Dearborn burger spot nabs best burger title for Brisket Truffle Burger

By a narrow, two-point margin, a Dearborn burger joint's double smash burger patty topped with smoked brisket and truffle aioli was deemed the 2024 Burger Battle champ at Sunday afternoon's Burger Battle competition.

Eastern Market's Shed 5 was the hot spot for the annual event that brings together metro area burger restaurants showcasing their creations.

By the end of the event, the crew of So Cheesy, a burger spot on Warren Avenue in Dearborn, wowed the judges with its Brisket Truffle Burger. (Full disclosure, I was a judge along with other Detroit media personalities.)"It's so exciting," Ali Bazzi, So Cheesy owner said. "I came here for a trophy and I left with a trophy."

Bazzi and his crew's Brisket Truffle Burger was one big offering packed with many flavors that came together with each bite. It was a two-hander for sure.

The burger begins with two smash burger patties, cooked medium and well-seasoned. From there, brace yourself, the burger is paired with American and Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms plus a housemade barbecue sauce.

And that's not all. The final topping is smoked beef brisket and truffle aioli.

So Cheesy's burger edged out returning 2023 Burger Battle champion Ali Aljoom, by just two points. Judges gave a total score of 180 to So Cheesy and Aljoom's garnered 178 points. The winner netted $1,000 and a trophy.

Aljoom returned to the annual event with a burger called The Michelin Star. Two smash burgers were topped with strips of Wagyu steak, black truffle puree, secret sauce, crispy halal beef bacon, caramelized onions and portobello mushrooms.

11 restaurants compete

Eleven metro area burger restaurants and chefs set up at the outdoor event on Sunday. The restaurants and crews got grilling putting creative spins on burgers to impress burger lovers enough to earn their votes and send them to the judge's table.

A near-capacity crowd attended the event with nearly 2,000 tickets sold, event organizer Scott Rutterbush said.Now in its eighth year, Burger Battle is presented by Dine Drink Detroit with Leaf and Bud as the main sponsor.

The sizzling competition features local chefs and restaurants vying for the title of best burger in Detroit. Attendees sampled unlimited (while supplies lasted) burger samples throughout the afternoon.

This was the second year that Cesar Valdivia attended the event.

"There's more variety than last year," Valdivia said. "(There's) good vibes and good burgers and I'm having a good time."

Three families, 17 kids

It was the first time for Corey and Iris Chatman of Detroit. The couple thought the event was great, and after trying four burgers, they deemed chef Max's burger (more on this later) as the best followed by Presley's Kitchen.

Burger Battle is billed as a family-friendly event. It was the first time for Chad Krueger of Grosse Pointe Shores who attended the event with the two other families.

Attending the event was a good way to sample many burgers. Krueger said the quest for a good smash burger started months earlier as he and his brother Josiah had been searching around town trying smash burgers at different places.

"It's pretty fun, though it takes a while to get through (the lines) everything," Krueger said. "But we got to them all."

With Krueger was his wife Katy and seven kids, his brother Josiah along with his wife Julia and their five kids and a cousin Brett and Baili Summerville of Grosse Pointe Wood and their five children

Burger competitors

For this year's battle, there were 11 competitors from all around metro Detroit, including the 2023 champ, AlJoom's BBQ. Most of the restaurants competing were newcomers to the event, including a team celebrating and honoring the late chef Max Hardy, who died in March.

The event featured a special dedication to Hardy, a 2022 Burger Battle champion and a familiar face among competitors for at several Burger Battle events.

Chef Nik R. Cole of popular pop-up Fried Chicken & Caviar and chef Phil Jones created a burger in memory of Hardy. Well-known in Detroit's restaurant and food scene, Hardy who was 40 when he died, owned COOP Caribbean Fusion, inside the Detroit Shipping Co. and Jed's Detroit, a pizza and wings franchise on Seven Mile Road in Detroit.

"He was my good friend and we collaborated a lot," Cole said. "Burger Battle brings back a lot of memories"In 2022, Hardy won the competition with this Caribbean Fusion Burger. Rutterbush honored Hardy as his close friend, as a champion of Detroit's restaurant scene, and for his overwhelming commitment to Detroit.

"We teamed up to support his work," Phil Jones said. "We want to keep his spirit alive and his work with young folks and follow his leadership. "We are looking for the next generation of young people in the food scene.

Here are the top five burgers voted by the crowd sent to the judge's table.

Brisket Truffle Burger (2024 Burger Battle winner)

What: Two smash burgers cooked medium and topped with American and Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and mushrooms. This was served on a brioche bun and paired with a final finish of housemade barbecue sauce, truffle aioli and smoked brisket.

Where: So Cheesy, 15010 W. Warren, Dearborn.

The Michelin Star (second place)

What: Two smash burgers topped with crispy beef bacon, caramelized onions and portobello mushrooms, secret sauce and black truffle puree. For a final finish, the burger was topped with grilled strips of Wagyu steak.Where: Aljoom's BBQ,  8606 N. Telegraph Road, Dearborn Heights.

Pomegranate Burger (third place and best presentation)

What: This was an interesting burger. It's a halal burger topped with aged Cheddar cheese and peppery arugula. The burger is topped with a slightly sweet house housemade pomegranate sauce and crunchy pomegranate arils. Where: Burgerratti, 6609 N. Telegraph Road, Dearborn Heights.

Cuzzy Burger (People's Choice)

What: Comet Burger, a small Royal Oak eatery, packed a big beefy flavor in its creation, the Cuzzy Burger, thanks to a zip sauce. The brisket and short rib grind was topped with charred onion jam, gruyere cheese, garlic mayo, legends zip sauce and served on a potato roll. Comet Burger is expected to open a St. Clair Shores location soon.

Where: Comet Burgers, 207 S. Main Street, Royal Oak.

Birria Smash Burger

What: The crew of Golden Burgers food truck made quite a presentation with the "When Birria meets Smash Burgers." As the name suggests, the burger combines its birria (Mexican stew meat) taco meat with a smash burger. The burger sits on bun layerd with Doritos and is topped with crumbled Doritos. On the Golden Burger's crews t-shirts was "King of Late Night" deemed so by Mr.Chimtime. A social media influencer and food critic, Mr. Chimetime is Rashad Mooreman from North Carolina who posts reviews on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Where: Golden Burger food truck, 6914 Wyoming Ave., Dearborn.

Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on X (formerly Twitter.) Support local journalism and become a digital subscriber to the Free Press .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn burger spot nabs best burger title for Brisket Truffle Burger