Stone Fire Grill: Real Cheeseburgers, Real Taste

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In a city like Pasadena, with its culinary embarrassment of riches, it’s to forget the longtime favorite spots, that amid the hubbub of the new, have been consistently turning out great food and vibes.

Enter Stone Fire Grill, in Hastings Ranch, just above the 210. There is a reason why it’s one of the City’s longtime favorites.

‘We love Pasadena. We love being here, and being a part of the City,” said Elly Salter, Stone Fire Grill’s catering sales manager Thursday, over one of their grilled cheeseburgers. Though so many restaurants have come and gone in the various Hastings Ranch shopping areas off Rosemead Boulevard north, Stone Fire has been a consistent neighbor.

Two things about the cheeseburgers at Stone Fire: the first is that cheeseburgers are a relatively new item on their menu. For so long, it was steak, ribs and chicken, no burgers to be found.

The other thing is that there are no “veggie” or plant-based burgers here, even though two members of the original founding Harriman family are vegetarians. As this correspondent knows, plant-based burgers are a bit of a dilemma—true vegetarians might be repulsed by any attempts to duplicate the taste and feel of beef, while carnivores simply might not see the point.

The Stone Fire Grill All American Cheeseburger comes with two three-ounce patties, American cheese, the aforementioned lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, and Stone Fire’s “Signature Spread” on a flour-dusted bun. It’s served with Salt and Pepper potato chips. (I allowed myself only a few of those.)

Back to the burger. You taste that smoky char of the grill right away, and that’s what nabs you. The patties are ground and prepared fresh, but you taste all the ingredients in the burger right away as well. Seriously inviting and delicious.

Here’s another thing you might not know: Pasadena’s Cheeseburger Week’s website also features a dessert category. Stone Fire’s contribution to that is its Incredible Carrot Cake—a thick slab of sweet crumbly cake packed with equally sweet nuts and carrots and paved with an intoxicating frosting. The brick-sized slices are designed to be shared—one can probably serve three polite people—but no one ever got arrested for not sharing.

Through our two-and-a-half-hour meal, Salter and I discussed the international rise in tourism in Europe, why everyone should go to Spain, and how children now grow up with sushi, something unheard of maybe just 25 years ago.

With most of the world’s problems solved, I was left with a plate full of chips, an extra cup of coffee, and a tempting carrot cake slab. I nibbled on it until it was finally time for the next assignment.

The carrot cake will live in the fridge overnight. Or it won’t.

StoneFire Grill is at 473 North Rosemead Boulevard, Pasadena, CA. (626-921-1255)