Cheeseburger, PASADENA, United States of America,

Cheeseburger is a natural evolution of the beloved hamburger, the only difference between the two being that the cheeseburger has a slice of cheese added on top of the meat patty. Although American cheese was the original choice, Swiss, Cheddar, and numerous blue cheeses were all used later to make this mouth-watering sandwich.

As with most dishes that are extremely popular, the history of the cheeseburger is somewhat complicated. Adding cheese to hamburgers didn't become popular until the mid-1920s, and there are numerous claims as to who invented the first cheeseburger.

The most popular theory by far says that it was invented by a 16-year-old short-order cook named Lionel Clark Sternberger at a restaurant called The Rite Spot in Pasadena, California, when he added a slice of American cheese to a sizzling meat patty.

Other places also claimed that they invented the cheeseburger, such as Kaelin's Restaurant from Louisville, Kentucky, saying they first made it in 1934. However, the trademark for the name was given to Louis Ballast of the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In in Denver, Colorado in 1935.

Today, there are numerous variations on the classic cheeseburger, so it may contain more than one slice of cheese or more than one patty, while the toppings range from bacon, eggs, and ham to chili peppers, mushroom, onions, and guacamole.