There’s nothing like a food fight! No, not the kind where everyone is slinging their lunches across the room. We’re talkin’ a good, old fashioned burger throw down – restaurant against restaurant, chef against chef. We’ve gathered together 16 restaurants that have some of the best burgers we’ve found in the Mahoning Valley, 8 from Mahoning and 8 from Trumbull. We put them in a single elimination bracket and named it the Meat 16, (not to be confused with the NCAA’s Sweet 16). The local chefs are putting together some crazy, delicious burgers for a whole month of burger madness, (not to be confused with the NCAA’s March Madness)!
The Rules (Note: These rules apply specifically to the 2017 tournament)
A) You gotta have a burger, and B) You gotta have cheese on that burger. Any other toppings are chef’s choice! The restaurants may choose to enter one of the burgers listed in their menu or they can get creative and do some experimenting with new ideas. All entries must include ground beef, (which could be blended or stuffed with any other type meat), any kind of cheese, and some type of bun or bread. All other toppings and condiments are acceptable.
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Judging the Cheeseburgers
For each match, there will be 3 judges. Last year, we used a single judge system for the entire tournament, except for the final. This takes a little pressure off of the judges.
There is no specific scoring system or standard for the judges to refer to. This is 100% personal preference so the chefs have to either consider ingredients that appeal to a broader cross-section of the public, or go for broke with the hope that some wild and crazy creation will win over the judges.
The Competitors
14 of the 16 competitors are taken from the BURGERGUYZ Mahoning Valley burger rankings. The remaining 2 slots were both filled via a Facebook survey and claimed by The Village Pump in Canfield and Big D’s Newton Grill in Newton Falls.
Round 1
Mahoning County
- Magic Tree vs. The Village Pump 2/8/17
- Krakatoa vs. The Pour House 2/15/17
- Barry Dyngles vs. Davidson’s 2/10/17
- Bogey’s vs. Steamer’s 2/11/17
Trumbull County
- Just Fred’s vs. Crossroads 2/9/17 (No video)
- Sunrise vs. Niki’z 2/16/17
- StoneYard vs. Big D’s 2/17/17
- Amen Corner vs. Masters 2/18/17
Round 2
Mahoning County
- Magic Tree vs. The Pour House 2/20/17
- Davidson’s vs. Bogey’s 2/22/17
Trumbull County
- Crossroads vs. Niki’z 2/28/17 (no video)
- Masters vs. Big D’s 2/25/17
Round 3
Mahoning County / Trumbull County
The 2017 Badurik’s Butcher Block Meat 16 Cheeseburger Challenge Championship
- Big D’s vs. Davidson’s (3/7/17)
