Brawlin for Burgers...

Burger Brawl

My cousins and I missed out on Burger Brawl last year, but we weren’t going to let it get by us again this time around. Rob Wasserman's event is organized to benefit Philadelphia schools because he wasn’t happy with the quality of the schools his children were going to. Tickets cost $35 and get you unlimited burgers to eat for the afternoon. All of the proceeds go to the charity. The line to get in was very long and it was a bit too crowded for my liking, but it really was a great event. 50 to 60 of the area's best come out to compete for both the judges title of winner, and the people's choice champion.

Each place has its own tent and cooks up its burgers to its own liking. Each person is given a token to vote for their favorite, and although we didn’t go in with the right strategy, we learned for the next time and found out the hard way, you just cant eat enough to know the one true best. While most places didn’t give you a whole burger, some definitely were bigger than others. I think the ideal strategy is to go in with a partner and for each of you to take one bite of each item you are given in order to take up as little room as possible. Eventually, the meat sweats set it, and I just couldn’t take a bite more. I didn’t even get to try two of the three people's choice winners because of that, so I definitely learned my lesson. 

Some places just don’t prepare enough and run out of burgers. That sucks too, especially when you are really looking forward to trying theirs. Highlights of the day for me included Justin Swain's pimento burger from Rex 1516, Spot Burgers Umami burger and the Dandelion's lamb burger. I tried Avance's lamb burger, the eventual judges winner, and I thought they were terribly wrong with their choice. It wasn’t very good. It was very plain. Dandelion's was definitely far superior. Unfortunately I didn’t get to try the people's choice winners in order of Blue Duck, Twisted Tail or Parc. I really wish I had, but I got to a point where it just wasn’t happening. Ha!

It is a really great event, and I would encourage anyone to check it out. Its fun, its burgers, and its usually a great time to be outside. I will definitely be making it into a yearly tradition with my friends and family and its for a good cause. Hope to see you there next year! Cheers!