Burger Brawl back for round four

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This article was published 30/10/2021 (1781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Seven local restaurants are stepping into the ring this year to duke it out in the 2021 Burger Brawl competition, which starts Tuesday and runs until Nov. 29.

For the fourth year in a row, Westman food lovers will get the chance to pick the winner of this contest by sampling each edible entry and casting a vote for their favourite.

Not only does this process grant the winning restaurant lifelong bragging rights, but each voter can also enter into a draw to win gift cards and $500 in cash.

Just like last year, The Dock on Princess is coming into the Burger Brawl with a lot of momentum, having captured the majority of the 1,277 votes that were cast in 2020.

Assistant general manager Jody Mead told the Sun her team is submitting The Dock Burger once again, since this item’s combination of Guinness Cheddar, maple-smoked bacon and garlic aioli helped them cruise to victory in the last two years.

“It is still our best-selling menu item,” Mead said last week. “So we don’t want to mess with success.”

Outside of returning participants like Benny’s Restaurant (the Benny Burger), Coffee Culture (Sierra Turkey Bagel), Smitty’s (Chicken Little Burger) and Browns Socialhouse (Smokehouse Burger), this year’s Burger Brawl roster includes restaurants that are coming back to the competition after a brief hiatus.

For example, T-Birds is looking to make a big impression with its Ring Toss Burger, which features two quarter-pound beef patties topped with cheddar cheese, red onions, bacon, barbecue sauce and an onion ring up top.

General manager Laura Tycoles said this burger highlights how T-Birds is known for its food as well as its status as an entertainment hub, where people can enjoy the bowling alley and arcade.

“We do all of our own homemade patties, and all of our burgers are made custom, designed in-house,” Tycoles said. “We’re maybe not known for our burgers, but we have great burgers.”

Clarion Hotel and Suites general manager David Brooks is equally eager to get Echo Restaurant and Wine Bar back into the Burger Brawl after missing out on the 2020 competition.

Brooks told the Sun on Oct. 21 that his team’s Pub Burger is designed to turn some heads, especially with its house-made Angus beef patty and carefully crafted list of toppings, which includes aged cheddar, smokey bacon and fried onion petals.

“Not that I’m bashing McDonald’s, because that’s a hamburger and that’s great,” he said. “But we take a burger to the next level.”

More broadly, Brooks also sees the 2021 Burger Brawl as a great opportunity for local restaurants to signal how their services are returning to some semblance of normalcy, especially after enduring an entire year of stops and starts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Last year was on and off, on and off … but we’ve been open for probably three months now,” he said. “So we’re back to our somewhat normal hours and we’re actually in the middle of creating a brand-new menu for Echo, so that’s going to launch hopefully sometime in the middle of November.”

Burger Brawl participants can cast their votes in person or online by visiting brandonsun.com/burgerbrawl. Only one entry per email address will be permitted.

The 2021 Burger Brawl competition is being sponsored by the Brandon Sun and Assiniboine Community College.

Turn to Page A14 to see a list of entrants.

» kdarbyson@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @KyleDarbyson