Since 1947, The Elbow Room has been hanging in Shadyside, serving up food and drinks. It hasn’t always been in its current location on Walnut, but that was of little concern to me when it came to ordering up food there. Just about everything on the menu looked stellar, yet when it came down to it this was the first meal of my day and I felt the urge to get breakfast.
Of course for me, breakfast meant a burger called the Norman Rockwell. Named for the famous artist, this burger featured picturesque-sounding thick-cut bacon, a sunny side up egg and American cheese. Rockwell would have it no other way. I ordered mine medium-rare and stuck with fries for my side.
It turned out that the burger was almost as beautiful as one of Rockwell’s paintings, but I like to think he would have been just as upset as I was about the pickles that had made their way to my plate. Even worse, they rendered a small part of the bun inedible. But I powered through and went to town on my burger. It was really quite tasty and actually came close to being cooked medium-rare. I am beginning to accept medium in Pittsburgh and that is making me sad, but it simply seems that restaurants have trouble getting that pink in there.
Nonetheless, The Elbow Room provided one of the best-executed breakfasty burgers I have had. This means I will definitely be back for their other burgs. Norman Rockwell would be proud, assuming he remembers to order without pickles.
