“Life Is Short! Live, Eat Delicious One Of A kind Burgers, Drink, Laugh, & Love. We have the burger 411. “

Trey (Chow Down) Chapman

Epic – Cowtown Burger Showdown 2024 River Ranch StockYards

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

It’s Burger Time in Texas!

Trey and Ali Talking Burgers (Fun Times)

It was an epic burger battle on a stormy and rainy day for our third year of the COWTOWN BURGER SHOWDOWN at River Ranch Stockyards. We had over 1,100 burger lovers show up to see who had the best burgers in North Texas! You could smell the smash burgers, classic and craft burgers cooking as the meaty deliciousness lofted in the air.  There were burger slang’ers from Tarrant County, Parker County, Dallas County and more. In total we had twenty-five chefs, pitmasters, restaurants, and food trucks that showed up and showed out to create tasty burgers trying to win some of the 10,000.00 in cash and prizes. The creativity was flowing as they created some beautiful and amazing burgers that where truly unforgettable.

Folks attended the event to taste burgers and have some fun before they VOTED for the best TRADITIONAL BURGER, NON-TRADITIONAL BURGER, and THE FAN FAVORITE PEOPLE’S CHOICE. We had live music rocking in the hizzy, cocktails were flowing, and cold beer was pouring. The unlimited French Fry and Tater Tot Bar stayed packed with hungry burger lovers. It was our BIGGEST showdown yet, and we CANNOT wait for 2025! We will be adding additional burger slang’ers and prize money for even higher stakes.

This year was special because we added a GOLDEN TICKET from the World Food Championships for the TOP two of the winners. We were a qualifying event for The World Food Championships. What is the WFC? It’s the largest competition in food sports, where winners of previous qualifying events compete for a chance at winning the ultimate food crown and their share of hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. The World Food Championships is also the springboard for many up-and-coming culinary stars and home cooks as they seek TV fame through many well-known food shows and acting opportunities. We’re excited to see the two competitors who won their golden tickets and will registered to compete at the 2024 World Food Championships. CONGRATULATIONS to our 2024 winners!

Folks have asked us how we judge the winners, and let me tell you it’s NOT an easy task and one we take extremely seriously because being fair is what counts. We use a three-tier judging process to choose a winner, with over thirty-two judges involved in the process. The final winners are chosen by our panel of MASTER Judges, who are Celebrity Food Professionals from around Texas, Food Network, and FOX Master Chef contestants.

We are excited for 2025 so stay tuned and will see you at the GRILLS for another EPIC burger showdown at River Ranch Stockyards.

Trey’s Celebrity Judges:

1. Fox Master Chef 2 X Contestant – Chef Cowboy Chef Newton

2. Celebrity Chef & Pitmaster- Chef Randy White

3. Food Network T.V. Host, Writer, Blogger – Ali Khan Eats

4. Food Expert & Blogger – Luis The Foodie Munster

5. Social Media Star and Chef – Kyle Istook

6. Food Expert, Writer, Blogger – Anthony Ant Macias

7. FTW City Councilman Food Lover – Carlos Flores

8. FTW Celebrity Food and Burger LOVER – Jordan Johnson

Ali Khan Food Show Host, Writer, Blogger and Burger Expert Slang’n some WISDOM

Grand Winners Cowtown Burger Showdown 2024 (3rd Annual)

1. Traditional Burger – Smashville Burgers and Tots Northlake, Texas 

 

2. Non – Traditional Burger – Dayne’s Craft Barbecue Aledo, Texas 

 

3. FAN Favorite Peoples’s Choice– Smoke & Bone BBQ Fort Worth, Texas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1937 Kansas City Burger Deliciousness

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Kansas City Burger History!

Trey’s Chow Down on our MEETS, EATS and SWEETS Tour Road Trip’in the USA for deliciousness. Today we’re in Kansas City MO for some OLD SCHOOL smash burger perfection. It all began in 1937 when Town Topic Hamburgers opened for business with a very small, cozy building that’s still in use today.

In Kansas City, a little white diner named Town Topic Hamburgers opened unceremoniously on 24th and Broadway and began selling hamburgers for 5 cents each. It was opened by Claude Sparks, who at the end of his first day pocketed a whopping $21.00. It’s more than 75 years later and Town Topic is still selling hamburgers by the bagful. They still cook them the same way, with grilled onions and a steamed bun. They also have the same full breakfast line they’ve always had, and it’s all cooked fresh to order. In fact, the downtown diners haven’t changed a whole lot since the early days.

