Pineapple on a burger?!? You bet your bottom dollar we did! The rich, fresh, sweet flavors along with a crisp moist texture of the pineapple makes for an amazing topping to a salty, juicy, meaty mouthwatering burger. We are really excited about this burger and the past few months are proving that our guests are really excited about this burger as well! This month we talk about this history of this burger. Where did it come from? Why? When? I’m hungry thinking about it! Let’s dig in!
First, as much as we would like to take responsibility for this delightful creation, it has been around a great deal longer than the past few months. Adding pineapple to a burger actually takes its roots from adding pineapple to pizza. Trust me, we get some of the same comments about doing this that our sister restaurant Ultimate California Pizza gets for their Golden Hawaiian pizza! But we pushed on.
Pineapple on pizza started in 1962 at the hands of pizza genius Sam Panopoulos. He just wanted more and new customers to his Canadian pizza shop. Of course, his innovativeness created an argument that still rages on today, but the conflict has moved far beyond pizza. At this point, burgers have taken over the debate and while this fruity topping has been forced to endure an extremely arduous journey, it is winning! The popularity of pineapple on a burger has exploded over the past few years. In 2018, it was trending so aggressively in Australia, that their national news media did several spots on the burger.
Ray Kroc took inspiration from Sam Panopoulos about a year after and created the Hula Burger. And just like anything that is more than 50 years old, it has seen any number of variations and updates. It can also vary based on the part of the world you are in. At River City Cafe we have chosen to follow the more traditional Japanese/Hawaiian flavor profiles. We use teriyaki sauce to join the flavors of the pineapple and burger together. Teriyaki sauce shares some of the salty flavors from the burger, but also some of the sweet flavors from the pineapple, but it is sticky enough to hold everything together.
The rest of the burger fits the standard mold of a River City Cafe burger. Which basically means we take what other people have done and take it up 100 levels. You already know about the wonderfully tasteful River City Cafe burger, and we talked about the pineapple and teriyaki sauce, but this burger is so much more than that. We also added lettuce, tomato and mayo. But wait, there is more! Swiss cheese, bacon AND jalapenos round out this party for your mouth!
At River City Cafe we take our burger creations very seriously. The Big Island Burger follows a method that we have used for every burger on our menu. We rely on an extremely flavorful burger that continues to provide smiles. We top that burger with powerful flavor combinations that we know you will be excited to try! This Big Island Burger is BIG on flavor!
Interested in seeing what other burger combinations you can find at River City Cafe? Check out our menu here.
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