Philly a is a food town. I joke that when people come to visit, all I want to do is show off our restaurants and bars (although our museums, parks, and history are not too shabby either.) I love all of the different food events that happen in Philly as well – festivals, “weeks,” and of course, competitions. The region’s largest food competition is nearly here – the Philly Burger Brawl.
Philly Burger Brawl, now in it’s 9th year, is switching things up a bit this year with a new date in the fall and an all new, even larger, location at the Navy Yard. This year, over 60 Philadelphia region restaurants will fire up the grills and battle for Burger Brawl presented by Jim Beam. The grills come out and the gloves come off on Sunday, September 15, 2019, with VIP gates opening at 1:00pm and general admission opening at 2:00pm. Attendees are invited to enjoy all-you-can-eat samples of the very best burger in Philadelphia and then vote for their favorite. Food critics, writers and celebrity judges will also name one winning burger, “Judge’s Choice.”
Tickets are on sale now at phillyburgerbrawl.com for $45 for advance general admission (or $50 at the door) which includes samples and one free cocktail. VIP tickets are also on sale for $100 with perks like early entry, a VIP lounge and unlimited drinks. Children under 10 are free, no ticket required. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Twenty-one with identification to drink. Parking is free. Event is rain or shine.
This event is one of my favorites because of its philanthropic side – all proceeds go to The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia to support hardware needs to implement math and reading literacy programs in underserved elementary schools. Specifically, event proceeds support hardware needs to implement math and reading literacy programs in underserved elementary schools. Past proceeds have helped fund the purchase of Chromebooks and associated equipment in many Philadelphia Schools. The hardware has enabled schools to implement curriculum plans where the hardware requirements were otherwise unfunded.
Here’s a list of all attendees:
- Bainbridge Street Barrel House
- Barbuzzo
- Bernie’s University City
- Black Cat Tavern
- Brick & Brew
- Brickwall Tavern
- BurgerFi
- Chic-a-delphia
- Craftsman Row
- Culture on the Circle
- Del Frisco’s Steak House
- Elevation Burger
- Flannel
- Frankie and Jimmy D’s
- Greenhouse, New Hope
- Hanks Place
- Hard Rock Café
- Harper’s Garden
- Hip City Veg & Bombon Bar
- JT Brewskis Pub
- Lucky’s Last Chance
- m2o Burger
- Milk Boy
- Misconduct Tavern
- Moonshine Philly
- New Wave Cafe
- Outlaw’s Burger Barn & Creamery
- Pineville Tavern
- PJ Clarke’s
- Profeta Farms
- Prohibition Tap Room
- Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft
- Rouge
- Sabrina’s Cafe
- Second District Brewing
- Shrimpy’s BBQ
- Steam Pub
- Stove and Tap
- Taproom on 19th
- The Bercy
- The Common
- The Red Owl Tavern
- Three Monkey’s Café
- Tradesman PHL
- Tredici Enoteca
- Twenty Manning
- Twisted Tail
- Village Whiskey
- Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro
- Yards Brewing Company
So how did the Philly Burger Brawl come to be? In 2011, Maggie and Rob Wasserman created a culinary competition on the playground of The William M Meredith Elementary School. They invited several of their restauranteur friends to duke-it-out with their best burger – The Philadelphia Burger Brawl was born! The Burger Brawl team partnered with The Fund for the Philadelphia School District to provide financial management and direction. Together they engaged leadership in the Philadelphia School District to help identify literacy programs that required funds to be launched. Since 2011, the Philadelphia Burger Brawl has raised over $283,000.00 (and counting!) to fuel much-needed programs.
To highlight the event, I wanted to share a take on my personal vote for best burger in Philly. My favorite burger I’ve ever had in Philly was about two years ago. Yes. It was that good that I still think about this burger ALL the time. One of my favorite bars, Watkins Drinkery, has a rotating seasonal menu that always includes awesome burgers (and other food. Seriously, their menu rocks). But their Fall 2017 menu had the BEST burger – “signature beef blend, shaved pumpkin, whipped bleu, pistachio, brioche.” So this little burger is my ode to that fantastic-ly awesome burger.
- 1/2 sugar pumpkin or squash of your choice (I used 1/2 Kabocha Squash, a couple of Delicata Squash would be great too)
- 4 oz whipped cream cheese
- 4 oz blue cheese
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (I used a blend of 80% lean and Wagyu ground beef)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
- 4 brioche buns
- salt and pepper, to taste