MONROE - The fourth annual Green County Best Burger Contest has kicked off, beginning a summer of inventive beef dishes for residents from area communities to try out.
Hosted by Green County Beef Producers, the competition is meant to bolster promotion of the beef industry by requiring the meat be used in whatever concoction local eateries can create; which means the "burger" is not limited to a patty placed between two buns.
Nellie McDermott is in charge of the contest this year. She said creativity can be embraced by any of the restaurants who take part.
"As long as they're beef burger product, it's fine," McDermott said. "They can do whatever they want to do with it."
Some have taken the liberty of a new twist on the classic burger by making it a wrap, like Dam Near Home in Albany. The bar and grill serves a wrap-style burger filled with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese and Thousand Island dressing.
Other places like the newly opened Northside Pub and Grill in Monroe take a new look at what defines a cheeseburger. The Pauline Burger is topped with smoked gouda and pale ale cheese sauce with a mayonnaise-like garlic aioli.
A staple of Monroe, Suisse Haus, altered the third-pound burger and its usual offerings listed on the menu to serve the Bacon Jammer topped with smoked bacon, smoked pepper bacon jam, cheddar cheese and jalapeno crisps.
McDermott said the contest began in Monroe after the organization had heard about a statewide competition in Iowa and liked the idea. Once the contest began in 2013, she said other businesses outside of the city contacted the beef producers and expressed their interest in taking part.
"It's promoting beef products and the restaurants seem to like it," McDermott said, noting that some places even add their own table promotions to the ones provided to them.
Other grills and restaurants in Monroe, Brodhead, Browntown and New Glarus are listed on the ticket. In total, there are 17 participating businesses in the contest. Once a patron visits an establishment to try the burger, they are given a card listing the other places and burgers they can eat and judge. The card they receive from a restaurant is then stamped once they try the burger.
The cards are meant to allow eaters the chance to judge each burger. Each participant must try at least five to have their voice heard and to be entered into a prize drawing. The grand prize, a new gas grill, will be announced at a steak fry Aug. 17 at the Green County Fairgrounds.
Hosted by Green County Beef Producers, the competition is meant to bolster promotion of the beef industry by requiring the meat be used in whatever concoction local eateries can create; which means the "burger" is not limited to a patty placed between two buns.
Nellie McDermott is in charge of the contest this year. She said creativity can be embraced by any of the restaurants who take part.
"As long as they're beef burger product, it's fine," McDermott said. "They can do whatever they want to do with it."
Some have taken the liberty of a new twist on the classic burger by making it a wrap, like Dam Near Home in Albany. The bar and grill serves a wrap-style burger filled with a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, cheese and Thousand Island dressing.
Other places like the newly opened Northside Pub and Grill in Monroe take a new look at what defines a cheeseburger. The Pauline Burger is topped with smoked gouda and pale ale cheese sauce with a mayonnaise-like garlic aioli.
A staple of Monroe, Suisse Haus, altered the third-pound burger and its usual offerings listed on the menu to serve the Bacon Jammer topped with smoked bacon, smoked pepper bacon jam, cheddar cheese and jalapeno crisps.
McDermott said the contest began in Monroe after the organization had heard about a statewide competition in Iowa and liked the idea. Once the contest began in 2013, she said other businesses outside of the city contacted the beef producers and expressed their interest in taking part.
"It's promoting beef products and the restaurants seem to like it," McDermott said, noting that some places even add their own table promotions to the ones provided to them.
Other grills and restaurants in Monroe, Brodhead, Browntown and New Glarus are listed on the ticket. In total, there are 17 participating businesses in the contest. Once a patron visits an establishment to try the burger, they are given a card listing the other places and burgers they can eat and judge. The card they receive from a restaurant is then stamped once they try the burger.
The cards are meant to allow eaters the chance to judge each burger. Each participant must try at least five to have their voice heard and to be entered into a prize drawing. The grand prize, a new gas grill, will be announced at a steak fry Aug. 17 at the Green County Fairgrounds.