PITTSBURGH — When I was about 7 years old, I determined that adding french fries to the top of a hamburger greatly enhanced that experience and I’ve been doing it ever since. Once, when I was a student at Penn State Hazleton, I had some McDonald’s with me at the beginning of class and I placed some fries on my double-cheeseburger. A classmate walked over and asked if I was from Pittsburgh. I informed him that I was not and while disappointed, he told me that’s how they eat burgers over there. I later learned that the originator of it was Primanti Bros., so one of my goals of the recent trip was to finally try a Primanti Bros. sammich.

We visited the Market Square location not far from PNC Park. Post-game on a Saturday evening, the place was packed and since it was so nice we decided to get take out and sit in the square. The wait was long — about 45 minutes in total. Thankfully, they have a bar and The Maryland Bureau Chief Emeritus and I ordered some whiskey and enjoyed it responsibly while we waited. Since we were not real hungry after ballpark food, my wife and I decided to split a roast beef sandwich.

In addition to fries, Primanti’s slams cole slaw onto the sammich and I’m using that verb accurately. We opted not to add a fried egg which is offered for an additional charge. The thick white bread is comprised under the weight of the tomato (I took mine off and mourned that it wasn’t used for Heinz ketchup), cole slaw, fries and beef. I’m no fan of cole slaw either, but I left it on for several bites. The fresh cut fries seemed a bit limp as well, something I previously observed ten years earlier at another Pittsburgh landmark, the “Original Hot Dog Shop” which I may go to the next time I’m out there. Overall, we both like the sammich and would go again, though probably not waiting 45 minutes for one.