Burger Showdown 6.0: San Antonio’s Culinary Showdown Raises Funds for Flood Relief
The highly anticipated annual culinary competition, Burger Showdown 6.0, returned to The Cherrity Bar on Friday, Oct. 10. The event, which served up bold flavors and creative energy, was held to support a critical cause.
Homegrown Chef and The Flavors of Texas, powered by the San Antonio Restaurants Group, brought together 12 of the city’s top chefs for the sixth straight year. This showdown served as a fundraiser for Mercy Chefs and its ongoing flood relief work in Kerrville.
Team Milpa
The Burger Showdown began with a spark from Kimberly Suta, a writer, storyteller, and editor of Flavors of Texas Magazine. Suta’s goal was to celebrate local chefs and elevate the independent restaurant community. The event started as a casual online challenge when she asked, “Who can make the best burger in San Antonio?” That question quickly evolved into one of the city’s most anticipated annual culinary events, known for pairing culinary creativity with charitable purpose.
Suta uses her platforms — Flavors of Texas Magazine, the St. Paul Square Dinner Club and Riverwalk Culinary Adventure Tours — to keep the spotlight on local restaurants and culinary innovation. Under her leadership, Flavors of Texas now reaches more than 45,000 readers per issue, championing the small businesses that make up the heartbeat of San Antonio’s dining scene.
“It started as a friendly challenge, but what it’s grown into is something that gives back, connects people and celebrates the best of San Antonio,” Suta said on The More You Know, The Better It Tastes podcast.
Burger Showdown 6.0 was made possible through a partnership with Homegrown Chef and the San Antonio Restaurants Group (SARG) through its Flavors of Texas platform. Founded by Alan and Beverly Williams and Susie LaFredo, SARG began as a Facebook community to uplift local restaurants and has grown into one of the largest food communities in Texas, with more than 300,000 members. Through Flavors of Texas, the group transforms its digital reach into real-world events that unite the community for a purpose.
From the first sizzle to the final vote, the event provided a fun and lively atmosphere. Every slider and every dollar raised went directly to Mercy Chefs, a nonprofit known for providing hot meals to families and first responders affected by disasters.
Guests enjoyed unlimited burger sliders, fries from JD’s Chili Parlor’s Chef Diana Anderson and cookies from Texas Cookie Shop. KJ Tammy Cruz hosted karaoke sessions throughout the evening.
The 12 Competing Chefs
Each of the 12 participating chefs brought unique and delicious creations to the competition:
Chef Justin Bluhm, STX BBQ: Blackberry Bacon Cheesecake Slider with smoked cream cheese, macerated blackberries, prosciutto bacon and candied chilies.
Chef Ernie Bradley, Cherrity Bar: “I Blue Myself” Burger with brisket, miso-garlic shiitake mushrooms and creamy blue cheese.
Chef Jared Cattoni, Dos Sirenos Brewing: The Sticky Pig with pomegranate-glazed al pastor pork and pineapple pepper jam.
Chef Joseph Casanova, Bandit BBQ & Burgers: The Bandit Cherry Bomber featuring a brisket-short rib patty, jalapeño cream cheese and Cherry Dr Pepper bacon jam.
Chef Marlen Davila, San Antonio Zoo: Texas Firecracker with a brisket-bacon patty, jalapeño-pineapple pickles and garlic aioli.
Chef Guidon Degollado, Cuba 1918: Meet the Cuban Frita with a pork-beef smash patty, roasted pork, Swiss cheese and crispy shoestring fries.
Chef Francisco Estrada, Naco: La Chilanga Smash layered with bacon, chilaquiles and creamy jalapeño cheese sauce.
Chef Phillip Gonyea, Krazy Katsu: The Matador Smash, a Latin-Asian fusion with short rib, smoky salsa and bright slaw.
Chef Anthony “Nene” Hernandez, Milpa: Me Vale Verde with a beef-and-pork chorizo verde patty, nopale ranchero and limón aioli.
Chef Kaius, The Chef Kaius Xperience: The Bad Bunny XP with a chuck blend burger topped with braised oxtail, guava-peach marmalade and queso de freír.
Chef J. Perez, Unless Catering: The Burger, Bee, a bacon-beef-cheddar blend with caramelized onions and BeeBeeQueen Sauce.
Chef Nathan Rodriguez, Tributary: The Jalapeño Royale, a beef-and-lamb burger with a jalapeño popper surprise.
The competition relied on a panel of expert judges who conducted a blind tasting to determine the Judge’s Choice winner. Each chef submitted their creations unmarked, ensuring the judging focused solely on flavor, texture and execution.
This year's panel included three industry experts: David Elder, TV host and executive producer of the food show Texas Eats on KSAT; Chris Flores, the San Antonio food storyteller known as Eat Migos; and a chef representing Mercy Chefs, the event’s charitable beneficiary. Elder, who brings experience as both a chef and server, showcases diverse Texas cuisine on his show, available on KSAT.
Flores is a prominent figure in the local food scene who uses his background in video production to highlight defining dishes and help residents discover new restaurants. He now serves as the chief tasting officer for Favor Delivery (HEB) and a content creator for Flavors of Texas.
Flores’ philosophy that authenticity in food is rooted in local ingredients made him an ideal fit for the Showdown. “San Antonio has the richest food story in the country. The more you know where something comes from, the better it tastes,” Flores said on The More You Know, The Better It Tastes podcast.
The showdown crowned three champions across its signature categories:
Judge’s Choice Winner: Chef Anthony “Nene” Hernandez of Milpa
People’s Choice Winner: Chef Joseph Casanova of Bandit BBQ & Burgers
Kids’ Choice Winner: Chef Marlen Davila of San Antonio Zoo
Sponsors for the event included Ben E. Keith, Food Related, Unifresh Produce, Texas Cookie Shop, Olympia Trophy Center and host venue The Cherrity Bar. Their generosity, alongside the chefs, organizers and hundreds of attendees, turned one evening into meaningful local impact.
Burger Showdown 6.0 demonstrated that the event is about more than who makes the best burger. The proceeds benefit Mercy Chefs, proving that the best flavors are the ones shared for a cause.
A Note on Bandit BBQ & Burgers
Shortly after this year’s Burger Showdown, the San Antonio community received difficult news: Bandit BBQ & Burgers, winner of the People’s Choice Award, announced it has permanently closed its doors after a brief comeback.
In a message shared with their followers, the Bandit team expressed gratitude for the community that supported them and the memories made along the way. Their dedication to craft, creativity and connection was evident in every dish — especially the Bandit Cherry Bomber, which captured the crowd’s hearts at the Showdown.
While this chapter has ended, their spirit and influence remain part of what makes San Antonio’s food community so special. We hope to see the team behind Bandit BBQ & Burgers back at the grill again someday.