"We kept testing to enhance the flavor, adding all the ingredients until we felt it was the perfect burger." That was Terra Kitchen & Cocktails executive chef Fernando Mercado in November 2025, after his restaurant won the second BirminghamBURGER. The Birmingham Shopping District said diners cast 5,570 votes in that contest.
The 2025 burger had eleven components: a house-ground dry-aged blend, aged white cheddar, crispy prosciutto, porcini compound butter, demi-glazed caramelized onions, sundried tomato jam, pickled fennel, roasted garlic aioli, dressed arugula, a sesame semolina bun and Tuscan-spiced fries. For October 2026, Terra has gone bigger. So has the restaurant it beat. The third BirminghamBURGER runs October 1 through 31, and it works as a rematch. Every restaurant that finished in last year's top five is back, along with the 2024 champion.
The Field That Already Knows How to Win
The Shopping District published last year's top five in its winner announcement. All five appear on the live 2026 roster at thebhamburger.com. Here is each one with its 2026 entry and listed price:
- Terra Kitchen & Cocktails, 260 North Old Woodward Avenue. "The Michigan Reserve," $33.
- Adachi, 325 South Old Woodward Avenue. "Look What You Made Me Do," $32.
- Elie's Mediterranean Grill and Bar, 263 Pierce Street. "Mediterranean Burger," $20.
- Bell Bistro, 185 N Old Woodward Ave. "The Hot Mess Smash Burger," $29.
- Hazel's, 1 Peabody Street. "Surf the Earth," $20.
Adachi has the strongest record of anyone in the field. It won the first BirminghamBURGER in 2024 with a burger called "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover" and took top honors in every category that year. It finished second to Terra in 2025. That makes the October 2026 contest the first time both previous champions compete as champions.
One roster detail can trip people up. The Shopping District's September 24 press release names 18 restaurants and leaves out Bell Bistro and Madam Restaurant. The live event site has profiles for 20, and both of those are included. If you planned your month from the release, Bell Bistro, last year's fourth-place finisher, is missing from your list.
The Two Champions Priced Themselves at the Top
Across the 19 entries with a listed price, the middle of the field is $23. Casa Pernoi's Casa Burger at 310 East Maple Road is the cheapest at $14. The two most expensive burgers come from the two restaurants that have already won.
Terra's Michigan Reserve, at $33, reads like a sequel to the 2025 winner. It has a "45 Day house grind dry-aged blend, cherry wood-smoked pork belly, aged Michigan cheddar, Guernsey buttermilk crispy onions, dressed arugula, savory bourbon cherry jus" on a "Traverse City cherry and Mammoth bourbon toasted sesame bun," served with steakhouse potato wedges.
Adachi's $32 entry stacks a "premium Wagyu beef patty" with melted American cheese, "beef tallow–caramelized onions, crispy tonkatsu, and sticky glazed bacon," then baby arugula, avocado pico de gallo and Adachi sauce on a "toasted sweet potato–cheddar bun," with Adachi-seasoned fries. That is a pork cutlet and glazed bacon on one burger.
The scoring helps explain the strategy. Diners rate each burger on presentation, creativity and taste. Two of those three categories reward ambition about as much as flavor. The restaurants that have won seem to have concluded that a long build scores well, and they priced it to match.
The other three returning top-five finishers are pricing differently. Elie's and Hazel's both came in at $20, $3 under the field's middle. Elie's is serving a homemade kafta burger topped with grilled halloumi, garlic aioli, grilled onions and tomato on brioche, with homemade Mediterranean potatoes. Hazel's pairs a beef patty with spicy popcorn shrimp, fish sauce caramel aioli, chili lime pickle and butter cheese. If you want to eat your way through the whole returning top five, the five burgers add up to $134 at listed prices.
