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But the proof will be in the patty in restaurant part of Akron festival
By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer
Published on Thursday, Jul 17, 2008
Restaurants vying for the title of ''Best Hamburger'' won't compete until Saturday, but their rivalry and their grills already are heating up.
At a news conference Wednesday to kick off this weekend's National Hamburger Festival, owners from some of the restaurants in the competition gathered at the Ido Bar & Grill, 1537 S. Main St., to show off their creations and boast about their burgers.
John Menches, owner of Menches Brothers restaurants, whose family claims to have invented the burger in 1885, said his entry, made with a touch of coffee and brown sugar, is the original by which all others have to be measured.
It was the Menches brothers' claim that resulted in the city becoming host to the National Hamburger Festival, which kicks off at noon Saturday in Lock 3 Park downtown.
''This is how all of the hamburgers you see here started,'' Menches said, displaying a platter of his burgers.
New to the festival this year is VegiTerranean, rocker Chrissie Hynde's restaurant, which will be serving two styles of veggie burgers at the festival.
Executive Chef Scot Jones boasted that his burgers are 100 percent free of any animal products and had zero cholesterol, zero saturated fat, zero trans fat, ''and they're packed full of goodness and love.''
Christy Bell, manager of Louie's Bar & Grille, showed off the Louie Burger, which last year walked away with the ''festival favorite'' award.
Bell, who runs the restaurant owned by her dad, Dave ''Louie'' Khoury, said the Louie Burger answers the old question of ''Where's the beef?''
''It's right here,'' she said, showing off Louie's signature half-pound burger. ''We may not be as healthy as some and we may not be the original, but we think we've got a pretty good burger.''
So does Steve Baker, owner of the Ido, whose burger was stacked high with sauteed mushrooms, onions and cheese.
New to the competition this year is downtown Akron restaurant Crave. Owner and chef Aaron Hervey brought a loaded burger, but warned his competition that it was ''not nearly what we're going to do at the festival this year.''
The restaurant burger competition is Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Organizer Drew Cerza said he expects the festival to continue to grow this year, and noted the addition of Ohio favorite White Castle burgers, Metro Burger from Akron's Highland Square neighborhood and the national chain Steak 'n Shake to the event.
Last year's festival drew nearly 25,000 visitors.
This year's events are the crowning of the burger queen, a hamburger-eating contest and at 3 p.m. Sunday, the Beacon's Best Burger Contest, in which 10 amateur cooks will compete on the Lock 3 stage.
The festival also has live music and other activities.
Proceeds benefit Akron Children's Hospital.
The festival hours are noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5.
For more information, visit http://www.hamburgerfestival.com.
Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
Restaurants vying for the title of ''Best Hamburger'' won't compete until Saturday, but their rivalry and their grills already are heating up.
Get the full article here.
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