Chicken, ribs and pulled pork dominated the grill Saturday at the River City BBQ Challenge.

Seven local teams loaded up their grills and spent Friday night in the grass beside Lady Luck Casino smoking their meats.

Two judges picked the winners for first, second and third place, and the attendees got to vote for the people’s choice.

First place and a $1,000 prize went to CJ’s BBQ. Corey Jones competed last year with Morgan Stanley, and this year he decided to take the challenge on his own. He said he has a passion for barbecue. He keeps it simple and doesn’t change his recipe very much.

“I love to cook, and I like getting feedback. It’s what makes me cook,” Jones said.

Second place and a $500 prize went to Tyson Triple C&E Grillmasters. This group of men smoked ribs, chicken, pulled pork and sausage with one of the largest portions of food at the challenge. They competed last year and decided to change their recipe up this year.

Third place and a $250 prize went to S&M Smokers. Friends Dusty McCain, Scott Clanton, Christopher D. Scott and Steve Williams cooked ribs with a special sauce added later to top off the meat. They also offered meaty baked beans that offered a little something new to the competition.

“This is what we do. We win,” Scott said.

The People’s Choice and a $250 prize went to Merit Health River Region Medical Center. They served their own creation of a barbecue taco with ranch and coleslaw at the bottom of the tortilla.

Michael and Natalie Noble of Nobie’s Blues BBQ were happy to support the American Legion and gave out pins to all veterans. They offered all three of the competition meats, and they had a certain recipe for success.

“Smoke, heat and sweet,” the couple said.

Organizer Chana Hargrove, who has ties with host organizations AmeriCorps and American Legion and is also a chef, had his own tent and made each of the three designated meats chicken, pulled pork and ribs. His food was not eligible to place in the top three but was up for People’s Choice just like Lady Luck’s tent who also cooked up food.

Lucky Coleman and Pat Cobb came from Monroe to try out the barbecue in Vicksburg. They really enjoyed the meal, and the $5 price, on the overcast but warm Saturday afternoon.

“We’ll probably try it again and bring the kids next time,” Cobb said.

Many of the teams tried their competitors’ cuisine.

Entering the competition was not for the faint of heart with long hours and having to purchase a large amount of food, but these barbecue masters love what they do and continue to come back for more.

Every thirty minutes a raffle ticket number was called for the winners’ choice of prize like a restaurant gift card or a carpet to name a few. The band Trilogy played until 3 p.m. when radio disc jockey Chris Burkes showed up to play music.

American Legion Post 3 along with AmeriCorps hosted the cook-off to benefit veterans assistance programs and to start a Venture Crew, which is a youth developmental program for teenagers.