Burgatory

I love a good burger and over the past few years a ton of new up-scale burger restaurants have opened around the Pittsburgh area.  At least they are as "up-scale" as a burger joint gets.  I've touted the great burgers at Winghart's, BRGR, the Union Grill, and of course my favorite, Tessaro's.  Well, I have a new favorite-Burgatory.

I recall making the trip to the original location in Fox Chapel.  When we got there and realized it was in a shopping center we made the decision to have lunch down the road at Bob's Garage (another great place too!).  Turns out, leaving the shopping center was a mistake.

This time we went to the newest location in Robinson Township.  The restaurant is a comfortable, modern decor with a mix of tables surrounded by booths and a large bar in the middle.  While they offer full bar service it appears to me that this place is mostly about the food.  The menu offers 10 burger selections or you can build your own from a checklist where you choose each ingredient to create your own custom creation.

Stacy and I ordered off the menu and went with the Standard Deluxe and the Morty's Steakhouse.  Here are the descriptions from the menu:

STANDARD DELUXE* $9
All Natural Beef Burger with White American Cheese, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion & our House Burger Sauce.

MORTY’S STEAKHOUSE* $11

Peppercorn Crusted Beef Burger with Horseradish Cheddar, Haystack Onions & Cabernet Sauce. Like the greatest steak dinner you’ve ever had reincarnated as a burger

When you order, instead of the ambiguious rare, med rare, med, med well, and well you simply choose to have you burger cooked either red, pink, or no pink.  I like that.  In addition, the burgers are served with homemade potato and sweet potato chips.  Of course fry's and a variety of other sides are available.  There are also a few salads and a veggie and crab burger, but none of those options were considered by us!

Both of us loved our burgers.  Really loved our burgers.  To the point that we each think these may have been the best we have ever had...(sorry Tessaros).  Since it was only one trip, I'm not going to rate it the best, but I'm going back, for sure.

Burgatory is located near the WalMart in the Robinson Town Center.

Wingharts Burger and Whiskey Bar

Better quality burger places have been opening around the city for the last couple of years, and I really welcome the change.  Tessaro's in Bloomfield was always one of the few places that would grind and mix their own meat mixture on a daily basis, but now their are many choices.  I've personally tried Burgatory in Fox Chapel, Burgh'ers in Zelienople, BR'GR in East Liberty, Bubba's and Sauce in Bridgeville, and several others.  All are very good...But Wingharts just might be the best.

Wingharts is in Market Square downtown.  It's a small restaurant along with a full service bar specializing in a wide variety of whiskey.  I don't know anything about, or really care about whiskey so I'll just talk about the food. Our server was very knowledgeable about the different cuts of beef used and the preparation of the patty's and was very helpful in all of our questions.  I ended up ordering the Market Square Burger, which is loaded with bacon, mushrooms, gruyere cheese and a honey mustard dressing.  This may be the best burger I've ever had.  It was just tremendous.  And while the toppings are all fresh and top notch, it's not the toppings that I'm referring to.  The quality and flavor of the beef is what makes these burgers so good.

The menu also offered a Double Blue Burger with dried blue, along with blue cheese dressing.  The Hula Burger with pineapple, BBQ sauce, cheddar, and caramelized onions.  There is also a chicken sausage burger, a veggie burger (for you vegetarians that frequent burger restaurants) and even one with chipped ham and cheese!  Here's the description from the menu: Oly Cah! Chip chop’ am n beer chhese?! On a burger?! Git aht a than! Yinz guys gotta see dis...

This is the Shipwreck Burger, loaded with Brie cheese, caramelized onions with bacon, arugula, and white truffle aioli.

Winghart's is located in Market Square downtown and a new location just opened right on Carson Street on the South Side of Pittsburgh.

