Get ready for The Pitch‘s first Burger Week with these five simple rules

It’s a simple idea: Get a bunch of restaurants to sell you $5 burgers for seven precious days. So simple, you’d think we’d have done it a long time ago. So simple, it sounds too good to be true.

But this is The Pitch‘s first Burger Week, and I’m telling you that it’s real — 14 restaurants (as of press time) around the metro, each offering a $5 valentine to this most elemental workaday meal, each doing it all day from October 20 to 26. Some of the burgers are basic, some deliciously elaborate. Burger Week is about variety, after all. Affordable variety. And beef. All of the beef.

Is there a catch? Nope. But whether you’re in the market for just one great $5 burger or you plan to wolf down two a day and hit every restaurant, I humbly suggest that you’ll get the most out of Burger Week if you read the following easy-to-follow guide to Burger Week etiquette.

1. Be cool.

Like I said, this is The Pitch‘s first Burger Week. We haven’t tried this before, and we don’t want to brag, but we’re expecting a serious turnout. And with 14 restaurants and bars participating in this $5 special, it’s not improbable that somebody could sell out of the day’s burger before you can get there. You can’t blame your fellow hungry burger fans for knowing a good thing when they see it. Take a breath and go back the next day.

2. You deserve some fries.

For $5, you can’t expect every Burger Week participant to throw in some fries or chips. And they don’t expect you to go crazy with sides and desserts, but show some love anyway. Buy a beverage. Order onion rings. Get a cookie. The restaurants don’t require that extra purchase, but don’t you?

3. Tell your friends.

Tweet your patties. Instagram your buns. Facebook your hungry pals. Today you got a deal. Tonight, talk it up. Tomorrow, get a deal with your friends.

4. Diet later.

Did we mention the whole $5 burger thing? Sounds good? Want it to be a regular thing? OK, then: Don’t stop at one burger. Go early (see rule No. 1) and go often. Show the world (or, anyway, your world; see rule No. 3) that when you build a $5 burger, people will come.

5. Tip like a burger king.

Workaday bargains don’t get much more satisfying than picking up a $12 burger for a five spot. But tip like you paid full price. (That means at least 20 percent.) You’ll feel better, and so will your server. Besides, if you fall in love with a burger that’s new to you, you’ll want to look everyone in the eyes when you return for another after Burger Week.

Your Burger Week Destinations

Bleu Burger
320 Southwest Blue Parkway, Lee’s Summit, bleuburgerkc.com
11 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–11 p.m. Friday–Saturday

This 20-month-old burger emporium in Lee’s Summit recently rolled out a new menu, and restaurateur Tony Olson is celebrating by designating one of his splashiest new burgers as the Burger Week special. It’s the Surf and Turf, a beef patty stuffed with a fresh scallop and topped with shredded crabmeat, spicy tartar sauce and fresh greens.

Chubby’s
3756 Broadway, chubbysonbroadway.com
24 hours, from 6 a.m. Tuesday through 2 p.m. Monday

A late-night burger mecca, Chubby’s is making the popular Fire Burger its Burger Week special. That means a double beef-patty burger with pepper jack cheese, sliced fresh jalapeños and a dab of chipotle mayo.

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Coda
1744 Broadway, codakc.com
11 a.m.–9 p.m. Tuesday–Friday

At Coda, Burger Week coincides with the introduction of the restaurant and music venue’s new menu, but owner William Saunders is going nostalgic for his Burger Week special. This week, the $5 burger is a sandwich created by original Coda co-owner Clint Hoffmeier: a patty topped with two fried onion rings, each filled with a scoop of chili. Yes, there’s still a slice of melted cheddar. And, yes, there’s a splash of Sriracha sauce.

Estelle’s Diner
3906 Waddell
10 p.m.–2 p.m. daily

The Burger Week special at Anton Kotar’s so-new-it-wasn’t-open-at-press-time midtown diner starts with a quarter-pound patty of grass-fed beef. Yup, it’s the same meat that you find at Kotar’s other place, Anton’s Taproom, and it comes with choice of cheese and a side of pommes frites.

