He set out to sample all Downtown Burger Battle entries in one day. Here’s what happened

On Sunday, Langston Newton ate ice cream.

Lots and lots of ice cream.

After a day of mostly meat, his taste buds craved something more sweet than savory.

But the Sioux Falls man doesn’t regret spending Saturday consuming burger after burger as he worked his way through the 2025 Downtown Burger Battle. Newton tried all 39 of this year’s entries in the 12th annual competition, downing one-quarter of each offering over 13 hours.

It made for a high-calorie and high-expense Saturday. And if it helps locally owned restaurants, it’s all worth it, Newton said.

Newton works at Raven Industries in downtown Sioux Falls and lives near the area. He eats in a downtown restaurant almost every day, and he knows many of the owners. Newton’s goal is to bring others downtown during January and throughout the year — although he realizes most people will tackle the challenge one burger at a time.

“It’s a fun way to support local businesses, and on top of that, it’s just a fun thing to do,” he said. “During the year, you get really excited about the chef’s specials, you know eating at Bread & Circus and waiting for them to post something or seeing what Swamp Daddy’s cooking up. You have so many friends downtown and getting to see and hang out with all the chefs, it’s just fun and exciting to see what they cook up for these types of months.”

Newton had first set the goal of trying every Downtown Burger Battle entry two years ago. He decided to expand it to a one-day event to welcome friends to try the leftover quarters with him and to give himself the chance to enjoy his favorite entries later during January — a full burger, one at a time, in the actual restaurant.

On his way downtown Saturday, he picked up his first two entries, from Perch and Josiah’s, then settled in at a table at Rough Cut Social on West 10th Street at 7:45 a.m. Fortified by his first Dr Pepper, he began the procedure he would follow repeatedly. The container it came in was labeled, then he photographed the entire burger.

With a sharp knife, Newton would split the burger before him into halves, then cut it again. Any sides were set aside for others to consume. His appetite had its limits, Newton said. He photographed each transmutation again. Then, three of the four quarters were returned to their container, and Newton took his first bite.

His laptop rested on the table nearby with a spreadsheet already set up. Newton judged the burgers on the five official criteria that organizer Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. has established: flavor, patty, toppings, bun and presentation. The last category doesn’t count since Newton wasn’t dining in-house and didn’t see the burgers the way the creators intend them to be viewed.

He had his own category too: WEA, or Would Eat Again. That is what he will refer to when he returns to the restaurants as the Burger Battle continues through Jan. 31, and he hopes Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. someday adopts that too.

Last year, Newton ran into an unexpected complication. He has two credit cards. Both companies, unaware that someone might want to eat more than 30 burgers in a short time, suspected fraud and canceled his cards.

Burgers rank among Newton’s favorite foods, trailing only steak and “a good plate of fried rice.” Sometimes, he might raise an eyebrow when he reviews the descriptions of the burgers — a beef patty on a grilled cinnamon-roll bun? But when he tried the Phillips Avenue Diner’s entry, he gave it a thumbs-up.

Newton said he approached burger No. 39, Chef’s Lance’s Cuban Burger, with as much enthusiasm as he did the first: the Morning Glory Burger from Perch. The Cuban Burger was the only one he ate in its natural habitat because Chef Lance’s on Phillips had shut down to-go orders Saturday evening.

Rough Cut general manager Alysia Simunek opened earlier than usual Saturday to give Newton a place to operate. The axe-throwing venue and bar had considered entering the Downtown Burger Battle by partnering with a food truck, but concerns about what the weather would be like made it difficult.

She relished watching the “drive and ambition” that Newton put into his project.

Simunek herself has successfully eaten her way through the Downtown Burger Battle in previous years. This year, with a vacation planned for later in January and a record number of entries, she’s not going to be able to do it.

“It will be the first year I haven’t finished a battle,” she said.

Newton called ordering all 39 burgers “a logistical nightmare.” A couple of friends functioned as runners to bring him the burgers as restaurants opened, and he traveled downtown streets himself to pick up several orders. In all, it took him about 13 hours and an estimated $700 to $800 to complete the challenge he set himself.

Along the way, he learned tidbits about the burgers. BibiSol, a modern Mexican restaurant that opened in July 2024, named its smashburger the “I’m in America, I Should Be Able To Get a Burger Here.” During its first week in business, a customer had come in for a burger and a beer. When he was told the restaurant didn’t serve burgers, he huffed “I’m in America” etc. and stormed out.

Newton also had heard the buzz about the $55 gold-topped burger offered at Minervas. It was, he admitted, one of the burgers he was most looking forward to trying.

How did he rank it? After a lazy Sunday recovering from his gastronomic efforts, Newton revealed his rankings. Here’s his top 10, in alphabetical order:

• Blarney Stone Pub
• Dahlia Kitchen + Bar
• Minervas
• Parker’s Bistro
• Severance Brewing Co., featuring Rudy M. Navarrete’s Tex-Mexican Catering
• Swamp Daddy’s Cajun Kitchen
• The Treasury
• Wileys
• Windy City Bites
• Wood Grain Brewing, featuring Southern Perfection BBQ

Honorable mentions went to Big Sioux Burger, Monks Ale House, PAve and Roots of Brasil.