Slater's 50/50 for Bert's bday

As mentioned in previous posts, it was Bert's birthday last weekend. I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch and he chose this place...Slater's 50/50 in Liberty Station.

Note to Garmin users - it will take you to the FRONT of the building where you cannot see Slater's. Go around the back where you can see the parking; it's right next to Ace Hardware...

Bert was excited because Thor and Tatonka raved about this place...



Ha ha, right behind the reception area is this ginormous sculpture of a hamburger with a knife stuck in it. Nice. To the right (not pictured) is the covered patio seating area, where we chose to have our lunch. That turned out to be a crappy aural experience, with roaring planes flying constantly overhead and a very fkg loud party of 15 behind us yattering away.

Bert got their signature 50/50 burger (1/2 beef and 1/2 bacon patty) while TC got the Hawaiian burger (which also had a 50/50 patty). I chose to customize mine.

The condiments and TC's pink lemonade...Pencils come in the condiments caddy because you can use them to jot down what you want in a pre-printed list when customizing your burger.

This was Bert's choice - North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout which he enjoyed (as did I!) We like the dark beers...

Our fried stuff actually came after we got our burgers, but being the anal photographer that I am, made them wait until we got everything. As you can see, the knives are stuck straight up into the burgers.  I know these aren't chopsticks, but man, that looks so aggressive to have a knife stuck in your food like that. I remember reading somewhere that sticking chopsticks straight up in your food is considered insulting because it resembles the incense sticks that family members burn to honor a dead relative (applicable in Japan, China, and Korea).

TC's Hawaiian burger with cheddar cheese. All of the burers came with a huge pickle spear. I gave mine away. Her burger also had an over easy egg in it (ugh). This burger was so huge. TC could only finish half of it...

Bert's 50/50 also had the same type of egg, along with avocado slices. All burgers are 1/3 pound, but he chose to have this as a 2/3 pound! This was overkill, but hey, it was his birthday and that's what the husband wanted.

Speaking of overkill, I went overboard with my burger. Instead of a bun, I wanted lettuce. For toppings, I chose baby greens (yes, more greens), sun dried tomatoes (very tasty and not oily at all), and grilled onions and a grilled green chili pepper (had a nice kick!). For the cheese, pepper jack. For the sauces - what they call, Baconnaise as well as Vampire Dip (a super rich and creamy artichoke dip with mega garlic). I couldn't really taste the baconnaise since there was so much going on with the burger. I could definitely taste the garlic in that Vampire Dip though! I'm really glad I didn't get a bun. That would have been more carbs to my system. The patty was cooked medium - perfectly done!

Bert also wanted their onion rings which came with bbq sauce. The rings tasted good at first, then got more soggy and greasy as our meal went on.

We also got the sweet potato fries which came with this (HORRIBLE) pumpkin spiced dip. I didn't realize what was in it when I dipped the fries. I kept tasting cinnamon and kept thinking that this tasted like a Thanksgiving pie or something. The fries tasted much much better without that dip. I am not a fan of cinnamon or pumpkin anything. This dip needs to go.

Bert felt this burger went well with everything - the bacon in the patty, the beer, the fried stuff. His was cooked medium and was perfectly juicy.

TC's burger - seeing all that sauce on the pineapple makes me want to hurl. It's way too much for a kid to finish, unless you're a sumo wrestler in training. Thank goodness she has an off switch and ended up enjoying the other half for lunch the next day!

My colossal mess! Actually, I really liked this! I think I am going to start ordering bun-less burgers now. I liked the crisp lettuce and the different vegetable add ons. Asparagus spears were actually a choice but I didn't want to have gross smelling pee later on!  On the right side you can see the grilled pepper that slid off. This was a very saucy burger!

After this mega-lunch, we wanted to explore Liberty Station and walk off some of our calories. I hadn't been here in several years and this was Bert's first time here.

For more on my nostalgic feelings about Liberty Station  when it was formerly known as the Naval Training Center (NTC)  and it's importance in Filipino American history, especially with the military, please see my old post from 2009 (when I visited Tender Greens).

Slater's 50/50
2750 Dewey Road
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 398-2600

sandiego.slaters5050.com/home

Who else went to Slater's 50/50?

Kirk went here twice!
First time when they first opened back in November 2011
and a more recent visit this year (hot off the press)!

We ended up walking around the different courtyards and exploring the various retail areas, such as Vons, Trader Joe's, the Navy Federal Credit Union, the old Chapel, random water fountains, and enjoying the warm and sunny day before heading back to where we started.

Except this time, we would be getting some dessert....