MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - The best burgers in all of the United States were judged at the Burger Bash during the 20th edition of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival in Miami Beach.
Event organizers scoured the country to find the best burgers to compete in their event, and they found 19 competitors vying to win the contest. The competitors in this year’s event come from Miami, New Jersey and the West Coast.
Celebrity Chef Andrew Zimmern shared his thoughts on the competitors’ burgers as he took his first bites.
“Look at the moisture,” Zimmern said. “It’s so moist, has a little snap to it. It’s incredible. The onions, caramelized onions, bacon, potato rolls to top it off.”
Burger Bash kicked off on Friday as the festival celebrates its 20th year. For 2021, organizers divided the crowds and will choose two winners over the course of the night.
“People have more room to spread out, so that we can do more dining, and people can sit down, and so, people just feel a little bit more relaxed,” event producer Randy Fisher said.
The People’s Choice winner was from Kush, who have a restaurant in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
During the first session, the judges announced American Social was the winner of the competition.
When asked about the key ingredient to their burger, American Social’s Ryan Leonard said, “Love. That’s where we start. We start with the love.”
“Best burger I’ve ever had,” Ken Braun said after trying Ted’s Burger, “but you know what? I’m probably going to have 50 burgers tonight, so maybe it won’t be, but this is fantastic.”
One of the contenders this year featured a pretzel bun with caramelized onions, cheese with a beef patty.
A contender from Miami was Go Burger.
“That what makes it unique,” Go Burger representative Jodrick Ujaque said about the burger. “It’s the bite of the onions. It’s a very special pickling spice recipe, and it pairs up very well with the barbecue sauce.”
Goya, meanwhile, brought both flavor and flair to their Burger Bash entrant.
“Thanks to Chef Fernando Diaz, Goya chef, it’s an Angus burger with chive-truffled aioli, of course, seasoned with Adobo spice from Goya and microgreens, which are cilantro and muenster cheese, on a brioche bun, and they always say ‘If it’s Goya, it’s got to be good,'” Keith Blauschild said.
“The best on a burger would be bacon because a good bacon, candy bacon — there you go — and an onion,” Claudia Mendoza said after trying Goya’s burger.
7News anchor Belkys Nerey was one of the judges for this year’s competition.
“They’re like, ‘Listen, just take one bite of each or you run into trouble,'” she said. “It’s so hard to take one bite of each! They’re so good! I think these last two here have been my favorite so far.”
Event organizers also have COVID detection dogs from Florida International University at the festival’s entrance.
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