Over 75K votes cast in Indy's Best Burger Bracket. See who advanced, vote in Frynal Four

The Elite Ate of IndyStar’s Burger and Fries Bracket Challenge is in the books, and I’m pleased to report everyone seems happy with the results so far. I haven’t received any strongly worded emails, nor have I seen any discontented scuttlebutt on social media. I eagerly await the polite discourse and good-faith arguments the Frynal Four will no doubt inspire.

But first, let’s see exactly what happened last round.

No local chains remain after two rounds

Somewhat shockingly, no restaurant with multiple locations will appear in the final four. When we chose to include Indy-based chains, I was worried they would dominate the bracket.

After No. 2-seeded Fire by the Monon defeated No. 1 Fat Dan’s Deli by 4,480 votes and No. 3 Flamme Burger trounced No. 1 Bub’s by a staggering 13,283 votes, we’re down to single-location eateries only.

Flamme Burger, which faces Fire by the Monon next, has proven a bit of a titan killer thus far. The five-time Indy Burger Battle champion bounced Bru Burger Bar in round one and shows no signs of stopping.

Don’t count out the new underdogs

With more than 30,000 combined votes across the first two rounds, Flamme Burger is the clear favorite to win. No other competitor has amassed more than 11,347.

Still, that’s no reason to dismiss the likes of No. 1 317 Burger (defeated Baby’s last round) or the iconic No. 1 Workingman’s Friend (defeated Twenty Tap), which face off in the Frynal Four.

People who voted against these eateries in earlier matchups may now throw their support behind them. With just shy of one week to vote in the Frynal Four, there’s plenty of time for restaurants to campaign on social media or direct customers to the bracket on their websites, which multiple contenders have used to earn thousands of votes so far.

The 2024 IndyStar Best Burger & Fries Bracket Challenge is down to just 4 competitors.
The 2024 IndyStar Best Burger & Fries Bracket Challenge is down to just 4 competitors.

IndyStar Best Burgers and Fries Elite Ate results

You can view the final voting tallies from every second-round matchup here. Be sure to place your votes for round three in the next section.

(1) Workingman’s Friend beat (2) Twenty Tap 1,612 to 642

(1) 317 Burger beat (3) Baby’s 1,570 to 844

(2) Fire by the Monon beat (1) Fat Dan’s Deli 7,723 to 3,243

(3) Flamme Burger beat (1) Bub’s Burgers 25,938 to 12,655

Vote in round three of the Burgers and Fries Bracket Challenge

For each matchup in the form below, select the restaurant with the burger and fries you enjoy most. Before you can access the poll, you’ll need to pass a quick reCAPTCHA test. That may be a little inconvenient for humans, but it’s a lot more inconvenient for any bots trying to spam votes. We don’t necessarily believe anyone would attempt such a thing — cheating to win a regional newspaper burger bracket is an entirely different level of caring too much — but we want to promote the fairest competition possible down the home stretch.

You can vote as many times as you want between now and noon on Wednesday, April 4, provided you are human. Results will be posted shortly thereafter.

Think your favorite burger joint should have gone farther? Did it get snubbed from the bracket entirely? Do you believe this whole thing is a scheme I have devised to personally infuriate you, the person reading this?

Let me know at bhohulin@gannett.com. I’ll be visiting a handful of readers' favorite spots on and off the bracket to render my own verdict.

For now, vote in the poll below and be sure to share with the fellow burger fans in your life.

Contact dining reporter Bradley Hohulin at bhohulin@gannett.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @BradleyHohulin.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyStar's Best Burger and Fries Bracket: Vote in Frynal Four