Where everyone is Italian!
Cooking Team Contests
Spaghetti Gravy
Saturday, May 30 12:00 p.m.
Making the best Spaghetti Gravy is the pinnacle of Italian cooking! You’ll compete with some of the BEST Gravy makers in Memphis for cash prizes and ABSOLUTE bragging rights. Each cooking team enters one 20 oz. sample to be judged on-site by a panel of gravy experts. The best Gravy takes it all!
Grazie ai nostri Sponsor
Anything Italian
Friday, May 29 6:00-6:30 p.m.
Anything Italian is wide open, cooking creativity! Each cooking team enters one appetizer, entree or dessert dish that best delivers the essence of Italian cooking. Contestants are judged by a committee on creativity, taste and “Italian-ness”.
Registration Details
If you have any questions or need to make arrangements, please call Vickie & Richard Ranson at (901) 606-5123 or
email: theransons@bellsouth.net
Other Fun Italian Contests
Saturday, May 30 All Day
After you’re finished proving your gravy, compete in our other FUN events! Homemade Wine, Best Happy Hour Drink, Best Booth, Best Powder Room and Best T-Shirt are all fun, light-hearted competitions that EVERYONE can enjoy.
Peoples Choice
Saturday, May 30 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm
People’s Choice is just what it says, the public’s FAVORITE choice! The top six cooking teams in previous year’s Spaghetti Gravy contest each enter one Spaghetti Gravy sampling that is blindly judged by festival goers who make a donation to participate. Each donation is allocated to the gravy that each tester liked the best. Once totaled, the People’s Choice is awarded to the cooking team that received the most donations!
All proceeds from the People’s Choice will benefit The Holy Rosary School ANGEL Program, so come out to the festival, sample some great spaghetti gravy and help raise money for some very special kids! The ANGEL Program offers year round intensive instruction for children living with autism using innovative teaching techniques.
Memphis Italian Festival 2025
Team Cooking Contest Winners
Spaghetti Gravy Contest
1st Place – Molti Cuigini
2nd Place – Pasianos
3rd Place – Pasta La Vista
4th Place – Italian Vagrants
5th Place – Luigi & Pasquale's
6th Place – La Familia Battristelli
BLIND Spaghetti Gravy Contest
1st Place – Bada Bing Bada Boom
Anything Italian Contest
Tied for 1st Place –
Meatball So Hard
Pasta Pigs
2nd Place – Pasta La Vista
Homemade Wine Contest
1st Place – Paisanos
2nd Place – Pasta Famiglia
3rd Place – Eat, Drink & Be Italian
Best Happy Hour Drink
1st Place – Two Italians Lotsa Rednecks
Best Booth Contest
1st Place – Holy Cannoli
2nd Place – Pasta Pigs
3rd Place – Pasta Famiglia
Powder Room Contest
1st Place – Pasta Famiglia
2nd Place – The Alfredo Brothers
3rd Place – Pasta La Vista
Team Shirt Contest
1st Place – Venetian Villa'ns
2nd Place – Thursday Night Italians
3rd Place – Paisanos
Peoples Choice Award
Foodfellas
Congratulazioni a tutti!
Father Milton Guthrie “You’re Great” Award
Luigi & Pasquale's
Cornhole Contest
1st Place – Luigi & Pasquale's
2nd Place – Mama Biondini's
Grape Stomp Contest
Garboulucci's