BELLE FOURCHE—From white chicken chili to traditional chili and everything in between, those who came out to take part in the Annual Chamber Chili Challenge were treated to a delicious evening. The public who took part in the challenge spent the evening of October 15 eating their way through Belle Fourche.
While the participating businesses competed to make the best pot of chili, the public had a challenge of their own—tasting ten different chilis at various area businesses and voting for their favorites.
The contest ran for two hours, beginning at 6 p.m. Everyone had until 8 p.m. to turn in their ballots. “It’s an annual event—a fundraiser for the Chamber. The winner gets to house our traveling trophy for a year,” explained Brianne Bonnet, assistant director of the Chamber of Commerce.
After a near-record turnout of 17 chili entries last year, the Chamber decided to limit the number of entries to ten this year to make sure everyone had time and room to taste all of the carefully prepared chili.
There were eight locations to stop at. A few of the locations provided a spot for other businesses to serve up their own chili concoctions.
The beginning of the challenge started in the Belle Fourche Chamber office, where wristbands were on sale for $10. While there, participants got to enjoy Spider Monkey Surprise, an elk chili made by the Butte County Volunteer Fire Department. They offered cornbread muffins to eat along with it.
From there, people could travel on a variety of paths to the next chili host. Most participating businesses were right on State Street, but a few were farther away, like Highmark Credit Union. They enticed chili lovers with a spicy white chicken chili and cookies to wash it down.
The Outlaw Bar served up delicious chili. The rest of the participants in the challenge were located along State Street.
Those businesses included Pasque Ladies Fashions, which served Southwest Chorizo Chili, and Cowboys TOO!, which offered Linda’s Campfire Chili made with ground beef. Cowboys TOO! also hosted the Dinosaurs of the Hell Creek Museum, which served its special Extinction Chili made with bison, Italian sausage and ground beef.
The Hitching Post Tap House had its own take on Mexican Street Corn White Chicken Chili with jalapeno cheddar biscuits on the side. The Tap House hosted Viking Properties and their traditional red chili with beef from Sleep Legacy Beef.
Pearson Block Candy Shop cooked up Texas brisket with ancho chili. And finally, Posy Palace partnered once again with the winner from the last two years, Badlands Security, who cooked up a three-meat combination of smoked chorizo, bacon and brisket chili. Red Onion Marketplace served cinnamon rolls to go along with the smoky chili.
At the end of the night, everyone who tasted the chili then had the hard task of picking their favorite. With so many creative combinations, the hardest problem of the night was picking just one to be first. After ballots were cast, participants left them at the last business they visited. “You can drop your ballot in wherever you stop, there are eight businesses, but 10 chilis to sample,” said Bonnet.
After receiving second place for the past two years, the Butte County Volunteer Fire Department made some changes and pushed to the front of the pack, winning the 2026 Chamber Chili Challenge. Posy Palace Florist, partnering with Badlands Security, won second place, and tied for third place were Hitching Post Tap House and Highmark Credit Union.
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