Wednesday Only: Pick the Best District 99 Burger at Tom & Eddie's

Option 1: A beef patty mixed with bacon topped with lettuce, barbecue sauce and cheese fries on a pretzel bun.

Option 2: A hamburger on a pretzel roll with pepperjack cheese, haystack onions, chips, buffalo sauce, lettuce and bacon.

Option 3: A hamburger on a gourmet roll topped with Pepperjack cheese, haystack onions, spicy mayo, A1 sauce and lettuce.

Which hamburger makes your mouth water?

Each burger was designed by students. The first, named the Mustang Meltdown, was the brainchild of the 24 Intro to Business students.

The second two were designed by two sections of the business course. The students call the first the Lone Star Burger; the second the Southwest Wildfire Burger. Fifth-six DGN students participated in the project.

Each burger will be sold for just four hours Wednesday at Tom & Eddie’s in Lombard. The burger with the most profit will remain on the restaurant’s menu for a month, a donation will be made in the school’s name to a local charity and the students who designed it will be treated to a catered party.

Tom & Eddy’s reached out to District 99 to develop the partnership. The students get hands-on experience creating and marketing a product and Tom & Eddy’s get a possible new menu item.

Since students like to pile on the ingredients, Tom & Eddy’s produced an itemized list of the cost for each ingredient so students could complete a cost analysis.

Some burger ideas that didn’t make the cut: a breakfast burger on toast, a Mexican burger with taco ingredients piled on and, with a nod to Spongebob Squarepants, a Crabby patty with a crab cake instead of a beef burger.

“The students are definitely excited about it,” said DGN Business Teacher Mark Mirandola. “They’re actually doing something that’s tangible. They’ve created a real product and they’re in charge of all marketing and promotion for it.”

To pique interest, students have posted flyers in the halls, drafted e-mails to be sent out to students and staff and generated Facebook campaigns to spread the word, said DGS Business Teacher Pat Fardy. 

Show your support for your favorite burger (or school!) at Tom & Eddie’s Wednesday from 5 to 9 p.m. The restaurant is located within the Yorktown Shopping Center near the intersection of Highland Avenue and Butterfield Road.