Is this award-winning, local Latin burger the best? Miami has one week to try it
It’s spicy. It’s sweet. And if you don’t eat one now, you may never get a chance.
The Miami-based, Latin-inspired Pincho restaurant won the prestigious People’s Choice Award at the 2024 Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and its award-winning Jalapeño Delight has made it onto the fast-casual restaurant’s menu — but only for a week.
Topped with jalapeño jack cheese, jalapeño bacon jam, jalapeño bacon and cilantro jalapeño aioli and served on a butter brioche bun, the Jalapeño Delight is a creation the Pincho owners have been working on for a year, says co-founder Otto Othman.
“The Jalapeño Delight was at the top of our list,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard for the last few months just to get it right, because we thought that this was a winner.”
The burger blends the kick of the jalapeño with salty bacon and sweet bacon jam, and the result is a punch of flavor that’s spicy enough to make your forehead sweat a little without beating your taste buds mercilessly into submission. It’s gloriously messy and delectable, and although we were unable to try every single burger at the Bash, we have zero qualms about Pincho’s victory.
And please note: If you order a combo meal, there is no shame in mopping up any errant bacon jam with your fries.
This is the third time Pincho has won the People’s Choice Award at the festival. The restaurant also won the
People’s Choice Award in 2015 and became the first Miami restaurant to earn the honor (it won again in 2019). It was also named Best in Bun and People’s Choice at Burgerliscious competition in Coral Gables in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
and 2022.
Never content to rest on his meaty laurels, Othman is adamant that Pincho will always compete with a brand new item. His team will start planning how to defend its crown at the 2025 Burger Bash this week.
“We’ve already started talking about what we’re going to do for next year,” he says.
Originally known as Pincho Factory when Ottman founded it with partners Nedal Ahmad and Nizar Ahmad in 2010, Pincho has 10 locations across South Florida, including Kendall, Westchester, Pinecrest, Coral Gables and Hialeah. There are also two locations in Broward, in Pembroke Pines and Sunrise, and three in Houston, with more set to open there in 2024.
The Jalapeño Delight burger will be available through March 3.