Pittsburgh might have the world's best Hard Rock Cafe burger

Pittsburgh’s intense pride could get a boost as Hard Rock Cafe diners decide if our burger is the world’s best.

In June, the Pittsburgh Burger, created by chefs at Hard Rock Cafe in Station Square, prevailed in the restaurant chain’s World Burger Tour competition. Chefs from 157 Hard Rock Cafe locations across the globe submitted burgers “featuring ingredients inspired by their local culture and personal taste.” Five finalists were selected and added to Hard Rock Cafe menus worldwide. The winning burger, to be announced in September, will earn a permanent menu spot and some serious bragging rights for its hometown.

“As far as the burger goes, we just really like to win,” says chef Matt Byrne, kitchen manager at Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh and creator of the Pittsburgh Burger. “We looked at it as a David-versus-Goliath [competition] right off the bat.”

Byrne points out that Pittsburgh Burger is not only the sole U.S. entry to advance, but the only contender from the entire North American continent. Station Square’s “small market” cafe beat out some of the world's highest-volume Hard Rock locations in Orlando, Fla., in New York City’s Times Square, and in Rome and Venice, Italy.

So what’s on the Pittsburgh Burger? The contending sandwich is made with two smashed and stacked burger patties, American cheese, Hard Rock’s Legendary sauce, smoked bacon, pickles, beer cheese sauce, whiskey bacon jam, and French fries.

“I just put everything [on it] that Pittsburgh loves,” Byrne tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “Beer, whiskey, pickles, fries on top of things.”

Byrne recently celebrated 15 years at Hard Rock Cafe Pittsburgh and credits the burger’s ascent to the restaurant’s entire team. Veteran servers, several of whom have been working at the Station Square restaurant since it opened in 2002, even compete among themselves to see who can sell the most Pittsburgh Burgers, and it remains one of their most popular menu items.

“We really want this burger to be on the menu. We want everyone to make it,” Byrne says. “So that’s why we're pushing so hard to get Pittsburgh’s name on the map. It’s a big [point of] pride, you know? The pride of Pittsburgh.”

With Pittsburgh’s name on the line, City Paper had to see how the Pittsburgh Burger measured up. Our editorial staff went to Hard Rock Cafe to try all five World Burger Tour finalists and offer our rankings.

5. Kathmandu Burger: two smashed and stacked burger patties, sweet chili mayo, provolone cheese, caramelized onions, avocado, and tomato zucchini slaw

Though Nepal is often referred to as a vegetarian paradise, we immediately found this burger “too veggie forward,” as editor-in-chief Ali Trachta put it. (For vegetarians, World Burger Tour finalists can be ordered with Impossible Burger — and we tried this!)

While the idea of a slaw will always entice Pittsburghers, incredulity reigned about putting zucchini on a beef burger and how well it paired with tomato. Reactions were so all over the map that I’ve cataloged them here:

“It’s like a different meal. I don't know why. It’s like French onion soup ... It’s giving spring roll.” – Mars Johnson, CP photographer

“I'm skeptical about zucchini.” – Colin Williams, news editor

“I like the crunch that [the slaw] adds, but it doesn't really do anything for the flavor and it kind of gets buried under the sauce and the flavor of the burger.” – Stacy Rounds, audience engagement specialist

“It’s like a weird bizarro banh mi burger.” – Jeff Schreckengost, editorial designer

The Kathmandu Burger will have you asking: what do I really want out of a burger? Reflecting on the idea of a world burger-tasting tour (a gimmick that I love) we realized how much our American palates would shape the experience. But since burgers are an American food — arguably the quintessential American food — we also might have a unique attunement to them, and an American burger like the Pittsburgh might hold a distinct advantage.

In any case, there were too many veggies on the Kathmandu.

4. Bengaluru Burger: Seven-ounce steak burger, American cheese, sweet and spicy pickled mayo, black bean corn salsa, roasted jalapeño, guacamole, and shredded lettuce

Another veggie-forward option, the Bengaluru Burger was a head-scratcher. Despite hailing from southern India, this burger’s flavor profile, heavy on the guacamole and black bean corn salsa, was closer that of Mexico, with spiciness achieved using jalapeños.

Most of us were confused by the choice to top the burger patty with black beans rather than make a black bean burger, and Colin suggested a fritter might have worked better. Guacamole and salsa also make the burger’s presentation sloppy, with vegetables sliding out of the bun. Overall, we tasted it quickly and moved on.

