Edgewood Restaurant Competing for Iowa’s Best Pulled Pork Sandwich

An Edgewood business has been named one of sixteen contenders in the Iowa Pork Producers’ Pulled Pork Madness contest. 

Brady’s Bar & Grill is in the running for the state’s best pulled pork sandwich.

With March Madness kicking off next week for the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball teams, the Iowa Pork Producers Association has launched its own bracket challenge: Pulled Pork Madness. They’re asking the public to decide the state’s best pulled pork sandwich. 

In its seventh year, Pulled Pork Madness follows a bracket-style narrowing process similar to the NCAA tournament. Fans were asked to nominate their favorite restaurants earlier this month. The IPPA received around 850 nominations for nearly 70 Iowa restaurants, and seeding was based on the two restaurants with the most votes in each of the organization’s eight districts.

First-round matchups are:

District 1: Iowa Barbeque Company, Le Mars, vs. The Roadhouse, Orange City

District 2: Birdies, Burgers, & Brews, Graettinger, vs. Smoke N Firehouse No. 20, Ringsted

District 3: Whiskey Road Tavern & Grill, Cedar Falls, vs. The Blue Bird Bar & Grill, Elma

District 4: Backwoods Bar and Grill, McGregor, vs. Brady’s Bar & Grill, Edgewood

District 5: Barrel Smoke BBQ, Templeton, vs. Junction Cafe, Bedford

District 6: Chuckwagon Restaurant, Adair, vs. Bett & Bev’s BBQ, Jefferson

District 7: Bubba-Q’s, Ottumwa, vs. Five Hawgs BBQ, Agency

District 8: Skinny’s BBQ, Muscatine, vs. Cynful Smokehouse and Creamery, Wapello

Pork lovers have until 10 a.m. Friday to whittle the list down to eight. Those restaurants then compete in the next round of voting that ends March 20th to decide the final four, and the deadline to choose the championship bracket is March 25th. The title round ends March 29th, with the winner announced later that day.

The public can vote through IPPA’s Facebook page or on the Pulled Pork Madness webpage during each round. The winning restaurant receives a $250 cash prize, a Pulled Pork Madness plaque and bragging rights.