Porter County Burger Wars Underway in Northwest Indiana

A perfect cheeseburger. AroundIndy.com staff photo, (c) 2013, all rights reserved.

By Ken Kosky
Indiana Dunes Tourism
http://indianadunes.com/

Burger Wars, a bracket-style contest to crown the best burgers in Porter County, began on Friday, May 16, 2014. The Epic Eight, identified as having the best burgers in the county through social media mentions and surveys, will battle head-to-head until a winner is crowned.

Porter County’s Epic Eight are:

• Burgerhaus, Valparaiso
• Franklin House, Valparaiso
• Industrial Revolution, Valparaiso
• Octave Grill, Chesterton
• Piggies and Cream at the Depot, Kouts
• Pikk’s Tavern, Valparaiso
• Village Tavern, Porter
• Wagner’s Ribs, Porter.

Readers can visit www.indianadunes.com/wars to vote in the first round. The winner of each pairing will advance to a round of four on May 26, with the final round of two kicking off on June 2. The winning restaurant will be announced June 10, and will compete against burgers from six other Northern Indiana counties starting June 13 to pick a Northern Indiana champion.

The contest, an initiative of Indiana Dunes Tourism and the Northern Indiana Tourism Development Commission, is designed to highlight the fact that there are so many great burger places in the area and to encourage residents and visitors to experience multiple restaurants.

The eight restaurants competing against each other will have tourism-produced posters at their businesses and are encouraged to use social media and be creative in getting diners and voters to come their way.

“Burger Wars not only allows people to participate in the battle for the best local burgers, but it will help visitors decide where to go when they’re here and are craving a juicy burger, whether it’s beef, pork, bison, veggie or Ahi tuna. We anticipate that Burger Wars will be the first of several future ‘Wars’ in coming years,” said Angela Pasyk, niche market director for Indiana Dunes Tourism.

In addition to awarding prizes to the restaurants, Indiana Dunes Tourism will award a $100 gift certificate – purchased from the winning Porter County restaurant – to one lucky person from among those who dine and vote for their favorite burger. People are encouraged to check www.indianadunes.com and www.facebook.com/IndianaDunesTourism for opportunities to win other prizes. For more information, call 219-926-2255.