3. Gramado Burger: Seven-ounce steak burger, garlic aioli, crispy mozzarella cheese fritter, and whiskey bacon jam

The Gramado Burger came with some hype since it’s currently closest to overtaking the Pittsburgh Burger in the competition. Located in the southernmost part of Brazil, Gramado boasts idyllic mountain views (including at its Hard Rock Cafe, by the looks of it), and 19th-century immigration by Germans and Italians is said to give the town an Alpine feel. Its fried-cheese-heavy burger, however, hews closer to a French croque monsieur (a comparison Colin made) or maybe just a giant mozzarella stick.

Are we Americans complaining about a greasy cheeseburger? Of course not, but ultimately we wondered if the burger was too simplistic, offering the fewest ingredients of any burger on the Tour. It also risks being overwhelmed by the sheer density of its cheese fritter.

On the plus side, the Gramado’s whiskey bacon jam — one of three jams across the competing burgers — added a nice maple note. Though it was tasty, I was expecting more elevated flavor and would slot in the Gramado as a solid middle-of-the-road pub burger.

2. Bucharest Burger: Seven-ounce steak burger, garlic horseradish aioli, marinated camembert cheese, tomato, smoked shoestring onions, frisee lettuce, and red wine cranberry jam

If there’s one thing our Tour experience revealed, it’s the power of a good jam to elevate a burger. Here, the Bucharest Burger excelled, with a red wine-cranberry jam that balances the burger’s savory smokehouse quality with a slight sweetness. The bitterness of the frisee lettuce adds another contrasting flavor, giving the burger the most complex taste of those we tried. Camembert cheese is yet another draw, soft, creamy, and understated, in contrast to the all-consuming mozzarella of the Gramado.

Biting into the Bucharest elicited a chorus of oohs and aahs from the staff, with Stacy noting that the crunchiness of its thin shoestring onions (which are also smoked) introduced another element of texture that makes this burger delectable. A&E Editor Amanda Waltz, CP’s resident vegetarian, tried the Bucharest with Impossible Burger and confirms the smokehouse flavor, alongside the jam, translates without the beef, describing it as “sweet [and] a little bitter in a good way.”

Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest sits on the shore of Romania’s scenic Herastrau Lake, located in the largest city park in Europe. If they intended to transport us there, sipping a glass of red wine, it’s a terrific effort.

1. Pittsburgh Burger: Two smashed and stacked burger patties, Legendary sauce, smoked bacon, pickles, beer cheese sauce, whiskey bacon jam, American cheese, and French fries

Admittedly our staff was equally divided between the Bucharest and the Pittsburgh Burger, but you won’t catch me speaking a single word against our burger, which deserves to take the world by storm.

Living up to chef Matt Byrne’s promise to give you everything you want from a burger, the Pittsburgh arrives sizzling on a plate surrounded by beer cheese. Diners can dip the burger’s fries, topped with smoked bacon and some of the whiskey bacon jam, in the cheese sauce — a Pittsburgh au jus, as Amanda described it. (Guests at Station Square are treated to an additional flourish, which we can’t reveal here.)

The Pittsburgh Burger immediately surpasses its competition on presentation and offers a multi-course experience with its fries. The burger itself is two juicy beef patties with tangy Legendary Sauce that packs a bit of a kick. (Though the sauce’s ingredients remain a Hard Rock secret, internet speculation is that it’s a creamy roasted red pepper sauce, possibly with horseradish).

Though the Pittsburgh overall is extremely cheese-heavy, it’s not one-note, its savoriness is balanced out by the flavor of bacon, pickles, and the slightly sweet whiskey bacon jam.

Surprisingly, the Pittsburgh is the only burger served with pickles, an American staple (and, I would argue, indelible to the burger experience). Colin described it as the best “hamburger qua hamburger,” touching again on the fact that the hamburger is a deeply American food, giving Pittsburgh an inherent advantage.

Giving the final word, Ali said, “It seems like a balance of basic burger, the basic things you want, and elevated, interesting flavors together.”


Many of the CP staff were visiting Pittsburgh’s Hard Rock Cafe for the first time or after many years. With Station Square facing several restaurant closures recently, Matt Byrne says he appreciates not only their Burger Tour success but that the location is still here, with its views of Downtown and the Monongahela River.

In his 15-year tenure at Hard Rock, he’s worked at about 10 other cafes, including in Boston, Atlanta, and at the Mall of America, but says Pittsburgh’s smaller restaurant still stands out for him.

“You look across the bridge and you see our humongous guitar, and it’s like a beacon of light for me,” he tells CP. “I know that sounds childish and stupid, but for me, this is my home.”