Chile Festival on Roosevelt Row This Weekend

The annual Chile Pepper Festival will be scorching taste buds this weekend on Roosevelt Row in Phoenix. Dozens of restaurants will be competing for best chile dish. There will be chile roasting, cooking demonstrations, and plenty of booze.

By Chris Malloy

September 27, 2017

Plating spicy bites at a past Chile Festival Slaven Gujic

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Heat-seekers, chile heads, and lovers of spicy foods, rejoice. From 5 to 10 p.m. this Saturday, local restaurants including Ocotillo, Gallo Blanco, and Rito's Mexican Food are dishing it up for Roosevelt Row's Chile Pepper Festival.

Five bucks gets you into the festival. The event is free for kids under 12.

Food/drink tickets cost $3. One ticket will get you food, and two tickets will get you an alcoholic drink. Booze, furnished by Deschutes Brewery, will include both beer and margaritas selected to go well with spicy food. Also, there will be a beer garden.

Additionally, the event's website lists admission/ticket packages for those who plan to come hungry and do some serious damage. There are a few deals for buying in bulk.

Musicians and artists will provide entertainment. There will be cooking and cocktail demonstrations. Locally grown chiles will be roasted in front of attendees. There will be the signature competition for best savory chile dish. And there will also be a showdown of spicy desserts.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Roosevelt Growhouse Community Garden. Specifically, proceeds will benefit the quarter-acre urban garden's educational programs, as well as the drive for a walkable arts district in downtown Phoenix.

If you're hungry in Phoenix on Saturday and have a thing for heat, Roosevelt Row will be the place.

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Chris Malloy, former food editor and food critic at Phoenix New Times, has written for various local and national outlets. He has scrubbed pots in a restaurant kitchen, earned graduate credit for a class about cheese, harvested garlic in Le Marche, and rolled pastas like cappellacci stuffed with chicken liver. He writes stories on the food world's margins.

Contact: Chris Malloy

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