Cheeseburger Week

During Cheeseburger Week 2024 from January 21st to 27th, Pasadena dines in honor of Lionel

The original Rite Spot at 1500 West Colorado (at Avenue 64) in Pasadena.

Sternberger, the culinary genius in being the first to put cheese to hamburger and served it at the Rite Spot in Pasadena in 1924. His Aristocratic Burger was an instant culinary hit!

For 2024, we are changing things up somewhat.

We are adding a Cheeseburger Passport. Download the Cheeseburger passport, visit the participating restaurants, get your passport stamped and win prizes.

You can download the 2024 Cheeseburger Week passport here:

Pasadena Cheeseburger Week Passport 2024: Rules on Page Two (73.61 KB)

Then simply purchase something from participating businesses and get your passport stamped. As a bonus, The Stand is offering a 10% discount to Cheeseburger Week Passport holders through January 27th.

Then redeem your Cheeseburger passport for prizes:

4 purchases at different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins a $5. gift card to a local restaurant.

8 purchases at different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins a ten dollar gift card to a local Chamber member restaurant.

12 purchases at different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins: a $15 gift card to a local restaurant.

Visit all 16 participants (with stamped passport as proof of your purchase) and win the grand prize: a gift card tor dinner for two at a Chamber member restaurant. (Worth at least $50.)

INDIVIDUAL PURCHASE IS REQUIRED AT EACH RESTAURANT BY EACH PATRON TO RECEIVE THE STAMP. SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS, PROOF OF PURCHASE WILL BE REQUIRED TO REDEEM ALL PRIZES.

ONE PASSPORT PER PERSON-DUPLICATED OR COPIED PASSPORTS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.

SEE BACK OF PASSPORT FOR FULL RULES.

There are a few cheeseburger-themed events happening around Pasadena. Several Pasadena Hotels offer burgers and specials with a stay. Invite friends and family from all over for Cheeseburger Week and they can enjoy special perks. CLICK HERE for details on special events and hotel deals.

You can still take the Cheeseburger Challenge and vote for your favorites.

Check with individual restaurants about outdoor dining availability.

Forty of Pasadena's favorite restaurants, lounges and burger joints offered their signature burgers, some special creations and a deals during Pasadena Cheeseburger Week.

Some, such as The Raymond, El Portal, Yahaira's, The Stand, Kathleen's, Twohey's and others may offer specially created burgers for Cheeseburger Week. The Terrace at the Langham Huntington Hotel actually created a cheeseburger dessert for 2020!) This year The Royce Woodfired Steakhouse at the Langham has the Royal Royce Burger. It is decadent and delicious!

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF SPECIAL MEALS AND DEALS.

Still others offer special deals, such as Lucky Baldwin's special slider flight, The Great Maple's specially crafted burgers, Pie 'n Burger and Dog Haus.

You can download the Pie 'n Burger discount coupon here:

Pie_'n_Burger_Cheeseburger_Week_2024 Coupon (78.44 KB)

^{Be sure to check participant website links below for hours and offerings.}

Take the Cheeseburger Challenge here (live January 21st):

Check out all the participants and see what everyone has on the menu for Cheeseburger Week below. (The Restaurant and Menu link is not updated as information is changing daily due to the pandemic.

Again in 2024, you can vote for your favorites in the Cheeseburger Challenge. Who makes your favorite lunch counter burger? Who serves your favorite turkey burger? Who makes your favorite veggie burger? Who serves the best beverage with a burger? You decide during Cheeseburger Week, January 21st through January 27th. (Cheeseburger Challenge voting is live until 6:00pmpm on Sunday, January 28.)

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

We all mourn the passing for Jimmy Buffet. He personified FUN! He also liked cheeseburgers enough to immortalize Lionel Sternberger's invention in song (and a chain of restaurants).

So, here is, the official song of Cheeseburger Week:

Of course it is! RIP and many thanks Jimmy Buffet.

Let’s all enjoy a cheeseburgers (or lots of cheeseburgers) thruoghout Pasadena and salute Lionel Sternberger for his mastery, insight, pioneering innovation and daring in placing a piece of cheese atop a hamburger for the first time in recorded culinary history at his father's roadside stand, the Rite Spot at 1500 West Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Stop by to see the plaque honoring Lionel's culinary achievement.

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

The invention of the cheeseburger at the Rite Spot has been documented by the Los Angeles Times, Time magazine, cheese-burger.net, Hamburger Heaven:the Illustrated History of the Hamburger and The San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Even CNN is on the story: Click here to see Casey Wian’s CNN story on Cheeseburger Week 2012.

The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce hosts the eighth Cheeseburger Week and Cheeseburger Challenge.

The Rite Spot restaurant — The roadside stand became a brick-and-mortar restaurant and continued serving Aristocratic Burgers.

(Voting in the Cheeseburger Challenge is from January 21st to 28th). Once again, you’ll be able to vote for your favorites in a number of categories, from traditional lunch counter burgers to white table cloth an alternative cheeseburgers. We’ll also have an alternative cheeseburger category or two, as well.

Plan to come to Pasadena for a Cheeseburger Crawl, take the Cheeseburger Challenge and celebrate Lionel Sternberger’s culinary legacy in the city where the cheeseburger was first served.

Here are some special offerings:

Several participants in the 2024 Cheeseburger Week celebration and Cheeseburger Challenge are offering special meals and deals.

Here is who we have so far (many are still tentative, sorry. Keep checking back for participant info):

Want a burger break? How about the Lule Kebab Sandwich at Raffi's in East Pasadena. Or maybe Beef Ribs from Bone Kettle in Old Pasadena. Or at maybe a beef kafta kebab at Hummus Labs on Colorado Boulevard.

Maybe something from Burrito Express, Margarita's, Mijares or El Cholo is more to your taste. (After all, isn't a cheeseburger simply a beef burrito rearranged?)

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

Voting in the 2023 Cheeseburger Challenge opens January 21, 2024, and ends January 28, 2024 at 6:00pm.

Check out some more of our media coverage:

pasadena-cheeseburger-week-2024-kcal-cusine

Pasadena Sinks Its Teeth into Cheeseburger Week NBC Southern California

Cheeseburger Week is a Pasadena Restaurant Week and California Restaurant Month event presented by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

Cheeseburger Week is generously sponsored by Wells Fargo.