At Battle of the Burgers, a paid admission gets you all-you-can-eat samples from fifteen different Atlanta-area restaurants.
Review and photos by Ken Lackner
It’s festival season in Atlanta, and if you like to eat and you love burgers, Battle of the Burgers is the place to be. The annual food festival benefiting Embraced Atlanta was held this year on September 8 in John Howell Park in Virginia Highlands. One of the things that makes this food festival unique is what you get for the price of admission. Whereas many food festivals charge a small price solely for admission and then require you to purchase food from each vendor, at Battle of the Burgers, a paid admission gets you all-you-can-eat samples from fifteen different Atlanta-area restaurants. Each restaurant offers their own unique spin on an American classic in hopes that every person who tries that burger will vote for that restaurant to win the completion.
Among the tasty offerings at this year’s Battle was a creation from a little burger stand in Centennial Olympic Park called Googie Burger. For the festival, Googie created a braised beef short rib burger with dragon cheese – that’s white cheddar with mustard grain in the cheese! – along with Coca-Cola glazed Vidalia onions, a cilantro slaw, bacon and a fried pickle, all on a pretzel bun. If you think that sounds outrageous, you’re not alone; Googie Burger took home both People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice Best Burger.
A common question heard being asked of all the vendors was, “Is this on the menu?” The answer most often heard was, “It will be if we win this year.” Lots of tasty treats have come and gone this year, but hopefully Googie Burger will add their winning creation to the menu for all to try.
A food festival wouldn’t be complete without great local music. There were originally six bands scheduled to perform at the festival this year. Due to inclement weather, not all of them made it to the stage. Slim Chance and the Convicts performed their brand of alt country, and Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-Devilles headlined the festival stage.
Battle of the Burgers is always a great time, with great food, great music, and for a great cause!
