The Grind: Smoking Out Fine Burgers

Dip69

I didn't realize I needed to take an oxygen tank to this event!!!! What a mess!!!!

Kris

The Grind Miami website has removed all their email addresses. It looks like they're just going to ignore this completely. Why has the failure aspect of this story not been run in the Herald yet?

0totheleft0

What a Kluzter Fuck. All of you got ripped OFF!!! Thats what ussually happens to all the hard working competitors that participate on these bullshit events. The only ones making anything out of this or MONEY are the rip off artists, THE PROMOTERS! Restaurants have to put their labor $, food cost $ and sweat so these fuckers can make all the money. Live and learn...

Motomania

I loved Fritamans his concept was awesome and the chuck Norris frita was out of this world. The reason it got shut down because Chuck Norris wasn't invited lol !!!

Angry and Frustrated

This was a DISASTER! I left after 30minutes after arriving. I'm 5 months pregnant and can't believe I stayed there for as long as I did. I'm surprised no one was seriously hurt. They shouldn't have allowed the event to begin in the first place, or at least they should have moved the grills outside. These people are seriously looking for a class action law suit. I suggest they issue a full refund. Did I mention I'm 5months pregnant and inhaled nothing but smoke for 30minutes straight! CRAZY!

BurgerLovin'Babe

Just another sue happy Miamian... I'm sure if you would have approached someone like a normal human being you could have gotten a refund. God forbid your baby daddy bring you a burger in the safety of clean air. If you know the smoke is bad then just leave... class action law suit my left toe you tard!

Angry and Frustrated

@BurgerLovin'BabeI have approached MANY people to ask for a full refund with no answer. I've even emailed Tony Albelo with no response. All I want is what's fair. For your information I did leave the event right after arriving, and I also asked for my refund before leaving and no one knew what to do. I'm so annoyed with the whole situation I can't believe there's people like you! This was handled so poorly is disgusting! It makes me sick just to respond to your insensitive and ignorant comment.

Angry and Frustrated

@bpaulsonII:disqus In that case, according to your logic, the coordinators of the event and the fire marshals are major morons and probably shouldn't procreate either for allowing the event to go for as long as it did because it is not healthy for ANYONE to inhale that amount of smoke period. Ask any health care physician. It is obvious that Mr. Albelo didn't have the participants' safety in mind. In a phone interview, when asked about the fire marshals shutting down the event, all he can say is " I remember thinking, If we can get one more hour of cooking in." Is he out of his mind?!! The negligent behavior of these people is unbelievable and if they don't want to admit they are wrong and issue a refund, this only shows they are not to be trusted. It is obvious they just wanted the event to go on for the hours listed on their promo so they can say they fulfilled their requirement and not be held responsible. Oceanpromotions, EventBrite and any other company associated with this event should be held responsible and issue those who weren't able to "make light of the situation" a refund. I still can't believe they actually named a winner for fan favorite when many of the fans were unable to vote. Everyone got robbed, including the vendors who spent their time and money to participate in an unfair judged event. These people pocketed a lot of money and all I'm asking is for my full refund. They don't even have the decency to reply to my emails. Lastly, for the record, I spent most of those 30 minutes going from employee to employee trying to figure out how to get my refund to just be told "We are working on the problem." I'm sorry but this is extremely unfair!

bpaulsonII

You spent 30 minutes in the smoke before it dawned on you that it may not be safe for the baby growing inside of you? Really? Really? You should probably abort now because you are not smart enough to procreate!

Sns563

Can you the folks at Village Voice aka NewTimes please STOP rationalizing unprofessional management and acknowledge that one or more of their advertisers completely failed in putting up this 'first' event. And Dear Mellissa, as stated earlier, many of us industry professionals who happen to write for national publications, know a little better than you. Hence, please educate yourself prior to penning every word that flows from your mouth. Thanks kindly!

P.S. This event was a major failure. I would suggest you get the perspective of the top 5 brand participants before you claim else wise.

Bone Lee Tadpole

I had a FREAKIN Blast...!!!!!! I tailgated under the overpass, walked in early with the VIP tix, and was full of beer, wine, burgers and sides in less than an hour...!!!!! Went outside for some fresh air, and did it all over again...!!!!!! Thanks @The Grind.....!!!!!! Even made some Hot Sauce deals in the process....!!!!!

JESENIAR

Seriously? Talk about putting on rose colored glasses. Everybody was walking around bitching about what a disaster this was! So, a few naysayers? I think not! Everyone had tears streaming down their faces and was walking around fanning themselves with anything they could get their hands on and shaking their heads. Plus the fact that this event was supposed to take place from 7-10 and was done earlier and lots of booths closed down before you could get a sample because it was such a disaster, come on -- be real.

