Description: Mon-Sat 10am-9pm : Western Steakburger sits on the edge of the up-and-coming San Diego neighborhood of North Park. Opened in 1983 by Greek immigrant “Gus” Constantinos Anastasiu and his effervescent wife Maria, the Greek influenced restaurant kept burgers and gyros separate for the first year. But sometime in 1984, Gus piled a wad of slice gyro meat on a finished burger and the Western Steakburger was born. The restaurant is set back from the street fronted by a large palm tree. If you sit on the small front patio, the soundtrack for your meal is the rustling of palm fronds and the occasional thump-thump of a passing urban party-on-wheels. Members of the San Diego Police Department make regular stops at this burger restaurant and have been for decades (cops always know where the good burgers are). But before you plan to sit beneath the palm fronds on University Avenue, plan on taking the afternoon off —this burger is a beast. The burgers are cooked over an open flame in full view of waiting patrons. Oval-shaped patties of fresh-ground beef are grilled to perfection and placed on toasted white squishy buns. Grill man Ricky then places a one-third pound pile of the salty gyro meat on the patty and delivers the burger with mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion. After my first bite I was in heaven. The familiar spice to the gyro meat complimented the burger well and somehow the pound of ingredients managed to stay neatly tucked into the soft bun. About 20 minutes after ingesting this glorious grease-bomb, I had to pull over in my rental car because I was having food coma hallucinations. My advice to you — do not operate heavy machinery or a motor vehicle after enjoying this burger. Maria was working the counter when I visited, “You have to love what you do. Mom and pops are a dying breed.” Western Steakburger was the first burger available to residents of North Park. Today, the tiny, family owned burger joint feels the heat from a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and a Burger King only a few blocks away. But thanks to recent development in the neighborhood (a condo just went up across the street) people are starting to take notice of Western Steakburger and their flair for coupling Greek and American foods. Maria told me laughing, “How come after 24 years people are just starting to come? Why couldn’t they come when we were younger and had more energy!” Source: www.hamburgeramerica.com

Type: Restaurants

Tel: 619-296-7058