Last Saturday I headed out with wife and kid to our first Austin ‘event’ since arriving to reside here semi-permanently. I say ‘event’ because it probably qualifies more as a neighbourhood get together than an actual event – the Jo’s Coffee Cold Blood Chili Cook Off.

Jo’s is a favourite local hangout right in the heart of South Congress, known for their coffee[1] and foot traffic[2]. The cook off amounted to some ten or more teams who set up stalls in the parking lot behind Jo’s to dish out their own super-secret take on Texas chili and a bunch of bands on a low stage. The visitors were mainly locals with dogs, kids, scarves[3] and, of course, bold hats. The chili came in the form of tasting-size scoops with various combination of taco, crackers and spray cheese on the side – 5 tastings for $5, 10 bucks for the whole thing. Jo’s supplied beer, cornbread[4] and also their own chili.

Cold Blood Chili Cook Off!

The chili on offer ranged from traditional/straight-up spicey to fruity[5] to whole-earthy. I think there was also a vegetarian option which I didn’t try. While we were there two bands played: Woodsboss and Honeybread. Both were great; Woodsboss’s fiddle-and-tambourine country-bop a perfect fit for chili eatin’; Honeybread’s blues/soul a more polished groove. In my opinion Honeybread had the edge on Woodsboss, just in terms of groove – very cool.

Here’s a little video[6], Honeybread is on-stage, and check out the weird dude in the tie-dye shirt[7].