A New Gourmet Burger Restaurant is Open in Glendale. Here's What to Expect

Then Burger, a new restaurant that opened in Glendale in early January, is putting a unique spin on the classic all-American dish.

As soon as customers enter the restaurant, the decor gives a hint that isn’t your average burger joint. The walls, which are lined with velvet curtains and red wallpaper, display famous works of art with an added twist, such as a rendition of Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper where the figures hold burgers. Classic rock music fills the room as customers sit at rustic wooden tables with copper flatware.

Owner and operator Kyle Preston started Then Burger as a continuation of his mission to bring local concepts to the West Valley. He co-owns the popular chicken restaurant Twist Hot Chicken and the minimalist coffee shop Driftwood coffee, both located in Peoria, and Easy Tiger Bar in Glendale.

“As a West Valley resident residing just a couple blocks from Then Burger, my wife and I are constantly driving to downtown, Scottsdale, or even further for a great date night experience. We almost never eat anywhere near us because there is nothing but big corporate restaurants,” Preston says.

With Then Burger, he hopes to change that. At the new restaurant, chefs make everything in-house and have a signature blend for the burgers. The buns come from the famous Phoenix bakery Noble Bread.

“The flavor combinations we create from using very high-end cheeses like red Leicester, truffle pecorino, and Point Reyes blue cheese paired with our signature house-made sauces create some of the most complex and in-depth flavor combinations you would ever see on a burger,” Preston says.

Some of the popular menu items are the Drugstore ($18) which is a take on the classic American bacon cheeseburger and the Pimento Bacon and Jalapeño ($21) which features house-made pimento cheese, pickled jalapeños, and made-to-order crispy onions. Preston's top pick is the Quesabirria ($22).

“Our birria has a 16-hour cook and the beef and guajillo consommé it’s served with for dipping, cooks for 24 hours,” Preston says.

One must-try appetizer is the Elote ($9), a Mexican street food snack that Then Burger elevates by fire-roasting the corn to add a smoky flavor. It's then mixed with a chorizo compound butter which gives it a fatty, meaty flavor and a bright green cashew-cilantro pesto rounds out the dish providing earthy, nutty tones as you take a spoonful.

A lot of the flavor combinations came from Preston experimenting with different recipes while stuck at home during the pandemic. With the help of executive chef Francis Foley, the team was able to refine their ideas and create dishes such as the popular Peno Pies ($11). The flaky, warm hand pies are a different take from the jalapeño popper. Paired with a creamy sauce, the pies melt in your mouth as you take a bite.

“Our Peno Pies were born from me talking to the chef and saying, 'I want a jalapeño popper, but I don’t want a jalapeño popper.' And those amazing little pies are what he came up with,” Preston says.

Preston’s passion comes from bringing great food to the West Valley and making sure to tell everyone he is a customer before he is an operator.

“We believe if we bring something fresh and exciting to the West Valley, we can be forerunners for other great concepts to come,” Preston says.

Then Burger

9220 West Glendale Avenue, #100, Glendale
623-328-9388