First-Year Restaurant Named Winner of Iowa’s Best Burger for 2023

After opening their doors just over a year ago, an Iowa restaurant is getting recognized in one of the biggest ways possible. They've been crowned as the home of Iowa's Best Burger.

It was back in March of 2022 that after living in an Iowa city of only 4,500 people for a few years, Marianne and Matt Pacha decided to open a restaurant. They felt like their new hometown had a major sense of community and wanted a restaurant with the same feel. That's undoubtedly why they give back every month. Now, that same community is celebrating with them as the home of Iowa's Best Burger.

The restaurant, Flight Bar + Grille opened in Huxley in central Iowa in March of 2022. The name was derived as a nod to the mascot for the local school district, the Ballard Bombers. Flight Bar + Grille has items like the Flight Tenderloin and Jet Sliders. However, what's likely to be the most well-known and popular menu item is Iowa's Best Burger for 2023... 'The Foundation Burger'.

Katie Boughey, the executive chef and kitchen manager for Flight Bar + Grille described 'The Foundation Burger' this way: It's a "double-smash burger with cheddar cheese. It includes mustard aioli, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions and is topped with thick-cut bacon served between a beautiful and buttery brioche bun. We use simple seasonings – salt and pepper – to let the beef’s flavor be the star of the burger.”

According to the Flight Bar + Grille menu, "$1 from every Foundation Burger purchased is donated to the Ballard Education Foundation, supporting our schools."

Made from 80% lean beef that's never frozen, and sourced from here in the Midwest, the beef is rolled into a ball and then smashed on the grill with a steak weight. It makes for a crisp crust and, obviously both a great-looking and fantastic-tasting burger.

Flight Bar + Grille is located on N U.S. Highway 69 in Huxley. After donating $694 to the Ballard Education Foundation in March, they donated $859 for the month of April. Congratulations on being named the winner of Iowa's Best Burger. I expect the amount of the donation will continue to go up.