By Allie Healy | ahealy@syracuse.com

Upstate New York's best burger 2017: And the winners are...

No ifs, ands or buns about it, we searched for the best burger in Upstate New York. We traveled from Tupper Lake to Troy, from Waterloo to Ithaca in search of the region's tastiest burger. After hundreds of nominations and votes for semifinalists, the readers narrowed down our list to six finalists.

Here are the winners for Upstate New York's Best Burger 2017:

Readers' Choice: The Blarney Stone in Syracuse

Judges' Choice: The Ruck in Troy

Read on for the judges' ranking of the finalists and details on all six of the stands.

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No. 6 - Mac's Drive-In in Waterloo

Located in Waterloo, N.Y., a village known to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, this iconic drive-in has been operating since 1961 with counter, table and curb service. Park and sit at one of many outdoor tables or enjoy your meal from a retro car tray. Mac's feels and tastes like your childhood. It's the place you to on the first day of summer and get a frosty root beer float. Calories don't matter here, only memories.

Address: 1180 Waterloo Geneva Rd, Waterloo.

See more photos of Mac's Drive-In here.

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No. 6 - Mac's Drive-In in Waterloo

At Mac's, we ordered (pictured clockwise from right) the Double Quarter Pound Cheeseburger, the Burger in a Basket and a side of onion rings. The basket included fries and a small side of coleslaw. All three judges ordered small mugs of Richardson's Root Beer.

The Double Quarter Pound Cheeseburger is a featured menu item at Mac's. Like its Burger in a Basket menu neighbor, it was served plain but with American cheese. The food at Mac's is comforting and nostalgic. It's a haven for even the pickiest of eaters.

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No. 5 - Big Tupper Brewing in Tupper Lake

This search has been one of our most diverse contests. We have visited a cafe, a drive-in, a beer bar, a college hangout, an Irish pub and now a brewery. We drove three hours from home to get to Big Tupper Brewing, whose motto is, "If it isn't fun, it isn't worth doing." Upon entering the classic Adirondack-style building, we realized there was plenty of love poured into this brewery.

Address: 12 Cliff Ave, Tupper Lake.

See more photos of Big Tupper Brewing here.

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No. 5 - Big Tupper Brewing in Tupper Lake

At Big Tupper Brewing, we ordered the Coney Beach Burger (pictured left) with sweet potato waffle fries and the Bunny Hill Burger with fries. The Coney Burger was served with grilled pineapple rings, pepperjack cheese and sriracha mayo. The Bunny Hill Burger was served with lettuce and red onion.

All burgers are served with 8 ounces of Shaheen's beef. However, our burgers arrived much larger than 8 ounces. These babies were at least 12 ounces each. We would know. A sampling of each burger was enough to do us in.

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No. 4 - The Ithaca Ale House in Ithaca

This casual restaurant just off the Ithaca Commons serves some of the biggest and tallest 8-ounce burgers we've ever seen. That’s because most of the sandwiches – and there are a page full of them on the menu – come with what could be another meal. There’s pulled pork on one, two grilled cheese sandwiches on another. The Ale House is a busy, bustling place most of the year, and still had a good crowd on a weekday in the summer when the students from Cornell and Ithaca College are gone.

Address: 111 N Aurora St, Ithaca.

See more photos of The Ithaca Ale House here.

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No. 4 - The Ithaca Ale House in Ithaca

We ordered the "That's Just Wrong" Burger (pictured left) with onion rings and The "Perfect" Burger with fries. The "Wrong" Burger came with pulled pork on top of an 8 oz Angus burger with white cheddar and American cheese, pickles and an onion ring. The "Perfect" Burger came with lettuce, onion, bacon, cheddar cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and pickles. Both burgers were served on a grilled honey roll.

The "Wrong Burger," as our waiter called it, was right on – in fact, the pulled pork almost outshone the burger. We’ve been ordering all burgers cooked medium. The "Wrong Burger" came medium rare – something we loved, but true medium eaters would probably send back. The onion rings were the best so far. "I would order these onion rings on a first date and not share them," Judge Teri Weaver said. "No regrets."

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No. 3 - The Blarney Stone in Syracuse (Readers' Choice)

If you’re looking for an exceptional burger at a reasonable price, you don’t need to look anywhere but the Blarney Stone in Syracuse. This Irish/neighborhood/sports bar has built a long reputation on quality food for not much money, Judge Don Cazentre said. The building was bustling with people of all ages during our lunchtime visit. The establishment is clearly loved by all and revisited by many.

