By Karlee Thompson
Lamp Writer
SPRINGFIELD — 217 food junkies had something to sink their teeth into at the end of January.
Burger Week featured 19 local vendors that put together a special burger to promote for this weeklong extravaganza. Locals could get a passport, try out their choice of burgers and vote on their favorites all week long. The special ran Jan. 23 to 30, with all burgers costing only $5.
“This event definitely was successful and generated business,” said George Huston, an employee at Gina’s Café inside of Scheels. Roughly 180 burgers were sold in three days, and
the number was expected to exceed 300 by the end of the week.
Huston also said that there was a lot of positive feedback from customers on the flavor of the Homemade Meatloaf Burger. If the event occurs next year, he said he would like to create something different.
Lincoln Land student Amber Oller couldn’t stop talking about how delicious the Fried Philly from the Burger Bar was.
Oller, who works at Scheels, said the event was good for generating business across the 217 area. Not only was business booming there, but the Burger Bar was packed on the night she went.
On Wednesday of Burger Week, Oller said she hoped to try several more burgers before the week ended.
LLCC student Jeffrey Beck went to three locations and thoroughly enjoyed the event.
“It was a good excuse to have a good time,” Beck said.
“My favorite had to be the one from Cooper’s Hawk. It’s a double for $5!” he said.
Beck suggests that they should do it again next year, but would host a horseshoe-focused week since this is where it originated.
Even by looking through the hashtag on social media, (#217burgerweek) there is no doubt the event was a success. Many left comments and positive feedback on the Facebook
page wanting more events like this as well.
Karlee Thompson can be reached at [email protected].
