Welcome back to mmm-yoso!!! Kirk 's been writing a lot of posts lately and Cathy has a few contributions which can be part of "it's been a while week". This is one.
When Kirk mentioned that he had a lot of revisits he could write about, I knew exactly what he was talking about. I pretty much had posted on all 'new' places during His and The Missus' most recent vacation, yet The Mister and I have had our favorite places and rotation, which I just don't bother mentioning here again and again. When I saw Kirk hadn't posted on some places since 2007, I decided that a revisit of places I had posted on in 2011 would be 'too soon', so went back to the archives of this blog, when Kirk and The Missus went on their first 'blogcation' - It was in September/October of 2006 when I held down the blog for about three weeks, deleting spammers and contributing posts about what and where The Mister and I enjoyed eating.
One of those posts was about Charley's Famous Hamburgers, a small drive thru/walk up limited menu restaurant in Lemon Grove. It's still there -and has been there since 1973.
Charley's was and still is a regular stop when in the area. It's so very familiar, with a consistent quality and low price point.
Until I looked at my post from October 2006, I didn't realize that the menu (as well as the menu prices) is close to unchanged after all this time.
Well I do like consistency.
The Mister and I needed to 'research' what could possibly be different; what has changed since 2006.
The outdoor tables next to the drive thru are the same.
The covered seating (three picnic benches and overhead lighting) is still there, as well as the 125/54/94 freeway overpass.
One item I sometimes order here is the BLT ($3.69) The same thick, perfectly cooked, flavorful bacon that Charley's is known for…BUT only five slices (instead of six slices in 2006)-a bow to inflation. Still, it's a lot of bacon and the sandwich(served on a lightly toasted sesame seeded bun) is a really good deal. As always, shredded lettuce is used liberally at Charley's.
Something I hadn't posted that first time, but tend to order when needing a quick meal, is the basic grilled cheese ($1.79)…white bread, American cheese in a good amount, grilled on the flat top resulting in a crispy edged wonderfully simple, basic and good sandwich. (I must confess if the BLT is ordered, I pull out a slice of bacon to put between the pried open goopy mess of the grilled cheese sandwich) (a side order of three slices of bacon is $1.59…and, yes, I have considered the possibility of that being an order).
The chili cheese fries (small, $2.89) are exactly the same. Crispy, thin standard fries topped with melted cheese and a bean based nice flavored (not too spicy hot) chili. Everything is made to order here, so the fries are always good in that sense.
See those fried apple pies? $1.29 each or two for $2. FRIED to order. So good.
If you are so inclined, the carmel apple pie shake ($3.09) is not a conglomoration of odd syrups mixed to achieve an apple pie flavor; it is made with one of these cooked pies blended with vanilla ice milk…so you get crusty bits of pie dough stuck in your straw, along with chunks of apples. The banana shake is made with a real banana and the peanut butter shake is made with real peanut butter. {The other (less expensive) shakes (the ones you can order in size small or large) are made with syrups}.
The onion rings ($2.09 ) however, have changed and are no longer the individually breaded and fried rings of days gone by. The interior is the mushy mess of chopped onion…I'd forgotten the reason I stopped ordering these a while ago…
The kabob is what keeps me coming back. This is the double kabob with bacon ($5.49) cut in half. On a flat non-pocketed pita are two semi-thick slices of seasoned ground beef surrounding melted cheese and more of that thick, good flavored bacon. The rest of the sandwich is unique yet simple- mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, tomato AND sliced/chopped green peppers with sliced radishes. The flavor combination is just right; always was, still is. {as a side note, you can order a single kabob sandwich and either with or without bacon}
The double cheese hamburger ($3.39). Pretty much it's the same; maybe not as good as I remember; maybe my tastes have changed. Still, it's tasty, with hand formed coarse ground beef patties cooked on the flat top, achieving a nice char. The American cheese is something I never overly cared for and it doesn't matter to me..the toppings (again, the shredded lettuce as well as sliced onion and tomato along with mayonnaise) are always fresh and complimented by the lightly toasted sesame seed topped bun.
It was fun to be able to look back at my 'early days' of blogging and fun to go back to Charley's-with the 'new' freeway junction, we aren't regularly taking those side roads unless there's backed up traffic.
Charley's Famous Burgers (kabobs and shakes) 8213 Broadway, Lemon Grove 91945 (619)460-2690 Open 7:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.