‘Battle of the burgers’ matchup in Fort Worth is a beefy election-year showdown
More than 2,000 votes have been cast in the “Burger Battle of the Century.”
Yes, that’s a double-cheesy advertising line.
But the latest ongoing Rodeo Goat “battle of the burgers” is a heavyweight showdown between the best America has to offer:
▪ In one corner: “the McDonald.”
I’m not going to name the real Donald here. Let’s just say it’s a double-decker cheeseburger with plenty of red meat, plus lettuce, pickles, onion and Russian dressing.
▪ In the other corner: the “Biden.”
It’s a burger with a Delaware blue crab cake added on top, trimmed with “Joe’s crabby sauce,” arugula, tomato and lemon-almond aioli.
Both sell for $14, a price break from what they would cost in Washington.
So far, The McDonald is winning slightly, indicating Texans’ preference for two all-meat patties over a surf-and-turf sandwich.
“It’s the Election of the Century,” Rodeo Goat partner Shannon Wynne wrote in a message.
“If you messed around and never registered, you can vote here almost anonymously.”
(Only your server will know.)
Rodeo Goat, 2836 Bledsoe St., stages ongoing “battles” matching its 17 menu burgers ($9-$12) against a variety of worthy newcomers.
Recent burger battles have matched a Real Ale beer-battered fried brie burger called the “Brie-yonce” against a Peticolas Brewing bacon-green chile cheddar-burger called the “Ring Toss,” for example.
Sometimes Rodeo Goat’s regular burgers, such as the “Bad Hombre” mape-bacon gouda-Swiss burger, are put up for diners’ vote against the intermittently seen Chupacabra, a queso-asadero beef-chorizo burger.
Wynne said his favorite right now is the Biden, because it has the same “comeback dressing” sauce served at his Flying Fish restaurants.
On a recent visit, the Biden was more successful than I expected for a crabcake burger.
But “The McDonald” wins with that double-decker flavor and the Russian-dressing version of special sauce.
Substitute ground chicken, ground turkey, a black-bean burger or an Impossible Burger patty if you like.
Wynne’s Flying Saucer Draught Emporium downtown has its own election showdown, offering red beer mugs with President Donald Trump’s image and blue mugs with a masked Joe Biden.
The Saucer vote is skewed toward Trump, Wynne wrote in a message.
He joked about the reason: “His constituents are less likely to heed the stay-at-home effort.”
Rodeo Goat also offers regular burgers if you insist. But the favorites are both sweet and spicy, including the whiskey burger (a bacon cheddar-burger with blackberry compete and whole-grain mustard) and the sugar burger (a bacon burger with grilled peaches and jalapeno jam).
The top side dish is the loaded “cheese fries surprise” with chili and jalapenos, although there’s also solid Caesar, Cobb or side salads.
The chili is also some of the best in a city that shares a claim with San Antonio as the home of chili powder and chili con carne.
Rodeo Goat is open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-877-4628, rodeogoat.com. There are five other locations.
(The parking lot is small, so park on the street nearby or in the Farrington Field parking lot one block north.)
This story was originally published October 27, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