Lynn U.

We had a great time. We certainly noticed the negatives - one of the ladies' rooms wasn't functioning & the AC was out - we thought "REALLY? Why not do a simple walk-thru the day before a major event to see if any last minute things needed fixing!? C'mon!" And yes, the smoke was a bother...but overall we had a fantastic experience - we were fortunate, we'd gotten discounted VIP tix via livingsocial (only $65) so there were no lines and we'd already tried one of every burger before 7pm when general admission was allowed. By that time the smoke was still tolerable. So, I can totally see why people are upset, and I can only imagine how bad it must have gotten by 9pm, but I had a great time and I'd do it again! I'll just hope for an outdoor venue next time and spring for the VIP tix again!

Our favorite burgers were Georgie's Alibi, Giraffas, the Chow Down Grill, Burger Bar, and Smokey Bones (that was a surprise, I never think of them for burgers, though there was barbecued pork on top of it). My sweetie went nuts over the pork belly tater tots from Charm city - but I thought that the batter covered up the taste of the pork, and didn't care for their burger.

We also enjoyed the mini-liquor filled cupcakes and mini desserts, as well as the marmalade & relish maker (for sandwich toppings, I guess) - they were all really good.

We thought that they could have used more variety in the beverages - not a fan of blue moon or jupina, personally, but I'm guessing that they sponsored the event. We had to wait at the bar and ask for the cokes that were to be used for rum & cokes!

JESENIAR

I'm glad you had a great time, and I wish I would have had one as well, but not everyone had your experience. Trust me, I wouldn't have paid $65 a ticket (not VIP, general admission) for the experience we had. We got there almost at 8, so an hour late, but I figured two hours was enough time to eat and drink as much as we want. And even though the smoke was unbearable, considering the price I had paid, we tried to make the best of it. But the event was shut down/cooking was stopped at 8:30. I spent that half-hour in a long line for the beer (they ran out when we got there) and waiting in line for Latin house Burger (they ran out of burgers as well and we had to wait while they grilled some more). So I didn't pay that to go have 1 beer and 1 burger in a ridiculously smoke filled environment with tears streaming down my face and I would NEVER go to another event hosted by this company ever again.

Jim Camp

LOL, people wanting their money back ? You realize you were at a burger cookoff competition right ? Most people don't make a big deal about an $ 8-10 burger/meal they can get at a drive thru ? It's a ground beef hamburger folks, not tenderloin, not filet mignon nor a t-bone served w/ lobster.

BurgerLovin'Babe

The event was totally worth it... those who wanted to see the bright side did. Miami people love to turn ugly at the first sign of trouble... these people busted their butts to try and bring a great event and one thing went wrong. Seriously people!

Smokingburgers

True that, I cant wait till the next dose of smoke inhalation. I never was able to get that much in me in one time. I still got my fill of burgers since I smoked 8 of them when I was standing there. The Grind 2012 should of been called The Great Burger Smoke Out 2012.

Mili_in_miami

Jim

Whether a burger costs 10 or 100 or a 1000, is not the point. Is $100 a ticket expensive? Of course it is, I'm sure no one would deny it. But stupid decision or not, the organizers, scrupulous or not, promised something in return for the $100/ticket they got. They promised a fun atmosphere, the opportunity to eat as many burgers as we want. If you use your watered down idiotic simplistic logic from above, just by sampling 5-10 burgers and drinking as many beers you get more than your money's worth, plus dessert, plus the chance to network with other people who have the same interests. NONE of that was possible because of the poor execution by the organizers. Now go crawl back into your momma's basement and go find another board to be stupid on.

Miami9987

Couldnt breathe, didnt get any burgers really. Cant believe I spent so much to get ripped off like this.

Purpleroses

Not everything is as it seems. I know for a fact that a lot of time and energy was put forth in the planning and production of this event. Granted mistakes were made and knowing the team that put the event together, they will be corrected for next time.

I would like to correct the article... Shake Shack won the people's choice awards but the Grind winner will be decided after the judges evaluating each of the burgers fairly.

Oh and all you people disgusted at the company that produced the event... You've never made mistakes in your life right? Wow there are a lot of perfect people in this world I have yet to meet.

Socotinsocotin

there's nothing wrong with people putting forth a lot of time and energy to produce something that has some "mistakes". However, It becomes a huge problem when you start charging people a hefty price for that product. The stakes are much higher and you have to deliver... otherwise, you're going to be left with reactions like the ones above.

