Discover Burien says this year’s Empty Bowls fundraiser – held Friday, Jan. 31 at the Burien Community Center – raised more than $24,000 for local food banks, with dozens of restaurants, senior living communities and local businesses donating soups and other support for the annual event.

Organizers said initial numbers show the event brought in over $24,000 (around the same as last year), and featured what they described as the strongest lineup of soups yet.

“We want to thank all the restaurants and facilities that donated to this years Empty Bowls Event at the Burien Community City,” Discover Burien said in an announcement. “I think this year was the best line-up of soups we have ever had. Initial numbers look like we raised over $24,000 for our local foodbanks. Congratulations and THANK YOU TO ALL FOR PARTICIPATING.”

Awards were given for top entries:

1st Place Restaurant Soup: Smarty Pants Garage, with a cheesy chicken enchilada soup.
1st Place Facility Soup: Village Concepts of Burien, also known as El Dorado West, with a curry miso mushroom soup.
1st Place Vegan Soup: The Tin Room Bar, for vegan soup with a butternut squash bisque.

Discover Burien credited a wide range of participating businesses and facilities for helping make the event possible, including:

The B-Town Blog
Village Concepts Communities West Seattle
Pigfish Café
Solstice Senior Living
Lavish Roots Catering and Hospitality
St. Anne Hospital
Huckleberry Square
Normandy Park Senior Living
El Centenario Mexican Restaurant
Melton’s BBQ
Burien Elks Lodge
Centro Neighborhood Kitchen
Azteca Mexican Restaurants in Burien
909 Coffee and Wine
Elliott Bay Brewing Co.
Angelo’s of Burien
Ivar’s
Treat Cookies
Lowrider Cookie Company
Bakery Nouveau
Maven Meals
Grand Central Bakery
Burien Press

Organizers also thanked volunteer judges (including B-Town Blog/South King Media’s Theresa Schaefer) who carefully tasted and rated 20 different soups.