OK, here we are again. In the intervening time Earth has orbited another 149 million miles around the sun. Seasons have come and gone. World leaders have risen and fallen. And in a little mountain town in the southeastern corner of Tennessee, Burger Week is back.
Dramatic, you say? I think not. Not based on the shoulder-to-shoulder packed dining room of Jack Brown’s early Monday afternoon.
The waitress assured us, this was as slow as it was going to be all week. This? Slow? OK, I think I underestimated Chattanooga’s fierce love and loyalty to Burger Week.
From April 21-27, $8 burgers are offered around town. Basecamp, Kai Bistro, Mike’s Hole in the Wall, Zaya Korean Steakhouse and more. Folks can download the Burger Week app while wiping cheesy beef from their lips as they check in to earn rewards.
Since Jack Brown’s was the winner in both 2023 and 2024 with its Crab Rangoon Burger, I needed to compare and contrast with the restaurant’s new offering for 2025: “Don’t Call My Name, Alejandro.”
The aforementioned reigning champion had a generous serving of crispy wonton strips, sweet chili sauce and crab rangoon smothered under the bun. For the uninitiated, crab rangoon is made with a combination of cream cheese and imitation crab meat and is usually served in a delicious puffed and fried pastry.
Before you panic, imitation crab is made typically with some type of fish (like pollock) and starch and oil and then beaten into the desired shape to resemble a juicy crab leg.
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I like crab rangoon, and I like fancy burgers, but I was afraid that this was going to commit the fallacy of composition — that what is true for the individual parts (rangoon delicious and burger delicious) would not necessarily be true for the whole (rangoon on burger delicious). But who am I to judge? This burger won two years in a row, and I thought it was very tasty. Definitely tasty in a “I-can’t-believe-I’m-eating-this” kind of way, but tasty nonetheless.
Now the new 2025 burger, “Alejandro” is a patty made from 100% Wagyu beef topped with pepperjack cheese, Mexican street corn and Fuego Takis. Texturally, there was a lot happening, but I liked the heat — the kick of spice and the corn worked better on the burger than anticipated. And the Wagyu beef was delicious. Props to Jack Brown’s for creating a unique burger option.
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The Tennessee Beef Council is one of the sponsors, and the restaurants this year have truly come up with some creative combos. Kimchi seems to be a trend gracing several menus, as well as a range of classic options. The Daily Ration burger hosts pimento cheese. Kai Bistro’s Bahn Mi Burger has pork belly, and Elote Mexican street corn graces the burger at Oddstory. Some restaurants are thinking outside the bun — like Burger Republic using Niedlov’s brioche buns for the Nooga Burger, and Basecamp using a tortilla for the El Grande Sabroso.
Let’s see if Jack Brown’s can pull off another win, and if you haven’t had your Burger Week burger yet, get after it. Last year burgers were $7, so enjoy an $8 burger this year before they jump again.
Contact Lyric Lewin at llewin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6215.
