It’s Cheeseburger Week, Vote for Your Favorite

Pasadena celebrates its heritage as the birthplace of the cheeseburger during January’s Cheeseburger Week. More than 20 restaurants are taking part, offering cheeseburgers, cheeseburger-inspired fare and alternatives to cheeseburgers.

You can vote for your favorites here.

Who makes the best traditional cheeseburger? Is it Pie ‘n Burger or The Counter? Perhaps you’ll find the perfect burger at Kings Row Gastropub or maybe Toro Sushi makes the burger that’s most to your liking.

Try them all then vote for the one you like best.

Who makes the best gourmet burger? Vertical Wine Bistro? Quadrupel? a/k/a An American Bistro? You get to vote.

Since Lionel Sternberger first slapped a slice of cheese on a burger at the Rite Spot in west Pasadena in the mid-1920s, America and the world have fallen in love with the cheeseburger.

(Want proof that Pasadena is the home of the cheeseburger? Check out  this LA Times story from   or this one offering further proof from MetNews  and even Wikipedia has it listed as the Rite Spot in Pasadena. The final authority? Try What’s Cooking America that offers up Lionel Sternberger and the Rite Spot at 1500 West Colorado in Pasadena as the place where cheese was first laid atop a sizzling burger.

A listing of all restaurant participants, their menu offerings and specials,a s well as a few surprises, can be found at www.pasadenarestaurantweek.com/home/cheeseburger-week.

Pasadena Cheeseburger Week, from January 15 – 20, 2012, is presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce with support from the City of Pasadena. Pasadena Cheeseburger Week is a California Restaurant Month event.