Slater's 50/50 Prepares to Enter Old Town's Food Mix

Fifty percent ground beef. Fifty percent ground bacon. In one burger patty. Would you eat that?

Depending on whom you ask, Slater's 50/50 burger either sounds like a wonder on par with the Mars rover or a nearly insurmountable test of eating will. And if you don't want to go that route, you can always make your own -- perhaps with with peanut butter on it.

These are the choices Old Town visitors could face in a couple of months, when Slater's 50/50 is slated to open to the public with menu in tow.

Scott Slater, the owner of Slater's 50/50, said he concocted the beef-bacon burger while tailgating at a Chargers game. 

"It was kind of meant to be a hangover cure, when you get to a parking lot at 8 a.m. on a Sunday," he said. "You don't want to eat ribs or bratwurst ... you want bacon. I wanted to eat bacon like a steak almost, so I went to the butcher and ground up a whole bunch of bacon. The first ones were actually 100 percent bacon ... they were a little too rich, so I added the beef to it to give it a little more integrity. I've been making them ever since. When I had a chance to open up a restaurant, it seemed like a signature item for us, and we took off."

The ride has landed Slater's 50/50 to be featured various times on the Travel Channel as part of "Food Paradise."

"I can't describe what that call was like," he said. "It felt like I won the lottery." 

Slater hopes to have that winning impact on a dormant space at the corner of Holly and Raymond in Old Town Pasadena, with eyes on a Dec. 1 opening. The location puts it within relative striking distance of places like Vertical Wine Bistro, Fortune Chinese Garden, New York Deli and Cafe Bizou.

But it's not just about extreme bacon burgers. Slater's features a diverse standalone menu featuring different salads and sandwiches, including the "Eat your Veggies" burger for more conscious eaters. The restaurant will also feature 101 rotating craft beers on tap. There's also the "design menu," where visitors can check off the ingredients they'd want on their burgers.

Slater said the Old Town location is the best spot he's going to get for foot traffic and proximity to an entertainment area. His other locations are in harder-to-find spots, like a strip mall (Anaheim) and a decommissioned military base (San Diego).

"To me, it's a great location," he said. "It was more timing than anything ... it wasn't as strategic as people might think."

Slater's is also coming at a time where an Umami Burger is opening around the corner and a BJ's is getting ready to take up more space on Colorado. But Slater believes that the fact that his eatery offers a sense of creative power to the people helps set it apart ... after all, the "Peanut Butter and Jellousy" burger you see on the menu was fan-created.

"I think we encompass everything," he said. "There are so many facets to this restaurant ... when a guest comes in, they can really create your own experience."