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I'm talking about the original Crown Cheeseburger. The legendary char-grilled beef topped with cheese and a pile of hot pastrami. Any good city in the United States has a burger place, that one locally-owned take out burger place that puts forward a different take on America's favorite sandwich, or just makes it better than the chain restaurants.
Some are better than others. Tommy's Burgers in L.A., for example, has a religious following. The world famous Tommy's chili gooped on every burger and order of fries never sat well with me growing up, but I acknowledge many others would disagree. My problem was, I was five years old when I was thinking my Dad was bringing home a McDonald's burger. Instead I got this sloppy, messy, oversized, smelly whatever. I was crushed and I swore I would never eat a Tommy's burger. Remember, I was five.
Some don't mess with adding another layer of meat or chili, they just try to make it old fashioned, fresh and good. On that note, South 21 in Charlotte or the Varsity in Atlanta come to mind as a pair of quickly served, fresh made offerings that should represent those cities. If you're ever in the middle of nowhere, SC, stop by the Beacon in Spartanburg. Plenty of bars made good cheeseburgers in Fort Myers, but I'm talking about old-looking logos on boxes and bags, places that look more like a Sonic than a Chili's. A menu board instead of a menu.
With warmest regards and nothing but respect for the Training Table, Arctic Circle, Apollo Burgers, etc., Crown is the burger that Salt Lake should put on its city seal, the burger that should represent us in every national competition. It's unique, it's different, it's brilliant. I don't care if others make it and I don't care if others do it better, I've lived all over the country and I had never heard of a pastrami-topped cheeseburger until I moved here.
Yes, I know, journalists shouldn't be biased and opinionated in their blogs. But we're talking cheeseburgers here, folks, not the Iraq War. I can and am ready and willing to do official endorsements for the greatest cheeseburger in the city. There, full disclosure.
