Burgerliscious

The food was amazing– but the event was poorly executed. I left very disappointed but extremely full so I guess I will detail it.
When I arrived to pick up my tickets, there was a large disorganized crowd standing in front of a few foldable tables where many people weren’t even sure what they were standing around for. You do not need tickets to enter, only to receive food and drinks. So, needless to say, there were about a hundred people wandering aimlessly without understanding what they were doing. Standing in line, I was attacked by large flies who continuously landed on various parts of my body. I was so disgusted and alarmed by this that I lost my place in line several times.
Once we received our tickets, I had to fight my way to the front of lines because so many people would skip, jump in front of me, and walk up, grab a burger and scram without giving a ticket for it. It was sad, honestly, because I saw so many restaurant workers attempt to ask for people to give tickets and theyd ignore and walk away.
Eventually it became so crowded that I had 2 beers, 2 burgers and my partner and I decided to leave. I likely wouldn’t go to next years event unless it was in a larger location.

So much fun! What a great community event! Happy to have gone — there was such a variety of burgers! My favorite one was from Pincho Factory!!! The live music was awesome. It’s a good idea to über because parking was a little tricky.

holy cow! (and one chicken and a couple pigs) thanks for being sacrificed for our gluttonous selves. GA tickets will seriously suffice for this event! i came thinking i would be able to eat all 6 burgers and 2 beers. I barely could get 3 down and 1.5 beers, with 6 tickets for burgers and 2 beer tickets for general admission, the restaurants and beer stands did not seem to pay too much attention as to whether or not you even gave them a ticket, so you’d def be able to eat more than 6 and drink more than 2 if you’d want. lots of food are available, it gets a lil tight around some of the beer tents and some restaurants, its a smaller park and has an intimate and fun feeling. you can usually find a deal via groupon/​gilt/​or living social. its a trek from the 954 however i feel worth it :)

How many burgers can one person eat? ALOT! So stuffed from this event. Located in middle of the Gables this open event will have you burgered out for a few weeks. I believe there was a living social deal for this event but generally the general tickets can cost you up to $ 60 bucks which gives you 6 tickets to get burgers from several of the restaurants participating in the event and two drink tickets good for the beer tents. That being said a lot of places don’t even collect the tickets so you can get more than 6 burgers. If you decide on VIP package it’s unlimited everything.
They also had a jack Daniels tent that was giving away free drinks. They have clean porter potties (the high end kind) and a live band playing music on the park.
The best burger I had was from Rok Brgr that won People’s choice but some of the other participants were Don Shulas, shake shack (also gave away lemonade) pincho, swine, Spring Chicken and Burger Fi to name a few. Books and Books gave away a turkey burger while Spring chicken handed out, you guessed it chicken burger! So you can break out of the beef coma if you like. There was one table of desserts but didn’t make it to it.
I arrive at 730, a hour and half after the event started and all but one place were still full cooking burgers. Most places were still giving away food until 9ish which is pretty uncommon in food events so there were well prepared for the amount of people attending the event. The longest line was for Swine but all other places I didn’t wait more than a minute to grab a burger!

This has been the easiest rating. What is there not to like about Burgerlicious. Tons of awesome restaurants and their burgers to try from. And delicious beer to wash it all down. It’s a win-​win.
There is so many options to try from, it can seem overwhelming at first, but don’t get discouraged. Take your time and work you way from one to the other. Try to taste places you haven’t tried before, and pace yourself.
Even though you might wanna try as much as possible and drink anything that’s free, limit yourself and save it for the good stuff.
A good way to tell is see how many people are waiting in line for a burger. If you can’t get to the table, it’s a good sign. That was the case of Swine. Didn’t matter what time you passed by, it was a constant roadblock right in front.
Happy Eating!

