Coyote Moon Grill Chef Chosen as a National General Mills Contest Winner

(KNSI) – Two central Minnesota restaurants have been selected as winners of the General Mills Foodservice’s 2020 Neighborhood to Nation contest.

The Coyote Moon Grille’s Adam Meyer was named as one of 20 nationwide winners for his southern fried chicken sandwich with raspberry chipotle sauce recipe. Get the recipe for the sandwich by clicking here.

Another Minnesota restaurant, Madigan’s Pub and Grill in Maple Lake, was chosen for Chris Nelson’s Ragin’ Cajun Pizza. Get that recipe by clicking here.

The contest celebrates independent restaurants and food trucks for their one-of-a-kind dishes and independent restaurants’ role in local communities.

Each winner gets $5000 cash, support to market the restaurant, and entered into the People’s Choice awards for the grand prize, which is an additional $5000 donation toward a local food bank charity.

Many restaurants said they were struggling, even with doing takeout and delivery, and some closed altogether due to indoor dining shutdowns because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so General Mills decided to double the number of winners for 2020. A press release says doubling the number of winners would allow restaurants and food truck operators to win “much-needed cash as well as paid advertising and other marketing tools to promote their business.”

To enter, applicants had to upload a picture of their recipe using at least one ingredient from General Mills Foodservice’s participating brands and share how they creatively used that item. They could also explain how that dish brings comfort and joy to their custome]rs at a time when comfort and joy are desperately needed. Recipes for the Neighborhood to Nation Recipes Contest were judged based on taste, appearance, creativity, and foodservice viability.

Voting for the People’s Choice opens on February 22nd and runs through February 26th. Mark your calendars and set a bookmark to vote by clicking here.