Seventeen years is a long run for anything in Dallas dining, and DIFFA Dallas brings Burgers + Burgundy back on Thursday, October 1, on the Glen Lawn at The Village Dallas. John Tesar built the thing and still hosts it. The setup hasn’t changed much either. Chefs take stations on a lawn, each one builds a burger, the wine keeps coming, and the money goes to organizations doing HIV/AIDS work across North Texas.
VIP entry is at 6:30 p.m., general admission runs 7 to 9. Tickets are $100, VIP is $150, and the upgrade gets you in early plus the afterparty and valet. Raffle tickets run $25 each or five for $100, with prizes donated by the chefs and restaurants working the event. DJ Flip is on music.
Tesar will make the Ozersky Burger again. He does it every year. It’s named for Josh Ozersky, the food writer he lost in 2015, and it’s four things: a beef patty, thin-sliced red onion, American cheese, a soft white bun. Nothing hiding in there. At an event where everyone else is building the most complicated burger they can get away with, his is usually the one people bring up on the drive home.
The lineup this year runs wide. Roman Murphy is cooking for Shinsei and Lovers. Eduardo Osorio brings Meridian, the restaurant inside The Village, which reopened last fall after roughly a year of renovation and has been working a hearth-driven menu since. Abraham Salum comes over from Salum on Cole, where he’s been cooking for more than twenty years now. Michael Dunston has the Lion’s Den at The Stoneleigh, and Jeremy Massudi is in from Saint Martins.
Filling out the field: Nick Walker for Whiskey Cake Restaurant & Bar, Ariel Wakeland for PDC Meal Prep, Caroline Perini for Easy Slider, Troy Gardner for TLC Vegan, Chad Julka for Lockwood Distillery, Michael Scott for Wagyu TX, Dunia Borga for La Duni, Dave Culwell for Burger Schmurger, plus Eataly and Loro Dallas. Wagyu-X is donating the beef. Eataly is handling dessert. Benjamin Moore, Mohawk and Dallas Market Center are back as supporters.
Sixteen stations in a two-hour window is more than most people get through, so pace yourself.
The 2026 culinary lineup brings together restaurants and concepts spanning some of Dallas’ most recognizable names alongside independent favorites and emerging culinary talent, including:
- Knife- Chef John Tesar
- Shinsei/Lovers- Chef Roman Murphy
- Meridian at The Village- Chef Eduardo Osario
- PDC Meal Prep- Chef Ariel Wakeland
- Whiskey Cake Restaurant & Bar- Chef Nick Walker
- Salum- Chef Abraham Salum
- Lion’s Den at The Stoneleigh- Chef Michael Dunston
- Easy Slider- Caroline Perini
- Saint Martins- Chef Jeremy Massudi
- TLC Vegan- Chef Troy Gardner
- Lockwood Distillery- Chef Chad Julka
- Wagyu TX- Chef Michael Scott
- La Duni- Dunia Borga
- Burger Schmurger- Dave Culwell
- Eataly
- Loro Dallas
There’s organizational news attached to the evening as well. DIFFA Dallas will introduce its 25th Anniversary Style Council and reveal the theme for the 2027 House of DIFFA, which lands April 24, 2027, at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel. The theme reveal has been part of this night for years and it’s why half the lawn has a phone up when the announcement starts.
Charlie White and JR Shoman are chairing this year. Shoman described it as a relaxed evening and a reasonable entry point for anyone who’s never been to a DIFFA event, which tracks. The spring gala asks more of you. Tesar, for his part, called seventeen years of raising money for the community an honor.
The money matters here. DIFFA funds HIV/AIDS care, prevention, education and advocacy programs throughout North Texas, and it’s the only HIV/AIDS organization in the state providing non-earmarked funding exclusively to service efforts in its own communities. Dallas is the largest DIFFA chapter by funds raised. Grants awarded at the end of the season come out of nights like this one.
Burgers + Burgundy, Thursday, October 1. The Village Dallas, Glen Lawn, 5630 Village Glen Drive, Dallas. VIP entry 6:30 p.m., general admission 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets are here, and our past coverage of the event is here.
