The Burger Benefit brought some of the country’s best burger chefs to NFA Burger in Dunwoody Village, with every dollar going to the Giving Kitchen. In Podcast 326, NFA Burger owner Billy Kramer joined me before the fourth and final Burger Benefit on May 3, 2026.
The Burger Benefit was an annual charity event at NFA Burger in Dunwoody Village where top chefs cooked one-of-a-kind burgers, with 100% of proceeds going to the Giving Kitchen. The fourth and final Burger Benefit was May 3, 2026. NFA Burger now donates a quarter from every burger sold to the Giving Kitchen.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or watch the full episode above.
Four Years In, Going Out on Top
The Burger Benefit started with a simple idea: invite great chefs, make great burgers, and give every dollar to a cause that actually helps people. What Billy Kramer built from that idea over four years became one of the most unique charity events in Atlanta.
2026 was the last one.
Billy was honest about why. The event grew past the point where he could run it the way he wanted to. Supply chain headaches, scheduling challenges across multiple cities, and some personal health setbacks made it clear that the right move was to end it on his terms, at the top, rather than let it slowly become something less than what it was. So he scaled down to nine chef groups, moved the event to May, and put together the best lineup the Burger Benefit has ever seen.
George Motz, the author of Hamburger America and one of the most recognized names in the burger world, is cooking a brand new burger from Johnny’s Charcoal Broiler in Oklahoma. Every ticket to his session comes with an autographed copy of his latest book, and his time slot will be available to pre-book.
Vinnie Cimino, a multiple James Beard nominated chef who runs Cordelia and Rosy in Cleveland, is flying in to make his own buns from scratch and bring his own ingredients. John Benhase and Reid Henninger from Uncle June’s at Starland Yard in Savannah are coming up together. Billy first heard John on The Sporkful podcast, one of his favorite food shows, and reached out immediately. John is also the chef who taught Ralph Fiennes how to make the burger scene in the movie The Menu. That is the kind of lineup this event has always attracted.
Representing Atlanta, Chris Hall from Local Three is cooking alongside Freddy Money from Atlas at the St. Regis, Kevin Rathbun from Kevin Rathbun Steak, and Malik Rhasaan from Che Butter Jonez. Matt Hyland from Emmy Squared and Simone Tong from Si Baby-Q in Austin round out the lineup. Nick LePore, known globally as Burger Buff, is a worldwide pop-up operator who sells out everywhere he goes, Singapore, London, you name it. And Michael Mayta from USBS in Miami is coming back for one more run. He was one of the key grill guys when NFA Burger won Burger Bash in Miami and landed on CBS Mornings.
These are not burgers you can get anywhere else. That is the entire point.
“This isn’t one of those charity events where some of the proceeds go,” Billy said. “100% of the proceeds go to the Giving Kitchen.”
About 60 burgers were available per chef session, and it was the last Burger Benefit ever.
The Cause Behind the Burger Benefit
If you do not know what the Giving Kitchen does, this is worth slowing down for.
It started with a chef named Ryan Hidinger. He was a beloved figure in the Atlanta restaurant community, and when he was diagnosed with cancer, his friends and colleagues rallied around him in a way that became the foundation for something much bigger. Ryan Turner, who owns Local Three and Turner’s in Atlanta and was one of the original co-founders of the Giving Kitchen, helped turn that one act of community into a permanent safety net for an entire industry.
The Giving Kitchen provides direct financial assistance to food service workers in crisis. Not gift cards. Not referrals to other nonprofits. They pay rent. They pay car payments. They cover utility bills. They meet people where they are and move fast. To date, they have helped over 60,000 food service workers. More than 70 percent of the people they assist are prevented from experiencing homelessness. More than 71 percent are prevented from food insecurity. Their call center supports over 180 languages.
Billy put the mission in terms that are hard to forget.
“Every time you go into a restaurant, the last person who touches your food is a stranger. Wouldn’t you want that stranger to want to be there and be happy?”
For Billy, the Giving Kitchen is not just a charity he supports. It is personal. Whitney Russell worked for him at NFA Burger. She volunteered with Team Heidi every March, the Giving Kitchen’s annual fundraiser held at Truist Park that now raises over 1.4 million dollars a year, and always asked Billy for time off so she could help out. She passed away during COVID from an extremely rare disease. Her story is a core reason Billy has committed to the Giving Kitchen long after the Burger Benefit ends.
His father’s example matters too. Growing up, Billy watched his dad quietly donate to charity on a regular basis. An envelope here, a check there, no announcement, no fanfare. It shaped how Billy thinks about giving back, not as a branding exercise, but as a habit. The same instinct that led Billy to draw a parallel to the Two Ten Foundation, a shoe industry charity he admires for the same reason: it takes care of its own.
