Burgatory is one of the zillion new burger restaurants popping up in Western Pennsylvania. Burgatory is located in Waterworks Mall in Aspinwall. Word of mouth has been pretty positive about this joint, and in my quest to visit every burger restaurant in Pittsburgh, I decided to check it out.
So on a Tuesday at about 4:00 pm my eating companion and I arrived. We were quickly seated by our hostess, but then sat and waited for over 10 minutes before our server waited on us. This is while the manager and a group of other waitresses chit chatted at the corner of the bar right next to us. Also there were only 3 seated tables so it was anything but busy.
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| PB&J Shake $5.50 |
So to start off I ordered a PB&J Shake. Burgatory has a bunch of different flavors of shakes including shakes spiked with liquor. This shake was kick ass. Tasting of peanut butter with notes of berry it was about as good a shake as you can get. Be careful though, the shake is very filling and you can get full before your meal even arrives.
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| Pale Ale Onion RIngs $6.50 |
The onion rings were thick cut onions fried in a beer batter. To me good onion rings should be thin and airy, these were the exact opposite. The batter had a nice beer flavor to it but was way to greasy. The onion as you bit into the ring just slid out from the crunchy coating. An overall pretty crappy onion ring. The accompanying dipping sauces were both unique in flavor and would have been better if you had an onion ring worth a damn to dip in them. One sauce was a peppercorn cream whith a nice peppery yet mellow flavor. The other sauce was a chipotle horseradish dipping sauce which had a nice smoky and tangy flavor.
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| Fire Kissed Sriracha Wings $9.00 |
The wings were pretty decent. The sauce on the wings to me tasted like just plain sweet Thai chilli sauce with soy. If there was actual Sriracha sauce on the wings it was hardly noticeable. The sauce was actually very mild as far as spicy heat goes.The wings were well cooked being moist yet crispy.
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| Farmer Brown Burger $9.50 |
The Farmer Brown burger was ordered medium and comes topped with an over easy egg, maple cured ham, farmhouse cheddar, lettuce and mayo.
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| Action side view of Farmer Brown Burger |
First off all the burgers come accompanied with "a handful of sweet and russet potato chips". Whoever is in charge of the chips should be fired. The russet potato chips were soggy and had no crunch whatsoever, but they were terrific compared to the sweet potato chips that were inedible. It was like biting into a piece of chewy cardboard.
The burger itself came out being more medium well than medium. Of all the burger joints I have been, I must say I think Burgatory might have the juiciest, most flavorful burger of them all. The patty was not only juicy but also had a great meaty flavor. Burgatory claims that their beef is all natural and hormone free as well. The buns they use were nice and airy yet retained their form so the burger did not become a big mess. The toppings all were fresh and of high quality. The combination of ham and egg reminded me of a good breakfast. The cheddar added nice flavor as well.
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| Mortys Steakhouse Burger $10.00 |
The Mortys Steakhouse burger was cooked a perfect medium just as I had ordered.
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| Mortys Steakhouse Burger Action Shot |
The Morty Steakhouse burger comes topped with haystack onions(crispy onion straws), cabernet sauce, horseradish cheddar, and the burger itself is crusted in black peppercorns. Just like the other burger the actual beef patty was awesome. The addition of the peppercorn added even more flavor to an already excellent burger. The cabernet sauce tasted of wine and demi glace, and mixed in well with the onions and horseradish cheddar. Nit picking a little, but they could have cut down on the number of onions which was a tad excessive. This burger came with the same crappy chips as well.
Burgatory, while having the actual best burger I have tried yet, failed in some other key aspects of my visit. The service needs to be improved. The chips are almost comically bad, especially since they come with such a terrific burger. The appetizer menu could be expanded and improved upon. Prices are a little on the high side .
But the fact is if you want a great burger head to burgatory. Despite some of its other shortcomings it is still worth going for the burgers alone.
RATING
PB&J Shake 9/10
Pale Ale Onion Rings 4/10
Fire Kissed Sriracha Wings 7/10
Farmer Brown Burger 8/10
Mortys Steakhouse Burger 9/10
Overall: 7/10
