Port Jervis Restaurant Wins Best Burger in New York

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y.—A burger from Ben’s Fresh in the City of Port Jervis won the 2026 Best NY Burger competition after placing second the year before.

The New York Beef Council announced on May 13 that “The Empire State of Prime” burger from Ben’s Fresh won the annual best burger in New York award. It was the restaurant’s fifth year participating in the competition.

The winning burger had a prime beef patty served on a soft pretzel bun, stuffed with five-year aged Grand Reserve cheddar cheese, espresso bourbon bacon jam, cherry pepper relish, and maple aioli. The council called the burger: “Elevated. Indulgent. Unforgettable.”

Executive chef and general manager of Ben’s Fresh Bobby Geraghty told The Epoch Times that the process of creating the winning burger started with him experimenting with new burger patty types earlier this year, and the prime beef patty won out.

“This year I decided almost every ingredient in this burger was going to be New York-based, but I really wanted to think completely outside the box, so I explored. I feel like once I found the proper beef and the proper cheese, I built the burger around it,” Geraghty said.

The chef said that he almost did not participate in the competition this year, after coming in a close second last year. He said that he had missed first place last year by a couple tenths of a point.

“I almost didn’t do it again, but I was just like, we got this close, we need to dive back in and try it one more time.”

Geraghty said he was overwhelmed by the win. “It’s honestly a dream come true. To be able to hold the title and say that we won best burger in New York, it’s a true accomplishment.”

Geraghty has been a chef for 30 years, working in small diners, corporate establishments, and fine dining restaurants. He said he decided it was his path when he was 21 years old, and that food has always been his passion.

“I feel fortunate enough to wake up every day, and to come here and do something that I love doing, which I guess really to me doesn’t even feel like work.”

Business at Ben’s Fresh boomed after the victory announcement. Geraghty said the restaurant used the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday supply of burger patties on Wednesday, so he had to drive to New York City to meet with his meat distributor to pick up an emergency order on Thursday morning.

Ben’s Fresh opened in 2016, serving simple burgers and ice cream. The floor tiles hint that the building used to be a KFC location, abandoned for more than a decade before receiving major renovations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant moved toward more specialty and original burgers and menu items, before participating in its first burger competition in 2021.

This was the 10th annual Best NY Burger Contest, a competition where burgers can be nominated and judged as long as they have five recommendations. Geraghty said that he found out about the competition for the first time by being nominated by restaurant customers. Burgers in the competition have to be 100 percent beef, be available on the regular menu, and not have won the competition before. Nominations were accepted until March 14, and voting was between March 18 and April 10.