All-You-Can-Eat Burger Event Benefits Hospitality Workers
This Sunday, the North Loop will have a chance to indulge in some of the best burgers the Twin Cities has to offer, all for a good cause. Burgertopia Vol. 1, hosted by Modist Brewing, benefits Help the House Foundation, an organization that provides financial support and other resources to hospitality employees with urgent needs.
“Help the House is just really an incredible group of people. They take care of people who take care of other people for a living,” said Bryce Larson, Front-of-the-House Manager at Modist Brewing. “Their mission is having empathy for a part of our industry that is notoriously super hardworking and also underserved.” Servers, cooks, bartenders and baristas can be “one severe medical incident away from bankruptcy or being put out of the house or not having a car.”
Help the House Foundation was launched in January 2025 by Kate Meier, who has three sons who are chefs and a daughter who was a North Loop restaurant manager. Meier saw firsthand the highs and lows that come with a hospitality career. Realizing that not all hospitality professionals have the support system her kids have, she decided to create one of her own. The foundation has been such a quick success that Meier’s daughter, Emmalene, now works alongside Kate.
Help the House Foundation Founder and President Kate Meier, (right) and her daughter, Emmalene. Help the House receives proceeds from some of Kate’s apron designs.
“I know what this industry is like for someone who wants to be in it, wants to stay in it, wants to continue to have longevity in it,” explains Meier. “Working as hard as they do, with as minimal pay as they do most of the time, not having benefits, that’s why this was very, very important to me.”
In just seven months, Help the House Foundation has helped nine individuals and one restaurant through difficult financial, medical and emotional circumstances. An Iowa restaurant fell behind on electric bills and a closure would have resulted in employees losing their jobs. “We were there to take that one and fill it up and be able to keep them all going.” said Meier. “That’s a really huge success story. Honestly, that one felt like an honor.” Individuals who were helped include someone who was injured outside of work and a doctor ordered six weeks of rest. Help the House was able to cover the lost income with rent payments and other essential needs.
Donations come from the food purveyors who supply our restaurants, merchandise sales and local chefs hosting pop-up events. Modist Brewing was the first North Loop business to host a pop-up. In May, their Help the House Party: Down to Frankfurter event had lines around the block before the doors opened.
Their next fundraiser, Burgertopia Vol. 1, is Sunday, July 20. Chef Mik German of 328 Grill is one of the organizers. “He is honestly the rock star of the burger scene at the moment,” said Larson, who is excited to have Chef German on this side of the river. “He runs a burger festival in St. Paul Park that draws about 5,000 to 6,000 people.”
Ticket holders will enjoy all-you-can-eat burgers from six different “burger buddies,” including Chef Yia Vang, who works with Meier as a “Chef Advocate” at Help the House Foundation. “We have a very ravenous burger scene in The Cities,” said Larson. “These are some of the best chefs in the cities. Period. These are people that have lines everywhere when you go.” Tickets are $40 and are available here.
The hospitality industry has a significant presence in the North Loop, with more than 70 restaurants, bars and coffee shops. “North Loop has a special, special feeling about it. It’s small town and big city all together,” observed Meier. “It makes it that much more special for them that that energy and vibe is felt by your diners.”
Future Help the House fundraisers include a Sept. 12 gala at The Four Seasons, featuring several celebrity chefs. Follow Help the House Foundation on Instagram at @helpthehousefoundation for updates.
By Mary Binkley, NLNA volunteer