Downtown Burger Battle 2019: Mackenzie River’s Handcrafted Tuscan Burger

Even though it is February now, I technically ate this burger before January was over so I did actually complete the mission of eating all 12 Downtown Burger Battle burgers within the allotted time!

The last burger on the agenda was Mackenzie River's Handcrafted Tuscan Burger. This burger is described as, "A handcrafted ½ lb. beef burger packed with Genoa salami & provolone cheese, topped with, arugula, and Chef Nate's house made sun-dried tomato pesto sauce. Served on our branded ciabatta bun with fries and a pepperoncini."

This burger totally made sense for Mackenzie River. Mackenzie River is known for its awesome pizza so doing a pizza/Italian inspired burger was so smart. Plus, nobody else's burger had an Italian flare so it made it stand out.

I love provolone so I was already on board. The sun-dried tomato pesto was delicious. Pesto is usually made with pine nuts and basil, which gives it a green color. However, I loved this version with sun-dried tomatoes!

My friends and I argued over whether they cheated by using ciabatta instead of a traditional bun or roll, but I think the ciabatta totally made sense and complimented the flavors. If Crave can use plantains as a bun then I think Mackenzie River can get away with ciabatta.

Also, I love arugula on pizza and on this burger. Arugula has a peppery note so it balances well with the salty pesto.

This was a great burger to finish the 2019 Downtown Burger Battle!!

12 down. 0 to go! Mission accomplished!