Gold Winner Darrell’s Restaurant
Silver Winner Ace Burger Co.
Bronze Winner Krave Burger
“It doesn’t surprise me that it happened, and I’m really happy that it’s happened,” says Darrell’s owner Dan Joseph, as his burger reclaims its gold status after four years of silver and bronze awards. Even better is that the win comes just in time for the restaurant’s 25th anniversary. Joseph credits the two-plus decades of people flooding in for Darrell’s burgers and shakes to consistency in quality—“A lot of our customers come in the door and know what they want, it’s hard to sway them elsewhere”—and in pricing. Hiring extraordinary staff doesn’t hurt, either. Looking forward to what’s next for the diner-esque hangout, he hopes to keep things interesting, but familiar for regulars and newbies alike. “I used to want to build a burger that would knock the peanut butter burger off the top, but after 25 years I’ve kind of given up on that.”