A Month of Short Walks
Most of the 20 entries fall into a few groupings by street, so the month splits into several short outings instead of one long crawl. Addresses below come from each restaurant's event profile.
| Stretch | Restaurants and listed prices |
|---|---|
| North Old Woodward, 100 to 300 blocks | Bell Bistro, 185, $29 · Besos, 239, $23 · Terra, 260, $33 · Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, 323, $20 |
| North Old Woodward, 400 to 500 blocks | Employee Meal, 470, $16 · Market North End, 474, no price listed · Sal's, 505, $17 · Luxe Bar & Grill, 525, $19 |
| South Old Woodward | Madam Restaurant, 298, $22 · Adachi, 325, $32 · Birmingham Pub, 555, $23 |
| Maple and Pierce | Social, 225 E. Maple, $21 · Casa Pernoi, 310 E. Maple, $14 · Elie's, 263 Pierce, $20 · Streetside Seafood, 273 Pierce, $28 |
| Side streets and hotel | e Fiori, 115 Willits, $24 · Hazel's, 1 Peabody, $20 · Rugby Grille, 100 Townsend, $28 · La Strada, 243 E. Merrill, $25 · Tallulah, 155 S. Bates, $28 |
The 400 to 500 blocks of North Old Woodward hold three of the four lowest listed prices in the competition. Employee Meal's Arrachera Burger has "two smashed patties on brioche bun," with grilled onions, jalapeño and grilled queso fresco, for $16. Sal's Italiano is built on Sal's homemade meatball blend with crispy onions, roasted peppers and remoulade for $17. Luxe's Triple Threat Burger at $19 layers whiskey onions, burnt onions and rojo onions under a fried egg and jalapeño ranch. Market North End's DET Burger has chopped grilled onions, poblanos, mushrooms, olives and gruyère "steamed with beer." Its profile doesn't list a price. The three burgers with listed prices add up to $52, which is $13 less than the $65 for the two champions' entries.
The lower North Old Woodward blocks work the opposite way. Within a short stretch, you can compare Terra's $33 defending entry with Bell Bistro's Hot Mess Smash Burger, made with "Michigan wagyu snow beef," Calabrian aioli, jalapeños and bacon jam.
e Fiori Ristorante at 115 Willits is also new to the competition. The Detroit Free Press reported a June 17, 2026 opening date for the restaurant, so this is its first October in town. Its entry is a two-patty burger with grilled onion, provolone, salsa rosa and frisée for $24.
Where the Field Leaves Beef Behind
The Shopping District says this year's options range "from vegetarian and shrimp to creative beef favorites." Judging by the published ingredient lists, the clearest alternatives to a beef patty are these:
- Rugby Grille at the Townsend Hotel, "Salmon Burger" with a house-made cucumber sambal salad and mustard glaze, $28.
- Streetside Seafood, "Buffalo Shrimp Burger" with apple and celery slaw, Danish bleu cheese and an everything sweet potato bun, served with salt and vinegar chips, $28.
- Besos, "The Humami," a hand-chopped blend of plant-steak, ground beef and organic mushroom on a house-made fermented bun, $23. It is a hybrid and still contains beef.
La Strada takes a different route. Its "Alla Parmigiana" is a breaded 8 oz Snake River Farms American wagyu patty with veluttata pomodoro and bufala mozzarella, served on focaccia. Social's Peppercorn French Dip Burger comes on a toasted baguette with French onion soup for dipping. In a contest that scores creativity, entries like these are going after the same category the champions are.
Scoring, Parking and the Last Sunday Market
The official instructions are simple. Visit a participating restaurant in October, order its event burger, rate it on presentation, creativity and taste, and repeat as often as you like. Diners' ratings decide the winner. The Shopping District will award a people's choice trophy and a judges' choice trophy once all ratings are in after the event. The Free Press coverage doesn't give an announcement date.
The city lists the first two hours as free at all five municipal parking structures: Chester Garage at 180 S. Chester Street, N. Old Woodward Garage at 333 N. Old Woodward, Park Garage at 333 Park Street, Peabody Garage at 222 Peabody and Pierce Garage at 333 Pierce Street. After two hours, the visitor page lists $2 an hour, up to $10. Pick the garage closest to your stretch and one burger fits comfortably inside the free window.
The last weekend before the contest closes brings one more reason to head north on Old Woodward. The Birmingham Farmers Market holds its End of Season Celebration on Sunday, October 25, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Public Parking Lot 6, 660 N. Old Woodward Avenue, with Halloween-themed activities. Spend the morning at the market's final day, then walk south to the 400 and 500 blocks, where Employee Meal, Sal's and Luxe list the field's $16, $17 and $19 burgers.
Downtown Birmingham's restaurant rows are part of what a home here is worth, and Kyle Matta follows those blocks as closely as the sales data. If October has you thinking about what your own Birmingham home would bring, Request a Complimentary Home Valuation and we'll show you how today's market reads your address.