I really enjoyed this restaurant because it’s cozy, with an old school feel you notice right when you pull up. I watched folks standing around outside, waiting for chance to grab a seat and enjoy old school perfection. We were among the group, patiently waiting for our chance at one of those TOWN TOPIC SMASH BURGERS.

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Trey’s Cowtown Burger SHOWDOWN 2023

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Trey’s Cowtown Burger Showdown 2023

Held at the River Ranch Stockyards, we were proud to present the First Annual Cowtown Burger Showdown to find out who creates the BEST burger in North Texas. We had Old School Burgers, Smash Burgers, Craft Burgers, and more! At the Cowtown Burger Showdown it was all about the BURGER deliciousness and the creative chefs who were slinging them. Burger slingers from ALL OVER Texas came to throw down for the showdown and it was truly an unbelievable day of burgers, fun, and wild cards. It was a family-friendly event and we had over 3,500 burger-loving folks attend to enjoy the festivities. A portion of the proceeds from this event went to benefit the Brotherhood for the Fallen, a Texas-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to responding to the families of officers who have been killed in the line of duty.
We can’t wait to bring you the NEXT Cowtown Burger Showdown in the spring of 2024. Stay tuned and please enjoy some delicious TEXAS burgers!
THANKS to the WINNER and PITMASTER Dayne Weaver of Dayne’s Craft BBQ in Fort Worth, Texas. Dayne and Ashley have some of the BEST BBQ in TEXAS and now they have the BEST BURGER, too!
Dayne’s Craft BBQ
9840 Camp Bowie West Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76116

Website For Dayne’s https://daynescraftbarbecue.com

Please see some of the photos from event!
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The 50 Best Burgers in North Texas 2021

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Howdy Burger Lovers!

I’m honored to present this year’s BEST burger winners. Any burger on my list is here because they are fresh and delicious. Please support local and try all of these burgers. Below at the end of the blog we created a full color poster of this years winners. You may screen shot from your phone or print it off and plan your BURGER adventures of 2021. By saving our list you will have instance reference for your barbecue cravings. 

WOW! What a year 2020 was for the restaurant, food, and culinary world. In my five decades in the restaurant business, I’ve seen disasters of all types and nothing comes close to the devastating effect Covid-19 had on our economy. Restaurants, chefs, pitmasters, and restauranteurs had to make big changes if they wanted to survive the pandemic. Nationwide, we lost over 251,000 restaurants forever and 2.5 million restaurant jobs at the latest estimate. The good thing is that NOW we are on the mend and the Texas economy is in full giddy-up mode! This is why it’s so important to support local restaurants to keep us in giddy-up mode.

Even though things were crazy due to Covid-19 we still worked hard reporting on food and hunting down the best burgers we could locate in North Texas. The pandemic allowed us plenty of extra time to chow down on some tasty burgers; it also allowed burger creators time to come up with some new delicious and creative burgers for all of us to enjoy. If you follow me, you know how much I enjoy a great and tasty burger.  This is our seventh year for the BEST BURGER contest in Texas and I’m excited to tell everyone about my delicious burger discoveries.

Did you know that burgers are one of the most sought-after sandwiches in the world? The burger business is crazy in the U.S.A. I don’t have the newly updated numbers of burgers sold in 2020 during the pandemic (and it would be an oddly skewed amount), so we are using the last updated numbers. A national research company states that we sell 6.48 million burgers a day, and around 75 burgers a second! What? Yes, 75 burgers a second! This roughly breaks down as 4,500 burgers every minute, 270,000 every hour, 6.48 million a day, and 2.36 billion burgers a year. A worldwide research study states we sell 50 billion a year worldwide. 50 Billion a year that to me is shocking, but I know how many folks just love a succulent, savory, and delicious burger.

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Korean Meets American For Burger Perfection!

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Good Day, Burger Lovers!

The Phat 2AM Burger

I discovered a NEW Korean/American fusion burger concept that is slinging insane burgers!  K-POP Premium Burgers created by the passionate Chef Kevin Lee and his wife Jenice Lee located in The Colony, Texas.

As most of you know, my entire life revolves around food, chefs, restaurants, creative, and delicious dishes! The last decade I’ve been consumed with locating the best burgers, steaks, barbecue and seafood for Trey’s Chow Down and Trey’s Chow Down LIVE. I LIVE for locating the BEST, and telling the world about the deliciousness I discover through social media, my LIVE T.V. and Radio Podcast.

