The Grind, Miami's hometown burger competition, is this Saturday and we're finally counting down to burger madness.
On March 31 at 7 p.m., 30 local restaurants will compete with their meat at the Miami Entertainment Complex. Tickets
are still available for $75 in advance, $85 at the door. VIP tickets
($125) get you access to the meat party one hour earlier, at 6 p.m., a
VIP badge, a meet-and-and greet with the judges, and the ability to hang
at the VIP lounge. Miami New Times readers can take $10 off
advance-purchase tickets by using code NTIMES (while supplies last). Advance purchase tickets are only available until midnight tonight, so act now to save some of your hard-earned dollars.
The event tests your ability to eat up to 30 burgers (more, actually, if
you care to shoot for seconds), paired with all the Blue Moon beer and
Miami Club rum you can handle. If this sounds like a recipe for
gluttony -- you are correct!
But the Grind isn't only about stuffing your face with all the meat sandwiches you can mustard muster.
It's also the search for the best burger in Miami. Eight judges are
tasked to find the holy grail of hamburger among the 30 contestants, as
well as the two Short Order Backyard Burger contestants. The judges
will each sample 15 burgers without knowing the restaurant origins.
Ballots will be tallied, with winners receiving the coveted Golden
Grinder award for excellence in meat artistry. The esteemed panel of judges include WSVN's Belkys Nerey, NBC6 sports anchor Adam Kuperstein, CBS4 meteorologist Jeff Bearadelli, the Burger Beast, chef Norman Van Aken, restaurateur Steven Haas, businessman Stan Rudman, and yours truly, Laine Doss.
Feeling left out?
You shouldn't. Everyone at the Grind gets their vote in the fan
favorite category. So get out there, eat burgers, vote for your
favorite, and have a great time. Remember, you still have all day
Sunday to recover.
Watch models get the Grind's logo painted on their bodies here:
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