It was such a fun event that I’m definitely in for next year!
The venue feels a bit awkward, like having a party on a large traffic island, but it wasn’t too hard to find a parking, especially if you don’t mind walking a couple of blocks. And the «park» do have a fountain and some benches to sit and rest.
With over 20 burgers to choose from, I’m glad I went with Claudia J so we could share, and managed to sample most of them — except for a few that didn’t look appetizing enough (like the one where the square of cheese looked totally unmelted). My favorite includes Shula’s, Swine, ROK: BGR, Pincho Factory, and Bread and Butter. Beyond the standard, some burgers are made with short ribs, there was a shrimp burger and Tum Tum’s — possibly inspired by ramen burger — used fried rice noodles as buns. Pardo offered Peruvian chicken and cilantro rice, a welcome break after all the «eat more beef!» The website said that there are veggie & fish burgers for those non-​beer-​eaters, but I don’t seem to see any. Maybe you have to ask? For a sweet ending, Seasons 52 had shot glasses of dessert (though in our case it was more a sweet beginning, as the desserts ran out way before the beef.)
As most burgers are cooked and assembled on site, there are usually a few minutes’ wait. I’ve seen much longer lines at other food & wine festivals. Not to mention the portions are so generous that our stomachs were about to burst as we left. All in all, well worth $ 30 (6 sliders, 2 beers — with deal) for a fun night out, sampling some of the best burgers in Miami.

Burgerliscious = Burger coma!
A total of 21 different burgers from traditional to exotic burgers. Different meat patties, toppings, flavors, buns, different vendors! Can I borrow a stomach next time if I go please? although sizes were small (sliders) I would definitely recommend going with a buddy! Went with another Unilocaler to this event, thanks to Krys P! got to try lots of burgers, although passed on some of them.
Lots of people, yummy burgers, good entertainment, great set up for the vendors. Sliders are made on site, yes vendors have a grill, and they elaborate their burgerliscious right in front of you. There might be a line for some of them, but it’s worth the wait if you choose wisely! Totally loved the burgers from: Bread & Butter, Pincho Factory & Shula’s!!!
There is a scoring board for best bun, etc. there are judges so you know the good stuff is coming! Kind of a food truck deliciousness with ALL the burgers!

All the tasty and well seasoned burgers from Burgerliscious left me feeling like the bovines I see in front of my window. In fact, I think I could have walked from the Gables to Miami Lakes :)
I heard about this festival from the Unilocal event page, and managed to find an online deal for the admission. It was one of the better $ 30 spent for the variety of food. Although I got there about an hour into the event, registration was smooth and the attendants were friendly and recommended which spots to try first. I mentioned I was allergic to seafood (since a couple of seafood spots were present). The chef at the adjacent table, from Christy’s then made a joke that they had squid burger. Their (actual) short rib burger with red onion and ají amarillo aioli was as tasty as their chef’s sense of humor!
Other highlights for me were the sweetish burger from Pincho Factory with their Samuel Adams Beer-​caramelized onions, and the double patty and pork belly Swine Burger (another personal favorite). The jerk pineapple burger from the Gables Westin Colonnade hotel was a nice surprise, as was the pineapple and mango burger from the Baptist Hospital cafeteria. The chef from the Colonnade even prepared their burger for me though they were about to close for the night.
The only hang ups is that one of the burger chains (while tasty) just brought one of their regular cheeseburgers instead of their famous Breakfast All Day burger (that’s aight, since I’m a regular patron for that burger). Also, they ran out if the dessert shots from Seasons 52.
Why aren’t all food festivals organized as well as this one?

Wrapping up the fourth edition, I can say I’ve successfully conquered Burgerliscious three times! Watching it evolve over the years, the only thing that has really changed is that the crowd keeps getting bigger and bigger. Other than that, the location, set-​up and restaurants have all been pretty similar because, well, it works!
Burgerliscious brings together around 20 of the Gables’ best restaurants for a battle royale. You can expect big players (Shake Shack, Swine, ROK: BGR, Pincho Factory) and also some wild cards (Sushi Maki, Bulla, Books & Books). All offer samples to compete for the people’s choice, as well as that of the judges. Every attendee has a vote and at the end of the night, one is deemed victor by the crowd and another by the judges!
VIP and GA tickets are available and I think the VIP admission is worth it. You get early entry, free Sam Adams beer and all the burgers you want. Even so, with GA admission, you still get plenty of burgers and can experience the thrill of it all. The Sam Adams tent sells four different draft beers for $ 5 each and Burgerliscious is usually the first event to feature Sam Adams’ winter brew.
Mad World Orchestra has been the live entertainment, playing cover songs from the 80s that always have the crowd dancing. This year, they also had a DJ spinning some newer stuff so there was really something for everyone.
Something else you can expect? A burger coma. Yes, that’s a real thing.