The Friendly Butcher wins Danforth burger competition

Hundreds of burger lovers lined up on a closed down Jackman Avenue on the Danforth to try burger sliders from six different Danforth eateries Saturday afternoon for the 2nd annual Thrill of the Grill burger competition.

This was a great opportunity to try mini burgers from different places on the Danforth without paying for a full burger. For $5 (all of which is donated to charity), we were able to sample a burger slider from each different competitor. We then voted for our top three choices.

In the end, the winning burger belonged to defending champion Zach Davidson and his team at The Friendly Butcher, who came up with another winning burger recipe.

Davidson's burger was packed with garlic, curry powder, onion, port wine and duck fat. His secret to a perfect burger? He adds in the ingredients after a coarse grind of the meat, but before a second finer grind.

Other competitors included The Big Carrot (who had the only vegetarian burger), Factory Girl, Globe Bistro, Embrujo Flamenco and newly opened The Combine Eatery.

Writing and photos by Jessica Lee