South Carolina ProStart Invitational Hosted in Myrtle Beach in Early March

The South Carolina ProStart Invitational is the state’s premier competition for high school culinary arts and hospitality students. See the success of our past competitions and learn more about participating next year. You can make a difference by becoming a ProStart educator who provides students with the education they need to enter into a viable career.

ProStart students from across South Carolina are already preparing and practicing their skills for competition by crafting their menus and concepts. Each team logs many hours of practice, and we need your help evaluating their skills. We are seeking qualified individuals to judge high school culinary and management teams in categories such as restaurant concept, menu and recipe presentation, knife skills, teamwork, safety and sanitation, costing, marketing, operations, and critical thinking.

The South Carolina ProStart Invitational is an annual competition hosted by South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Foundation. The competition includes Restaurant Management and Culinary divisions. The Culinary Competition requires students to demonstrate knife skills incorporated with incorporated into cooking a three-course meal in 60 minutes with only two butane burners, two eight-foot tables and no electricity or running water. In the Management Competition, students develop a brand new restaurant concept to pitch to a panel of industry and post-secondary judges, complete with critical thinking and verbal presentation rounds.concept, menu and recipe presentation, knife skills, teamwork, safety and sanitation, costing, marketing, operations, and critical thinking.

The first place winners in each will go on to compete in the National ProStart Invitational in Washington D.C. this coming May, for the chance to receive almost $200,000 in scholarships as well as competing amongst several teams from across the country.