24-05-2025
The original Laguna Burger is always worth a stop
May 24—The original is usually the best.
Located just off Interstate 40 at the eastern edge of the Pueblo of Laguna, the original Laguna Burger and Route 66 Pit Stop beckons travelers.
It is on the east side of the I-40 convenience store on historic U.S. Route 66. The immaculate dining room was nearly empty around 2 p.m. on a recent Sunday when I placed my order for a Laguna Burger ($10.99) with no lettuce or tomato. After three days in Flagstaff camping without a vegetable in sight, I probably should have left them on, but green chile is a vegetable, right?
I added an order of onion petals ($5.99) and chile cheese fries with green ($6.25), and sat back to wait. I expected the usual 30-minute wait for a freshly grilled burger, but a few minutes later my name was called.
The brown paper bag I received at the counter smelled delicious and leaked a bit from the bottom fold. I took the onion petals out of the bag and grabbed one that still glistened from the fryer. It was like a blooming onion or an onion ring without the ring. The petals were perfectly crispy, and the onions were noticeably sweet. Even minutes later, they held a nice crunch.
I extricated the Laguna Burger from the bag and the sweet, spicy beef aroma made me drool. It was a crispy, spicy delight that made my eyes water slightly from the flavor of the chile, which had red and green pieces. The pickles added crunch, the cheese added ooze, and the onion added a bit of snap, all complementing the beef patty, which had a nice char on the outside, but remained juicy throughout.
As it says on its napkins, "is it the beef." I think it is the whole preparation and delivery.
The lack of tomato and lettuce and the light touch of mustard let the meaty flavor of the burger shine.
The fries came out of the fryer hot enough to melt the cheese on the chile cheese fries. The starchy potatoes acted as a perfect foil to the spiciness of the chile and were just crispy enough to snap against my teeth.
I probably should've added a shake, but being mid-afternoon, I decided I had enough calories in my belly.
Outside in the picnic area, you can eat your burger and see a display that explains how the building of Route 66 and then I-40 changed the Laguna community. Laguna, it seems, has long been a friendly stopping point — especially during the Dust Bowl heading west and now heading both directions as people navigate the route that made America.
If you are traveling either direction along I-40 it's worth a stop and if you're not traveling this summer, it's worth a trip just for the crispy ends of the beef and the Route 66 experience.
In Flagstaff, I had considered waiting for the In-N-Out Burger to open at 10:30 a.m. before I left town. I made a good choice leaving Arizona and heading to New Mexico for the Laguna Burger.
