# California burgers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290 "2004-08-24T16:14:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/1 "2004-08-24T16:14:16Z")
Last night for dinner, I made California burgers, as it was about all I had the ingredients for, as I’m moving on Friday. They were really good. I was wonding if anyone has a recipe that they really like for them and would be willing to share. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/2 "2004-08-24T16:22:45Z")
What the hell is a California burger? AFAIK, our burgers are the same as any place else has. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/3 "2004-08-24T16:46:51Z")
You know, the whole time I was growing up and living in California, I never heard the term “California burger.” As soon as I moved to Minnesota, the term is everywhere. Salt, pepper, garlic powder mixed into the hamburger. Grill. Mustard and ketchup on the bun. Slice of tomato, couple lettuce leaves. I’m from California, and that’s how I make them. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/4 "2004-08-24T17:19:21Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > What the hell is a California burger? AFAIK, our burgers are the same as any place else has. Y’know, I thought so, too. But apparently, we all put avocado and jack cheese on our burgers. Or, at least, that’s the impression I got last month in Pennsylvania. Everwhere I went had a “California Burger” on the menu. One industrious little diner even offered it with sprouts and dijon mustard. Ew. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/5 "2004-08-24T17:29:35Z")
Yep. The “classic” definition of a California Burger is one with avocado. Blech! Avocados belong in guacamole and that’s it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/6 "2004-08-24T17:33:26Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Avocados belong in guacamole and that’s it! 😃 No, no, no. Avocados make everything better. Mmm. Now I want some avocado. Yes, I’m from California. Never heard of a “California burger” though. I usually have Boca Burgers, cause I’m a vegetarian. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/7 "2004-08-24T17:36:35Z")
Lettuce? Tomato? Mustard? Ketchup? _Salt and pepper??_ So far we’re talkin’ Big Mac, here – they don’t have Big Macs in Minnesota? I’ve never put garlic in a hamburger – steak, but not hamburger – but that doesn’t seem all that Californian. Unless you have chunks of raw chopped garlic mixed in, in which case you’ve got a Gilroy burger, or sumpin’. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/8 "2004-08-24T17:54:31Z")
Oh, and avocados are disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/9 "2004-08-24T17:55:00Z")
Avocado? :dubious: Sprouts? :dubious: > [@](#): > > So far we’re talkin’ Big Mac, here – they don’t have Big Macs in Minnesota? Yes, but you see, I use beef in mine. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/10 "2004-08-24T18:18:24Z")
From this recipe and prepackaged ones I’ve seen, they are a relative of veggie burgers, ie, no meat. But not like Boca or Morningstar Farms, as they have chunks of veggies in them. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/11 "2004-08-24T18:33:47Z")
Huh. Learn somethin’ new every day. 🙂 You might try [epicurious.com](http://www.epicurious.com/), they have a recipe search. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/12 "2004-08-24T19:00:47Z")
Well, before being transplanted to California, I used to think that a “California Burger” had avocado, sprouts, etc., but shortly after arriving I discovered that the _true_ “California Burger” is the [Double Double](http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/sleuth/sleuth2.htm). [Animal Style](http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/sleuth/sleuth2a.htm). ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/13 "2004-08-24T23:23:06Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > You know, the whole time I was growing up and living in California, I never heard the term “California burger.” As soon as I moved to Minnesota, the term is everywhere. > > Salt, pepper, garlic powder mixed into the hamburger. Grill. :dubious: All those spices in the meat would give the stomach of a true Minnesotan heartburn. Yes, I know, you’re from CA and I therfore forgive you. Now run out and get yourself a copy of _How to Talk Minnesotan_ before you embarrass yourself any more. A California burger in Minnesota nearly almost means “with lettuce and tomato”. Because you grow it out there, or something. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/14 "2004-08-25T00:33:42Z")
Native Californian checking in from the PNW. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something described as a “California Burger”. If it has avocado or guacamole on it, it’s an “Avacado Burger” or a “Guacamole Burger”. I was having lunch at the NCO Club at Edwards AFB when I worked there, and I ordered a cheeseburger with avocado. The woman at the window said, “You must be from California.” I asked her how she knew. She said, “Only Californians put avocado on their burgers.” Another time I was having lunch at the “O” Club. Wednesday was always Mexican Food Day. They had a _huge_ bowl of freshly-made (and very good) guacamole. A woman from back east looked at it suspiciously and asked what it was. I told her it’s guacamole. She asked, “What do you do with it?” A co-worker from Iowa said she’d never seen an avocado until she came to California. She also said “tor-TILL-ya”. My grandmother in Anaheim had a big avocado tree in her back yard. A co-worker at my last job had one at his house in Pico Rivera. Avocados are one of those little proofs that the Goddess exists and wants us to be happy. And yes, avocados belong on burgers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/15 "2004-08-25T00:39:23Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > And yes, avocados belong on burgers. Accompanied by cheese and bacon. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/16 "2004-08-25T03:04:11Z")
My Double Chili Burger will kick your California Burger’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Toddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@Toddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toddly)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/17 "2004-08-25T03:14:38Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > My Double Chili Burger will kick your California Burger’s ass. Alrightty then…let’s have the recipe so we can decide ourselves. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/18 "2004-08-25T04:21:15Z")
When I first visited Minnesota, back in 1987, I saw a “California Burger” on the menu and asked my friend what it meant. She said, “It has lettuce on it.” I asked “Doesn’t every hamburger in a restaurant have lettuce on it?” Apparently not. Obviously in California, we aren’t going to put the name of the state in to the description. It wouldn’t be much of a marketing gimmick. There is a Mexican food chain called La Salsa that does advertise a “California Burrito” and it’s a bean and cheese burrito with lettuce, tomato, and avocado added. And the sushi dish “California Roll” features avocado as well. But both of these use the California designation because they are describing food that is presumably not normally found in California. “Ooh, sushi, it’s so exotic!” ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/19 "2004-08-25T04:35:31Z")
FWIW I’m in CA and I heard such a thing called the Santa Barbara Burger. Personally, I never tasted a true hamburger until I had one with avacado. mmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290/20 "2004-08-25T04:44:53Z")
Bacon and avocado cheeseburgers are quite a delight too… In-N-Out cheeseburgers are quite enjoyable too… Don’t knock avocados until you’ve had slices of them with oil and vinegar or italian dressing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-burgers/261290.md?page=2)