Behind this somewhat unassuming frontage lies a culinary delight. Wolfe Burgers is located on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, right across the street from my office. Rather annoyingly, there is no cross-walk, tunnel or overhead walkway to get directly across the street to Wolfe Burger, so you either have to walk down the street to Colorado, cross and then head back up Lake Ave, or walk up to Union and ....oh, you get the idea.
I love burgers, but I was not sure that I would enjoy the taste of wolf. Fortunately, for me and for wolves everywhere, I had completely misunderstood the concept of this place. Phew! I ordered the Wolfe Ultimate Burger, and here it is: toasted bun, tomato, lettuce (not too much lettuce, which I applaud), red onions and blue cheese atop a beautifully cooked burger. The cheese MADE this for me. I also loved the fries, which believe me, I could tell were not cooked in 3 day old oil - these babies were FRESH!
My only gripe (and this is not a criticism of Wolfe Burger - its a purely personal thing) was that the bacon was WAY too crispy. I prefer my bacon-al-dente, if there is such a thing (there is now - I just invented it). Overall I give the Ultimate Wolfe Burger 9.9 out of 10.0. And I'm not kidding, the blue cheese was just a delicious extra touch. The Ultimate Wolfe Burger was $9.75 (including my large drink) and although I wouldn't spend almost ten bucks every day on a burger, the freshness of the burger and the size of the meal, well, it was money well spent. Obviously this is also not a particularly healthy lunch, but once a week is a nice treat for me. And I can't blame my extra pounds on burgers (I blame it on my diet-of-facebook-and-blogging-addiction-and-general-innertia...but I digress).
\If you don't want a burger there are other options: Pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, omelettes, pastrami, ruben and steak sandwiches, burritos, tacos, quesadillas, and a wonderful selection of different salads. You can also select from an excellent variety of side dishes including: mushrooms, onions rings, baked potatoes and zucchini. Heck, they even have biscuits and gravy ya'll!!
I sat right in front of the kitchen and ordering area. They have some neat "wolf" artwork, and a great corner condiment bar for everything you might need. I was also impressed at how clean this place is. You know how sometimes when you go to a condiment bar and you just cringe at the grease and grime and the goop all over the mustard and ketchup packets? Well, not Wolfe Burger. The place is absolutely immaculate.
In additional to the interior seating area, which has lots of tables and a big screen t.v., there is an outdoor patio, and beyond that, an additional outside seating area. All walks of life wandered in through the front door - business people, tourists, locals with theirs kids -- its a nice mix of people, all just wanting a good old American Burger.
In summation, Wolfe Burgers is all about fast GOOD food . Wolfe Burger is all about the short order cook and FRESH ingredients. Its not the kind of place I would immediately think of to go on a first date, but if you are in Pasadena, Wolfe Burger is where its at for great fast food, competitive prices and cleanliness. I should add that the staff at the front with whom you order are very fast, friendly and helpful. Kudos to the Wolfe staff!!
You can check out the menu at: http://www.wolfeburgers.com/
7 comments:
Oh! I know right where you work. I have not been to Wolfe Burgers, but I've passed by it a few times.
Karla, you should check it out. you, me and Kaylene should go one night.
Seriously? You're complaining about crispy bacon? Most of us have to say, "Burn it!" to get it back halfway edible. If you want to chew the fat -- literally -- tell 'em to fix it fast and fatty. ;-)
Otherwise, great review! Looks like a nice place.
Looks delicious! But don't you think bleu/blue cheese sometimes overpowers a burger? It's tough to get the flavors to balance. Sounds like Wolfe got it to work though... will have to check it out.
thanks Burger Club!!
Looks like my kind of burger! YUM! I like crispy bacon so your 9.9/10 would be a 9.95/10 in my burger book. Have to add it to the list of fattening places I need on my bucket list to eat at before I die!
Wow, this place sounds like a dream. Gotta try this place out; the food looks delicious. I happen to need my bacon hard or else I'm gonna be in some mighty serious pain afterwards, but that issue notwithstanding, the last time I had a burger like the one you described was when I was at this place in Hermosa Beach that was really quite nice. Can't remember the name of it now since it's been at least 11 years since I've been. But getting out to HB is not easy and Pasadena is significantly easier to visit. I spend a lot of time out there and frequently have wanted to find a decent burger joint. I'm almost sure to try it now that I know it exists. It's also good to know they have pancakes; I love those, heh.
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