-Submitted photo
Ben Carris, owner of Ben's Burgers in Ankeny, holds their top 10 burger selection, the Honey Peanut Butter Burger, which the restaurant released in March.

Iowa’s Best Burger for 2023 can be traced to a fairly new eatery in Story County with an aviation theme that gives back to the community with each purchase of its winning burger.

Iowans submitted nominations of their favorite burger from Feb. 13 to March 13 in the contest hosted by the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. The number of votes each restaurant received determined the 2023 Top Ten restaurants that included:

• Arty’s Ice Cream & Grill, Wilton.

• Ben’s Burgers, Ankeny.

• Birdies, Burgers and Brews @ The Hillcrest, Graettinger.

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-Submitted photo Jason Battern, owner of Burger and Co. in Spirit Lake, holds some tasty menu items, including a grilled cheese and the popular BC Burger. Jason Battern, along with his wife Jordan, make all of the sauces from scratch.

• Burger & Company, Spirit Lake.

• Fishback & Stephenson Cider House, Fairfield.

• Foodie Garage Eatery, Dubuque.

• Flight Bar + Grille, Huxley.

• Jeronimo’s Bar & Grill, Springbrook.

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Representing Flight Bar + Grille in Huxley, from left, are Matt Pacha, Marianne Pacha; Katie Boughey, head chef; and Brady Flattery, sous chef. Flight Bar + Grille won Iowa's Best Burger Contest with their Foundation Burger, also pictured in the closeup at top right. The burger features 80% lean, fresh ground beef. The never-frozen and Midwest-sourced beef is rolled into a meatball and then smashed straight on the grill with a steak weight to give it a crisp crust, which preserves the juices inside. House-made pickles and flight fries top off this incredibly popular menu item.

• Parlor on Main, Central City.

• Troy’s Bar & Grill, Earling.

To qualify for Iowa’s Best Burger honors, the burger must be a 100 percent real beef patty served on a bun or bread product. Burgers can include any combination of condiments, sauces, cheese or toppings.

“In total, we collected 6,414 votes for 509 Iowa restaurants,” said Kylie Peterson, director of marketing for the Iowa Beef Industry Council. “This year’s top 10 restaurants are award-winning worthy, but are only a few of the many restaurants in Iowa that do an outstanding job of promoting and serving our beef products to their customers on behalf of Iowa’s beef farmers.”

Five of the top 10 restaurants are new qualifiers, including Ben’s Burgers, Burger & Company, Jeronimo’s Bar & Grill, Parlor on Main and this year’s winner: Flight Bar + Grille in Huxley.

“We’re so honored. There are a lot of great restaurants in the Des Moines metro area that we look up to for inspiration and for our restaurant to be a part of the top 10 is huge. To win, well, we’re speechless. It’s life changing. To have this feather in your cap for the rest of your life is amazing. It’s a huge achievement for our staff. This was one of our goals to have the best burger in Iowa,” Matt Pacha said. “Marianne and I didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

Marianne and Matt Pacha moved to Huxley six years ago and knew they wanted to become an integral part of the community. When they couldn’t find a burgers and brews place to chill at in the area, they decided to capitalize upon Matt Pacha’s retail food business and open their own place.

They began hashing out plans for a restaurant, but then the global coronavirus pandemic hit and delayed their dream.

But by 2022, they were able to open Flight Bar + Grille with a name inspired by the Ballard school district’s mascot, the Ballard Bombers. Even the menu boasts an aviation theme. The winning burger from Flight Bar + Grille is “The Foundation.”

“Our Foundation is a double-smash burger with cheddar cheese. It includes mustard aioli, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions and is topped with thick-cut bacon served between a beautiful and buttery brioche bun,” said Katie Boughey, executive chef and kitchen manager. “We use simple seasonings — salt and pepper — to let the beef’s flavor be the star of the burger.”

The burger features 80% lean, fresh ground beef. The never-frozen and Midwest-sourced beef is rolled into a meatball and then smashed straight on the grill with a steak weight to give it a crisp crust, which preserves the juices inside. House-made pickles and flight fries top off this incredibly popular menu item.

“We usually have five or six burgers on the menu at all times. Our ingredients are all fresh, not frozen, and we cut our own lettuce and tomatoes daily. How can this burger not be good with the caramelizing onions fried in bacon. The atmosphere that people eat in adds to it, too, and we feel that our team has done a great job building a fun place to eat. It just tastes better because you’re in a fun and welcoming place,” Pacha said.

The Foundation burger also is a community favorite for another reason. For every burger sold, the couple donates $1 to the Ballard Education Foundation.

“It was the inspiration for the burger’s name and it’s been in place since we opened Flight. It’s important to us to give back to the community and this is one way we can contribute. This honor didn’t happen without the support of our communities,” Pacha said.

Other top 10 burger creators in Farm News’ readership area weighed in on their honor:

Birdies, Burgers

and Brews, Graettinger

“We were so excited. We use an 86 percent grind and handy patty 8-ounce burgers on a flattop griddle in their own juices so they get a nice crust on them. We also use a house seasoning on the patties,” said Barry Bonner, owner of the restaurant.

The eatery also has several other fun burgers, like the Wisconsin Rancher with Wisconsin cheese curds, Swiss cheese and house-made ranch piled on a juicy patty. The Hillcrest burger offers melted Swiss cheese, shredded corned beef and 1000 Island dressing atop a patty served on a steakhouse bun.

“We create a new burger every week with different toppings. We’ve done a chopped suey burger with veggies and oriental sauce, and another burger with Fruity Pebbles. There’s the Peanut Butter Burger with cheddar cheese, bacon and Reese’s peanut butter cups,” Bonner said. “This win helps support Iowa farmers and gets the word out about Iowa beef. We work together as a team — they raise it and we put it on the plate for them.”

Burger & Company,

Spirit Lake

“We are so excited to be on the top 10. It’s an honor for this little town in northwest Iowa.

“Everything’s made fresh, never frozen, and hand-pattied. Jason Battern, the owner with his wife Jordan, makes all the sauces from scratch,” said Kim Marsh, front of the house manager.

The burgers at this eatery include one with smoked gouda and caramelized onions, while the other is topped with creamy brie, bacon, jalapenos and a balsamic onion jam.

“Jason has worked really hard for this,” Marsh said. He started with the previous owner at a different spot in town, and he puts a lot of his heart and soul into this.”

Troy’s Bar & Grill,

Earling

“We started the restaurant four years ago and always get our meat across the street from a locker in town, so it’s always fresh, never frozen, and local. We also grind our own burger, which makes it even more fresh. People definitely notice that. We sell more burgers than anything else,” said Troy Langenfeld, who owns the eatery with his wife Emily.

Some of the favorite burgers include the Western Burger with bacon, cheese, onion rings and barbecue sauce. The Mushroom Swiss is popular, too, along with the Cheese Ball Burger.

“We have 17 different burgers. People love our Bacon Mac and Cheeseburger, too,” Langenfeld said.

Ben’s Burgers,

Ankeny

“We grind our beef in-house, bake our own buns, cut our own veggies by hand,” said Ben Carris, owner of Ben’s Burgers. “We opened March 13, 2020, just in time for the pandemic. We have a drive-thru so that really helped us during that time.”

The most popular burger at this eatery is the standard cheeseburger with house sauce, lettuce, tomato and red onion. The Cowboy Burger is also popular with onion rings, bacon, barbecue sauce, lettuce and tomato.

“We were so excited to make the top 10. We more than doubled our sales the week that was announced,” Carris said. “We appreciate everyone’s support and for stopping by to try our burgers.”