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 2023, 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.

Download the Cheeseburger passport here:

Then simply purchase something from participating businesses and get your passport stamped.

Then redeem your Cheeseburger passport for prizes:

5 visits to different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins:

10 visits to different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins:

15 visits to different participants (with stamped passport to prove it) wins:

Visit all 20 participants (with stamped passport to prove it) and win the grans prize: Dinner for two at one of the following:

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

Check with individual restaurants about outdoor dining availability. During the pandemic, it is also best to reserve a table ahead, even at a burger stand.

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 and others may offer specially created burgers for Cheeseburger Week. The Terrace at the Langham Huntington Hotel actually created a cheeseburger dessert for 2020!)

Still others offer special deals, such as Pie 'n Burger and Dog Haus. You can download the Pie 'n Burger discount coupon here:

Pie 'n Burger 2023 Cheeseburger Week Discount Coupon (78.63 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 2023, 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 22nd through January 28th. (Cheeseburger Challenge voting is live until 11:59pm on Saturday, January 28.)

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

We all mourn the passing for Jimmy Buffet. He personified FUN! He also liked cheeseburgers enougn to immortalize Lionel Sternberger's invention in song.

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.

Cheeseburger Slideshow

The Cheeseburger Salad at Slater's 50/50
Dry-Aged Burger at Kings Row Gastropub
Slater's 50/50 serves the Old Timey Burger
The Lamb Burger at Haven Gastropub + Brewery
Cheeseburgers from Pasadena's classic Pie 'n Burger
Delicious Dog Haus Freiburger for Cheeseburger Week.
Promoting Cheeseburger Week 2014, Haven Gastropub + Brewery, New York Deli, Trattoria Neapolis and Dog Haus appeared on the KTLA Morning News.
The Counter's famous burger hypnotizes a customer.

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 22nd 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 2023 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.

For participant address, menu and special offer information click on Restaurant Participants above.

Voting in the 2023 Cheeseburger Challenge opens January 22, 2023, and ends January 28, 2023 at 11:59pm.

Check out some more of our media coverage:

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.