I received an email last week from a friend Chase Foxworth who was elated and extremely enthusiastic about a new burger joint in The Colony, Texas. He knew the results of our BEST BURGER CONTEST in 2019 reached over 1.5 million BURGER LOVING North Texans. He understood how excited I would be to see this new concept of burger deliciousness for the 2020 Burger Race. He couldn’t wait to show me! I receive numerous requests to visit new burger concepts, or to test a certain burger. I try to visit each and every request as time allows, but his email was so powerful and full of conviction that I made plans to meet him P.D.Q. and try some of these burgers he was raving and screaming about.

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The 50 Best Burgers In North Texas 2019

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow 3 Comments on The 50 Best Burgers In North Texas 2019

Hello, burger lovers!

Trey’s Chow Down BEST Burgers 2019 Party on ABC in Dallas with Kara Swell from WFAA Victor Plaza.

Wow. I’m in disbelief that 2019 has already come and gone? Where did it go? It seems like it was just yesterday we completed and introduced our BEST Burgers in North Texas for 2018.

2019 was a BIG burger year in North Texas. We had some old restaurants close and a bunch of new ones open. Almost all of them sell some sort of burger.

The burger business is crazy in the U.S.A.

A national research company states that we sell 6.48 million burgers a day around 75 burgers a second! What? Yes, 75 burgers a second! The burger date roughly breaks down as 4,500 burgers every minute, 270,000 every hour, 6.48 million a day, and 2.36 billion burgers a year. Another research study states we sell 50 billion a year worldwide.

I truly don’t care what the accurate numbers are. I just know that almost everyone loves to bite into a succulent, savory and delicious burger.

Even though another year has come and gone, we spent twelve months locating and chowing down on some of the most amazingly creative burger combinations in North Texas.

In 2018, we visited a hundred and twenty restaurants to locate the best burgers. I’m thrilled to say we topped ourselves again for 2019. We didn’t plan it that way… It just happened!

We were running the roads and adding mileage to our vehicles. We visited over 135 locations and chowed down on 200 different burger combinations.

Every time I ate a burger I would say, “On to the next”!

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FREE CHEESEBURGERS ONE DAY ONLY!

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Celebrate National Hamburger Month with FREE BurgerFi Cheeseburgers ALL DAY, May 1st at our Fort Worth location! ???

*Offer valid on in-store purchases at BurgerFi Fort Worth. Includes one (1) BurgerFi Cheeseburger, double-patty only. One (1) redemption per customer. No purchase necessary. Offer only valid on 05/01/19. Cannot be combined with any other offer or special. No Substitutions. Offer not valid on online, in-app, phone or delivery orders. © 2019 BurgerFi International, LLC.

I visited a NEW BurgerFi last summer and really, loved it!
Trey’s Chow Down made a trip to Sarasota, Florida. We were out to investigate and review the amazing BurgerFi. My fellow foodies, trust me this was a fantastic place.
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Champagne, Burgers, & Caviar French Fries!

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

When I opened my message from Chef John Tesar it said,

Michael, Chef John, & Trey

“Trey… Caviar, Burgers & Champagne. My buddy, Michael Passmore, is back home here in Dallas for a few events. He’s the founder of Passmore Ranch in California, where he farms fish, makes damn good caviar, and serves guys like us all over the country. He asked me who he should go see in Dallas. I told him if he brought the caviar, I’d supply the burgers and champagne for lunch at Knife (at The Highland Hotel). Easy going lunch, some champagne, a bunch of caviar, and chat with Michael.”

After I read the message I re-read it again just to make sure I understood. We were going to eat some of the finest caviar in the world, paired with some of John Tesar’s award-winning world famous burgers. Then we’re going to wash it down with champagne and discuss various types of delicious caviar from the man who farms it? Is this a joke? Am I dreaming? Then I remembered John is too busy to type all that out for a joke. I didn’t even have to think about it. I replied YES right away. I couldn’t wait for this day to come.

If you don’t know John, I’m just going to give you a free quick education about an amazing Chef. John gets his thrills on perfection, creativity, and hard work. He has an unwavering dedication to the culinary arts, his peers, and various charity organizations. He lives to make sure every single customer has a happy and positive dining experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 6-dollar burger, or a 200-dollar steak, John accepts nothing but perfection. His culinary pedigree is so extensive and has so much detail I’m not going to list all of it for you. I will tell you in the simplest terms; John is just a BADASS at what he does. Period! I respect the hell out of the guy.

So now you know why I was so excited when John told me we’re going to discuss caviar over burgers. I was ecstatic! I’m so passionate about food, drink, the chefs that create it, and the farmers and ranchers that help bring it all together. I couldn’t say no. I love being able to write about different foodie experiences so everyone can enjoy them and learn about the creative chefs and farmers that make it happen.

