Iowans have selected 10 restaurants across the state that are in the running for the title of “Iowa’s Best Burger.” The annual contest is sponsored by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council. Cattlemen’s Association spokesperson Dal Grooms says the 10 finalists gathered the most nominations between February 15 and March 18.
The top 10 restaurants are 61 Chop House Grille of Mediapolis, Ankeny Diner of Ankeny, B&B Grocery Meat and Deli of Des Moines, Elm’s Club of Creston, First Street Grille of Keosauqua, JB’s Bar and Grill of Marcus, Rosco’s of Norwalk, Sam’s Sodas and Sandwiches of Carroll, The Ritz of Arnold’s Park, and Zombie Burger of Des Moines.
This is the fourth year for the best burger contest and Grooms says it’s grown bigger each year. “This year, we got over 6,300 nominations that named 349 different Iowa restaurants,” Grooms said. “That’s an increase by about one-third over last year in terms of the nominations.”
The 10 restaurants will now be visited by a secret panel of judges who will evaluate the hamburgers. They’ll be scored on taste, presentation, and proper serving temperature. “We’ll get that information, put that all together, and we’ll be naming our best burger winner on May 2nd,” Grooms said.
Previous restaurants that have won the contest were The Coon Bowl in Coon Rapids (2012), The Rusty Duck in Dexter (2011), and the Sac County Cattle Company in Sac City (2010).