Burgerfest For CHaD Is Now Underway At Concord's The Barley House

CONCORD, NH — Burgerfest is happening right now at the Barley House Restaurant in Concord and runs through Saturday.

This year, the event's 15th anniversary, there are a bunch of new offerings as well as a couple of past favorites. The restaurant hopes to raise $15,000 for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth at the Concord and North Hampton locations.

As Patch does every year, we sampled some burgers Monday. Here's what we had and what you can expect from the offerings for 2020:

The House Burger, cosponsored by CHaD, was standard fare — a beef patty from Robie Farm in Orford with lettuce and tomato (we also added cheese for 75 cents).

The Pina Colada Burger, a past favorite, cosponsored by Merrimack County Savings Bank, featured a teriyaki glazed burger with Colby jack cheese, a grilled pineapple, and Pina Colada sauce on a potato bun. It was just as good as previous years.

The Korean BBQ burger, cosponsored by Mason + Rick PA, had tangy BBQ sauce, cucumber and carrot slaw, and sriracha mayo, on a toasted brioche bun (don't let the photo fool you — it wasn't that messy; it just got bounced around in the to-go container).

The Old Fashioned Melt, cosponsored by Grappone Auto Group, featured an onion crusted patty, onion sauce, and provolone and Swiss, on grilled sourdough bread. It didn't last long.

The highlight this year though was the "Chz-Essential," cosponsored by S&W Sports — it was a beautiful mess: A fried mozzarella "burger bun," a beef patty, the Guinness mac and cheese that is a staple at the Barley House, and we added bacon, too. It was delightful but, warning, you'll have to wash your hands afterward (you should be doing this due to COVID-19 anyway).

Other burgers for 2020 include: The Granite State Burger, cosponsored by Rumford Stone, which featured beef and bacon from Robie Farms, Swiss cheese from Boggy Meadow Farm in Walpole, and Dunks Mushrooms from Brentwood; the Swine is Fine Burger, cosponsored by Twin State Harley-Davidson, which features a beef patty, pork belly confit, cheddar cheese, maple bacon, aioli, and blueberry jam (seriously? Maybe later this week on that one …); Lucky's Barbershop is sponsoring the "I Falafel Lucky" burger — a vegan-gluten free falafel patty with arugula, lemon, olive oil, tomato, and cucumber, on a pita; the Turkey Banh Mi Burger, cosponsored by Coles Gardens (they supplied the herbs, too), is a turkey patty with carrots, cucumbers, jalapenos, pickled onions, and sriracha mayo, on a toasted baguette; and the Umami "Smash" Burger is a beef patty, truffle duxelle, bacon, smoked gouda cheese, sundried tomato confit, and togarashi mayo, on a brioche bun. That burger is cosponsored by Baroff & Craven, PA, Attorneys at Law.

Burgerfest runs through Saturday in Concord. The event begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at the restaurant's North Hampton location.

For more information, visit thebarleyhouse.com.

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