Contrary to what the name might have you believe, a pastrami burger isn't a burger made from pastrami. It's a burger topped with a heaping mound of the seasoned, brined and smoked meat.
While the pastrami burger likely has its roots in Southern California, the Greek communities in Salt Lake City quickly embraced the meat on meat creation. Crown Burgers is the undisputed originator of the sandwich in Utah – the first location was opened in 1978 by the Katsanevas family.
Today burger joints throughout the state feature some form of pastrami-stacked burger on their menu. Many include swiss cheese and either Thousand Island dressing or Utah's ubiquitous fry sauce (a mixture of ketchup, mayo and spices).
10Best and Sandwich America wanted to find the best pastrami burger in the state, so 10Best editors joined forces with a local Utah food writer and The Food Channel to nominate 20 worthy restaurants across the state. USA TODAY and 10Best readers have been voting daily for their favorites for the past four weeks, and now the results are in.
The top 10 winners in the category Best Pastrami Burger in Utah are as follows:
- Lucky 13 - Salt Lake City
- Chubby's Cafe - Pleasant Grove
- Apollo Burger - Multiple Locations
- Woody's Drive-In - Salt Lake City
- American Burgers - Grantsville
- Salt City Burger Co. - Sandy
- Crown Burgers - Salt Lake City
- From Scratch - Salt Lake City
- JCW's The Burger Boys - Multiple Locations
- Astro Burgers - Multiple Locations
Congratulations to all these winning burger joints!
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The Experts
Jennifer Daskevich
After winning the World Sandwich Championships,... Read More
After winning the World Sandwich Championships, Jennifer took her love of America’s first and still favorite “hand held device” better known as the sandwich, and founded Sandwich America, America’s comprehensive sandwich driven meal occasion platform. Jennifer believes that “a sandwich is the only food genre that is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or a snack.” Jennifer has won numerous cooking competitions and is a restaurateur, wine sommelier, award winning food photographer, TV food personality with NBC Affiliate WFLA in Tampa and appeared on FYI’s original series World Food Championships. She looks forward to embarking on The Great American Sandwich Trail this summer. Socialize with Sandwich America on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Jennifer Daskevich
After winning the World Sandwich Championships, Jennifer took her love of America’s first and still favorite “hand held device” better known as the sandwich, and founded Sandwich America, America’s comprehensive sandwich driven meal occasion platform. Jennifer believes that “a sandwich is the only food genre that is good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or a snack.” Jennifer has won numerous cooking competitions and is a restaurateur, wine sommelier, award winning food photographer, TV food personality with NBC Affiliate WFLA in Tampa and appeared on FYI’s original series World Food Championships. She looks forward to embarking on The Great American Sandwich Trail this summer. Socialize with Sandwich America on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Kay Logsdon
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel,... Read More
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel, developing food-related stories, videos, recipes and more for the website and its distribution network. She speaks and consults on food trends, working with some of the biggest food brands in America. Her favorite thing to do is work with chefs across the country as they do menu development, since she gets to taste and critique the dishes.
Kay Logsdon
Kay serves as Editor in Chief of The Food Channel, developing food-related stories, videos, recipes and more for the website and its distribution network. She speaks and consults on food trends, working with some of the biggest food brands in America. Her favorite thing to do is work with chefs across the country as they do menu development, since she gets to taste and critique the dishes.
Stuart Melling
Founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC... Read More
Founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC and The Utah Review and former restaurant critic at the Salt Lake Tribune, Stuart is largely fueled by Uinta Cutthroat, alliteration and the use of too many big words he doesn't understand. Stuart is also a member of the Association of Food Journalists.
Stuart Melling
Founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC and The Utah Review and former restaurant critic at the Salt Lake Tribune, Stuart is largely fueled by Uinta Cutthroat, alliteration and the use of too many big words he doesn't understand. Stuart is also a member of the Association of Food Journalists.
