I'm not a food blogger. I eat food. I love food. But I'm more in to events......well and food, but you know what I mean. I tend to spend more time thinking about how events are organized.........about the time, effort, and money put into doing an event........ the organizational detail oriented side of things. What can be calculated, sliced and diced in an Excel spreadsheet. So.....when a friend said he was putting together Sacramento's First Annual Burger Battle, I saw this as my opportunity to be nosey and ask all those questions that had plagued me.
imagine this: 800 people ready to eat burgers and 15 restaurants making burgers (not including the beer, cider, and wine spots) all gathered at Raley Field for an evening of awesomeness all to support the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. how does one decide to do something like this? do you just wake up one random morning and say "hey, eating burgers would be a great way to raise money for charity"?!? and where oh where would you start?
to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) Rodney is the man behind the event. He runs BurgerJunkies and eats burgers......lots of burgers. Rodney's daughter was diagnosed with Crohns when she was 5 years old. Crohns is an autoimmune disorder that keeps the body from absorbing important nutrients in food. Not a good thing for anyone, and especially an adorable little girl who has a lot of growing to do! so Rodney wanted to combine his love for his daughter and his love for cheeseburgers and came up with the Battle idea.
last year, Rodney was introduced to Lisa from the Downtown Sacramento Partnership by a Foodspotting buddy, Larry. (dontcha love social media?) they really helped Rodney decide that this crazy notion of his was a viable concept! Rodney started talking to restaurants and venues to piece together the event. he had attended the Burger Battle in Denver and had some insight on how an event like this would need to be organized. restaurants were quick to jump at the chance to show off their burgers (please note I totally resisted an off-color comment there). in fact, Rodney had more restaurants wanting to participate than he had space for! that's a lotta burgers! anyway, at this point, Rodney has spent 5 months making phone calls and personal visits to get the restaurants and venue lined up, promoting the event and the other hundred details that need attending.
here is where I start itching and I want to make lists....lots and lots of lists.....
800 people are coming to this event, two weeks from today. assuming that each person eats at 3/4 of the restaurants (I am kinda assuming that no one is really going to have room for ALL the burgers and that some people might share their burgers) and that each burger is cut in 1/4 for service, we are talking..........2,250 BURGERS!!!
assuming that the burgers average $10 retail (which I guarantee you is low based on the restaurants and quality ingredients involved).......we are talking $22,500 for the burgers. this doesn't include either having additional staff working......or as some places will be doing, shutting down their money making restaurant so they can be at the Battle. that also doesn't include the beer and wine and raffle prizes. (oh yeah, didn't mention those, did I? well there are raffle prizes. awesome ones......but I'm not telling what they are. you'll have to be surprised!)
that is a lot of time and effort for a 3 hour event (4 hours if you pony up for the VIP tickets - if there are any still available) taking place on a Tuesday night in the middle of September. I would say it is going to be hot......because it might be......but Raley Field is laid out perfectly for that wonderful Delta Breeze and I am sure the patron saint of burgers (who might that be?!?!) will make sure the weather is fine!
before I close, I want to talk about every single restaurant that is coming together for the Battle. they all deserve a blog post of their own......on a blog that gets a whole lot more traffic than mine......but I can't type that much and have already rambled on more than normal......so here's what I can do:
AWESOME BURGER BATTLE RESTAURANTS
and then tell you that I have personally been to 9 out of the 15................ and would go back to all of them ...................and am looking forward to trying the other 6 either before or after the Battle. (update: make that 10 out of 15 with 5 left to go......) and while the actual burgers the contestants (right? this is a competion) are preparing is a top secret secret, I can tell you that The Eatery actually made a burger in Rodney's honor. it is called the Junkie Burger. ask them about it when you go in. it isn't on the menu but those in the know can request one. I can also tell you that my own burger loving husband has said he could eat Krushburger's Ninja Burger every day for the rest of his life. and don't let my lack of a nifty neato keen comment about a place give you the idea that I think less of their offering........any of these places all on their own would make a burger lover happy!
Disclaimer: Rodney didn't pay for this blog post or give me tickets. I already bought my ticket and did this post because I am a nosey parker and am in awe of all the work people are putting in to make this event a success..................I want to hug them all!
ALSO.......now that he has his blog post live, check out Round About Sac Town for a review of the Denver Burger Battle AND a chance to WIN tickets to the Sacramento Burger Battle! be sure to tell 'em I sent ya!
I look forward to seeing you on September 18th! promise, no taking pictures of me with burger juices running down my shirt. I promise the same in return!
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