Dodo Burger Mania
10 pubs. 10 burgers. One very good day.
This summer, we held our first ever Dodo Burger Mania.
The idea was simple.
Each of our pubs had to create a burger worthy of taking home the very first Burger Mania trophy. Our General Managers, Head Chefs and their teams got together, fired up the grills and started working on their creations.
A little healthy competition between pubs.
A chance for our teams to show off what they can do.
And, if we’re being completely honest, a very good excuse to get everyone together, eat a ridiculous number of burgers and have a few beers.
Let the burger battle begin
Every team started with some seriously good ingredients — our dry-aged rib, chuck and brisket British beef patties or our buttermilk-fried chicken.
After that, they were on their own.
The brief was basically: show us what you’ve got.
There were experiments. There were taste tests. There were some big ideas.
And eventually, ten pubs arrived with ten completely different burgers ready to fight it out for the title.
On the 20th of August, we got everyone together for the main event.
Burgers were cooked. Burgers were eaten. Opinions were shared.
Some more loudly than others.
And eventually, we had our winner.
Burger Mania 2026 Champions: The Bottle of Sauce
The first ever Dodo Burger Mania trophy went home to The Bottle of Sauce in Cheltenham, with Head Chef George and the team taking the crown.
Their winning creation?
The Big Crump.
Buttery crumpets smothered in Marmite-infused three-cheese rarebit and finished with crispy onions.
Yep. They went there.
Along with the trophy and a year's worth of Dodo bragging rights, George also walked away with flights to anywhere in Europe.
Not bad, George.
More than just burgers
As much as we love a bit of competition, Burger Mania was never really about finding out who could make the best burger.
It was about our people.
Giving our chefs and pub teams the chance to get creative, try something different and show everyone what they can do.
Getting people from across Dodo into the same room to catch up, have a laugh and celebrate the brilliant people we have working in our pubs.
Because we think work should be fun.
Every Dodo pub is different. Each has its own personality, its own people and its own local community.
But every now and then, we get to bring everyone together, eat some seriously good food, have a bit of friendly competition…
and raise a pint together.
One team. One Dodo. 🍻
See you at Burger Mania 2027.
