Event Recap: Philly’s Fifth Annual Burger Brawl

On Sunday, June 14, Xfinity Live played host to the fifth annual Burger Brawl. The fundraiser successfully raised $208,000 for the School District of Philadelphia and was the perfect summer antecedent: smoke from more than 54 competitors’ grills in the humid air, burgers as far as the eye could see, live bands, drinks and a celebrity panel of judges on a quest to crown one Philadelphia restaurant as champion. With 4,200 people in attendance, The People’s Choice award was also on the line, as a sea of people sampled some of the Philadelphia area’s greatest burgers.

Barbuzzo Burger

My first stop was Barbuzzo’s station, where they had prepared the “Barbuzzo Burger”: 8 oz. of 80% lean all-natural ground beef, sweet and sour eggplant puree, grated pecorino sardo and parsley-caper salsa on a brioche bun. Congruent with many of Barbuzzo’s regular menu items, this was a savory Mediterranean-inspired burger that caught me off guard. It was complex and well cooked, and the eggplant puree was a surprisingly inventive spread to use on a burger. This burger may have been very good, but I couldn’t tell if it would be a competition winner; it was risky and well executed, but I had many more burgers to try before crowning my champion.

Next up was Blue Duck Sandwich Co.’s “The Blue Jawn”: a duck and beef patty with red onion jam, Maytag blue Cheese, mesclun greens and duck cracklins on a brioche bun. As a big fan of duck, this burger caught my eye almost immediately and it didn’t disappoint. The burger itself was cooked about medium, perfectly juxtaposed with the creamy blue cheese and red onion jam that gave it a lot of depth. This was a gourmet burger that took just enough chances to differentiate itself from its competitors, but was not to be considered gimmicky.

Blue Duck Sandwich Co. The Blue Jawn

My next destination was Paesano’s; I just had to see what kind of off-kilter hamburger interpretation Peter McAndrews and company would come up with. “Paesano’s Burger” was a 6-oz. ground-chuck patty with 2 oz. of pastrami, fried onions, garlic mayo, gorgonzola dolce and a fistful of fries on a toasted sesame-seed bun. This burger embodied Paesano’s admiration for working-class food with a gourmet twist. The patty and pastrami went well together, with the garlic mayo and gorgonzola tying things together nicely, and this burger had a nice thick bun that really stood out.

Fat Jack's BBQ Memphis Mauler

Next on my list was Fat Jack’s BBQ’s “Ultimate Memphis Mauler.” You might recognize this name from the TLC series BBQ Pitmasters. The burger consisted of Fat Jack’s signature BBQ sauce, brisket, pork, aged cheddar jack cheese, fried onions and Fat Jack’s dry rub topped with house-made slaw. This burger was plated excellently, and it really had a lot going (on in a good way). This was the embodiment of what I love about barbecue—mouth-watering pork and brisket, incredible sauce and cole slaw with a good crunch—all served on a well-toasted poppy-seed slider bun.

My final destination was Twisted Tail’s “Cracklette”: a 100% Angus burger with shaved romaine, shaved red onion, raclette cheese, pork cracklins and dijonnaise on a brioche bun. This burger may have been the most ordinary of the day for me, but it was just well executed enough to save itself from being unremarkable. The patty was cooked about medium rare, and the dijonnaise-dressed bun it was served on really helped to bring it all together.

Twisted Tail The Cracklette

After enjoying all of these burgers I needed some sort of beverage, so I reached for a Small Town Brewery Not Your Father’s Root Beer. This 5.9% ABV drink is the perfect answer for those who aren’t big on beer. A smooth ale with spices that are silky, it really drinks like root beer. It’s the perfect refreshment for beating the heat, with an amazing blend of spices that make it sweet and give it the bite of real root beer.

I only tried a small sampling of the event’s offerings, but I was confident I had found some of the real gems of the competition. My pick of Fat Jack’s BBQ’s “Ultimate Memphis Mauler” didn’t win, but Blue Duck Sandwich Co.’s “The Blue Jawn” ended up taking the People’s Choice award. The celebrity panel of judges, including Matt Chord and Marc Summers, crowned Village Whiskey’s “Frenchy Burger” the winner of the 2015 Burger Brawl.

  • Photos: Greg Taffer