INGOOD TASTE
Candid conversations with the dining scene ’ s most engaging chefs
Mike McCoy , Owner , Moonlit Burgers
Moonlit Burgers 1426 Potomac Avenue , Dormont ; 412.505.7020 , moonlitburgers . com
On the Menu : Classic American diner fare with a twist . Appetizers include Smash Fries featuring shoestring French fries , double patty , onion , cheese sauce , Moon Sauce , and pickled jalapeños ; a Mixed Green Salad with house vinaigrette , tomato , chickpeas , cucumber , and onion ; a Caesar Salad with romaine lettuce , parmesan cheese and croutons ; a Smashburgh Salad with a double patty , iceberg lettuce , fries , tomato , egg and bacon ; Smashburger Queso Dip with tortilla chips ; and Moonlit Chili . The Burgers menu offers a Classic Moonlit Burger made with a double patty , griddled onions , American cheese , kosher dill pickles and Moon sauce on a Martin ’ s potato roll , the Half Moon Burger with a single patty , a Bacon Double Cheeseburger , Kids Burger and a Veggie Burger with a single Beyond Meat patty and gluten-free bun available upon request . Under Fried Chicken there ’ s The Moon Bird Chicken Sandwich made with pickle-brined Smashburgh Hot tenders , jalapeño cilantro slaw , pickles and Moon sauce , and Pickle Brined Tenders with a choice of sauces including Smashville Hot , Garlic Parmesan , Korean BBQ , Buffalo and Texas Pete ’ s Hot Honey . The Cocktails and Drafts menu ranges from a Bourbon Punch and Aperol Spritz to Hop Farm and Old Thunder , to name a few .
What led you to open Moonlit Burgers ? I was a partner in a group called Sienna on the Square and Burnt Orange Restaurant Group . I ’ m not involved in the day-to-day operations anymore , so during the pandemic my business partner and I decided to open a restaurant . When we were coming up with different names for the restaurant it was a feeling of nostalgia that we were looking for . Researching through midcentury crescent signs and moons reminded us of a burger . And we named it Moonlit Burgers . I started doing pop-ups for Moonlit at places like Millie ’ s Ice Cream in Shadyside and io Deli on Beverly Road in Mt . Lebanon . The response was great . We sold 400 burgers in two hours . The next week we only did online orders . We started looking for our own space and I reached out to the landlord of where we are now and asked him if I could rent this space .
Describe your love for burgers . I ’ ve always loved burgers . I grew up in southern California and I ’ ve been in fine dining most of my life , so I wanted to concentrate on a specific menu — and burgers are delicious but straightforward . Our menu is very simple and revolves around our smash burger . It starts out as a meatball placed on the griddle at a very high heat . Then you smash it with a spatula . It ’ s seasoned with our griddled onions and a slice of American cheese . On the side we add shoestring fries — it fits our burgers , and it ’ s funny — a Hamm ’ s beer . All these big-time brewers come in and our customers order Hamm ’ s . It ’ s been great with foot traffic for in-
( Left to right ) Mike McCoy , Owner , Moonlit Burgers , Derek Stevens and Dormont Mayor Jason Walsh .
house dining , but we also do a lot of takeout .
What business tool can ’ t you live without ? If you were to ask the chef , the tool he couldn ’ t live without would be our griddles or the spatula to smash the burgers . For me , Instagram has been a business tool . It helped to spread the word about us .
What ’ s your favorite quick meal to prepare at home ? I ’ m good at making a New Orleans-style gumbo . It ’ s just an easy chicken , shrimp and andouille sausage meal .
What ’ s your favorite go-to ingredient ? I really like gochujang sauce ( a sweet and spicy Korean recipe ).
What ’ s your best advice for a novice ? I ’ ve been in this business all my life and my advice is to have a passion for it . Don ’ t romanticize it because there are things you don ’ t know or see that you will need to be prepared for . It ’ s going to take a lot of work , so you have to be present . If you do , this industry can be very rewarding .
Where is your favorite place to eat other than Moonlit Burgers ? There ’ s a little place in Brookline called Oak Hill Post . Their breakfast burrito is really good . I also enjoy going to Leo Greta in Carnegie .
What ’ s the next big food or dining trend ? I believe what we ’ re doing here with a nostalgic concept is very scalable . I hope we can open another one or two of these in the Strip District or in the East End — that would be great . n
— Reese Randall
The Classic Moonlit Burger .
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