Let’s talk about the 2026 Eat It and Like It Burger Bash.
If you were around last year, you already know what this is. If you’re new here, welcome – you picked a good year to start paying attention.
The Burger Bash is Eat It and Like It’s answer to a simple question: What happens when you ask 30-plus of the best restaurants across the Lowcountry to build one exclusive burger, put it on the menu for a limited run, and let the whole region go try them all?
Chaos. Good chaos. That’s what happens.
This year, the number is hovering around 30 restaurants locked in, stretching from Savannah up through Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Beaufort. Thirteen days – August 22 through September 3 – of restaurants going all in on one burger they built specifically for this. Not a special. Not a limited-time menu item they’ll run again in October. A Burger Bash burger. One shot, one burger, all the effort.
I’ve spent the past month with a camera crew driving all over this region eating burgers before you get to, and I’m just going to say it: The quality this year is a step up from last year, and last year was good. Restaurants take this seriously now. They know their neighbors are in it too, and nobody wants to be the burger people forget.
A few, I can talk about already. Char Bar on Hilton Head Island is exactly the kind of spot that makes this event worth doing – locals know it, visitors find it, and their burger is going to be one people drive across the island for. Pete at Bluffton’s Slider Bar is a master of creativity. The Fillin’ Station in Beaufort is repping a market that doesn’t always get its due in regional food coverage, which is part of why Burger Bash exists in the first place. Beaufort eats. People just don’t talk about it enough. Don’t sleep on Breakwater’s masterpiece featuring gruyere and Cafe de Paris aioli. Yeah, seriously.
That’s really the whole point of this thing. Savannah’s food gets plenty of attention. Hilton Head Island gets plenty of attention. But Bluffton and Beaufort also have restaurants doing real work, and Burger Bash puts them on the same map, same event, same conversation. Thirty-plus spots means wherever you live in this region, there’s a burger worth driving to that’s close to you – and a handful more worth the drive, if you’re the type who plans a whole day around eating.
The Ragin’ Pimiento Burger at Sundown Saloon.
Here’s how I’d play it if I were you. Don’t try to hit all 30-plus in 13 days unless that’s genuinely your idea of a good time – no judgment if it is. Pick your market, hit the ones near you first, then pick two or three “worth the trip” burgers in other markets and make a day of it. Bring your friends, cut some in half and enjoy.
Between now and August 22, I’ll be rolling out burger reveals across all our channels – Facebook, Instagram, our newsletter (sign up at eatitandlikeit.com), and, of course, television – so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into before the event even starts. No surprises, no guessing. Just 30-plus restaurants, one region, and 13 days to eat like you mean it.
The reveals are rolling out. Check them out and see which of these beauties strikes a chord with you. They are all making beautiful music. Just make sure you show up hungry.
Find out more at eatitburgerbash.com.