When Fried Chicken Ruled the Night: DiningOut’s Recap of Chicken Fight! Fest 2023
If Elitch Gardens were known for thrills, then the night of Chicken Fight! Fest 2023 took those thrills and deep-fried them golden brown. For one night, the familiar hum of roller coasters was accompanied by the joyous sounds of bluegrass, country tunes, and the ecstatic cheers from a crowd indulging in the finest poultry pleasures known to man. Forget the grease-laden carnival food you thought you knew; this was gourmet, top-tier, and straight out of the best kitchens in Denver. Chicken Fight Fest of 2023 didn’t merely take over the theme park; it transformed it into a gourmet fried chicken wonderland of fun. It was Elitches, elevated.
Produced by DiningOut Events—the culinary creatives behind the city’s favorite food festivals, including Top Taco and RARE Steak Championships—Chicken Fight! packed Elitch Gardens with crowds of happy people who were there to eat, drink, and be as merry as can be on the merry-go-rounds and roller coasters. In between getting giddily spun on all the park’s thrill rides: all the bites of fried chicken and chicken wings they could eat paired with all the cocktails they could drink. (Bottomless beers, too.) And if the general festival atmosphere felt like a friendly poultry party, the VIP dessert disco was the cherry meringue on top.
More than an evening of self-indulgence, Chicken Fight! 2023 was a fiery competition where Denver’s most adept chefs and mixologists battled it out, armed with golden drumsticks and cocktail glasses, hoping to take home the title of the best chicken or cocktails in town. To do so, they had to earn the votes of the people and/or the panel of expert judges——chefs, restaurateurs, and other people whose taste buds are trained to discern the good from the better and the better from the best.
These are the spots that seemed to rise above the rest. The champions of Chicken Fight! 2023 are:
The People’s Choice: Chicken Wings
1st Place: Outlaw Wings
2nd Place: Bao Brewhouse
3rd Place: HESHER BBQ & Catering
The Judges’ Choice: Chicken Wings
1st Place: CD’s Wings
2nd Place: GQue BBQ
3rd Place: Seasoned Swine BBQ
The People’s Choice: Fried Chicken
1st Place: Welton Room
2nd Place: The Post Chicken & Beer
3rd Place: Big Stuff Food Truck
The Judges’ Choice: Fried Chicken
1st Place: Welton Room
2nd Place: Jack’s on Pearl
3rd Place: Stone Cellar Bistro
The People’s Choice: Best Cocktail
1st Place: Williams & Graham with Dos Hombres
2nd Place: Toni Tenderonis with Casamigos
3rd Place: Welton Room with Fathouse
The Judges’ Choice: Best Cocktail
1st Place: Tony Tenderonis with Casamigos
2nd Place: Guard & Grace with William Grant & Sons
3rd Place: Cleaver & Co. at Junction Food Hall with Remy Martin
The People’s Choice: VIP Dessert Disco
1st Place: Chez Maggy
2nd Place: Chile Con Quesadilla
3rd Place: We Knead Donut
The Judges’ Choice: VIP Dessert Disco
1st Place: Chez Maggy
2nd Place: Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
3rd Place: Former Saint
