R & R Burgers in Springville is one of four finalists in the 2018 Bama’s Best Burger Contest with their T-rex burger. Photo courtesy of Alabama Cattleman’s Association

Four finalist restaurants have been named in the 2018 Bama’s Best Burger contest, sponsored by the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association and funded through the Alabama Beef Checkoff Program. 

The four burgers that received the most votes across the contests’ eight regions statewide are: Bentley’s (Hartselle) Cheeseburger; R & R Burgers (Springville) T-Rex Burger; Heard’s BBQ & Soul Food (Maplesville) Signature Burger and Our Place Diner’s (Ozark) Big Bopper Burger.

With over 500 nominations made during the month of July, eight regional semifinalists who received the most nominations per region were awarded a seat in Facebook poll challenges hosted on the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Facebook page during August. Week 1 put Region 1 semifinalist Bentley’s against Region 2 semifinalist Union Jack Café of Rainbow City and garnered over 1,620 votes throughout the weeklong poll. Week 2 hosted Region 3 semifinalist River Café of Adger against R & R Burgers where the Springville-based restaurant brought home the majority of the over 2,300 votes earned during the week. During Week 3, Region 5 semifinalist Heard’s BBQ & Soul Food beat out Region 6 semifinalist 82 West of Union Springs for a seat in the final round, while during the fourth and final week of Facebook poll challenges, Region 7 semifinalist Meat Boss of Mobile fell to Region 8 semifinalist Our Place Diner of Ozark by nearly 2,000 votes.

“The Facebook poll challenge portion of this year’s contest produced excellent results and displayed how Alabamians show their patronage for their hometown restaurants,” Alabama Cattlemen’s Association Executive Vice President Erin Beasley said. “Congratulations to the finalist restaurants and thank you for the amount of promotion we saw resulting in increased beef consumption across the state.”

Finalists will now continue on to a blind taste test challenge throughout September. Contest judges will anonymously attend each finalist restaurant to judge its burger and submit scorecards back to the Alabama Cattlemen’s Association state office in downtown Montgomery.

The 2018 Bama’s Best Burger winner will be announced on October 2 to kick off Beef Month in Alabama. The winning restaurant will receive a plaque of recognition and an on-site press conference presentation as well as an influx of customers looking to try Alabama’s best burger.

“Customer loyalty and promotion has brought us this far in the contest, and it is time to let our judges’ taste buds do the rest of the work,” Beasley said.