海角大神

This hasn鈥檛 been an easy year for all burger-joint operators鈥攊t鈥檚 tough to make a buck out there鈥攂ut it has been great for burger lovers. So many great burgers and just 365 days to eat them all. And 2015 promises even better and ever more burgers. Here are some of the past year鈥檚 high- and lowlights:

BURGER OF THE YEAR
鈥淵our鈥� Burger
I know this sounds like one of those copouts when Time magazine makes 鈥淭he Consumer鈥� its Person of the Year, but 2014 truly saw the burger business turn over menu R&D to customers. It鈥檚 easier if you just tell us what you want to eat, it said to customers. McDonald鈥檚 鈥淢y Burger鈥� promotion, conducted in several European countries, invited customers to dream up their own burgers, with the winners getting LTO stardom on the menu. Many independent burger joints run Facebook competitions, with customers submitting ideas for the next month鈥檚 special.

For example, at Luxe Burger Bar in Providence, R.I., Richard Cordeiro鈥檚 鈥淭he Portugese鈥� was this year鈥檚 BYOB Contest. The build: Gold Label beef, fried egg, chorizo links, sliced fried potatoes, creamy goat cheese, caramelized onions and roasted peppers on a sesame bun. Heather Schmidt Wojtczak created the December burger of the month at Milwaukee Burger Co. in Eau Claire, Wis. Her 鈥淏urgers Hollandaise鈥� starts with a third-pound patty that鈥檚 topped with an egg, bacon, tomato, green onions, red peppers and Hollandaise sauce on sourdough bread. Pretty good for amateurs!

I鈥檓 wary of the loose democratization that social media has spawned. There are no experts because everyone is an expert now. Letting customers function as chefs is part of this Twitterization of the culture, but it鈥檚 more benign than many other manifestations. If it truly builds a better relationship between a burger joint and its clientele, then it鈥檚 a good thing. And if it always results in big, flavorful burgers like The Portugee, then it鈥檚 a very good thing.

BURGER CHAIN OF THE YEAR
Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box could have won this honor just on the strength of the Bacon Insider burger it introduced in January.听 A 鈥渏uicy beef patty with savory bacon piece mixed right in,鈥� it was innovative during a year when every other chain just tried new variations on beef/cheese/bun. Many of the burgers from major chains were really good; none was truly new.

But Jack in the Box didn鈥檛 stop there. It began formally marketing its separate late-night menu, Munchie Meals, to which it added the year鈥檚 most out-there new major-chain item,听 the Chick-n-Tater Melt 听(a fried 听chicken patty, hash browns and bacon, topped with ranch 听sauce and three different cheeses on a 听buttery croissant).

And when McDonald鈥檚, Burger King and other chains pulled back on new LTO introductions, fearing they鈥檇 overwhelm their kitchen staffs and confuse customers, Jack in the Box kept creating new limited-time wonders including the current Spicy Sriracha Burger; Meat Lovers and Grande Sausage Breakfast Burritos; Croissant Donuts; Spicy Chicken Club; Breakfast, Nacho and Bacon Ranch Monster Tacos; BBQ or Jalape艌o Ranch Ultimate Cheeseburgers; and Sourdough Breakfast Melts. Bravo, Jack in the Box.

INDEPENDENT BURGER RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Burger Revolution, Belleville, Ont.
It鈥檚 difficult to single out one burger joint, but Burger Revolution鈥檚 husband and wife co-owners Jeff and Rayling Camacho do a lot of things right:

• For starters, a great logo, and that counts;
• A solid list of 5-oz. signature burgers, including the Ch茅vre Guevara (goat cheese, roasted red pepper, bacon, smoked-tomato jam);
• Slider Tuesdays when mini versions of any two signature or classic burgers are $11;
• The option to change your choice signature burger in a poutine for an additional $2.75 (small) or $4.75 (large);
• Great Burger of the Month specials, sometimes customer-suggested; usually customer named. December鈥檚 BOTM is The Whizard with a beef patty, roasted red peppers, caramelized onion, saut茅ed mushrooms, banana peppers and Cheez Whiz;
• House-made soups now to go with the burgers.

BURGER OF THE YEAR (INTERNATIONAL)
McDonald鈥檚 European Beef Breed Burgers
If Angus is the only cattle breed you know, you could have learned a lot about livestock by following the burger specials this year at McDonald鈥檚 in France, Spain and Italy. The chain took the local-sourcing trend quite literally by the horns and introduced burgers made with regional beef breeds, some not well known. France has had burgers made with Charolais, Normand, Limousin and Montbeliard beef as part of an ongoing 鈥淟es Viandes de Nos Regions鈥� (Our Regional Meat) program. Spain has seen a Grand Extrem burger made with Extreme帽a beef. A McItaly burger made with Marchigiana beef is on the menu in Italy now. A burger with Italy鈥檚 own Chianina beef was menued earlier.

The program hasn鈥檛 received much attention here but it has been an interesting and clever piece of the chain鈥檚 global effort to tell customers where the food it serves comes from.

CONDIMENT OF THE YEAR
础茂辞濒颈
Last year鈥檚 cutting-edge condiment was Sriracha (a romance that continues), but in 2014 it seems a burger isn鈥檛 properly dressed without a schmear of a茂oli. Often that鈥檚 nothing more than flavored mayo, though the real thing is a delicate blend of crushed garlic, egg yolk, lemon juice, mustard and good olive oil. When it鈥檚 done right, an a茂oli can beautifully elevate the flavors of a burger, so let the trend continues.

BURGER AD OF THE YEAR
鈥淲hopper Apartment鈥�
Burger King, Spain

You鈥檙e being shown a lovely apartment for rent in Madrid. Here鈥檚 the foyer. This is the bedroom and this is the bathroom. And here鈥檚 the living room鈥�with your very own Burger King! That鈥檚 the setup for this Burger King commercial in Spain, promoting home delivery. The looks on prospective renters鈥� faces when they turn the corner and see the BK counter tucked in by the couch are worth seeing. Credit goes to agency La Despensa in Madrid.

• Runner-Up:听McDonald鈥檚 Norway鈥檚听听tale about the warm relationship between the burger chain and farmers. We just don鈥檛 see enough puppets in advertising any more.

• Miss Congeniality:听Three-unit Ohio chain听听30-second TV spot deconstructing one of its burgers while explaining the all-Ohio origins of each component, right down to beef from the state鈥檚 Holmes County.

WORST BURGER OF THE YEAR
BLT Rotisserie Chicken Burger
Boston Market
Did Boston Market learn nothing about burgers during the seven years (2000-07) it was owned by McDonald鈥檚? This summer it introduced something it called the听. But it wasn鈥檛 a burger; it wasn鈥檛 even close. It was a pile of chicken chunks on a bun. Even worse, Boston Market had the nerve to charge $6.99 for this pseudo-burger.

• Runner-Up:听听burgers might have taken the top spot if they had moved out of test markets to the national menu. Picture a burger or chicken patty topped with mashed potatoes, brown truffle gravy and crispy onion strings. Just鈥�no. The 900-calorie creations were tested at $4.49, which was at least less than Boston Market鈥檚 would-be burger.