News

Best Hamburger contest kicks off Wisconsin Beef Month

Photo: Staff at Brazen Head Pub in West Bend, winner of 2025 Wisconsin Beef Council Best Burger Contest (Photo supplied by Wisconsin Beef Council)

A new Wisconsin’s best hamburger has been selected. 

Kaitlyn Kessler with the Wisconsin Beef Council tells Brownfield the second year of their contest had some very tough competition. “And the winner is Brazen Head Pub in West Bend, so we’re so excited for their staff there. They’ve done a fantastic job with their burgers. They were in the competition last year and they feature a daily burger special.”

Kessler says Wisconsin’s Best Burger Contest promotes beef and has also introduced consumers to new restaurant experiences. “When the results came in for our top eight, we saw consumers across the state flood to those establishments. They treated it as a road map.”

Kessler says the participating restaurants saw a boost in business. “Our winner last year, which was Pickle’s Bar and Grill in Hazelhurst from April to June, so essentially from when they were announced in the Elite Eight until shortly after they were announced as a winner, their burger sales increased 530%.”

Kessler says it’s really positive to see those results and see tangible burger sales and that increased demand across the state.

Wisconsin Beef Council worked with councils in other states including Iowa, which already had a similar contest when they started last year.

The 2025 Elite Eight Finalists for Wisconsin’s Best Burger Contest can be found here.