20″…and it’s still falling.

It’s not often that our rust-encrusted hamlet makes noise on the national dining scene, so when it does, we need to shout it from the factorytops. Tessaro’s, the Bloomfield neighborhood stalwart since 1980, has long worn the crown of Pittsburgh’s greatest hamburger. But to draw the gaze of A Hamburger Today, burgerdom’s high council…that’s rarified air.

Full disclosure: for more than half of my tenure in Pittsburgh, I’ve lived within walking distance of Tessaro’s, sometimes close enough to catch a beefy waft if the breeze was blowing in the right direction. Dominic Piccola, the ex-fireman who grinds the burger meat daily, is the next-door neighbor of Devan Goldstein, official friend o’ Full Stop. I’ve probably eaten 50 Tessaro’s burgers in my life (bacon and bleu cheese, medium, with a side of steamed red potatoes, please). So I might be a little biased. Tessaro’s makes an awfully good burger. Is it the greatest in the country? Probably not. But don’t let that stop you.

Pittsburgh: Does Tessaro’s Serve America’s Greatest Pub Burger? (via A Hamburger Today)