THE votes have been counted and verified – and we can finally reveal the winner of our Best Place To Eat competition.

News & Star readers have been voting in their droves in recent weeks and have since faced an agonising wait to find out who has emerged victorious.

The Burger Bar, situated within Carlisle’s bustling Market Hall in the city centre, has won the prize after an outpouring of support from foodie fans.

Mum and daughter duoVanessa Barron, 51, and Sadie Barron, 32, who both live in Carlisle, have expressed their shock and delight at being crowned the winners.

The business was initially set up literally as a burger van – which parked up at various locations across the city – before later moving into a permanent residence in the Market Hall in December 2018.

Sadie told the News & Star: “We took a big leap to move over from our van to the bar as beforehand customers had to sit in their cars to have our burgers, but we haven’t looked back.

“It took a little while for us to get settled in, but we’ve grown quite rapidly since then.

“We’re as fussy as they come, so in terms of serving the customers, they can have anything however they like it.

“We can be very flexible in terms of how they want their burgers. But our mantra is simple: if we won’t eat it ourselves, we wouldn’t serve it.

“My mam will hand-make all of the burgers herself, and we use fresh steak mince. The quality of the mince has always got to be on form for us. We shop at the lot of different places, but all of our meat is sourced locally.

“We also make our own garlic mayo and deli sauce too.”

The Burger Bar has also appealed to lots of different types of customers with different appetites – and has a selection of vegetarian and vegan options.

A number of special burgers initially joined the menu as temporary options, but quickly proved so popular that they became permanent fixtures.

“The days might be long but they are made by the really good feedback from our customers.

“So many people have took the time out to leave us good reviews on Facebook, it has made such a difference.”

Sadie and Vanessa have been overwhelmed with the high volume of votes and support for their business.

“We’re so grateful that News & Star readers have voted us as their number one. Thank you to everyone who gave us that seal of approval.”

Those nominated in the top ten for our competition included the Assembly Restaurant in Carlisle, Bistro 34 in Brampton, Fells Restaurant in Carlisle, Foxborough in Carlisle, Pad Thai Street Food in Carlisle, The Hangry Lemons Café in Carlisle, The Hungry Caterpillar in Workington, The Sally in Carlisle and Woody’s of Flimby.