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View the Tops
Burger Menu
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Restaurant:
Tops Burger
Where: 1792 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Phone: (626 584-0244
Reservations: No
Cocktails: No
Service: Fast food counter service
Atmosphere: Casual
Outdoor Dining: Yes
Credit Cards: Forgot to ask, but I do
know there’s an ATM on the premises though – call if it’s an issue
Kid’s Menu: Kid friendly menu
Senior Discount: No
Food to Go: Yes
Catering Menu: No
Price Range: $2.49 - $7.49 |
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Tops
features indoor and outdoor dining |
The
SMALL order of fried zucchini |
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The
SMALL order of fries |
The
corn dog |
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Avocado and tomato sandwich |
Bacon
cheeseburger |
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DOT COM DINING A Look At San
Gabriel Valley Restaurants by SanGabrielValleyMenus.com
T is For Tops!! Tops Burger, That Is!
By Bill Coburn
About a year ago, I wrote a review about T Burgers
in Monrovia. T Brugers is owned by Jim Micos, (pronounce the I like a long e)
who is also the owner of the Tops Burgers on Walnut in Pasadena, which has been
there for 19 years. And that stand draws experience off another location, owned
by another member of the family, but both drawn from the same founders. The
family tradition actually started way back in 1952, so even though T Burgers had
been around less than half a year, I found, in my T Burgers review, service and
food quality that has been more than fifty years in the making. Today’s review
is about the Tops Burgers on Walnut in Pasadena, Jim’s “older” location.
The hallmark of both of Jim’s restaurants is the
consistency and the quality of the food. My personal favorite is the
chili-cheese burger (single or double, I order it plain or with onions, since
all Tops Burgers come with Tops Homemade 1000 Island dressing, lettuce, tomato,
pickles and onions, which I personally can do without on a chili cheese burger,
(just give me the meat, the cheese and the chili, and sometimes onions) and I
have to say that over the years I’ve had dozens of them.
I’ve also enjoyed the bacon cheeseburgers (single
and double), the beef dip, and lately I’ve been ordering the Combination Burrito
off their Mexican menu. The Combination Burrito comes with ground beef, beans
and Jack & cheddar cheese, and the size burrito you get is nearly overwhelming,
many readers will be able to take half home for another meal. The beef dip
comes with lots of lean roast beef on a toasted French roll, with a side of au
jus for dipping.
Katie regularly enjoys the pastrami dip, and there’s
so much pastrami on this sandwich that frequently she ends up splitting it with
Keelan, and both of them are full when they leave. That’s one of the things
that my family generally has in common when we leave Tops or T Burgers, that
feeling that the Coburn family describes as “food coma.”
Part of the reason for that is the size of the
portions. The small order of fries is designed for two people. The fried
zucchini is designed for two people. Tops Burgers cuts their French fries
daily, and their onion rings and fried zucchini are homemade daily. And
frankly, while they say their side orders of these items are designed for two,
the three of us combined have never finished an order of fries, or an order of
onion rings, or an order of zucchini. There’s just so much food. And frankly,
I’m not a little guy, and I like to eat. So bear that in mind when you’re
ordering.
I’ve also found it interesting that I can bring up
the name, and people throw out their favorite menu item. Most people in the
area that you talk to will be happy to talk about how good it is, and their
favorite item. Even tonight, I mentioned to a friend who owns his own
restaurant that this week I was reviewing Tops, and his response was “Tops?
Can’t go wrong there. Pastrami burger.”
This week, I tried (again) the
bacon cheese burger, Katie had the Avocado Bacon Sandwich (with mayo, lettuce,
and tomato), Keelan had a corn dog, and Katie and Keelan split the fried
zucchini and I had a small order of fries. Okay, I ordered the small order, I
ate a lot less than that. It’s just too big.
The burger was quite good. The
bacon was nice and crisp, not fatty (Katie said the same about her bacon on the
sandwich). I’m getting to a point these days where I’m preferring a half pound
burger, (I’ve worked hard for this gut, and want to make sure it gets what it
wants), but this burger was big enough for me. Katie was impressed with how
much avocado was on the sandwich, and suggested that readers might want to order
it toasted, as the quantity of avocado was such that it wanted to squish right
through her un-toasted bread.
Also on the Tops menu, you’ll
find dinner plates, several sandwiches (including two types of Gyros), a varied
Mexican menu, and breakfast, seven days a week. Their breakfast menu includes 4
types of breakfast burritos, 4 different breakfast sandwiches, and 4 breakfast
plates.
The Tops (Walnut) menu is at
www.sangabrielvalleymenus.com/topsburgers, or their more extensive website
at
www.topsburger.com. Be sure and mention that you saw them at Dot Com
Dining!!
Bill Coburn is owner of SanGabrielValleyMenus.com, a
restaurant website featuring dozens of restaurant’s menus, as well as
downloadable coupons. He has nearly 20 years experience in the restaurant
business, and has been eating for much longer than that. |
