The custom burger popularized by The Counter seems to be present nearly everywhere these days, and Pittsburgh has not escaped the trend. Burgatory is one of those places, which I was introduced to my first night in Pittsburgh, and another is Stack’d in Shadyside. The options aren’t quite as extensive as Burgatory, but the burgers are priced a bit friendlier.

I grabbed a checklist and started choosing away, picking the half pound patty, pretzel bun, pepper jack cheese, Blazin’ BBQ sauce, Fritos (yes, Fritos!) and Cajun fries (which I was told came on the side and not on the burger itself). Funny enough, nowhere on the extensive list of options was a choice of how to prepare the beef, so I penciled in “Medium-Rare” next to the patty I chose and hoped it would be heeded.

When my burger arrived, it was looking pretty. The Fritos in place of anything resembling a vegetable made it even prettier, although a stray piece of lettuce was sitting on my bun and had to be forcibly removed. When I dug in, I couldn’t have been happier with the ingredients. The sauce had a nice kick to it to complement the cheese and I can’t say enough about Fritos as a topping. The pretzel bun was a nice touch, but definitely not the best pretzel bun I’ve had. Yet, with all these things going right, only one thing could ruin this burger and that was the patty itself. The burger actually featured two patties (each a quarter pound), and each were dry, brown and lifeless. Such a thing can ruin a burger and these patties really did. Subsequent visits have taught me I wasn’t just there on an off night.

But there was hope. The fries were pretty stellar and Stack’d cuts its prices to $3 a burger on Tuesday nights after 9:00. This price is perfect for these burgers and it is unlikely that I will ever go back to full price again.

Alas, the road trip had to come to an end someday. But that someday did not have to go without delicious food and our new town of Pittsburgh welcomed us with open arms and a lengthy wait at a burger place called Burgatory, in Fox Chapel. We were taken there by my family in Pittsburgh and they informed us that Burgatory simply had the best burgers in town. It was quite a claim, but one that I was eager to test in city that has “burg” in its name.

The place has a healthy number of burger options, including some unique meats like elk, bison and crab, but I was more interested in their custom menu. There were definitely some choices there to set the place apart from The Counter and the like. The biggest of which being the option to get a “Rub” for the burger, which is basically a seasoning. For my burger, I chose their regular hormone-free beef on a brioche bun, rubbed with Memphis BBQ seasoning and topped with Buffalo Cheddar, Sriracha Remoulade, a Fried Egg and Applewood Smoked Bacon. It came with homemade chips instead of fries, but we ordered a basket of Truffled Gorgonzola Pommes Frites to make up for it.

When all the food arrived and I began to have my way with it, I realized Burgatory was really something special. The fries were cooked to a perfect crisp and had just the right amount of salt, truffle and gorgonzola. The burger was cooked to a perfect medium-rare, the egg was nicely runny and the bacon was deliciously crispy. It all added up to a delicious meal and the perfect welcome to Pittsburgh. The burger bar had been set high and I was eager to taste how the rest of Pittsburgh would compare.