Bürgermeisters, it’s the best time of the year for you — the Nashville Scene's Burger Week is on the horizon. From July 7 to 13, the annual celebration of all things on a bun will take place in more than 50 restaurants and bars across the city and into the outskirts of Nashville, with establishments offering special burger deals that you can take advantage of in your quest to find the best of the best.
Right off the bat, yes, the price has increased from $7 to $8 this year. We get it, times are hard, but this has always been a loss-leader for most of the participating restaurants. They’re already making sacrifices to serve hundreds of burgers to the throngs of Burger Week participants who descend upon their restaurants each year to sample the creative takes on smash burgers and other offerings. The cost of everything associated with operating a restaurant has gone up — it seems better to spot the participants an extra buck rather than see “shrinkflation” of patty sizes in an attempt to account for the increased costs. This ain’t "Slider Week"!
To help soften the blow, Burger Week sponsor Little Harpeth Brewing Company is offering special deals on their delicious Chicken Scratch beer, an ideal peppery pilsner to complement a juicy burger. Some participating restaurants are featuring burger-and-beer combos, while others are just discounting Chicken Scratch all week to help offset that extra dollar. You can check the official list at the Burger Week website to find out where the beer specials are offered.
Some restaurants are still refining their special burgers and deals, but there are plenty of things to already get excited about as you plan your eat-inerary for next week. The first step is to download the official Burger Week app. Not only will that give you a list of all the participating restaurants and a map to help guide your tour, but you can also check in at each stop to earn points that enter you in various contests throughout the week. The grand prize is $500 worth of gift cards from some of the participating restaurants. You should also vote for your favorite at the end of the week to help determine the best between buns for 2025.
As always, we ask that you be patient if you encounter large crowds or restaurants run out of their special burgers. That’s sort of the point, as we want to drive business to local restaurants and introduce great new spots to our readers. Please consider ordering some additional food, like a side of fries and a drink, to help offset the loss that many of them are taking on your meal — and tip like a first-round draft pick!
On my first pass through this year’s special burgers, there’s a lot to like! If I had to identify a theme this year, it looks like many of the entries are good, old-fashioned. straight-ahead smash burgers, and I’m not complaining about that. You’ll find some variations on a classic at spots like: Bavarian Bier Haus, Golden Sound, Germantown Cafe, Common Ground, Double Dogs, Jasper’s, Mooyah in Brentwood and Franklin, and Mr. J’s.
It wouldn’t be Burger Week without some over-the-top offerings, and you’ll need two hands and probably a bib to get through Brown’s Diner’s Hatch Chili Burger, topped with spicy onion straws on a bed of romaine lettuce and Hatch chili aioli. It's slathered in Mexican beer cheese sauce made from Hatch chilis, Chihuahua cheese and Modelo beer and topped with a pile of pickles. It looks like a delightful mess!
Another over-the-top option is the Smash, Dip and Crunch Burger from Sonny’s Patio Pub & Refuge. Picture a pretty typical smash burger, then dip it in pepper-jack cheese dip and roll it in nacho cheese Doritos. Delightfully decadent! If you’re a fan of massive onion rings, consider the offerings from Robert’s and Gathre that both feature fried slices that look to have come from softball-sized onions.
Gathre’s burger, by the way, is called the Blue Smoke Show, and it represents another theme of this year’s offerings — fruity burgers. It has a blueberry barbecue sauce along with a certified Angus beef patty, bacon, smoked white cheddar and brisket mac-and-cheese to complete the treat. Cledis is thinking along similar lines with a burger called Blackberry Smoke, a concoction of a smashburger topped with white American cheese, bacon, grilled jalapeños, smoked blackberry preserves and whipped mascarpone.
If I had to pick an early favorite, I might lean toward Scoreboard’s Wafflin’ Ain’t Easy Burger because it’s just gimmicky enough to draw attention while providing the crowd-pleasing flavor combos that often go viral. It features a beef patty between two golden waffles, topped with crispy bacon, a fried egg and a drizzle of maple butter. Yeah, pretty much everything you’d want for brunch.
The burger that most intrigues me is the Watermelon Sugar High from The Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden. Those guys always come up with interesting burger specials, but this one seems especially thoughtful in its construction, with every element contributing something to the party. They’re taking one of their handmade patties and topping it with a slice of watermelon to contribute a little hint of sweetness, plus arugula, the pepperiest of greens, salty and tangy goat cheese and creamy mayo. I look forward to giving that one a try!
You can help kick off the week of fun at the big Burger Week Kickoff Party on Monday, July 7, at Sonny's Patio Pub & Refuge at 1322 Sixth Ave. No. in Germantown from 5 to 7 p.m. The free-to-attend event will feature freebies from Wonderbelly, an Uber Eats photo booth, food and drink specials and of course, burgers. Attendees will also earn 100 points in the Burger Week app to increase their odds of winning one of those prizes.
So call your burger-loving buddies and make plans to see how many of these places you can hit during the week. Let us know your favorites!
