I don’t have a culinary degree, but I do feel qualified to teach a master’s degree class on the subject of burgers. Recently, my wife and I embarked on a two-year-long effort to taste the top 22 burgers in Michigan based on a report by Thrillist. The concern at the time was that none of the burgers on the list were from Traverse City, yet this place is considered a “Foodie Town.”

After that two-year quest, we can report that many of the Thrillist burgers deserve to be on the list. Others? Not so much. At the same time, we concluded that the list was sorely lacking without important Traverse City burger joints.