Restaurant: Burger Continental

Burger Continental...
Burger (bûr'ger) n: A sandwich consisting of a bun, a cooked beef patty, and often other ingredients such as cheese, onion slices, lettuce, or condiments.
Continental (kon'te-nen'tl) adj: Live music, belly dancing, and a menu leaning decidedly closer to Greece than McDonalds.

Food: 7/10
Atmosphere: 6/10
Service: 8/10

My subjective Grade: C
Best for: cheap eats and people watching
In a perfect world I'd dine here: Twice. Once to see it for myself. A second time to horrify my friends.


Details:
535 South Lake Ave
Pasadena, CA 91101
www.burgercontinental.com

A regular of Pasadena, I used to always wonder about the black-painted, faux German cottage entrance to Burger Continental. Reminiscent of Clearman's North Woods Inn, the outer facade of the restaurant seemed to whisper of untold culinary and people-watching delights. All of this stood in stark contrast against the relatively bland backdrop of the commercial strip-mall that constitutes much of Lake Avenue.

Tantalized by this oddity, Azu eventually stumbled upon their website. If only we had known first that the city of Pasadena posts the results of their Public Health Department's Food Establishment Inspections...

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Food: 7/10

• BC has an eclectic menu which crosses international boundaries with reckless abandon. Menu options range from the burgers, sandwiches, and pizzas one might expect to categories like "Continental Baja Baja" and "Armenian and Greek Specialties." On both of the occasions that I've eaten at BC the main dish has been tasty enough considering the low, low price, but their hummus was bland, their baba ganoush was inedible, and their pita was hard enough to cause bodily harm (whether eaten or used as a bludgeon by your fellow diners in their frenzy to get to the salad bar). Why so many other reviewers have claimed that BC has the best Mediterranean food in Pasadena is beyond me...
• BC's salad bar merits it own bullet point. It actually held some interesting items beyond your standard salad bar fare. While many of the veggies were soft enough to require the use of a spoon, other items like a tray-full of salmon and another with sweet, creamy noodles and crab are worth experiencing.
• There are also breakfast, lunch, and Sunday buffets... I haven't been brave enough to venture out for one, but perhaps I'll have to take a third trip back in the name of research...

Atmosphere: 6/10

• From what I've seen, BC has three dining areas:

1. There appear to be a couple of tables in the front of the restaurant. I've never been seated here, so I won't comment on it beyond saying that it would place one dangerously close to the salad bar and the herds of hungry customers it attracts.
2. There's a single, long small building near the rear of the restaurant that has several tables crammed in it... I'm not sure what the original purpose of this building was, but I don't think it was originally intended as a dining place. I'm actually not sure if the building was originally part of BC... it has an invaded feel to it. The view is of a wall, the brick courtyard (see below), and a parking lot. The space is pretty cramped, so if you want to avoid belly dancers, it's probably a good place to be.
3. The last dining area is the largest. Between the previous two locals lies a covered brick patio. While there are several smaller tables around the perimeter, the majority of the space is taken up by long tables to accommodate the huge groups that frequent BC for birthday parties and other celebrations. It gets pretty noisy; a fact that isn't helped by the live music. It also gets pretty congested with customers fighting their way to the salad bar. On the occasion I was seated here, my corner of the patio smelled strongly of bleach, and I had a clear view into yet another building in the back which I assume is a kitchen. I assume it was a kitchen, as I could see what looked like an enormous band saw (I assume for butchering purposes) and several white tubs. The view inside the building was pretty unsettling, as it looked more like a dirty industrial setting for a horror movie than a place where food should be prepared. Maybe it's where they keep the belly dancers between performances?

• On both dining occasions, I escaped from BC before the belly dancers were unleashed. Whether their performance would improve or detract from the ambience, I can't say.
• Oh, I forgot to mention the pigeons. And flies.
  

Service: 8/10

• The wait staff, on the whole, are pretty good. On both occasions, they showed us to a table promptly and were pretty good about refilling drinks, etc. Better still, the second time we went (with some friends in tow), our waitress was a character and ended up passing some friendly jibes on to our shell-shocked friends. It seems like a family owned & run operation. They are sometimes slow with bill, however.

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Eating Burger Continental:

Salad bar... green muck (I think they were once green beans, but I couldn't muster the courage to try), sweet, creamy crab noodles, & salmon in white goo.
Entree... a fairly tasty Greek Gyros Kebab plate.
Beverage... Lipton's iced tea.

...they'd actually make a great late night dive like Pink's, but sadly they close @ 10:30 or 11:30