Update: This restaurant is now closed.
I spotted this place in December when I was in Carmel Mountain Ranch getting my oil changed over my meager Christmas break. I was killing time by going to Pier One and noticed this funny little diner that wasn’t there before. It’s a 50’s style diner tucked into a little location. I think what really caught my eye was the name: Cheeburger Cheeburger.
It’s actually a chain restaurant mostly found in the east and south. This is the first California location. I was seated pretty quickly and the host asked me if I had ever been there before and I said no. He went over the menu with me – basically you have 5 sizes of burger to choice from. You can choose whatever toppings you want. There are a few specialty toppings that cost extra but basically you can get whatever you want on it. They also have a “Famous Pounder” burger which if you eat the whole thing, they’ll take your picture and put it up on their wall.
I went with the “Semi-Serious” burger, a 1/3 lb with lettuce, sauteed onions, mayonnaise and jack/cheddar cheese. The burgers don’t come with fries, you have to order a side basket like you do at Islands. I got a basket of fries, too, and a Dr. Pepper in a mason jar. They also have flavored cokes and a ton of shake flavors to choose from. I didn’t have a shake, but they have some interesting sounding ones like Peanut Butter and Jelly, S’mores, and Almond Joy.
The burger was good – it wasn’t spectacular. I didn’t really like the kind of bun that they used but it was still good. The fries were good, but again, not really outstanding. Some of them were a bit overcooked and I found myself rummaging through the basket for the “good ones”. The service wasn’t that great either. My waitress didn’t come over to be for quite some time and didn’t offered to refill my drink until I was done with my meal. So all in all, it was just an okay meal. There are some interesting little touches to the place, like they have Trivial Pursuit cards at every table and put a whole roll of paper towels on your table for you to tear off from. I’d like to come back and try a shake though and see how those are.
There are some differences between the menu online and they one in the restaurant. For instance, the Famous Pounder is about a buck more and guacamole is a specialty topping here while sauteed onions are not. Just some small differences I noticed when I peeked at their online menu.
Cheeburger Cheeburger
12002 Carmel Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA
858-613-1576
I just went to this place and was going to review it! Now I have to decide whether to do a companion review or a lengthy comment.
that’s funny, i went on saturday. i would say companion review, just because we don’t have any of those yet, but it’s up to you! i also enjoy that we’re the only ones who comment so far. also, i took those photos with my camera phone, i wanted to see what the quality would be like and its surprisingly good.
yeah, my pictures really aren’t better and i used my camera. but that’s because i was so hungry and so excited to eat my burger that i really couldn’t bother with things like taking un-sucky pictures.