So weird. The brewers are making fruity flavored beers. And Sonic had non-alcohlic Pina’Coladas. What’s up with these crossovers?
Well, this was fifty years ago and Berks county, not known for its culinary sophistication, probably hadn’t heard of avocados by then.
And after reading silenus’ posting, I looked up Heinz Beanz and found hits in Amazon. One of them lists Iconic UK snack food and Imported from the UK in its bullet points. Heinz Beans also had hits but they were also imported. I’m guessing Heinz US doesn’t make it.
Yeah, I definitely remember – and I have used it here on the Dope – a “California burger” as a burger that’s dressed with lettuce, tomato, and onion. I don’t recall mayo being specifically part of the definition – hamburger sauce may have been, but I remember it as, basically, a burger with veggies on it.
I noticed now that this definition is given in Wikipedia:
A more thorough explanation here:
It was common, in my experience, to have mayo or “special sauce” (which contains mayo) on these burgers.
I still very occasionally hear these referred to as “California burgers,” but 98% of the time, “California burger” means it has avocado or guacamole on it.
“When I lived in Boston, the “Best Burger” award was consistently bestowed on a clean-scrubbed, wholesome place across the street from Harvard Yard— Bartley’s Burger Cottage, which served what it was pleased to call “the hamburger with a college education”…Every patty was made from a thick chunk of lean, juicy beef. It will be cooked rare if you think to ask for it that way. And you can have it topped with Cheddar or Swiss or blue cheese…even with Bearnaise sauce…Eventually you come to understand that you don’t want to eat a hamburger with a college education. You want one that flunked out of high school— or rather got kicked out, for bad attitude.”
— “Burger Heaven,” John Thorne, 1990
pulykammel re: California burger: The fresh produce reason for the 1900-1950 designation sounds totally plausible, at least for the lettuce and tomato. Everybody had access to off-season onions, so they were probably added by the California fry cook to include flavor.
For me, lettuce and fresh tomato do nothing for a burger except allow you to drip on your shirtfront, and even slide out completely so you can ruin your pants at the same time. And the mayo/dressing includes oil, making the stains nice n’ permanent.
Lifelong Ohioan, and I’ve never heard of it before.
Ah, yes, you are absolutely right. I should have thought about that a little more. While a “California burger” does contain onion (at least as it was known around here), all burgers served around here typically included onion. It was the addition of tomato and lettuce (and possibly mayo/special sauce) that made it a “California burger.” Onions, as far as I know, have always been a standard topping for burgers around here (along with pickles, mustard, and ketchup). And, as you note, onions are famous for keeping well off-season, provided you use the right types of onions and treat them correctly prior to storage.
Don’t forget J. Wellington Wimpy — who, when asked, “Do you want pickle, onion, or lettuce on your hamburger?” invariably answered “ I will have pickle, onion, and lettuce BOTH.”
Probably the only vegetables the poor guy got.
Disclaimer: I have a strong interest in regional slang. No disparaging intent is implied.
Terms like Texas lunch interest me. The intent of these terms is not always positive.
Similar terms include Arkansas fire extinguisher, Arkansas toothpick, Arkansas travels, Boston screwdriver, Cape Cod turkey, Georgia bacon, Hawaiian time, Kentucky breakfast, Kentucky pill, Masshole, Ohio shower, Philadelphia lawyer, Virginia caviar, etc.
Any others? Anyone know all these terms or seen them used?
Peace out.
Don’t know of any of those terms except for Masshole and I assume “Hawaiian time” is like “insert nationality that has a looser sense of punctuality” time here (“Indian Standard Time” is the one that I hear – from Indians [South Asian]). “Glasgow kiss” for a headbutt to the nose. There’s Pittsburg left.
I probably shouldn’t ask, but are “Ohio showers” golden? :dubious: 
The Minnesota State Bird is the mosquito.
In my parts a California Burger would normally have avocado whereas one with just lettuce, onion, tomato and pickle is called a Cheese Burger Deluxe.
In NYC a Cheeseburger Deluxe includes lettuce, tomato slice, and a dill pickle spear (incompatible with putting ON the burger) a side o’ fries, and a teeny plastic container of cole slaw. You have to ask for onion, mayo, and/or mustard.
Yeah, what is up with that teeny plastic container of coleslaw? You get that here, too, in the old school fried chicken joints like Harold’s. It’s like literally about one heaping teaspoon of coleslaw. Here’s a picture I was able to find on Yelp of how small some of these coleslaw portions are.
I’m from the Lehigh Valley, PA and we had Texas Tommy’s on the grill all of the time. There was no such thing as a Texas Lunch in our area.
No beans? It ain’t chili.
And here I thought a California cheeseburger looked like this.
Don’t start.
Texas Tommy’s what? :dubious: