Owner of Bene's, Derek Baziotis, posing with his trophy after being announced the winner of the inaugural Battle of the Burgers competition.
CHENEY- Cheneyites had one week to visit six participating local eateries and decide which one would get the bragging rights and a trophy for "best burger in town."
On Saturday afternoon, Bene's took home the winning title with Yoke's and Lenny's right on their tail, placing second and third.
Operations Director of Bene's Sabrina Anderson said there was a 10–point difference between votes for their Elote Burger, Yokes' Bold #20 Burger and Lenny's Bootleg Stromboli Burger.
Bene's winning burger was a shared love for Mexican street corn between Anderson, Bene's Cook Melisa Ehrgott and owner Derek Baziotis.
"First we were thinking of a quesadilla burger," Anderson said. "Then we were thinking 'what do we like to eat?' We figured everyone was probably going to do a bun so we wanted to do something different."
Maria Fell, president of the Welcome to Cheney Community group, said all six contenders surprised her, each in a different way.
"I was thoroughly impressed," she said. "I had no idea Yoke's even did burgers. My top two choices were Yoke's and Wild Bill's."
Fell said there are several ways to judge and decide which place each burger fell into, making it difficult to determine who did it best.
"You could judge presentation, texture or uniqueness," she said. "Bene's was definitely a 10-out-of 10 for creativity. Honestly, Wild Bill's thoroughly impressed me."
Wild Bill's Ranch Burger didn't make it in the top three, but Fell appreciated the flavor and the exposure to the rest of the menu at the local bar.
The event's intention was to give exposure and business to local eateries while also creating an opportunity to gather people in the community. Fell believes that it did just that.
"For Wild Bill's and Eagles Pub it was a chance to highlight their food. When I think of places in town to go sit down and eat, I don't usually think 'let's go to the bar'," she said. "I think it was put on really well and I'm excited to see it get out there more. It brought everyone out and that was neat to see."
Michaela is a former newsroom intern at the Cheney Free Press. She covered stories on education, city government, cops/courts/fire departments and local businesses.
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