April 29, 2026<\/p>\n
The smoky, savory scent of barbecue drifted through St. John\u2019s University\u2019s Residential Village<\/a> Path on April 21 as chefs from six area universities fired up their grills for Chartwells\u2019s<\/a> Blazing BBQ Brawl.<\/p>\n Now in its second year on St. John\u2019s Queens<\/a>, NY, campus, the spirited competition\u2014designed to showcase the talents of Chartwells chefs\u2014brought 1,400 students, faculty<\/a>, administrators, staff, and other members of the St. John\u2019s community together, vying to see who would earn the coveted title of BBQ Brawl champion.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an event that actually started back in 2011 at SUNY Old Westbury,\u201d said Paul Bowden, Chartwells Senior Executive Chef at St. John\u2019s. \u201cOur goal is to make it bigger and better every year. This year, we added an Iron Chef-style \u2018Live Fire\u2019 category, where the chefs cook tomahawk steaks for a separate student panel of judges. The winner gets a championship ring.\u201d<\/p>\n Trophies are awarded to winners in each of five categories\u2014brisket, chicken, ribs, pork, and vegetarian. \u201cYou don\u2019t typically see a vegetarian dish at a BBQ competition,\u201d Chef Bowden said. \u201cThe top overall score brings home the championship belt.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n For the price of a single lunchtime meal swipe (or a credit card swipe for those not on a meal plan), guests were treated to a vast barbecue sampling, with pit bosses representing St. John\u2019s; Adelphi University; Hofstra University; SUNY Old Westbury; and Quinnipiac University\/Trinity College all firing up their best.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware this was happening, so when I saw all the smokers and BBQ pits set up, I said, \u2018Oh my gosh, YES!\u2019\u201d said Elisabeth Chuni, a psychology<\/a> major from Danbury, CT. \u201cI love it when St. John\u2019s has events like this where everyone\u2014resident students and commuters alike\u2014can come together and hang out and share an amazing experience.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe food is amazing,\u201d said Bella Guido, a first-year nursing<\/a> student from Howard Beach, NY. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have all these different options from different schools in one place. I love the music, too. It\u2019s a great vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n Her cousin, Antonio Sobrao, a finance<\/a> major, was equally impressed. \u201cI love that St. John\u2019s is hosting an event like this. I\u2019m just getting started on the pulled pork and it is amazing. I can\u2019t wait to try some of the other plates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI love that it\u2019s not just one big barbecue\u2014it\u2019s a full-on competition between schools,\u201d said Jolene Desiste, a legal studies<\/a> major from Queens, NY. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes it so fun. You get this incredibly diverse mix of styles and flavors, all under the same barbecue theme, and it really turns the whole event into something special. They definitely delivered a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just got out of classes so coming here this afternoon is a great way to refresh,\u201d said Rochile Vestrat, a criminal justice<\/a> major from North Babylon, NY. \u201cI\u2019m a foodie and there are so many different options for me. The birria tacos are pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack Flynn, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Conduct, was among the panel of St. John\u2019s dignitaries who cast votes for their favorite foods. \u201cIt has been an amazing experience,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see so many students out here today sampling some of the best food that Chartwells has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow judge Sr. Patricia Evanick, D.C. \u201997M.S.Ed.<\/a>, Associate Director of Campus Ministry<\/a> for Liturgy, Faith Formation, and Vincentian Initiatives, gave high marks to the ribs she sampled, but explained that her favorite part of the event was the feeling of togetherness it created. \u201cI\u2019m glad we do it because it brings people out to celebrate and be a part of the St. John\u2019s community.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall BBQ Champion: Chef Joshua Jampole (St. John\u2019s University)\u00a0<\/p>\n Best Ribs: Chef Joshua Jampole (St. John\u2019s University)<\/p>\n Best Pork: Chef Joshua Jampole (St. John\u2019s University)<\/p>\n Best Chicken: Chef John Mesas (Hofstra University)<\/p>\n Best Brisket: Chef John Mesas (Hofstra University)<\/p>\n Best Vegan Dish: Chef Jose Rodriguez (SUNY Old Westbury)<\/p>\n Live Fire Competition: Chef Michael Russell (Adelphi University)<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have a passion for the creativity of making our own rubs, brining the meats, hour and hours of smoking, and then the final result,\u201d said two-time BBQ Brawl Champion, Chef Joshua Jampole, representing St. John\u2019s. \u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a rivalry, but we all have a love for what we do. It\u2019s a great opportunity to do something really special for the students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 29, 2026 The smoky, savory scent of barbecue drifted through St. John\u2019s University\u2019s Residential Village Path on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-214122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}