HAMBURG, Pa. — The 19th annual “Taste of Hamburg-er” festival in Hamburg will take place on Saturday.
The festival is a one-day event filled with over 40 burger stalls, live music, burger-eating contests, and cooking contests. Vendors come from near and far to let meat lovers try their burgers. This year, a few local restaurants are participating for the first time.
The West Reading Tavern is setting up a stall and staff said they hope to sell around 375 of their whiskey burgers.
“I can’t wait to experience it,” said Sidney Bowen, the head chef.
“The Whiskey Smoker Burger is our best-selling gourmet burger of all time,” Tavern President Mark Woodward said, “so we decided to go in there and put it to the test.”
Woodward said he’s ready to fire up the grill for people who come from all over the East Coast to enjoy the festival.
“It will be great publicity for the West Reading Tavern,” he said. “My team is really excited.”
West Reading Tavern will pit its whiskey burger against another first-time seller, Copperz Brewing Company, located in Hamburg.
“We’re making two slide-out burgers,” said head chef Ryan Orth.
Copperz Brewing hasn’t even been open for a year, so Orth said winning would be nice, but it’s about building exposure.
“Not for the awards, not for anything of that nature, but I really wanted to get our name out there beyond Berks County,” Orth said.
The Taste of Hamburg-er festival will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