The Asheville story is the one that really lands. When Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina, the money raised at that year’s Burger Benefit went directly to restaurant workers who had lost everything. Homes flooded. Cars underwater. Jobs gone overnight. Two weeks after the storm, checks were going out the door. That is what the Giving Kitchen can do when it has the resources and the organizational infrastructure to move fast.
What Comes Next at NFA Burger
Even after the final Burger Benefit, the giving does not stop.
Starting now, NFA Burger is permanently donating a quarter from every burger sold at both the Dunwoody Village location and the Avalon location to the Giving Kitchen. It is not a one-time pledge. It is built into how the business operates going forward.
There is also a lot coming on the NFA expansion front. The Dunwoody kitchen is getting a significant upgrade that will allow the team to do things they have not been able to do before, more capacity, better workflow, a stronger foundation for the next phase of growth. The timeline has been pushed back by a combination of an exhaust installation issue tied to US Foods and some water intrusion, but Billy is confident it will be worth the wait when it is done.
It is worth noting how far NFA Burger has come. Billy built this from a seven-person team to an operation of roughly 60 people across two locations. He gave a lot of credit to the people who have been there from the start, including Sean, who has been with NFA since day three.
“There are two kinds of lines,” Billy said. “A line of inefficiency and a line of popularity. In the beginning, we were a line of inefficiency. Now we are very efficient.”
That is what four years of showing up every single day looks like.
41 Restaurants and a City That Acts Like a Unicorn
One of the best stretches of this conversation happened when Billy and I started trading notes on the Dunwoody restaurant scene.
Mark Galvin at Discover Dunwoody, a show sponsor, mentioned that 41 restaurants opened in Dunwoody last year. Forty-one. That number stopped both of us. The demand is real. The community is growing. And the pipeline keeps building, with new concepts coming to Ashford Lane, High Street, and development near Lazy Dog that Eli Zandman at ToNeTo Atlanta has been tracking closely.
Correction: Mark later clarified the real number is 46 new restaurants in three years, with a net gain of 29 after closures. More in Podcast 328.
Billy said something that I have not been able to stop thinking about.
“People don’t realize Dunwoody is more like a unicorn.”
He looked at expansion markets all over the country, cities with the right demographics, the density, the disposable income, the foot traffic. And after all of that research, he kept coming back to the same conclusion: Dunwoody is different in ways that are hard to put on a spreadsheet.
Part of it is the owner-operators. Dunwoody Village is a good example of what happens when the people running the restaurants are actually present. Miguel Romero is behind the counter at Taqueria Los Hermanos. Darren Benda is at Chupito’s Azteca Grille. David Abes is roaming around the Funwoody Restaurants he oversees. These are not absentee corporate concepts. They are people who know their regulars, care about the neighborhood, and show up in the way that makes a place feel like it belongs to the community.
Part of it is also the city itself. During COVID, the City of Dunwoody moved fast on outdoor seating permits and provided direct support to restaurants that was genuinely meaningful. They have maintained a no-drive-through policy that keeps the character of Dunwoody Village intact. DeKalb County has been a workable partner on things like kitchen clearances. It adds up to an environment where serious operators can build something real, which is why people like Billy keep choosing it over the alternatives.
For anyone thinking about moving to Dunwoody or already living in Dunwoody, this is one of those things that is hard to quantify but easy to feel. The restaurant ecosystem here, from NFA Burger and Village Burger to Taqueria Los Hermanos, Novo Cucina, Marlowe’s, Super Chicks, and everything opening around them, reflects a community that actually supports its local businesses. That matters more than most people realize until they have lived somewhere that does not have it.
Dunwoody is not a finished product. It is still building. That, honestly, is what makes it exciting.
Why This Matters for Dunwoody
As a Dunwoody REALTOR®, I love when buyers ask about the food scene, because places like NFA Burger make the answer easy. Owner-operators who give back, like Billy did with the Burger Benefit, are a big part of what makes Dunwoody Village feel like home.
My Take: The Burger Benefit may be over, but every burger at NFA still helps restaurant workers in crisis. Order the extra one. Learn more or donate at the Giving Kitchen.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Burger Benefit
What was the Burger Benefit?
A yearly charity event at NFA Burger in Dunwoody Village where top chefs cooked special burgers, with 100% of proceeds going to the Giving Kitchen.
When was the final Burger Benefit?
The fourth and final Burger Benefit was held May 3, 2026 at NFA Burger in Dunwoody Village.
What does the Giving Kitchen do?
The Giving Kitchen provides direct financial help to food service workers in crisis, paying bills like rent, utilities, and car payments.
Does NFA Burger still support the Giving Kitchen?
Yes. NFA Burger permanently donates a quarter from every burger sold at its Dunwoody Village and Avalon locations.
Who owns NFA Burger?
Billy Kramer owns NFA Burger, which has locations in Dunwoody Village and at Avalon in Alpharetta.