San Diego Reader Burgers and Beer 2017 - recap

The second annual Burgers and Beer event by San Diego Reader was held in early September. I brought a friend last year and this time Dennis joined me at Golden Hill Park. I was thrilled with the addition of many beer and drink vendors rather than the limited 4-item beer booth the previous year. It finally felt like the paradise that "burgers and beer" should be! Below are some highlights and pictures from our experience at this year's event!

We were invited to the earlier media hour so were able to sample burgers prior to the main crowds. 

Here are some people amusing themselves at the event! Want to get "famous"? Share on Instagram or Twitter with the #burgersandbeer hashtag and your pic could be featured on this board! 

Burgers

Each person had a chance to vote for their favorite. One is for people's choice and the other is for most innovative!

Jenson Beef was one of the sponsors of the event and a good number of the participating vendors used their meat. Also, beware the [cute] hamburgler!

Now here's a tasty burger! Common Theory Public House put pickled onions, fresh veggies and a juicy patty into a perky little bite.

Even with the fun bacon jam, I felt like I enjoyed the tacos more from Tavern Bowl.

If you like breakfast foods, Slater's 50/50 sunrise burger has got you covered. This combo pulls all that morning goodness into one bite.

The best damn cheesecake was back (found at Tacotopia)! Brian Turok Menendez from Mascarpone Cheesecake had another creation: Blue Moon Cheesecake. Perfect for cleansing your palate between burger samples!

Jenson Beef Sliders from Union Kitchen & Tap. Have you ever eaten baby corn in a burger? Neither have I! This little slider was delicious with the hawaiian bread and meaty middle plus some bite from the baby corn.

Backyard Kitchen and Tap stacked their Greek Burger but the flavors just didn't compare to the Jenson slider prior.

I absolutely love the simple burger from Pure Burger. It verged on the edge of just enough oiliness to quench your juicy mouthwatering burger craving.

Luce Bar and Grill put arugula on their burger so I think that took away some points, at least for my tastes...

I heard some folks really enjoyed the PB and J burger from Waypoint Public but it wasn't for me...

Funky Fries and Burgers won most innovative with their mac and cheese burger! The outside cheesy mac shell was perfectly crispy and some squishing was required to get a full bite!

Terra American Bistro won people's choice with their smoked short rib burger.

Drinks

There were plenty of breweries to sample from at this event. We tried a few but focused on food and non-beer items.

We can't turn down ciders! 101 Cider House sampled Electric Pineapple and Catcus Red... unfortunately both were just too sour for my tastes.

Common Cider Company was more to my liking. These still had some sour but with a fruitier taste.

I do love Belching Beaver Brewery so had to try their peach pale ale. It had a mild bite but I'd probably still stick with my usual PB Stout varieties.

Auchentoshan Single Malt Scotch Whisky... get your booze on.

The ladies of Mike's Hard Lemonade. The yellow items were squeeze bottles and we got one (or two) to take home!

I usually avoid energy drinks but the flavors from Rockstar Energy Drinks are really impressive. I had at least one or two of these this day.

I must have stopped by Hubert's Lemonade at least three times to chug a mini-lemonade. They looked quite happy to see us again!

Burgers and Beer was a smashing success this year. We found even more new restaurants to check out and got a little bit of side-by-side comparisons as well. I think I'll be ready to burger again after a few days of recovery. Our friend Mary also attended and posted here.

Disclaimer: We were invited to this event and our food and drink was complimentary. We were not otherwise compensated and all opinions stated are our own.