Twin Cities Burger Battle

To some, it may seem crazy to travel from Chicago to Minneapolis for a burger battle. To my husband and I, it seemed like the greatest idea ever — and it was.
The 2014 TC Burger Battle was the first annual burger battle. If 2014 was any indication of it’s potential, it’s probably only going to get bigger and better every year. It was held at Mears Park. I gathered that this event was going to be a cluster, judging by my search on Google images— but it was large enough for all the tents and people with plenty of room to spare. The booths were far enough apart that you didn’t feel like you were cramped while waiting in line, but they also weren’t so far apart that you spent a lot of time walking.
Tickets were approx $ 40 (plus a service charge) each but once you bought your ticket, you were allowed to consume as many burgers and beer as time allowed. We were surprised that the beer lines were super short and we probably could have got a lot more if we drank faster. They were also giving out water bottles and Mountain Dew kickstarts for the non-​drinkers.
I have to give major amounts of props to the event planning company. This was so well-​organized and definitely the best festival that I’ve ever attended. To start, everyone was REALLY friendly and made conversation while waiting in line. At a lot of the fests I’ve been to in Chicago, it’s usually every man/​woman for themselves, but not here. I believe there were 12 burger vendors and we managed to consume 9 sliders each. We kept hitting a meat wall and it took us the entire allotted amount of time to do so, but it was possible.
Most of the burgers were fantastic and worth waiting for. IMO, The French onion burger from Red Cow was the darn best burger of the fest and a burger that I’ll dream about for the rest of my life.
Random things to know:
*Follow them on Facebook for a countdown and news.
*We lost our tickets an hour before the event. We remembered reading online tickets HAD to be printed out, so we went to the business center to reprint them. It turns out they were accepting mobile tickets. Check their FB page for clarification on mobile vs paper tickets for future events.
*Don’t eat AT ALL before this event. You’re going to want to try everything.
*Some businesses were giving out SWAG. Hit these ones up first before they run out.
*We attended the pre-​party at Faces. They scanned our tickets and we got in without having to wait in line. We were able to get down 2 – 3 burgers before most of the public was even through the gates. If there’s a pre-​party promising special entrance, GO! It’s worth it even if you end up having to buy a drink or two.
*We somehow missed the announcement that the voting chip had to be in an hour into the event, so I didn’t get to vote for Red Cow :(Make sure to pay attention to the rules so you can vote for your fave.
If you get a chance to attend next year, I highly suggest that you do so. I’m sure that 2015 will be even better.