Crown Burgers is a small

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

fast food restaurant chain based in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

started in 1978 by Nick and John Katzourakis. As of 2023, they have seven locations, all in Utah.

History

The Utah chain has a history rooted in Greek immigration and a commitment to community. The Katzourakis family opened Crown Burger in 1978 after facing job loss in California. The menu reflects the diversity seen in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

immigrant

food carts A food cart is a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell street food to passers-by. Food carts are often found in cities worldwide selling food of every kind. Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit o ...

, offering burgers, burritos, fish and chips, and Greek

gyros Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients suc ...

. Crown Burgers also carries its own version of the regional

condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...

fry sauce Fry sauce is a condiment often served with French fries or tostones (twice-fried plantain slices) in many places in the world. It is usually a combination of one part tomato ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. Historically, the Argentinian salsa go ...

, a combination of ketchup, mayonnaise and spices. Dean Maroudas, who now manages Crown Burger, highlights the importance of community and customer preferences. Crown Burger's success and expansion across Utah are attributed to this community-oriented approach, contrasting a global conquest mindset.

Pastrami burger

The Pastrami burger, a

cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger topped with cheese. Traditionally, the slice of cheese is placed on top of the meat patty. The cheese is usually added to the cooking hamburger patty shortly before serving, which allows the cheese to melt. Chees ...

which also includes hot

pastrami Pastrami (Romanian: '' pastramă'') is a food originating from Romania usually made from beef brisket, lamb, pork, chicken sometimes from turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed. ...

, was first served at Minos Burgers in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

by James Katsanevas, a relative of the Katzourakis. Katsanevas originally learned to make pastrami burgers from a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

man of Turkish descent. When the Katzourakis opened the first Crown Burgers in Utah, they added Katsanevas's pastrami burger to the menu, and it became their signature burger, the "Crown Burger". Crown Burgers' pastrami burger has become a staple of restaurant cuisine in Salt Lake City, with a variety of local restaurants offering the sandwich, as well as the international chain Carl’s Jr. The Katsanevas would later open the second Crown Burgers location in Utah.

Reception

In 2010, Crown Burgers was named as serving ''The Official Best Burgers of Utah'' in 2011 in an episode of

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's ''

Man v. Food ''Man v. Food'' is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The program was originally hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" o ...

''. Crown Burgers is such a fixture in the Salt Lake Valley that in the London production of ''The Book of Mormon'' musical, the Crown Burgers logo can be seen on the backdrop for Salt Lake City stage scenes.

Gallery

References

External links