The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch will be showcasing burgers each Friday in May with a Burger Cook-Off featuring burgers, beer and live music.  The weekly event will run from 4-7 pm each Friday at the outdoor Biergarten at the Anheuser-Busch Tour Center.

The menu each week will feature three different specialty burgers. Customers 21 and older will be able to order a combo featuring three sliders and homemade chips, as well as a 16 oz. Budweiser draft for $8. Those under 21 can order the combo without the beer for $5. The Well Hungarians provided the music the first week and a different local act will be on hand each Friday for the rest of the month.

I checked out the first Burger Cook-Off last Friday and came away impressed. The Biergarten recently took the tent off the space for the summer and the weather was perfect for enjoying it. Nearly every seat in the house was filled with a mixture of locals enjoying the weather and those enjoying the live music after taking the complimentary tour.

The menu for last week consisted of sliders topped with items like guacamole and pepper jack cheese, pickled cucumbers and sriracha mayo, and smoked Vidalia onions and special sauce. At the end of your meal you’re asked to pick your favorite slider. I went with The Wholly Guacamole, which was a “taco burger topped with pepper jack cheese, guacamole and tortilla chips”.

Being at the home of Budweiser, the familiar brew has a special fresh, crisp taste to it. The Biergarten had unfortunately run out of the Shock Top Twisted Pretzel Wheat by the time I was there in the early evening. I would imagine that is because it is absolutely delicious. So instead I had the Shock Top Spiced Banana Wheat, which was quite interesting. The banana flavor was definitely the result of real bananas rather than your typical artificial banana flavor.

The remaining Burger Cook-Offs in May at The Biergarten will be May 8, 15, 22 & 29. Each event runs from 4 pm – 7 pm. This week’s honorary chefs are students from The Culinary Institute of St. Louis at Hickey College. The menu will consist of the Fiesta Burger, Dimmu Burger and French Onion Burger.

These local events are being held in part to promote Budwesier’s nationwide Bud & Burgers event. Those 21 & older can upload a video or picture of their burger to Budweiser.com/Burgers with a short explanation of why they deserve to be the 2015 Bud & Burgers Champion. Chef David Chang will be overseeing the quest to find the best burger. There will be 10 Bud & Burgers events around the country before the ultimate Championship is held July 11th here in St. Louis at The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch. More information will be made available closer to the event.

I’ve written before about The Biergarten here and here. (I should note that chef Travis Odle has since left for new opportunities.) The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch is located at the corner of 12th and Lynch in Soulard. For more information on The Biergarten and the Anheuser-Busch Brewery tours in general, check out BudwesierTours.com.

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