Feb. 2, 2024

It’s a repeat.

For the second consecutive year, Crawford’s Bar & Grill has won the Downtown Burger Battle.

The restaurant at 214 S. Phillips Ave. earned the top spot with entry The Gold Standard, a 6-ounce prime beef patty with jalapeno bacon, boursin cheese, peppadew jam, crispy onion straws, homemade ginger pickles and arugula tossed with spicy vinaigrette. It was served on ciabatta crusted with smoked mozzarella cheese and came with rosemary chips.

Maybe Sioux Falls just really likes jalapeno bacon? Last year’s winning entry from Crawford’s also included it, along with tomato and pepper jam.

“It feels great to be back-to-back champions, and we’re looking forward to next year,” chef Dan Myers said.

Crawford’s sold more than 1,000 burgers more than last year, when it sold more than 2,500 burgers.

“It’s very exciting. Great business growth,” Myers said.

The plan is to keep the winning burger on the menu at Crawford’s this month.

There were more than 32,000 votes counted through the DTSF Digital Passport app.

The categories included:

• Flavor
• Patty
• Toppings
• Bun
• Presentation

The rest of the top finishers were:

• Tie for runner-up: Parker’s Bistro, The Post Christmas Blues, and Minervas, Root Beer Float Burger.
• Third place: La Luna Cafe, Guaca-Bean Burger.
• Fourth place: Flying Santo Taco Bar, Flying Santo Steak Burger.
• Fifth place: Windy City Bites, Irie Ting Burger.

Downtown Sioux Falls inc. estimates more than $1 million was spent on burgers in January, with an economic impact of more than $2.7 million. Remedy Brewing Co. reported selling the most burgers: 6,252. And 26 “burger brawlers” were able to eat and vote at all 37 restaurants.