A tiny restaurant in Wapping Wharf has been highlighted for offering one of the best burgers in the UK. The National Burger Awards 2023 has singled out a burger at Squeezed in Cargo 1 as one of the nation's best.
Squeezed owner Alex Hayes is no stranger to accolades for his restaurant, having won Burger Chef of the Year at the National Burger Awards, beating 15 others from across the UK. The restaurant has been a part of the Wapping Wharf family since 2017 and moved to a bigger shipping container in 2020 just before the pandemic.
It was the Beetlejuice burger that tipped Squeezed onto the list, a special that first appeared on the menu in 2018 but isn't currently available to purchase. Alex decided to enter the burger - which consists of a double beef patty, Monterey Jack cheese, cuttlefish ink and black garlic aioli and a house gochujang ketchup - to see how it would stand up against other UK burger bars.
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Alex said: "It was one of those shortlived burgers, not because we didn't love it, just because we through these periods of being really productive and coming up with loads of new ideas. It's something that I've wanted to come back and a lot of people have asked me about it, so I thought why not enter it? It's quite different to the other offerings there."
If Squeezed's burger does well at the awards ceremony next month Alex said he may have to consider bringing the Beetlejuice back on the menu. It's the third time the burger bar has been nominated in four years.
Alex added that everything Squeezed does is a team effort as a close-knit family of six. "I'm just really proud of the team, it's always a team effort and it's really nice to do it on behalf of the team and Bristol as well. If you do burgers it's the kind of thing you want to aim for."
Squeezed was also recently named by a celebrated Bristol-based chef as one of his favourite 'cheap eats' restaurants - take a look here.
The winner will be announced at the National Burger Awards 2023 at an awards ceremony in Islington, London on February 23. The full list of UK finalists is written below:
- Bleecker, Double Cheeseburger
- Eat the Bird, Dirty Ronald
- El Perro Negro, The Big D
- Fattso, Royal with Extra Cheese
- Flying Cows, The Shiitake
- Fridays, Wagyu Talkin’ ‘bout Burger
- Haché, Paris Smashburger
- Leytonstone Tavern, The Bone Daddy
- Liberation Group, The Butcombe Burger
- Lou & Joe’s Burger Company, The Holme Boy
- Please Sir!, The Limitless
- Revolution Bars Group, Blue Cheese & Truffle
- Squeezed, Beetlejuice
- The Flavour Trailer, Classic Flavour
- The Forge Kitchen, Bertram’s Brisket Burger
- Zephyr Burgers, Ribwich Cheeseburger
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