The Smokey Blue toastie features 12-hour smoked brisket, pickles, onion jam and blue cheese. Photo / Rafaella Melo

When someone says they will think about a toastie on their “deathbed”, you can assume it made an impression.

So much so that Hastings’ Black Betty BBQ beat more than 200 other businesses across New Zealand to take out the People’s Choice Award in the 2026 Great New Zealand ToastieTakeover.

That was the first time a Hawke’s Bay business won the title in the competition’s nine-year history.

Black Betty BBQ sold about 1000 Smokey Blue toasties over the six-week competition, at times serving 50 to 60 a day.

If you were wondering about the recipe behind its success, the answer lay in a 12-hour smoked brisket, caramelised onions, blue cheese, pickles, and buttery sourdough.

Owner Daniel Meredith said the combination would please even people who don’t like blue cheese.

“We’ve had a lot of people come in that don’t like blue cheese, that love that toastie,” Meredith said.

“It’s just the balance between the smoked brisket, the sweet onions and the sharp blue cheese.”

Meredith said head chef Blair Glenny came up with the winning combination, after the team trialled multiple versions.

“There’s quite a lot of engineering that goes into making a toastie,” Meredith said.

“But the brisket is definitely the star of the show.”

The onion jam and blue cheese sauce are made in-house, while the sourdough is sourced locally. The $25 toastie is served with crinkle-cut fries.

Black Betty BBQ has been entering the competition for several years and previously reached the finals in 2021 with its Cornstar toastie, which became a permanent menu item.