On June 8, about 1,400 foodies joined us at Chesapeake City Park for the 2024 CoVa Battle of the Burgers. Guests sampled creative burgers from 18 local restaurants and voted on their favorites. Contenders included 1631 Burgers Bourbon & Brew, 185 Restaurant, The Bee and the Biscuit, Burger Theory, The Butcher’s Son, Desmond’s Island Soul Grill, FIREBREW Bar & Grill, Hackers Bar & Grille, The General Public, The Ghent, J & K Style Grill, Kitchenfinity, Lager Heads, Pour Girls, Red Point Taphouse, Saté: A New American Experience, The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery and Water Street Grille.
The event also featured libations from six breweries: Armed Forces Brewing Company, Big Ugly Brewing, Smartmouth Brewing Co., The Veil Brewing Co., The Virginia Beer Company and Wasserhund Brewing; a cidery: Bold Rock; our seltzer partner: High Noon; and three wineries: Effingham Manor & Winery, Pearmund Cellars and Water’s Edge Winery.
Attendees were also able to shop from 30 specialty vendors on site, enjoy live entertainment from Borderline Crazy (full band) and get to know our non-profit partner, the Norfolk SPCA, who a portion of proceeds from the event and had animals up for adoption on site.
Thank you to our Gold Sponsors: Performance Foodservice Virginia, Certified Angus Beef and Coastal Virginia Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery; Silver Sponsors: Care-A-Lot Pet Supply and Gallo; and other event partners: Moke America, East Beach Cart Company and Yelp Coastal Virginia. Also thank you to Chesapeake City Park, the City of Chesapeake, all event participants, volunteers and attendees. We can’t wait to welcome you back for the 2025 Battle of the Burgers!
THE BIG WINNERS:
The Burgers:
Winners were awarded in both the People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice categories.
1st Place People’s Choice: J & K Style Grill
Burger: Sloppy Second Patty Melt
Beef, cheese, Dr Pepper sauteed onions and the Keke Sauce
2nd Place People’s Choice: Kitchenfinity
Burger: Soul Burger
Served on an Ube Pandesal roll (Filipino bread, 100% beef patty, cheese, in-house jalapeno bacon jam, fried egg, in-house burger sauce
3rd Place People’s Choice AND Judges’ Choice Runner Up: The Butcher’s Son
Burger: Pub Burger
2oz house-ground “Meyers Beef,” house-made pickles, sweet & spicy whiskey BBQ sauce, house-made beer cheese, thinly sliced onion straws, fresh romaine lettuce
Judges’ Choice Overall Winner: Hackers Bar & Grille
Burger: SW Stacker
Char grilled Certified Angus Beef patty with cheddar jack cheese, homemade pickled jalapeños, crispy fried vidalia onion, iberico pork belly & roasted garlic, honey & lime aioli on a whole butter brioche bun
The Beer:
Guests voted to selected a People’s Choice winner.
People’s Choice Overall: Armed Forces Brewing Company
Beers: Preamble (lager) and Special Hops (IPA)
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Full photo album to be posted to Facebook very soon!
Kelsey Thomas
