By Sue Davis

The group chat has agreed on dinner. Now comes the harder part: choosing somewhere everyone actually wants to go. This October, Birmingham has a useful answer—make the meal a small tasting adventure, with two very different burgers as your starting point.

BirminghamBURGER runs October 1–31, 2026, giving diners a month to try participating restaurants’ special entries and rate them. There is still time to arrange a girls’ night out before the contest closes. You do not need a marathon itinerary or a table at every restaurant to join in.

For the friend who orders autumn flavors

At Birmingham Pub, 555 South Old Woodward Avenue, the Birmingham Harvest Burger is listed at $23. Its eight-ounce beef patty comes with white cheddar and smoked bacon, while onions cooked with apple cider, fried sage, and a maple-and-Dijon aioli bring the seasonal angle. A pretzel bun finishes the combination.

That makes the Pub a logical pick for friends drawn to savory burgers with a little sweetness. Treat the published price as a starting point for your evening’s budget; check what is included and allow for drinks, tax, and tip. This is a menu preview, so bring your own appetite and decide how those flavors work together.

For the friend who wants something unexpected

Hazel’s, at 1 Peabody Street, goes in another direction with Surf the Earth, listed at $20. The beef burger adds spicy shrimp, a caramel aioli made with fish sauce, a chili-and-lime pickle, and butter cheese. It is an option for the friend who wants a seafood twist rather than another bacon-and-cheddar variation.

If anyone has a food allergy or dietary restriction, ask the restaurant about ingredients, substitutions, and preparation before ordering. The contest descriptions are useful for choosing a destination, but they cannot answer every question about an individual meal.

Make the plan fit the group

For an easy evening, choose one restaurant as your anchor and keep the rest flexible. If everyone wants to compare both entries, ask each restaurant about sharing policies and whether its event burger will be available at your planned time. Confirm hours and reservation options directly with Birmingham Pub or Hazel’s before setting the itinerary.

Put the restaurant, meeting time, and reservation name in the group chat, along with the menu link. Let everyone flag a budget or dietary concern before booking. A little agreement beforehand keeps the night focused on catching up once you sit down.

A second dinner date works just as well as a two-stop crawl. It gives each burger its own evening, avoids rushing a table, and leaves more time for the conversation that got everyone out of the house in the first place.

For parking, municipal structures offer the first two hours free Monday through Saturday, then charge $2 an hour up to $10. Municipal structures and meters are free on Sundays. A longer dinner can run past that two-hour window, so plan accordingly.

Give each burger your own verdict

The contest asks diners to score taste, creativity, and presentation. Compare notes over dinner, then submit your own ratings through the official BirminghamBURGER site before the October 31 finish. Your friends do not have to agree. The lively debate—and finally getting that dinner on the calendar—may be the best part.