denise A. Jillson, the executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association.

And come they did.

“The atmosphere was festive, and we know from some our participants that they gave over 1,000 samples of chili,” Jillson said. “It was a good day, good attendance, festive atmosphere, delicious chili.”

El Jefe’s won unanimously, clinching both the “electoral college” vote—determined by celebrity judges including Cambridge City Manager Louis DePasquale—and the popular vote from people who attended and sampled.

Patricia Flores, manager at El Jefe’s, said she was proud of the restaurant's win.

“Last year unfortunately we didn’t win, we lost by two votes, so the pressure was definitely on this year to make our chili the best and actually get the trophy,” she said

“They upped their game, as did all of our restaurants,” Jillson said.

Jillson said that the vote was very close, and she complimented the chili that each restaurant prepared.

“But what was very interesting is how close it really was in terms of the vote, which doesn’t always happen. Sometimes there’s an overwhelming winner, and this year, really, I have to say, Grendel’s Den and Crema Cafe and En Boca and the Sinclair and the Beat were neck and neck, neck and neck,” Jillson said.

Flores said El Jefe’s won due to the distinctiveness of their chili.

“Our chili is different taste-wise. It tastes different than normal American chili,” Flores said. “It’s a Mexican chili: it’s spicier, different flavors, different seasonings, and it’s not as hearty as traditional American chili.”

In addition to the chili contest itself, several other chili-related festivities took place in the Square Saturday. J.P. Licks offered chocolate chili ice cream samples on Church St., an expansion from previous years. Chili consumers could also make s’mores in a designated area for the treat.

Though El Jefe’s clinched the title, Kari M. Kuelzer, general manager at Grendel’s Den, said the event is a victory for the restaurant every time it participates.

“Grendel’s Den, because we actually serve chili at our restaurant all the time, we actually win this every time we do this event because we are putting our product into the mouths of the customers,” Kuelzer said. “No matter what the ballots say, it’s such a positive for us to be able to showcase something that we serve at our restaurant that we’re proud of.”

En Boca, a Mediterranean tapas restaurant, participated for the first time this year.

“We were very excited to welcome them as the new kid on the block and they had a wonderful day,” Jillson said. “It’s terrific for them to be able to talk about their new restaurant and direct people over to Holyoke Street to visit them, particularly at a time that they’re under construction.”

–Staff writer Alison W. Steinbach can be reached at alison.steinbach@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @alisteinbach.

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