Ireland's favourite restaurants, dishes, and cuisines were revealed at the 2024 Just Eat awards this afternoon, with Handsome Burger founder Rory McCormack taking home the top prize.
As well as being voted as the 'Best in Ireland' they also took home the gold in their individual category thanks to their mouth-water burgers.
"We are absolutely delighted," Rory told RTÉ Lifestyle. "It will bring some good exposure to the business and, yeah, we're lucky with an award like this where it's voted for by the customers. It's massive."
'Cooked with love and served with a smile', the hand-rolled burgers have been a huge hit since they were first developed in Rory's kitchen almost 10 years ago.
Starting out as "€300 marquee" at food markets, the burgers found their first permanent home in Galway in 2019 before expanding to Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport.
"We're lucky that we've always had a big following even since we were a market stall," Rory explained. "We built up everything organically from there. I suppose we just put attention to detail in our quality produce and good customer service - friendly-staff, that's the main thing."
"We make everything up fresh in house daily," he said, musing on the secret to the brand's success. "You can taste the difference. Not even that but we put an emphasis on hospitality and welcoming people. We add that element to our business that I think a lot of others ignore, especially as they get bigger."
As well as winning the coveted titles of 'Best Burger' and 'Best of Ireland', Handsome Burger received €50,000 worth of media value, giving the chain an incredible opportunity to amplify their reach across the country and reach new customers.
"It's absolutely massive," he agreed. "A lot of it is going to marketing but it's also a time when expenses are going up, wages are going up, so to get given a boost like this is absolutely huge. We're really delighted."
The Just Eat awards recieve thousands of votes each year, with food fans from across the country voting on over 80 nominees shortlisted across 10 categories. You can see the full list of winners below.
Just Eat 2024 Winners
- Best Asian: San Sab
- Local Hero of the Year: Summer Inn
- Best Breakfast: Ten10
- Best Burger & American: Handsome Burger
- Best Chain: Boojum
- Best Chipper: Lyons Takeaway
- Best Indian: Daata
- Best Lunch: Sambros
- Best Mexican: Salsa
- Best Middle Eastern: Izz Cafe
- Best Pizza: Slice of Naples