Hereford House
8661 North Stoddard Avenue
19721 East Jackson Drive, Independence
5001 Town Center Drive, Leawood
17244 Midland Drive, Shawnee
Hours vary by location; see herefordhouse.com

At 8 ounces, the Hereford’s $5 burger is a slightly smaller version of the 10-ounce Herf Steakburger on the regular menu. The grilled burger is topped with smoked cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon and a fried egg.

The Reserve
Ambassador Hotel
1111 Grand, ambassadorhotelcollection.com
6:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Friday, 7 a.m.–11 p.m. Saturday–Sunday

The Reserve’s chef, Irish-born Shawn Brady, has created a special burger for Burger Week using a blend of Creekstone Farms ground chuck and brisket, mixed with chopped portobello mushrooms and grated Swiss cheese. It goes on a Farm to Market peppercorn brioche bun and comes to you smothered with a cream sauce of mushroom and Dijon mustard. House-made potato chips are included.

Ophelia’s
201 North Main, Independence, opheliasind.com
11 a.m.–9 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Friday–Saturday

For Burger Week, chef Bobby Stearns has created a peppercorn-pork-havarti burger, a slightly crunchy pork-belly sandwich. Stearns braises the slices of pork — think thick bacon — then pan-fries them, slips them into an asiago-cheese-and-peppercorn bun and adds caramelized red onion, wilted spinach and lemon-thyme aioli. It comes with hand-cut fries.

Tanner’s Bar & Grill, Waldo
7425 Broadway, tannersbarandgrill.com
11 a.m.–2 a.m. daily

Tanner’s is offering a “Big Popper” burger for Burger Week, and it’s a monster: a half-pound beef patty stuffed with golden-fried jalapeño poppers (filled with cream cheese) and topped with raspberry jam and melted pepper jack cheese. It’s served on a toasted brioche bun with lettuce, tomato and pickles. Fries or chips included.

Lew’s Grill & Bar
7539 Wornall, lewsgrillandbar.com
11 a.m.–2 a.m. daily

The Frisco is the featured burger: an 8-ounce all-beef patty topped with cheddar, flash-fried onion strings, bacon and chipotle-citrus barbecue sauce on Farm to Market sourdough.

12 Baltimore
Hotel Phillips
106 West 12th Street, hotelphillips.com
11 a.m.–11 p.m. Sunday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–1 a.m. Friday–Saturday

Like a little spice? Then put your $5 toward the “Hot Phillips,” a half-pound all-beef patty topped with cheddar, chipotle aioli, jalapeño jam, crispy onion straws and house-made pickled jalapeños. It comes on a brioche bun, with a side of hand-cut fries.

McFadden’s Sports Saloon
1330 Grand, mcfaddenskc.com
11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily

The McFadden’s “Crunch Burger” is the $5 special here: a 6-ounce Angus patty topped with bacon, lettuce and onion, and finished with house-made chips (on the bun).

Green Room Burgers & Beer
4010 Pennsylvania, greenroomkc.com
11 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-midnight Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday

Green Room is taking us at our name with its Pitch Burger, a double cheeseburger with two 2-ounce, in-house-ground beef patties. It’s topped with “Ol’ Yeller” sauce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and American cheese, all on a Roma potato bun. Fries cost $1 extra.

The Well
7421 Broadway, waldowell.com
11 a.m.–11 p.m. Monday–Thursday, 11 a.m.–midnight Friday–Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday

The Burger Week special here is a 7-ounce black Angus beef patty topped with smoked applewood bacon, cheddar, caramelized onion, lettuce and tomato on a toasted egg bun.

Unforked
7337 West 119th Street, Overland Park, unforked.com
11 a.m.–10 p.m. daily

The featured burger is the Akaushi, made with U.S.-bred wagyu cattle, the “Japanese Red” breed. It’s a beef that contains high concentrations of the heart-healthy fatty acid oleic acid, which Unforked owner Jim Sheridan sees as the ultimate get-out-of-the-cardiac-unit-free card. “You can eat as many burgers as you want, and it’s still healthy,” he says. If you’re going to challenge his science, this is clearly the week to do it.