La Pulpería at Burger Week Panama: from La Basic Chic (2024) to Project Burger (2026)
La Pulpería won first place at the 2024 Burger Week Challenge with La Basic Chic. Two years later, our chef Elías Rodríguez took home the title of Burger Master Chef 2026 with Project Burger. This is the story of those two burgers.
Some burgers just pass through the menu. Others end up becoming part of a restaurant's story. Burger Week Panama has given us two of those.
Two different burgers. Two different moments for La Pulpe. And a good excuse to look back and tell how we got here.
Year | Burger | Result |
2024 | La Basic Chic (2.0 in the final) | First place, Burger Week Challenge |
2025 | Le French Kiss | Finalists |
2026 | Project Burger (2.0 in the final) | Burger Master Chef 2026: chef Elías Rodríguez |
2024: La Basic Chic
Burger Week Panama 2024 ran from March 1 to 25, with more than 80 restaurants from Panama City and the rest of the country, and wrapped up on April 6 with the Burger Week Fest & Challenge at Parque Felipe Motta, in Costa del Este.
Our entry was La Basic Chic, a burger built around a pretty simple idea: nail the essentials, then give them the twist that keeps it from feeling basic.
Toasted brioche with aromatic butter, a 6 oz patty, our not-so-basic basil sauce, double cheese (white cheddar and pepper jack), French onion soup–style onions with a touch of ginger, sweet peppered crunchy bacon and baby arugula.
And it started sending people to both Pulperías. Lots of people.
In an interview with La Guía del Foodie, we shared that some customers waited up to two hours to try it.
For the final, we brought La Basic Chic 2.0, an upgraded version of the burger we had been competing with. That night, La Pulpería took first place at the 2024 Burger Week Challenge, with La Tapa del Coco in second place and chef Sergio Landero in third. Elías, who had joined our kitchen just a few months earlier, took home the title.
Panama Weeks, the organizer of Burger Week, announced it as the winning burger of the 11th edition. And a year later, Revista Ellas once again remembered La Basic Chic 2.0 as the winning burger of the eleventh edition of Burger Week Panama.
What started as our burger for a few weeks turned into one of the biggest moments in La Pulpe's story.
2026: Project Burger
In 2025 we came back with Le French Kiss and made it to the final again, although that time we didn't make the podium. In 2026 it was time to try again. This time, Project Burger showed up.
Poppy seed brioche toasted in butter, a 6 oz 80/20 beef thick smash, melted Havarti and Pepper Jack cheeses, umami mayo, crispy nori tempura, fresh lettuce and tomato with black truffle. It came with crunchy parmesan fries and umami mayo.
It was a pretty different burger from La Basic Chic. And that was exactly the point.
We didn't want to make the 2024 burger again. We wanted to go back to Burger Week with something new and see how far it could go.
It went pretty far.
The 2026 Burger Week Fest & Challenge final
After the weeks of Burger Week, Elías Rodríguez, La Pulpería's chef, was one of the 10 finalist chefs who cooked on April 18 at the Burger Week Fest & Challenge, at Parque Felipe Motta in Costa del Este.
For that last challenge came Project Burger 2.0, an evolution of the burger served during Burger Week: poppy seed brioche, 80/20 Panamanian beef, cherry and San Marzano tomato jam with black truffle, Japanese mayo with horseradish, nori tempura, and Havarti and Colby Pepper Jack cheeses.
The result: Elías took first place and the title of Burger Master Chef 2026, in an edition that topped 315,000 specials sold.
Two years after La Basic Chic, we won again.
La Basic Chic and Project Burger: two burgers, two moments
The part we like most about these two wins is that they didn't come from doing the same thing.
La Basic Chic was about taking a familiar burger and showing how much could be done around the essentials.
Project Burger went another way: umami, nori, truffle, different textures and a somewhat more technical approach.
Between one and the other, La Pulpería changed too.
The team grew. The kitchen changed. New ideas came in. And we keep getting a little better at understanding what we want to put on the table.
Maybe that's why Burger Week has become something special for us.
It's not just about creating a burger for a few weeks.
It's a chance to step a little outside the menu, try things, get the team thinking and see how people respond.
"Sometimes the result is a line out the door. And, luckily, a couple of times it also ended in a trophy."
Frequently asked questions
Who won Burger Week Panama 2024?
La Pulpería won first place at the 2024 Burger Week Challenge, the final held on April 6, 2024, with La Basic Chic 2.0, the upgraded version of La Basic Chic that competed during Burger Week.
Who won Burger Week Panama 2026?
At the 2026 Burger Week Fest & Challenge, chef Elías Rodríguez of La Pulpería was named Burger Master Chef 2026 with Project Burger 2.0. The People's Choice award went to La Malcriada, from Tosto Coffee.
Can I still order La Basic Chic or Project Burger?
No. Our Burger Week burgers are special editions: we create them to compete and they are only available during the event. If you want to try the next one, your chance is during Burger Week.
Where is La Pulpería?
La Pulpería has two locations in Panama City:
Casco Antiguo: Calle 9 Este, next to Rana Dorada. Book in Casco Antiguo.
San Francisco: Calle 71, next to Tomillo. Book in San Francisco.
Because Burger Week lasts a few weeks. La Pulpe is here the rest of the year. See our menu.
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