On March 2nd, I was in attendance for the Rooster Booster Breakfast and announcement of Kentucky Motorsports Week. The Chamber of Commerce also used this time to debut all of the burgers for the 2023 Owensboro Burger Week. As the burgers rolled across the screen, I made mental notes of which burgers I HAD to try. The list started out as just a few, but by the time Burger Week arrived…the list had doub…ehh tripled. Here is my review of the 12 burgers I got to try during Owensboro Burger Week.
The first burger I tried was Gary’s Drive In’s “Bourbon and Coke Slam.” The burger featured a quarter pound Gary’s hamburger patty, Bacon Jam (made with green river bourbon and coca-cola), pepperjack cheese and homemade slaw. This burger caught my attention with two words…bacon and bourbon.
Burger Number 2 took me out Highway 56 for my first trip to The Cottage. The Owensburger featured a 1/3 pound Hill View Farms beef patty, cottage pickles, the cottage special sauce, candied bacon, caramelized onions and two types of cheese. This burger was simple…yet flavorful.
The 3rd burger of the tour “Lured” me to downtown Owensboro for the Cajun Surf and Turf Burger at the Lure Seafood and Grille. This “stacked” burger included a spicy pork patty, spicy beef patty, a creole crab and shrimp cake, Colby pepperjack cheese, Havarti cheese, butter lettuce, cajun pickled peppers and onions. If you tuned into Friday’s episode of Live at 5 on 102.7 The Game, you heard my reaction to this masterpiece firsthand.
Who doesn’t love a Big Booty Judy? For burger #4, I made a trip on Sunday night to the lot to try J’s Good Grub contestant in burger week. When I arrived, Jay and crew were calling #33 to the window to get their food and we were handed #67. I spent time waiting for the next 34 burgers to be called by talking with others in line about their picks and tastes so far in the first 3 days of Burger Week. When my number was called… I felt like I was blessed and about to be highly flavored. The burger included a quarter pound burger, boston butt, cheddar cheese, sweet and spicy pickles, honey gold sauce and topped with an onion ring. What goes best with anything at Jay’s? Of course, a side of cajun ranch fries.
Burger #5 took this west ender to the east side on Monday to Wonder Whip for the Great Harvest Pimento Cheese Burger. This selection included a bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and Great Harvest Pimento Cheese. Personally, I’ve been putting Pimento Cheese on burgers for years and this burger went over so well that they sold 184 lbs of pimento cheese during Burger Week!
I spent the entire 2022 season of Let’s Talk Racing at the Windy Hollow Biscuit House so of course I had to give the Shrimp and Grits Burger a try. Here’s a secret though…I had never had grits so was a little leery about this burger. Boy was I WRONG! Chef Q and the crew opened up the restaurant every day this week and if you didn’t have this on your burger list you missed out. The jumbo size biscuit, plus beef patty, fried cheese grits patty, shrimp, and cajun cream sauce was phenomenal and made burger #6 for the week very memorable.
Lucky #7 took me to the Amvets 75 for the Ranch Jalapeno Popper. My buddy Rob on the WBIO Country Club got to taste this one live on air and it caught my attention. The burger included a juicy patty, ranch infused jalapeno cream cheese spread, grilled jalapenos, and topped with a cream cheese jalapeno popper. The burger also included a side of tots for only $7!
During Burger Week, I talked with several other foodies and read posts talking about how good the “Smoke Show” was at Beef O’ Brady’s. I had originally wanted to stick to the locally owned restaurants, but I made an exception. Well the first of two. The Smoke Show was a flat top grilled angus burger, melted provolone cheese, smokehouse maple candied bacon crumbles, pickled and drizzled with a sweet and spicy bourbon glaze with a side of BBQ chips. Yep…the “b word,” bourbon caught my attention. The name “Smoke Show” was definitely perfectly named!
I broke my rule again on Burger No. 9 by venturing outside the locally owned businesses. The Big O Burger drew me to O’Charley’s on Thursday night. The burger included an 8 oz cajun seasoned patty, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, pepper jack cheese, two pepperjack cheese wedges, bacon, onion triangles and bbq sauce. After this burger, I can say rules are meant to be broken.
Do you remember how I told you that pimento cheese has been a staple on burgers for me? So of course, I had to take a trip to the Miller House for Burger #10. The Pimento Bacon Cheeseburger included a house ground beef patty, pimento cheese, bacon jam and dill pickle. The only thing that made this burger better was a side of fried green tomatoes and an ice cold Ale8-One.
The Carnivore Burger from the Lure Smoke Shack was Burger #11 of the week. This culinary masterpiece included a brisket smashburger, American cheese, Slow Smoked Pulled Pork, Tangy Slaw and Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce. This burger was so good that my buddy Jalen from 102.7 The Game had TWO!
I threw the checkered flag on 2023 Burger Week on Saturday with a trip to Niko’s Bakery. The Croissant Burger featured Hillview Farms Beef, Grilled Onions, House made pickled, Aioli, and American Cheese. This was a perfect way to end the week.
So the verdict is…the winner of the 2023 Burger Week in my opinion is…EVERYONE WHO TRIED THESE BURGERS. All of the burgers had great flavor and hope to see these options become permanent staples on menus throughout town. Thanks to the Owensboro Convention Visitors Bureau for all of the hard work and look forward to 2024!
(As for my scheduled doctor’s appointment next week, it has been rescheduled)
