From Range to Restaurant: Diablo Burger Named Best in Arizona

Pictures courtesy of Amy Martin Photography

Diablo Burger was just named Arizona’s best burger by Tasting Table, but there’s more to this win than great food. The Flagstaff-based restaurant sources its beef from the founding ranches of Diablo Trust, meaning every bite supports the working landscapes and sustainable grazing practices we’ve championed for decades.

And there’s another special connection: Diablo Burger’s founder, Derrick Widmark, was once the Communications Coordinator for Diablo Trust. His commitment to local food and land conservation is baked into the ethos of the restaurant, where they say “you can do good by eating well.”

In celebration of Diablo Burger’s recent recognition, we interviewed Derrick to learn more about how Diablo Burger came to be and how Diablo Trust’s mission influenced its roots.

Read on for the full story - and don’t forget to swing by Diablo Burger to experience Arizona’s best for yourself!

Your restaurant has a unique origin story. Can you share how your time as a program manager with Diablo Trust influenced your decision to start a burger restaurant?

“Gary Nabhan was still at NAU when I was working at Diablo Trust. Gary, who won a MacArthur Genius Award for his work on local food systems, organized a visit from a conservation non-profit in Idaho that had just begun selling their lamb products to local restaurants. These Idaho folks found that, as sales of their lamb went up, so did appreciation for their conservation efforts. And that was my ‘aha’ moment – I thought,  if we could figure out how to sell the product of Diablo Trust’s working landscapes, which in our case was beef, directly to the Flagstaff community, then we might see a similar uptick of support for our conservation efforts. And out of that belief, Diablo Burger was born.”

What inspired you to build your menu around beef from local ranches? Why was that important to you?

“I remember when we first started talking about this with the ranches, there was some concern that people wouldn’t want to eat 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef; that it would be too lean. And so we experimented with adding fat to the burgers, and I remember tasting the different options and thinking: no, we’re not gonna add anything to this product – it’s gotta be the pure, unadulterated taste of this terroir for the community to have a direct connection to the land.”

Many people don’t connect a burger on their plate to the landscape it came from. How do you think your restaurant helps tell the story of working ranchlands and conservation?

“Food is energy, and being clear, intentional, and careful about how we source and serve our burgers at DB is the best way to tell a conservation story through food. Delivering that great ‘taste of place’ experience has been our commitment, day in and day out, for these past 16+ years.”

From your perspective, what makes the beef from these ranches different—not just in taste, but in the values behind it?

“At Diablo Burger we like to say that “you can do good by eating well.” There is considerable added value to our 100% local, open-range raised burgers. Start with the fact that they are the honest products of an established, collaboratively-managed working landscape in Flagstaff’s backyard. Then consider the wide range of ecosystem services Diablo Trust contributes to our local and regional economies. Add in the taste and health benefits of grass-fed beef, the fun and variety of our menu, the care and presentation that goes into every basket we put in front of a visitor – all together that’s a lot of value and distinction that sets us apart from everyone else.”

You’ve worn different hats in your past —as a nonprofit staff and now as a business owner. What do you think others can learn from this kind of collaboration between land stewards and local businesses?

“I remember when I started thinking about DB, it just didn’t make any sense that we were growing a quality beef product, locally, then selling it into the national market at the same time as Flagstaff was purchasing a national, commodity beef product, often of lesser quality and higher price. So Diablo Burger was the result of a ‘think different’ mindset, not to be different but to make a difference – for the community, for the ranches, and for Diablo Trust.”

What does supporting local ranchers mean to you today, and how do your customers respond when they learn where the beef comes from?

“Diablo Burger’s motto is “All About Local.” And from day one, back in 2009, that has meant having ‘local’ be our guiding value, and working to maximize our local-ness, whether through sourcing, donating, partnering, or any other aspect of what we do. And when Diablo Burger delivers a satisfying ‘taste of place’ experience to our many visitors, people from all over the world, that helps tell our story while being a source of pride to the Flagstaff community.”

If you could tell your diners one thing about the landscapes where their food comes from, what would it be?

“This beef helps keep 426,000 acres in our own backyard – an area the size of metropolitan Phoenix – open and undeveloped, home to wildlife, dark skies, hunting & recreation, carbon sequestration & biodiversity through holistic land management. That land area is an important contributor to the very real quality of life that distinguishes the larger Flagstaff community.”

Looking back, does this restaurant feel like a continuation of your conservation work in a different form? Why or why not?

“There would not be a Diablo Burger if I hadn’t worked at Diablo Trust, and if Gary Nabhan hadn’t been involved with the Trust and working his magic, and if I hadn’t built a real relationship of trust with the Metzgers and the Prossers.”

Anything else you’d like to share?

“I believe that the courage and openness of the ranching families of Diablo Trust is often overlooked, or taken for granted. The fact is that everything the Trust and Diablo Burger have accomplished, DB since 2009 and DT since 1993, was made possible by the spirit of inclusion and collaboration that these two families chose to model. I know it hasn’t always been easy or seamless, but this practice of what Wallace Stegner called ‘the radical center’ – of meeting people in the middle, on the ground, in service to the land – has been a truly impactful and purposeful human undertaking, and I’m proud to have my little burger joint be a small part of telling that story.”