When I began my hunt for the very best burger in Metro Detroit, I never suspected I was alone in my love for a good cheeseburger.
I also never expected to encounter a group of people on the exact same mission as myself.
Since Burger Breakdown began in late 2023, alongside my former co-worker Carmichael Cruz, I’ve received countless messages from readers. Some offered recommendations for their favorite burgers, others offered their opinions about how my opinions were incorrect. (I get it, burgers are personal.)
But one particular email from a John Winnicker caught my attention. The opening line: “I am part of a group dubbed ‘the Burger Brothers.’”
You don’t see a dedication to burgers like that every day. So, of course, I had to hear his story.
Meet: The Burger Brothers
Once every month or two, the Burger Brothers get together to taste burgers as a group -- and to hang out, of course. They typically stick to the west side of Metro Detroit, since that’s where most of them are from.
The members are longtime friends, with some of them even growing up on the same block in Dearborn.
“The Gasser Brothers [Russ, Bob, and Curt], John Faiola, Tom Hand, George Gilbeau and I lived on the same block on Venice Street in Dearborn, with Mark Kosbe only a couple of blocks away,” Winnicker said. “The rest were attached through school, work or church. Quite simply, we all shared, and in some cases surprisingly survived, our formative years.”
Fast forward decades later to 2018, and one friend -- Russ Gasser -- formed the group to eat burgers “as a great way of rousting up the old gang on a regular basis, while enjoying old and new watering holes,” Winnicker said. The group also likes to try the top burgers named through our annual Vote 4 The Best contest.
---> You can still vote for this year’s Vote 4 The Best finalists -- including best burgers -- right here
The men started with the “then No. 1 burger place,” Fall’s Lounge in Dearborn. Since then, the Burger Brothers have visited nearly two dozen bars in search of the best burger, including Miller’s Bar -- which we reviewed for Burger Breakdown here -- as well as Randy’s Bar in Dearborn Heights, Big League Brews in Taylor, and Mason’s Bar in Livonia.
“The criteria we use in our selection includes sentimentality (our old hangouts from yesteryear), online lists (like WDIV’s), word of mouth, and logistics. Rarely have we been disappointed,” Winnicker said. “The burgers and camaraderie always seem to balance things out.”
After years of burger taste tests -- and the navigation of dining out post-COVID -- Fall’s Lounge remains at the top of their list of best burgers. The group does, however, also hold Big League Brews in high regard.
At both restaurants, Winnicker said the burgers had the whole package: “[F]resh and cooked to order hamburger patties, good cheese selection, fresh condiments, and a bun that was not soggy.” You’d think these elements would be standard everywhere ... but coming from someone who also reviews burgers, they are not.
Though maybe not the top of the list, the Burger Brothers have visited Oakwood Bar in Dearborn and Half Time Bar in Taylor on more than one occasion. The group didn’t really start out as the Burger Brothers, but rather evolved into the name.
“It just started popping up in our text communications, and it stuck, and we are all proud to be one,” Winnicker said.
“I would be remiss not to mention the old stories that we continue to tell, with some of the details getting bigger by the moment. It’s amazing how much we baby boomers, who are at or a little north of 70, remember. We constantly brag about having grown up in the best of times, (no offense to you youngsters).”
The group has a few rotating members, and some members who live as far as Oxford and Frankenmuth. The Burger Brothers also lost their friend and brother Curt Gasser earlier this year. Still, they prioritize convening over something as seemingly trivial as a hamburger -- and are sure to toast Curt with Mountain Dew, his favorite drink.
It may be cheesy (like a good burger) and cliche to say, but it’s true: Food brings people together. Food is sentimental. Personal. Ritualistic. Traditional. Familiar. It’s why we have such strong opinions about it. It’s what makes food so fun.
I’m sad that Burger Breakdown is ending unexpectedly with my departure from WDIV, but it makes me glad to know that groups like the Burger Brothers are carrying on with the search here, just for fun. That’s what it was all about, anyway.
In hopes that you all continue the burger search in my absence, I leave you with John Winnicker’s catch phrase: BURGER ON!