Address: 314 Avery Ave, Syracuse.

Find more photos of The Blarney Stone here.

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No. 3 - The Blarney Stone in Syracuse (Readers' Choice)

At Blarney, we ordered The Original Blarney Burger (pictured left) with onion rings and the daily special burger, called "The Chip Douglas," with fries. The Blarney Burger was served with lettuce, onion and mayonnaise on a Kaiser roll. The Chip Douglas consisted of a half-pound patty with smoked Gouda, bacon, chipotle ketchup, lettuce and onion.

What can we say about The Blarney Stone that everyone in Syracuse hasn’t already said – it’s got the best burger for the money. The Blarney Burger is a half-pound patty with basic toppings that starts at $4.75. The prices hardly go up from there. We got the Blarney with onion rings. "The onion rings (be still my heart!) are worth risking another potential Mr. Weaver," Judge Teri Weaver said.

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No. 2 - Roots Cafe in Naples

The Roots Cafe, a blue and purple house, looks like it popped out of a Disney movie. The interior is just as whimsical as the exterior. Vintage suitcases were stacked in a corner display, retro dinette sets sat in the dining rooms and bar area. The purple porch was open to diners, featuring pink tables with red chairs, hanging greenery and string lighting. Amidst farm land and quiet fields, this cafe is a whimsy diamond in the rough.

Address: 197 N Main St Building A, Naples.

See more photos of Roots Cafe here.

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No. 2 - Roots Cafe in Naples

For the Roots Cafe, we ordered the Roots Burger (pictured right) with fries and the Bacon Blue Burger (pictured left) with the three-bean salad. The Bacon Blue Burger arrived at our table piled high. It's a burger so big you have to stand and cut it. The burger itself was the same seasoned beef as the Roots Burger. It was served on the same roll with chunks of blue cheese, perfectly cooked strips of bacon and a handful of leafy greens.

The true stars here were the bun and fries. The soft bun shockingly held up to the hefty burger. The hand cut, crunchy fries were topped with salt, pepper and herbs. Not a drop of grease was in sight. "Don’t bother with the other daily special side," Judge Teri Weaver said. "Everyone should get fries."

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No. 1 - The Ruck in Troy

The Ruck brought us out east to Troy, N.Y., an up-and-coming city thriving with small businesses in the Capital Region. This good and gritty eatery is either a burger lover's beer joint or a beer lover's burger joint. Or both. The Ruck opened in 1998 before few people knew they were craving, or even drinking, craft beer. Now, The Ruck has a stable of Cicerone-certified servers – and a menu of hamburgers to match those skilled beer miesters.

Address: 104 3rd St, Troy.

See more photos of The Ruck here.

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No. 1 - The Ruck in Troy

At The Ruck, we ordered the True American burger (pictured left) with fries and The Roxanne burger with onion rings. The True American was served with lettuce, tomato, pickles, American cheese, onion straws and "Spidah sauce," a combination of Thousand Island dressing and horseradish. The Roxanne was served with smoked Gouda, candied bacon, spring greens and garlic red pepper aioli.

The patties themselves are excellent – plump, juicy and meaty. The meat mix – short rib, sirloin and chuck – is hard to beat. The Roxanne is the total package. "The candied bacon is beyond awesome," Judge Don Cazentre said. The gouda had an intense smoky flavor.

Get The Roxanne with fries. And an extra side of that bacon. Trust us on this one.

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Honorable Mentions

We ate and experienced so much while on this burger tour that we couldn't go without honoring the finalists with more specific awards.

Best Bun – Roots Café

Best Fries – Roots Café

Best Onion Rings – The Ithaca Ale House

Best Beer Selection – The Ruck

Best Condiment – Chipotle Ketchup at The Blarney Stone

Best Patty – The Ruck

Best Overall Sandwich – The Roxanne at The Ruck

Best Bacon – The Ruck

Best Atmosphere – Big Tupper Brewing

Best Non-Alcoholic Drink – Richardson Root Beer at Mac's Drive-In

Best Service – The Ruck

Best Value – The Blarney Stone

Best Nostalgia – Mac's Drive-In

Pictured: The Roots Burger with seasoned fries from Roots Cafe.

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Our next search: Upstate New York's Best Roadside BBQ

So, we meat again. Upstate NY is known for its roadside barbeque stands that thrive throughout the summertime and fill the air with smoky scents of roasting pork, chicken and more.

For our next search, we want to know: What is the best roadside barbeque in Upstate NY?

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