Regional Industry & News

Restaurants prepare for final week of Vermillion Burger Battle

VERMILLION, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - There’s only one week left in the 4th Annual Vermillion Burger Battle, with 13 restaurants competing for this year’s title.

Last year’s Burger Battle brought in nearly $50,000 in economic impact to the Vermillion area with nearly 2,000 burgers sold.

Unlike other communities across South Dakota, Vermillion hosts its Burger Battle in July. Vermillion Area Chamber and Development Company communications and tourism manager Hanna DeLange said they hold it in July to stack it with other events like Thursdays on the Platz, as well as making up for a dip in population when students at the University of South Dakota are gone for summer break.

“In July, we do have maybe fewer people around Vermillion. Our USD students are away. But it’s also a time where we want to see people out and about, and when they feel more comfortable getting out and about, because the weather is really good too,” DeLange said.

Like other Burger Battles, the competition is friendly and meant to help drive business to restaurants during a slow time of the year. Those businesses know that when they all try their best and put out their best burgers, people will come and support them.

“Each place is kind of getting that camaraderie built up, that we get to see when we all kind of do the same thing; everybody comes down. It’s nice for us to see,” Cee Cee’s Scratch Kitchen & Bar co-owner Josh Scherrer said.

“It’s really nice that everybody kind of just goes for it, and in the spirit of togetherness, as well as just a little bit of jockeying for first,” Vermillion Eagles Club general manager Monte Carda said.

The battle also allows chefs to experiment and try something new. Or, in the case at Cee Cee’s, return a classic sandwich from a previous restaurant with a new twist.

“Nostalgia is super powerful, especially in food. A lot of times, you’ll bite into something, and you’ll remember something in the past. I wanted to bring something back that was a favorite back then. I hope a lot of townies came in and saw this and remembered it,” Cee Cee’s Scratch Kitchen & Bar executive chef Max Wergin said.

As the competition starts to wrap up, those restaurants are trying to get in as many people as they can, and said the Burger Battle is becoming something people are expecting every year.

“We always try to stop at the table and talk with them for a minute about what they like about they like about the burger, what their experience has been in here,” Carda said.

“As soon as we started, we actually had customers saying, ‘Can we get it?’ And it was a couple days before,” Cee Cee’s Scratch Kitchen & Bar co-owner Amberly Baus said.

“Our teams started making it a day early,” Scherrer said.

The Vermillion Burger Battle wraps up on Friday, July 31. The winner will be announced on August 6 at that evening’s Thursday on the Platz.