We pulled up to the Highland Hotel. It was a windy day. I’m always early and of course, my love Jana was driving me so I could work on social media and emails on the trip to meet John and Michael for our caviar outing. I must’ve asked Jana what time it is, at least a dozen times because I do not want to be late. I always want to be early. I consider it disrespectful to be late. Everyone’s time is valuable and especially a Celebrity Chef, and Michael’s time since he flew out from California.

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BEST BURGERS IN DFW East To West 2018

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow
Trey’s Chow Down T.V. Best Burgers of 2018 Fox 4 Good Day with Lauren

This years list was crazy! We chowed down on 120 burgers and visited over a 100 different burger joints and restaurants to complete our list.

For the past five years at Trey’s Chow Down.Com we’ve researched and compiled a list of the best burgers I’ve eaten that year. The first year it started at Fort Worth Magazine with what I thought was the best burger I ate. As time went on, more and more folks would ask me what I thought about this burger or that burger. In 2017, I increased my dedication to research and the number of burgers for the list. I had to increase the list to the TOP 15 BURGERS in DFW because there are many places promoting and selling delicious burgers. I needed to be fair, accurate, and credible. Our “Best Burger List” has become so popular (251,000 views in 2017) that I’ve decided to make some changes for 2018 and for the future of our Trey’s Chow Down Best Burger Contest. I’ve created TWO NEW burger categories and a BEST ALL AROUND WINNER for 2018 and beyond.

The NEW categories will be as follows:

–    BEST OLD FASHION Burger

–    BEST CRAFT Burger

–    BEST ALL AROUND Winner

I truly love a delicious burger but the beef industry has changed so much in the last five decades. I felt I needed to make the decision to create the NEW categories for fair judging and a TRUE BEST BURGER LIST.

To me, a CRAFT burger is completely different in creation and flavor profile. They can be prepared with delicious creative toppings, a variety of expensive fresh meats, premium aged cheese, with a fancy bakery fresh bun. A craft burger can get expensive depending on how it is created. When it comes to craft burgers my flavor profile has a wide range. I will try anything to see what kind of burger deliciousness a chef has created to achieve the number one tasting burger in the burger wars. There are lots of crazy flavor profiles for craft burgers. Plenty of the craft burger creations have the ability to send your taste buds to the flavor rodeo and have you screaming giddy up with each bite.

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BurgerFi Excellence: True Bombdigity Delicious Burgers!

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow
Good Day Foodie’s,
Trey’s Chow Down made a trip to Sarasota, Florida. We were out to investigate and review the amazing BurgerFi. My fellow foodies, trust me this was a fantastic place.
The delicious “CEO” burger, Moo!

BurgerFi states: “We really get cooking with our 100% natural ANGUS and WAYGU beef, free of hormones and antibiotics and chef-driven menu items, like our famous crispy fries and double-battered onion rings — served hot and crunchy with our chef-created sauces. Other favorites include our VegeFi (our own gourmet spin on a veggie burger), Vienna hot dogs with all the fixings, frozen custard, natural sugar cane sodas, and local craft beer and wine. You’ll find the highest level of pride and attention in everything we do.”

I chose to visit the Sarasota location because it was located in a new development area, and is also a new unit for BurgerFi. 
came on the scene just a few years ago back in 2011. They’ve already been named in “Top 50 Movers and Shakers” by Fast Casual Magazine. BurgerFi has a BIG list of other awards already in the bag too. Their locations are colorful, clean, open and fresh with beautiful patios.
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All-American Awesomeness at Liberty Burger

Trey Chapman Burgers, Chow

Good day burger buddies,

I received an email from a burger lover who requested I check out Liberty Burger. He thought I would enjoy it, I figured “Why not”?

There are plenty of new burger joints to visit, but it is nearly impossible to visit them all. After I did my due diligence, I thought it necessary to take a ride over to chow down at the DFW Liberty Burger.

Liberty Burger philosophy is, “We are family-owned and Texas-grown, and that’s how we operate. We not only strive to reinvent the all-American concept of the hamburger, but we pledge to be a restaurant with high-quality food, social contribution, and environmental responsibility. We believe in doing things right: sourcing the freshest and highest quality product, finding local bakeries that use only American-grown ingredients, and ensuring that our meats come from responsible sources.

No, it’s not the easiest way to run a restaurant, but it is the right way – and that’s what we are committed to doing. Call us crazy, but Liberty Burger has goals far above the “bottom line.” We hold our values close to our heart and pride ourselves on quality, community, and service. From the beef to the beer to the beverages, Liberty Burger strives to use only family-owned and Texas-grown products and services.

We believe in supporting the communities that support us, and we are thankful for all of your support.”

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