The VERY BEST burger in Madison, WI belongs to———> well, funny story actually….

The whole thing was decided by only 3 people.

Who are these 3 people, and why do they get to decide?? Are they like Simon Cowell on American Idol? Adam Levine on The Voice? Oprah on literally every talk show ever??

No, it was much bigger than that.

With the eyes of the American people upon them, our committee of 9 very hungry, very lucky judges set out to pick a winner.

“But wait!” I can hear you saying. “Just because these judges liked it doesn’t mean they’re the best!!”

First of all, calm down. You’re shouting.

Second of all, you’re right.

So let me tell you how we got here.

It all started started a few weeks ago, when the first annual I Love Madison Best Burger Tournament officially kicked off.

Right after New Years, we asked the people of Madison to weigh in…tell us who YOU think has the best burger.

And HUNDREDS of opinions came pouring in.

31 different burger received votes.  We narrowed down the votes to the top 8. Those 8 moved on the next round. (We had a tie for the #8, so we actually took 9).  

The top 9 were:

1. Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry
2. The Village Bar
3. The Old Fashioned
4. Forequarter
5. Heritage Tavern
6. Eagle Crest
7. Blue Moon Bar & Grille
8. Weary Traveler Free House
9. Graze

From there, we brought it back to the people. We put the top 9 into a poll to and let the Madison voters pick our final four.

After hundreds more votes, our 4 finalists were—

1. Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry
2. The Village Bar
3. Heritage Tavern
4. Weary Traveler Free House

Here’s where it really got exciting… it’s semi-finals time.

• Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry vs. Weary Traveler
• The Village Bar vs. Heritage Tavern

The votes poured in and after 2 weeks of voting, we had 2 finalists.

Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry vs. The Village Bar. Head-to-head in the championships.

And then it happened.

On February 3rd, a committee of 9 hungry judges—appointed by I Love Madison’s creator, Neil Mathweg—arrived at Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry and The Village Bar.

Their mission was simple, but crucial: taste-test the different burgers, and meet back at the Field Table to cast their votes.

It was an impossible task, but they persevered. They stepped it up and toughed it out. They finally pulled through.

And then they decided.

By a narrow margin, in a 6-to-3 vote, the champion was crowned.

The first annual I Love Madison Best Burger Tournament champion is…….

The Village Bar!!

AND THE CROWD GOES WILD raaaahhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhh yahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

We TOTALLY didn’t make this thing up just for an excuse to eat awesome burgers, you guys.

And because this is America and we can’t ever agree on anything ever, here’s how each committee member voted (so you can heckle them on Facebook):

Brittney – Capital City Food Tours – The Village Bar

Otehlia Cassidy – Madison Eats Food Tour – The Village Bar

Chef Joe Gaglio – Gotham Bagels – The Village Bar

Chef David Rodriguez –  Melted – The Village Bar

Chef Dave Heidi – Liliana’s & Charlie’s on Main – Dotty Dumpling’s Dowery

Kayla Elding – I Love Madison Contributor – The Village Bar

Chris Attaway – Epicurean Chronicles – The Village Bar

Helen Feest – I Love Madison Contributor – Dotty Dumpling’s Dowery 

Keith Gilmore – I Love Madison Contributor – Dotty Dumpling’s Dowery