Macon Burger Week returns
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The annual Macon Burger Week is now entering its fifth year and already its bigger than ever before.
“So this year we have twenty five restaurants that are participating in Macon Burger Week, of that nine of them are brand new and have never participated before. We’ve got some that have participated in the past that have come back and we’re just really excited to have the largest Macon Burger Week we’ve had ever.” said Taylor Evans Director of Public Relations for the Georgia Beef Board.
The event is being presented by the Georgia Beef Board and was started as a way to not only drum up interest in beef but to encourage people to visit local restaurants they might not have visited before. One newcomer to the event is Oh Honey Baking Co with its entry the Burger Macaron, a dessert dish comprised of a chocolate macaron shell with toasted sesame seeds, ganache with strawberry compote and swiss buttercream “cheese”. Owner Adriana Horton says she was excited to be able to take part in the event after being inspired by fellow competitor Felicia’s Cake Factory.
“I’m really excited to see everyone’s responses. I think that this has just been a really fun thing for us to get to be a part of and it’s been really fun to watch customers get their tiny burgers and be excited about that.” said Horton.
Returning competitor Tommy’s Bakery and Café is offering Tommy’s Donut Mega Burger which consists of a glazed donut with an 8 oz. beef patty, secret cheese spread, bacon jam and fried egg on top of it. Owner Tommy Sadler says his favorite part of the event is the creation process.
“Every year, I start thinking about it beforehand of what I want to do cause I know when the burger week is coming up close. So I’ll start thinking of different things and then I’ll just throw something together and try it and if it tastes good, we’ll try it.” said Sadler.
Customers get to vote online which of the burgers they liked best and that restaurant is awarded the Macon Burger Week Champ at the end of the week. The Georgia Beef Board is also handing out two other awards this year the “Most Beef Sales” award which is given to the restaurant that sells the most pounds of beef and the “Cleverly Created Award”
“So we’re giving out our “Cleverly Created” award which goes to our most unique and creative concept burger and that is actually judged by beef producers. We’ve got great local producers that love to get involved in our beef promotion events and so they’re going to come down, they’ve narrowed it down to the top five and we’ll announce that sometime in the middle of the week.”
Voting opens up on November 9th and winners will be announced on November 15th. If you’d like to find out what restaurants are participating and where to vote you can visit the official Macon Burger Week page here.