Brgr Bar

There are a lot of new burger places popping up around Pittsburgh. All of them are serving up good quality, inventive burgers. I've wanted to try Brgr since they opened late last year. The offerings include spiked milkshakes and floats and full bar service with a nice selection of drafts on tap.

The burgers are tasty, and exceptionally moist due to the mix of sirloin, NY strip and ribeye that they use. Their creations are more inventive than the standards found at Tessaro's, and while I love the flavor of the beef and the creativity, I miss the tasty char that Tessaros wood grill provides. Selections range from The Average Joe, which is a basic cheeseburger to a Kobe Beef Burger, and the Locavore, which is Jameson Farm lamb patty, onion, pepper relish, feta cheese, curry aioli, and mint. The Fire In The Hole burger has jalapeños, pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayo and a smear of guacamole. Also on the menu is a salmon burger and a couple of salad choices.

This is known as a pretty busy place, and lines are common, although we were promptly seated on a recent afternoon. You can also take advantage of the covered rooftop deck on a nice day.

Burgh'ers

A local TV station, WPXI, just held a contest to name the top Burgers in the Pittsburgh area. The competition is split into two portions, one being a blind taste test with eleven judges, held at the WPXI studios, and the other a peoples choice. The judges chose their top ten favorites. Here are the winners:

BRGR Bar, East Liberty
Burgh'ers, Harmony
City Grill, South Side
Cornerstone Restaurant & Bar, Aspinwall
Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Ross Park Mall
McGinnis Sisters, Mars
Someone Else's Bar, Castle Shannon
Tessaro's, Bloomfield
The Union Grill, Oakland
Winghart's Burger & Whiskey Bar, Market Square

I have good reason to have faith in this contest. A couple of months ago, they did the same thing in order to name the best pizza, and the winner was my favorite, Franks in Ambridge. These judges must know what they are doing!

I've had the burgers at City Grill, the Union Grill and of course, Tessaros. I also tried to go to Winghart's, but unfortunately it was Sunday and they were closed. Then one afternoon last week, my friend Tom and I decided to try Someone Else's Bar in Castle Shannon, but again closed. Finally, Stacy and I, hungry for a great burger decided to take a drive north to Burgh'ers.

Burgh'ers is in a new strip mall just north of the Zelienople business district. You enter and go to the counter to order from a chalkboard menu. The burgers are named after areas around Pittsburgh, including the Polish Hill, with fried onion, cheddar cheese and of course a peroigi. The Mexican War has roasted green chile's, cheddar, avocado, tomato and cilantro. All are $8.99 and include your choice of fries or salad. Since both of us ordered salad, I can't comment on the fries but the salads were very good. Fresh spring greens, no iceberg here, and your choice of dressing as long as it's vineratte or ranch.

I ordered the Shadyside Burger which is served with bacon, grilled onions, Swiss cheese, and fresh wild mushrooms. The ingredients were all very fresh, and the meat had a tremendous flavor. Stacy got the Forrest Hills, with blue cheese, fresh wild mushrooms, spring mix, and finished with local honey.

I don't know if this is the best burger around Pittsburgh, but it definitely belongs at the top of the list.

Burgh'ers is BYOB.

Tessaros...Not just for burgers anymore

One of my favorite spots in Pittsburgh is Tessaro's in Bloomfield. I'm not quite sure what it is about the place. It's one of those places that I go to and just feel confortable. A huge bonus is that the food is excellent!!! Most people around town know Tessaros for their big, char grilled burgers. You always see their name when reading about the best burgers in the area and they deserve it. The beef is fresh ground on site and they and grill it on a wood grill that you can see from the restaurant. The smell is fantastic! The pleasant suprise is that the rest of the menu is just as good. Believe it or not, the tuna melt is great. Another favorite of mine is the steak salad. It has fresh greens and big chunks of steak, not top round or steak um's. I know that they have a mexican day also and while I'm usually there for lunch, I've noticed several fresh seafood selections for dinner. I really want to get back and try some of the other selections on the menu.