In Sioux Falls, the Burger Battle has been a tradition for over a decade. As the annual battle winds down, it has inspired similar competitions in communities across the state.
The Sioux Falls Downtown Burger Battle was one of the first in the state. In its eleventh year, the competition offers restaurants the opportunity to compete for the best burger. Costumers are the judges.
Other cities across the state offer similar competitions in effort to support local restaurants, including Aberdeen, Brookings, and Watertown.
Shane Andersen is a local realtor who has a past in the restaurant business. He started the Brookings Area Burger Clash in 2020. He said the idea was born from the pandemic.
“Watching restaurants post different stuff and what have you during COVID, it just kind of came from there to help during that time to help get people back into restaurants, or at least so that they could continue to serve people and feed them. I Just created the Burger Clash from there,” said Andersen.
He said pandemic aside, the burger clash now brings costumers into restaurants during traditionally slow times in the industry.
Andersen said his idea for the Brookings Area Burger Clash did not necessarily stem from similar competitions in other cities but he offers his theory as to why majority of these competitions use burgers.
“You know, I guess it could be pizza and stuff like that. But I think with burgers you can come up with all different kinds of ideas, flavors, stuff like that," said Andersen. "I’ve said it before, that every year I think they come up with something that they can’t top the next year. But, they always come up with great ideas and everybody loves burgers. And when you put all sorts of other ingredients on it, it just makes it delicious.”
Brookings hosts its burger battle Jan. 1 through Feb. 29, Watertown all of February, and Aberdeen is offering its second annual burger battle all of April.
This means adventurous burger lovers can kick off 2024 by participating in burger battles across the state.
