WILTON, Iowa — A Quad City area town could soon be home to the best burger in all of Iowa.
Arty's Ice Cream & Grill in Wilton is a top 10 finalist the Iowa Beef Industry Council's 2023 Best Burger contest. According to the council, the competition started out with 6,414 votes for 509 Iowa restaurants.
Each restaurant is visited by a panel of anonymous judges who rate the burgers based on taste, appearance and proper doneness of 160°F. The burgers all must be 100% beef patties.
This is the third year in a row the Wilton restaurant has made the top ten list since opening in 2019.
"I don't really try to win anything, I just do our thing, you know," said owner Sakir Alimoski. "We brought something unique to town essentially with our restaurant. We just continue to do the same thing and just tweak things here and there when we can make something better."
However, he does admit it'd be "pretty sweet to win it."
"It'd be cool for the town," Alimoski said. "It'd put Wilton on the map even more than it already is. So it'd be a win win for truly everybody."
The restaurant boasts an extensive menu, both burger-related and not. More than 20 burgers are served up at Arty's from pizza to peanut butter and jelly and jalapeño smoked. A burger named in honor of the Wilton police department even features a frosted donut bun.
"I think the uniqueness of it I would consider," Alimoski said. "The over the top style where you have different sauces, different combinations. You can do a double patty, you can do three patties, you can do our big one which is five patties."
The secret to a good burger, he said, is the melted cheese and a well seasoned grill.
The winner of the 2023 Iowa Best Burger contest is scheduled to be announced May 1, which kicks off National Beef Month.
The full top 10 list includes:
- Arty’s Ice Cream & Grill, Wilton.
- Ben’s Burgers, Ankeny.
- Birdies, Burgers & Brews, Graettinger.
- Burger & Company, Spirit Lake.
- Fishback & Stephenson Cider House, Fairfield.
- Foodie Garage Eatery, Dubuque.
- Flight Bar + Grille, Huxley.
- Jeronimo’s Bar & Grill, Springbrook.
- Parlor on Main, Central City.
- Troy’s Bar & Grill, Earling.
Back in 2012, a Mediapolis restaurant, 61 Chop House Grille, was crowned number one.