Lucky's Last Chance chef to compete on Food Network's 'Chopped'

Philly fans of "Chopped" — a fast-paced reality competition that pits three chefs armed with baskets of tricky mystery ingredients against each other — will have a local contestant to root for this week.

Pat McHenry, kitchen manager at Lucky's Last Chance in Manayunk (4421 Main St.), will appear on the TV show in an episode airing Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 8 p.m. on Food Network.

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The episode, which is the first of Season 56, is titled "Burger: Impossible."

While McHenry's competitors and the panel of judges have not yet been revealed, Food Network describes the episode as follows:

"Bring on the burger battle! Four chefs who are obsessed with burger mastery compete to see who will reign supreme. The grinders are going strong from the start as the chefs race to make magnificent appetizer burgers using premium beef before setting their sights on epic lamb burgers for the main. As if making sweet burgers for dessert wasn't challenging enough, one chef ups the level of difficulty by breaking a critical piece of kitchen equipment."

Burgers should be no problem for McHenry. Lucky's Last Chance — which also has locations in Queen Village and Roxborough — is known for its burgers, as well as craft beer and hot dogs.

The restaurant's PB & Bacon burger, which features the unlikely pairing of peanut butter and jelly with beef and bacon, is a three-time winner of the Philly Burger Brawl.

Lucky's Last Chance was also featured on "Good Morning America" last year for the program's Burger Battle. Lucky's emerge victorious against Brewerytown's Spot Gourmet Burgers before losing in the next round to the Houston-based Trill Burgers.

There have been plenty of TV contestants from the Philly region in recent months, including several "Jeopardy!" competitors and a finalist on the current season of "The Bachelorette." Here's hoping McHenry joins the ranks of the area's reality TV legends when his episode airs tomorrow.