Best Burger in the ‘Burne contest returns to downtown Shelburne

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Do you think you know which restaurant in Shelburne has the best burger? Now is your chance to vote on it. 

The Shelburne Business Improvement Area (BIA) is bringing back their “Best Burger in the ‘Burne” contest, which will allow Shelburne residents to vote for the best place to get a burger in Town. 

The contest will begin on March 1 and will run until the end of April. 

“The months of February, March and April are traditionally slower times for the restaurants and so we thought we'd have this contest in the hopes of creating some traffic, bringing more people to the downtown core and more people through the restaurants,” said Len Guchardi, Shelburne Council representative on the BIA. “The contest was fairly successful last year with a lot of the restaurants getting more traffic, which is the goal.”

The burger competition will have six local restaurants taking part including Beyond the Gate, Shannon's Tap & Grill, Dufferin Public House, Main Street Café, Sunrise Diner, and Tipsy Fox.

Last year's winner of the inaugural ‘Best Burger in the ‘Burne” was the Dufferin Public House, located at 214 Main Street E. 

Bringing the ‘Best Burger in the ‘Burne” contest back for another year, the Shelburne BIA has decided to introduce some changes to the contest including how residents can submit their votes. 

This year, the BIA will be accepting electronic ballots, which can be entered by scanning a QR Code at each of the restaurants. The Shelburne BIA will still be accepting written ballots, which can be dropped off at the Town of Shelburne office, for those who may be uncomfortable with the electronic process. 

The local BIA has also announced that the contest will run for both the month of March and the entire month of April.  

“It's a little tough to expect somebody to go through six burgers in four weeks so we figured we'd extend the contest for another month,” explained Guchardi. 

The restaurant with the most votes at the end of the contest will be crowned with the title of ‘Best Burger in the ‘Burne” for 2024 and will receive a plaque from the BIA. 

Participants who complete their ballot voting for the best burger will be entered into a draw to win a $100 gift certificate to any downtown business of their choice. 

“We have six really good restaurants in the downtown core, and they all make a great burger,” said Guchardi. 

The ‘Best Burger in the ‘Burne' contest will run until the end of April.