[Photographs: Niki Achitoff-Gray]

I take stuffing myself pretty seriously, which is why I arrived at the New York City Wine & Food Festival's Fifth Annual Burger Bash this Friday planning to personally plow through all 28 featured hamburgers. Three hours and 28 16 epic burgers later, I'd reluctantly hit full capacity. Luckily, I'd also managed to wolf down some phenomenal patties from the likes of Bobby Flay, Artisanal Bistro, The Capital Grille, and the ever-venerable Shake Shack.

Rachael Ray returned from hiatus to host the perennially popular event, which found a new home at Pier 36, a sprawling outdoor space just north of the Manhattan Bridge. The cool weather didn't stop the crowd from turning out in full force, packing the venue to the brim. The only caveat: With chefs rushing to feed the hungry masses, quality was somewhat inconsistent, and I saw the occasional burned bun and undercooked burger sent out over the course of the evening. Minor mishaps aside, the atmosphere was bubbling with good energy (no doubt helped along by the overflowing buckets of beer provided by Blue Moon).

Josh Capon with his heavyweight belt and trophy.

Josh Capon, of Burger & Barrel, gleefully took home the people's choice award for the third year running, while Ai Fiori's Michael White snagged the judge's top pick. Check out their awesome burgers (and the 14 others I ate) in the slideshow.

Burger List

• Burger & Barrel
• Ai Fiori
• Artisanal
• Bobby's Burger Palace
• Go Burger
• Gotham Bar and Grill
• Le Rivage
• Molyvos
• Neely's BBQ Parlor
• North End Grill
• Schnipper's
• Shake Shack
• Old Homestead Steakhouse at Bortega Hotel Casino & Spa
• Sons of Essex
• Cast Iron
• The Capital Grille

Related

• Every Burger From The Fourth Annual Burger Bash in New York City
• Snapshops from the Third Annual Burger Bash in New York City

About the author: Niki Achitoff-Gray was once an intern at Serious Eats. Now a freelance journalist and Web Editorial Assistant at Saveur.com, she'll be starting school at the Institute for Culinary Education this fall. She is on an endless quest to eat the most unusual foods NYC has to offer.