Best New Menu Item: Proof Of The Pudding’s Deep Fried Lemon Pepper Burger (2025 Excellence In Concessions Awards)

The best of venues finds a way to offer something familiar yet unique when it comes to hospitality, and Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia, has accomplished just that with one of its items: the deep-fried lemon pepper burger.

It’s a creation from Proof of the Pudding’s head chef, Levi Taylor IV, who has helped revamp the culture and presentation of the food at the building that the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and NBA G League’s College Park Skyhawks call home. Taylor was looking to create a fanfare item that could only be purchased at Gateway Center Arena.

“That’s how we got to the lemon pepper burger,” Taylor says. “We wanted to create something that pays homage to Atlanta culture, an Atlanta flavor. We wanted to create an item that, when you hear it, makes you scratch your head and say, ‘Did they just say what I think they said?’ … It’s such a unique taste. You would never have thought lemon pepper and ground beef would go together.”

Frying a double-battered, all-beef patty with lemon pepper seasoning and nestling it between a brioche bun, cheese, pickled onions, lettuce and tomato shouldn’t work, and it didn’t, initially. Taylor said it took about two weeks for him and his team to get it right. Though the venue staff was hesitant to sample the burger, they were converted after the first bite.

“Everyone that worked in the concession stand wore a T-shirt that said, ‘Fried Lemon Pepper Burger?’” Taylor says. “So, when fans read it, they stopped and asked what it was.”

The rollout strategy also had vendors providing samples, piquing fans’ interests. What especially helped was when reporter Buck Lanford featured the item on the local fox affiliate’s “Burgers with Buck feature.”

It was a hit with a majority of guests, and the burger gave Proof of the Pudding the tasty shock value it sought to create. The Atlanta-based catering company — which also handles food at venues like Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field and University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium — has worked with the Georgia International Convention Center for over two decades, changing the preconceived notion of such buildings having simple menu options.

“We’re not OK with giving the guest the bare minimum,” says Taylor, who commends Proof of the Pudding for encouraging chefs to be creative. “The whole idea is to every day give the guests something unique.”

And they accomplish that goal by partnering with local vendors for items like their lemon pepper burger. Proof of the Pudding uses grass-fed ground beef that comes in fresh, and the same can be said for the tomatoes and lettuce. The beefy burger comes with a side of waffle fries. Total price is $15.

“We wanted to keep the price point to a level where families can enjoy it because most of our events at the arena are family events,” Taylor says. “We’ve had countless guests ask for the recipe, and we just gave them a recipe card so they can try it at home. I’m pretty sure somebody’s trying it at home right now.”