Mmmmm...Messy Burgers

Anyone that knows me knows I love burgers.  Loves them!  So when I heard about Slater's 50/50 restaurant yesterday at work I HAD to try it (Shout out to J and A).  It's located in Liberty Station on Rosecrans, the only location in San Diego.

Apparently there's usually a line to get in, but at 6:30pm on a Tuesday, R and I walked right in and were seated.  We were handed a menu, and also a check box sheet, for "designing" our own burger, including choices of the patty...50/50, beef, turkey, chicken, veggie and more.

The menu has a ton to choose from...appetizers, mac and cheese, salads, already created burgers and some other sandwiches and desserts.  The 50/50 Burger gets it's name from the patty, which is 50% beef and 50% bacon.  Now I love bacon as much as the next guy, but I already knew that this is something I wasn't going to try, at least not today.  You can also "design" your own milkshake, using a variety of about 15 ingredients, which I wasn't going to try today either, but I will definitely come back for in the future!

I started with a combo appetizer plate of deep fried pickles with mustard sauce, and mac n cheese and bacon balls, with ranch dressing.  They do the usual fries, sweet potato fries, and onion rings, but I thought I would try something different.  Both of these items, delicious!  There was a lot on the plate and could have easily been split 4 ways, but R and I managed to eat a healthy portion of it (or, not so healthy!).

I decided to design my own burger using the check box sheet.  I chose a 1/3 pound beef patty, with a Bacon Pretzel bun.  I topped it with Vampire Dip (garlic, cheese and artichoke), pickles, red onion and avocado.  Wow, have to say, top 3 best burgers I have ever had in my life.  The beef was good and perfectly cooked, great tasting bun, and while my add-ons weren't so unusual, everything tasted fresh and yummy, not greasy.  You also get to name your burger, and I named mine The Nausiator, but it was anything but!

R also designed her own burger.  She chose a beef patty with Bacon Pretzel bun.  She topped hers with Mozzarella cheese, cole slaw, grilled pineapple, red onion, tomato, thick cut bacon and Sriracha mayo.  She loved it!

I'm sure I will be coming back to Slater's 50/50 again, because there are so many other things I want to try!  At between $10-$15, a slightly pricey burger, but it was definitely worth it!

Have you tried Slater's 50/50 restaurant?  What did you design?

Downtown for Chinese

K and I had stopped at Horton Plaza for some all important shoe shopping, when we realized we were hungry!  Luckily, we were only a few steps from the Panda Inn.  Well actually, we were a few long hallways, stairways and sidewalks away, but close enough.  (You will know what I'm talking about if you have ever been to Horton Plaza)

We glanced at the menu and decided to share an appetizer of Lettuce Cups, an entree of Cashew Chicken and a side of braised garlic string beans.

The lettuce cups arrived and our waiter made them for us, great!  They came with a delicious plum sauce and spicy mustard.  They were an excellent start to our meal.  Then came the Cashew Chicken.  Super tender and flavorful with a side of brown rice. Sorry, I had already started to wolf down my great looking food before I remembered to take a picture!

 

Last, along with the bill, came Panda Inn's signature fortune cookies dipped in white chocolate.  So good....and I might be making a new friend this week!

Great service, and plenty of food even though we split everything.

Have you been to the Panda Inn?  What did you try?  How was it?