LOGAN – This year the great American Cheeseburger turns 100-years-old, and the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce placed a plaque near the spot where it was born.
As legend has it, in 1924 Lionel Clark Sternberger, a 16-year-old, was cooking at his father’s burger and hotdog stand, “The Rite Spot,” and he burnt a customer’s hamburger.
The Rite Spot drive-in is given credit for the fist cheeseburger in America.
The enterprising young man slapped a slice of cheese on it to cover his mistake and gave it to the customer. The mistake was an instant hit and became a top seller at the California grill.
In 2017, Pasadena’s mayor unveiled a bronze plaque celebrating “the first instance of a hamburger with cheese being served to a customer.” The Pasadena Chamber of Commerce affixed the plaque to the ground where the Rite Spot was years ago.
The popularity of the Sternberger’s mistake soon spread across the country.
Cache Valley Daily decided to ask our self-proclaimed “Foodie,” Ryan Taylor, to rate the cheeseburgers in Cache Valley in order of quality and deliciousness.
Taylor is the company’s IT guru, broadcast engineer and is from South Africa. He is as close to a food expert as we could find.
Taylor and his family of four came to Logan in 2022 after living in Rexburg for four years.
It is no small secret that Taylor knows how to rate food. He has created his own Great Western USA Restaurants recommendation list on Google Maps where he lists his top eateries in the intermountain area. Over the last eight years, Taylor has additionally reviewed businesses, parks, places of interest and more throughout the world. His reviews and photos have been seen by more than 13 million people.
It’s been a hobby for Taylor; his Google profile has attracted thousands of viewers from all over the world. So far, most of his reviewed eateries are located in Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Utah.
“I have lots of Las Vegas restaurants on my list,” Taylor said. “I travel extensively and as a result I eat out a lot.”
Some places are internet recommendations, and some are recommended by people.
“Some of the recommendations are good because I’ve had a good experience, and some don’t equate to good experiences,” Taylor said. “Sometimes the food is good but the experience is poor.”
“I recently went into a place and told them we had ten people coming and we picked up two more people along the way,” he added. “The manager went the extra mile and made more room for us had we had a wonderful experience.”
Taylor worked at restaurants when in high school and worked his way up into management. He understands how they work and how they should work.
Ryan Taylor takes a bite of his Wendy’s cheeseburger on Friday Aug 2, 2024.
For Taylor, the top Cache Valley value cheeseburgers are as follows.
“I have to admit that I do love my Wendy’s Great Value Dave’s Double with extra cheese and meal,” he said. “My wife, Lauren’s, favorite burger place is a McDonalds cheeseburger due to its really cheap deals for less than $5.”
In terms of good quality cheeseburgers, his top 5 ratings in Cache Valley thus far would be:
1. Beehive Grill
2. Morty’s Cafe
3. Newton Market
4. Habit Burger
5. Cooks Underground
After 100 years of cheeseburgers there are probably 100’s of versions cooked on back yard grills and eateries across the country. The main thing, no matter how it is cooked, is to enjoy the experience of eating it.