The old burger store on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena opened again this summer with the new name ‘Jake’s Trustworthy Burgers & Beer’. Following a renovation that lasted months, the burger shop has been brought back to its former glory, with a black awning around its expanded outdoor seating and a red-painted exterior. The new property looks similar to the 1989 building.
In 1947, Jake’s opened its doors near Rite Spot, the restaurant that invented the cheeseburger. In 1989, Chipper Pastron, a restaurateur, and his business partners purchased and restored the old Jake’s property, with a pool hall and burger stand, before selling this business a decade later. Last January, Pastron came back to Jake’s; after the pandemic-induced delays, he successfully re-established it with a new menu that honors its legacy of being Pasadena’s oldest burger bar.
On September 18, 2021, Victor Gordo, the Mayor of Pasadena, will cut the ribbon at a ceremony commemorating the final touches of this building. Throughout that day, guests could order hand-cut potato fries for free if they buy Jake’s Classic 1947 burgers.
The restaurant keeps serving burgers how these were made over 70 years before, with two 4-ounce prime beef patties, 2 mild cheddar slices, grilled onions and so forth. It has included soft serve, hot dogs, a spicy sandwich with fried chicken, and chicken strips on the menu. The new Jake’s menu also contains craft beers brewed at Trustworthy Brewing Co. For your information, it is a brewery in Burbank where Pastron is one of the owners.
