Making Your Burger Pittsburgh-Style Couldn't Be Easier

Pennsylvania is known for a lot of classic sandwiches. It's not surprise that the Philly cheesesteak makes the list of Food Republic's signature sandwich in every U.S. state for Pennsylvania. But then there are the iconic Wawa to-go sandwiches of course, with an Italian hoagie as a constant classic on the menu. You can go with some old-school scrapple to get a taste of Pennsylvania Dutch Amish influence. But, when you're in The Steel City, you might need to try a burger but have it Pittsburgh style, a Pittsburgh sandwich, as it's called — or more directly to the point, a Pitts-Burger. It's a delicious combination of cooked ground beef topped with provolone cheese, tomatoes, coleslaw, and French fries on Italian bread.

To make your Pitts-Burger, you need to start with the right coleslaw. Some coleslaws can be a bit on the sweet side, but this one calls for something with a heavier vinegar kick. To get there, you can start with an easy coleslaw recipe, but toss in some vinegar for the added tanginess. From there, grill or fry your burger patty, top it with a slice of provolone, a slice of tomato, and French fries. While straight-cut French fries are traditional, pretty much anything will do — from steak fries to seasoned, curly cut fries. The textures and flavors meld together beautifully, with a good chew, saltiness, vinegar, and crunch in every bite.

What we know as the Pittsburgh-style burger appears to have originated from the iconic Primanti Bros. Restaurant. As the story goes, Joe Primanti started with a sandwich cart on the street, in what is now known as the Strip District. Even though the country was on a low during the Great Depression, Primanti was getting good sales with his street sandwiches, so he opened a brick and mortar establishment in 1933. According to the Primanti Bros. website, Joe's nephew John DiPriter says that the Pitts-Burger began on a lark. He said, "One winter[,] someone drove up with a load of potatoes. He brought them over to the restaurant to see if they were frozen. I fried the potatoes on our grill[,] and they looked pretty good. A few customers asked for them — so I tossed them on the sandwich."

If you want to try the Pennsylvania classic without the hamburger, you can get a pastrami and cheese topped with a slice of tomato and the restaurant's famous, vinegar-heavy slaw. Or try a PB Reuben (Primanti Bros., Pittsburgh — read it how you like), that's a whole half pound of corned beef and pastrami, topped with Swiss cheese and parmesan horseradish mayo with grilled coleslaw. The menu also goes deep into wings, giant pretzels, and loaded onion rings. But if you're going for the original Pittsburgh-style burger, you probably want to order the Pitts-Burger and cheese, or just get an order of coleslaw to go and make it at home.