THE results are in! According to a group of junior restaurant critics, Buckaroo Too serves the best burgers on the island.

Four of the 23 local children currently enrolled in a summer school programme had been eating at different restaurants each week as a reward for their hard work when the idea for a Best Burger contest arose.

With much enthusiasm, heated debate, and spilled milkshakes, six-year-old Carter Smith and his brother Somers, eight, plus eight year olds Stephanie Culver and Grace Vegthe, embarked on an island-wide search for the thickest, juiciest hand-made burger in Bermuda.

The young students have spent the first few weeks of their summer vacations taking part in the intensive Lindamood Bell Learning Process, an American programme designed to help children with learning disabilities or dyslexia improve their reading comprehension and math skills.

Local students from Saltus, the Bermuda High School for Girls, Warwick Academy and Somersfield spend between two and four hours daily under the instruction of American teachers trained in the Lindamood Bell technique.

Now, after weeks of studying and taste-testing, Carter, Somers, Stephanie and Grace have named Buckaroo Too, owned by David and Mary Cauchi, the unanimous winner in their impromptu Best Burger in Bermuda contest.

"All the burgers were good but this was the best," said Somers.

However, Somers and Carter Smith may have swayed the girls' votes as their grandfather, Raymond White, founded the original Buckaroo restaurant in the early 1950s in the former Lesley White Building.

Mr. White was widely recognised as the man responsible for bringing the first burger to Bermuda. Stephanie's grandfather, William (Cheese) Ray, was a regular at the Buckaroo for decades.

The children noted that Dorothy's narrowly missed out on the top prize, coming in second place. Speciality Inn won for Best Decor, Keith's Kitchen for Friendliest Service and the Green Lantern for Quickest Service.

As the Lindamood Bell programme and the Best Burger contest come to an end, Somers Smith succinctly sums both up: "We've had fun and we've learned a lot."