Blog | Pasadena Restaurant Week

Cheeseburger Week

During Cheeseburger Week from January 8th to January 13th, Pasadena honors Lionel Sternberger's genius in being the first to put cheese to hamburger and serve it at the Rite Spot in Pasadena in 1924.

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 Alondra Hot Wings, El Portal, dusit D2 hotel constance pasadena, Grill 168 at the Hilton Pasadena and Kings Row Gastropub have offered specially created burgers for Cheeseburger Week.

In 2016, Pie 'n Burger and Lucky Baldwin's (3 locations) offered special deals for Cheeseburger Week.

Check out all the participants from 2016 and see what everyone had on the menu for Cheeseburger Week by clicking here.

Again in 2017, 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 8th through January 13th.

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

For 2017, we will be adding several restaurants. Some participants will include special menu items or deals for patrons during Cheeseburger Week.

Now, the official song of Cheeseburger Week:

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Of course it is!

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

Let’s all 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.

Old Shop

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 third Cheeseburger Week and Cheeseburger Challenge January 8th to 13th. 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.

Scroll down to take the Cheeseburger Challenge.

Here are our participants from last year's Cheeseburger Week 2016 in Pasadena:

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

Voting in the 2017 Cheeseburger Challenge opens January 8, 2017, and ends January 14, 2017.

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 the City of Pasadena.