Partnership announces Souper Bowl winners

The newly formatted version of the Starkville Souper Bowl has concluded, and award winners have been announced. The revamped event had local restaurants feature a soup for the four-week competition with diners voting on their favorite soup.

TASTE won this year's Souper Bowl for their Smoked Tomato Bisque. The Central Station Grill came in second place for their Chicken Applewood Bacon Florentine soup.

The restaurants weren't the only winners in this competition. Every person who voted for their favorite soup was entered to win gift cards to participating restaurants. From those patrons, three grand prize winners were announced and posted on social media. Grand prize winners received either four tickets to unwine, two MSU Baseball Triple Crown passes or a $250 downtown shopping spree.

The economic impact of this year's Souper Bowl competition was quite remarkable.

Director of Tourism Paige Hunt said, “The Souper Bowl competition has been held in Starkville for a number of years and we were really excited to revamp the event this year to get people to dine in our locally owned restaurants. The additional customers were a boon to our already thriving restaurant sector.”

Nearly 600 people cast their votes for their favorite soups while participating in the event. This resulted in thousands of additional dollars in food and beverage revenue from the 14 participating restaurants during the January and February event.

The Greater Starkville Development Partnership comprises the Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce, Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, Starkville Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Starkville Main Street Association.