It's a long way from Guatemala City to Armagh for Lit Burger!

LIT Burger is a recently opened Gourmet Burger & Fries takeaway that brings an international taste to the traditional Burgers we’ve come to enjoy here.

Maria Bucaro, originally from Guatemala, moved to Armagh in 2019 having met her partner who is from Armagh while in London. Maria’s plan had been to move to Spain to set up a new life there and continue her career as a Commercial Project Manager, but fate stepped in with other plans. Though having had a successful career with a Commercial Construction company who built Shopping Malls in Central America, Maria always had a love for food.

Mealtimes and family occasions are a big part of the Latin culture, with every meal being an occasion and opportunity to try different dishes as part of the experience. Maria comments that; “When we gather around for a special occasion with friends and family, food is central to the experience. There is always a spread of different foods from barbecued meats, paellas and carpaccio and it’s not uncommon for the meal to last for hours as we talk, laugh, dance, and catch up with each other. The kitchen table is where we come together.”

For Maria growing up, this also created her interest in food along with helping her mother prepare for events that catered to corporate events and helping in her father’s Frances’s export business that supplied fresh fruit and vegetables to the US Market. And so, Maria also went on to gain an International Chef qualification in a leading culinary school in Guatemala after completing her degree – in some ways perhaps destined to work in the food industry.

Moving to Northern Ireland just as the pandemic was kicking in and on the back of that a recession, it was a challenge finding full time roles in the industry Maria was familiar here. However, that’s when Maria decided it was worth a shot to open her own food business here in Armagh in December and put her energy into something she could call her own.

“Lit Burger is simple in its concept, I wanted to give people here food they enjoy, but with a different taste so that I could add my own touch to it. We make the burgers by hand and add our own ingredients more common to Central America for a unique flavour profile. We have a number of different options to choose from for our burgers, including the classic Funky Burger, a Fajita burger and Torito Burger – which is common treat back home that has the handmade beef burger, ham, fried egg, lettuce, tomato and onion. So far our Funky Burger is a real favourite with customers.

Our spicy Chicken Wings are also made using a sauce I make from hand that that are more like the wings you would find in America, with unique spices from Central America. So far customers are loving them! We also have a range of traditional ‘chippy’ foods, meals for kids and we recently added nachos and churros as treats to the menu. The key thing is that we make many of the offerings by hand in the shop and add a flavour inspired by taste from other countries, having traveled to over 40 countries in my time.

We are currently open as a takeaway Tues-Sat and we offer collection and delivery service to customers in the local area. As of next week, we will be introducing a small lunch menu to from 12-3pm Tues-Fri and our ambition is to open a small sit-down area in the months ahead in our location within the Gazette Arcade in Scotch St & Linenhall Street. We’re a small family business, it’s always challenging opening a new business, especially in a recession, but we hope customers find something new and tasty in our food and the fact it’s handmade with love.

Thank you to all our costumers.