Glasgow’s El Perro Negro wins National Burger of the Year for the second time

What’s happening? Glasgow burger restaurant, El Perro Negro has won the National Burger of the Year Award, and is the only business to have won it twice, having scooped the accolade in 2019.

The event, which is in its seventh year, saw chefs from across the UK battle it out to have their burger crowned best in the UK.

The live cook-off was held on 28 September 2021 at London Shenley Club.

What El Perro Negro burger won? El Perro Negro entered their Top Dog burger, which is made with bone marrow and Roquefort butter, double bacon, caramelised onions and black truffle mayo.

The Glasgow business beat off competition from chains such as Smashburger and Shake Shack.

El Perro Negro ltd is the brainchild of Nick Watkins, who created and shared pictures of his burgers to the James vs Burger community back in 2014.

The business opened its first premises in Finnieston in 2018 and anther in Woodlands in 2019.

Speaking of the win, Nick said: “It’s a huge thing to win the National Burger Awards,

“We hope winning this time around will be just as massive for us. The competition is getting tougher, no doubt, with huge names coming in.

“It’s definitely gone up another level. To enter with the same burger again was a massive gamble, but this is our signature and our biggest seller. It’s the first burger I ever made in this business, and it’s still our number one.”

Who else won? Other winners on the day were Danny Hawke from Danny’s Burgers in Bristol, who was named Burger Chef of the Year; John Gladwell from Filthy Buns, who cooked up the Meatless Farm Meat-Free Burger of the Year; Laurence Tottingham of Revolution Bars Group, who won the Hellmann’s Mayo Mixologist round; and Ben Martin from Cut + Grind Burgers, who won the Bloggers’ Choice Award, an accolade judged by a group of food bloggers from across the hospitality industry.

The National Burger Awards 2021 Grand Final was held on 28 September at London Shenley Club and was hosted by Christian Stevenson (AKA DJ BBQ).

Fifteen finalists competed in three rounds that saw them cook a Technical Burger, which was made with ingredients supplied by the event’s sponsors; a meat-free burger, featuring products from Meatless Farm; and their own-recipe burger that they submitted during the entry process.