Before you throw an event of that size, you need to have the experience and common sense it takes to make it happen. I asked my six year old niece what she thought would happen if you cook indoors... and she answered without hesitation... FIRE and smoke! I'd love to introduce you to her. She IS perfection... didn't take much for her to predict the outcome.

If the company that put this together is going to make such rooky mistakes, then I think they should start charging rooky rates. That'll make us ALL happy. We got what we paid for. But DO NOT expect me to look the other way when i could have had a wonderful meal at Joe's Stone Crab with my very hard earned money!!!

Jim Camp

We've all made mistakes, but not of the $ 100 per head at the gate variety mistakes. Biggest mistake is assuming that you're going to get anything better than what your mom makes at one of these events. I'd rather pay $ 100 a head for a bar-b-q rib cookoff. Hamburgers = children's food. I'll bet they had mac & cheese as a side ? Boiled elbow noodles and velveeta cheese ?

Frank

You obviously had or have something to do with the event. No one is saying that they're perfect people, but there were mistakes made. The venue was not ideal and anyone that has any type of event planning experience knows that you always plan on what if's. In the case what if the A.C. Fails? There should have been a secondary plan and there mistakenly wasn't. There at plenty of venues in the area that could have held the event with better results. Again poor planning. There's no doubt that I loved many of the burgers and the Blue Moon was a savior, but when I went outside to take a breather and get fresh air, I expected to come back in at 845 and finish trying some more burgers that I original came for. That didn't happen. You can't advertise an event to take place for 3 hours and only give 2. That's bad business. I think we do deserve some compensation. If they are responsible directors and organizers, they will admitt to there faults and do the right thing, partial or full reimbursement.

Ilikeburgersnotsmoke

This was a horrible experience. Hope a refund is in order.

BHMA

a COMPLETE DISASTERHow did they name a winner????? Not all contestants were able to be judged.TOTAL BULLSH*T!

BurgerLovin'Babe

The winner they announced was fan favorite, not the competition burgers.

Jim Camp

Somebody has to win and everyone else has to lose. This is big business here, some will seek out the best hamburger. I'll save you the time, go to Fuddrucker's or any other chain and get the square meal deal they have. Flannigan's has a lunch burger every day for $ 4.95 that's a thick patty like these.

Milica Pićurić

I was really hoping you guys would blast the people that organized this event, since you are pretty good at calling out things in general that suck. It was an ABSOLUTE disaster, and we should all be getting our money back. I'm curious to know who planned this event, because I cannot imagine that the Miami "Entertainment" Complex would cost that much to book. The only entertainment I can imagine taking place in there is an ecstasy fueled rave, which we all know does not cost a lot to fund. These tickets were REALLY expensive, $100 a person, and to have to leave after an hour is an absolute shame. These unscrupulous organizers should be run out of Miami once and for all. There was no security visible ANYWHERE. You know that Blue Moon and the soda company provided all the booze and drink. I'm imagining participants had to pay to compete. A lot. They provided their OWN food for us, I'm sure the organizers didn't pay for it. I'm pretty sure that there was NO intention of providing AC for us, as it wouldn't have made any difference with the smoke. If they did plan on having AC, wouldn't they have noticed something is wrong the day before? Wouldn't the actual owners of the building be on site to provide support?

The only good thing was the burgers, each better than the other, I couldn't make up my mind. I really wish a mom&pop venue won, but I do have to admit the ShakeShack burger is quite good, I'll always go back. The Backyard guys were amazing, and deserve a lot of credit.

My friend and I, upon leaving, realized we must have experience carbon monoxide poisoning since both of us would forget what we were talking about every five minutes. We were very dizzy, and it wasn't due to burger and beer coma, because we didn't consume enough - had to run out.

It took all night to try and get enough fresh air and recover. I still feel like crap. And all that made enjoying the burgers a lot more difficult.

The Grind is an amazing concept, and I'd gladly pay to go again (thankfully this time I didn't), but only if I know that it was better planned.

Jim Camp

"These tickets were REALLY expensive, $100 a person, and to have to leave after an hour is an absolute shame."

$ 100 a person, that goes a lot farther for a grill out at home and the best beef they have at Winn Dixie or Publix. I'd say you got what you paid for, duped & ripped off ?

BeSerious

Obviously Jim works for The Grind

Rich1

Great concept, piss poor planning. Shame on the City of Miami for letting this happen! I would go back in a different environment, but I still want my $ back!

John Carrascal

You’re kidding right. Everyone I spoke to was very upset,not to mention the people who came in at 8:45-9pm just to find out the grillinghad been stopped. Thank god my friend lend me his VIP badge so I could use therestroom… the clean one. And if you were paying attention, yes one BIG mistake butseveral small ones.