(Arnolds Park)– A lakes area restaurant has been nominated for the top burger in the state. KUOO’s Becky Thoreson explains…(click here for actuality.)
Burgers are a big business in Iowa and the Iowa Beef Council and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association hold an annual “Best Burger” contest across the state. This year, 6,329 nominations named 349 restaurants for the top award. Of those nominations, the top 10 in the state were announced this week. Among them: The Ritz of Arnolds Park. Owned by Rick and Taylor Genrich, Rick says it’s quite an honor…“Oh what an honor to be there. We have a great burger and we have lots of people that come down here and eat the burgers, so to be nominated is fantastic. It means a lot for both of us.”
He adds that there’s a family history behind the famous burger at The Ritz...”Lu was my mom and still is my mom. She had a bar on the other side of the bridge for 25 years and she came up with her own burger and the public and the people that ate the burgers actually started calling it the “Lu Burger” because it was Lu’s burgers. She retired and closed up and we thought heck, why don’t we bring the Lu Burger back into circulation, so we brought it back, it’s a success and obviously lots of people like to eat them.”
He notes that secret judges will be making the rounds to determine the best burger… “They actually send people out to eat the burger and we do not know who it is, when it is, or anything else. So basically the judge is every person that walks through the door and eats the burger whether it’s the contest or not, we treat every person like they’re the judge year-round. So if they want a good burger they can come down here and they’re going to get one.”
Iowa’s best burger will be announced in the first week of May.
