Hey, you found mmm-yoso!!!, a food blog. Welcome (back). Cathy is posting today, while Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are resting…or something.
Hi. I mentioned that we've been busy daily since Thanksgiving and have a bunch of meals to share. One of the days in December, The Mister and I returned to Pasadena to visit Rose Parade float decorating and stopped at a Starbucks and I was checking my email and had a note from Dennis, who writes A Radiused Corner. I mentioned where I was and he told us to go to Pie N' Burger, where he used to go when he was at University in Pasadena. I used the handy dandy "maps" app on my iPhone, found we were 1.1 miles away and that became our lunch venue.
When we got here, we found out that Pie N' Burger also sells breakfast and bakes their own white and wheat bread as well as pastries other than pie. They also serve fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juices and items other than burgers. PLUS- when you order a soda, they pump syrup into the glass, then soda water…real soda. Mental notes were made for our return visit.
Located inside this rectangular building, with a small streetfront presence, Pie N' Burger has been in this location on East California Street since 1963.
The menu on the wall, above the pie display, near the back of the building, has current prices. The Formica counter with chairs and swivel stools runs from the front of the store all the way to the back- about 20 seats. Near the front of the building is the grill, which had the seats I coveted (and did not photograph, since so many people were sitting around it).
The Mister, in his quest for a great chili,ordered a Chili Size ($11.50)- two patties topped with chili, cheese and onions (of course The Mister did not order onions…) This comes with a toasted bun on the side. In this article about the history of chili, the 8th paragraph from the bottom describes the origin of "chili size".
This was my hamburger ($6.75). You can see the patty is hand-formed and not at all perfect.
We ordered all of our burgers to be cooked medium rare. The burgers were seasoned, although the bean-filled-chili with deep flavor overwhelmed the burgers on The Mister's plate. The meal itself was very filling.
Here is my burger in my (small) hand. It comes on a toasted bun with Thousand Island (made fresh here), pickles and lettuce as well as onions (I got both raw and grilled onions, to make up for The Mister's misguided belief that onions are evil). I found out later that you have to ask for tomato (which does not cost extra…you just have to ask).
As you can see, they cooked this fresh ground, hand formed burger perfectly. I did add salt at some point, but it was at the last 1/4 of the burger and I wanted to 'spice up' the lettuce and onions. Plus, I had eaten all of the pickles…
We plan to go back (when hungrier) and try out other menu items. Thanks for sharing your hangout, Dennis!
Pie N Burger 913 East California, Pasadena, CA (626)795-1123 Website