Three southwest Iowa restaurants have been nominated for the Iowa Beef Industry Council and Iowa Cattleman’s Association “Iowa’s Best Burger” 2017 contest. Last year’s nominees, Vaughn’s Cafe and Bakery, and Down Right Delicious, both in Clarinda, and The Elm’s Club, in Creston, have been nominated again this year.

Iowans submitted more than 9200 Best Burger nominations between February 13 – March 13. Nominations were submitted by website, texting and paper ballots. The number of votes each restaurant received determined the 2017 Top Ten restaurants and their burgers.

Other restaurants making the Top Ten list include:

• The Ankeny Diner, Ankeny
• Beer Burger, in North Liberty
• BW’s Burgers, West Des Moines
• Doc’s Stadium Bar & Grill, Jefferson
• Saucy Focaccia, Cedar Rapids
• Smokin’ Hereford, Storm Lake
• The Irish Shanti, Elgin

Nearly 500 Iowa restaurants were represented in the total nominations, which is a new record for the contest. Brooke German, Director of Marketing for the Iowa Beef Industry Council, said “The previous record for the number of restaurants nominated was set in 2014, so we are thrilled that we were able to break that record this year with 487 restaurants represented. This proves that there are a lot of great tasting burgers all across the state of Iowa.”

Last year’s winner of the contest, The Chuckwagon Restaurant, in Adair, was not on the Top 10 list this year. The quest for the winner of the Iowa’s Best Burger will now begin. All Top Ten restaurants will be visited by a panel of anonymous judges who will evaluate the burgers based on taste, appearance, and proper doneness (160 degrees). The judges’ scores and comments will be accumulated and the winner will be crowned on May 1st.

To learn more about the Top Ten restaurants and the contest, visit www.iabeef.org.