Witness the Power of Pastrami

Crown Burgers
2684 South 3200 West
Salt Lake City, UT





Sometimes you have to put in a little more effort to find unique, interesting things to eat.

Like when you are in Utah. The Beehive State is not exactly known for culinary creativity.

About the quirkiest thing you’ll find in Utah -- besides Jon Huntsman’s hair cut -- is “fry sauce.”

Now, don’t get too excited.

Fry sauce has nothing to do with novel uses for leftover fried chicken grease. That actually might be cool.

Nope. These crazy Mormons, who abstain from alcohol and caffeine, like to dip their French fries in a creamy pink sauce that suspiciously resembles Thousand Island Dressing.

Hey, work with me here.

I’m trying hard to find something interesting to write about in Utah. Not as easy as it sounds.

So in search of this crazy Mormon concoction they call fry sauce, I ventured out to Crown Burger, a local chain popular throughout SLC with burger aficionados.

The thing to get at Crown Burger is, well, the “Crown Burger,” a quarter pound patty buried under a two inch stack of thin-sliced pastrami.

Yes. You read that right. Pastrami on a burger. Brilliant!

Of course Crown Burger didn’t actually invent the “Crown Burger.” Like a lot of good ideas (and a whole lot more bad ones), the idea of piling pastrami on top of a burger probably originated in Southern California.

But who cares who gets credit?

This Crown Burger was great. Sure, the pastrami and the pile of lettuce, tomato, onion and cheese completely drowned out the taste of the burger. But if there is one thing that tastes better than flame broiled ground beef, it’s got to be pastrami.

The French fries were okay especially with a quick dip in that world famous fry sauce.

But you know what? The highest and best use of that fry sauce was as a condiment on my Crown Burger. Forget the fries. I poured that stuff all over my pile of pastrami.

And isn’t that what makes life worth living?

As we amble through this world searching for those things that bring meaning to each new day, sometimes we stumble into an experience that alters our very path of life.

That’s the power of pastrami.

Rating: Seriously Thought About Buying Shirt.