The Burger Wars of Pasadena: Umami Next Week, Slater's 50/50 On the Way

The 50/50 as seen on "Bacon Paradise"

By Lesley Balla

If you slip through Old Town Pasadena on the one-way Union Street, somewhere around Raymond Avenue you'll notice a slew of papered-over windows. Cheesey nightclub Vive? Gone. Dish Bistro? Shuttered. Quadrupel Brasserie? Short lived. Yujean Kang? Unfortunately no more. One of the more notable incoming restaurants for the former Vive spot is Slater's 50/50, an Orange County burger joint that specializes in bacon burgers. Not just burgers topped with bacon, but a patty made of beef and bacon mixed together (the 50 and 50, respectively). It's a bacongasm waiting to happen.

According to the OC Register, Scott Slater, who opened the growing chain in 2009, says his three current restaurants go through about 16,000 pounds of bacon a month. What bacon shortage? The Pasadena restaurant is slated to open before the end of the year, and it will be right next to a new lounge with some Surly Goat guys, including beer guy Ryan Sweeney, behind the bar. That surely sweetens the pot.

The burger news doesn't stop, either. That Umami Burger opening just a hop and a skip away on Colorado Boulevard, right next to Intelligensia, is set to debut next week - October 17 to be exact. With Burger Haven happening weekdays at at Haven Gastropub, looks like we've got ourselves a new burger vortex.