Homemade 'Pitts-Burger' Being Sold Globally

PITTSBURGH, PA — A concoction cooked up by a chef at the Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square is being sold at the chain's 300 locations worldwide.

The Pittsburgh Burger is one of five locally developed and culturally inspired items that are on the menu for a limited time during the Hard Rock Cafe's annual World Burger Tour competition.

The competition began with an initial round of more than 150 new burgers from the chain's chefs around the world. What followed and what will continue: a thinning of the culinary herd based on sales performance, guest preference and burger taste testing at their originating locations.

The competition runs through Sept. 2.

So what ingredients are in a Pittsburgh burger? Glad you asked. The burger consists of two smashed and stacked burger patties, sauce, smoked bacon, pickles, beer cheese sauce, whiskey bacon jam, American cheese and - of course - french fries.

The burger sounds delicious but it faces stiff challenges from:

• The Bengaluru, India, Burger, a steak burger with American cheese, sweet and spicy pickled mayo, black bean corn salsa, roasted jalapeno and shredded lettuce.

• The Bucharest, Romania Burger, a steak burger with garlic horseradish aioli, marinated camembert cheese, tomato, smoked shoestring onions, frisee lettuce and red wine cranberry jam.

• The Gramado, Brazil Burger, a steak burger with garlic aioli, crispy mozzarella cheese fritter and whiskey bacon jam.

• The Katmandu, Nepal Burger, consisting of two smashed and stacked burger patties, sweet chili mayo, provolone cheese, caramelized onions, avocado and tomato zucchini slaw.

"By providing our guests the chance to choose our next fan-favorite burger, we're making them a part of the tasting and culinary experience as we bring new, culturally influenced, delicious options to our menu," Annibal Fernamdez, Hard Rock Cafe International senior vice president,
cafe division, said in a statement.