🧀 Who Invented the Cheeseburger?
Updated July 2026
Adding a slice of cheese to a hamburger sounds too simple to have an "inventor," and yet several people and restaurants have claimed to be first. As with the hamburger itself, the cheeseburger's origin is disputed and rests largely on anecdote. Here are the claims usually cited.
The Lionel Sternberger story
The most repeated account credits Lionel Sternberger, who is said to have added cheese to a hamburger as a teenager working at a Pasadena, California stand in the 1920s. It's a charming story and the one you'll hear most often — but it comes down to us largely through retelling rather than contemporary records, so it should be treated as the leading tradition, not proven fact.
Restaurants that claimed the name
Several eateries have claimed to have originated or popularized the cheeseburger, and a few made formal claims to the name. Notably, a Louisville, Kentucky restaurant (Kaelin's) claimed to have invented the cheeseburger in the mid-1930s, and a Denver establishment (the Humpty Dumpty Drive-In, associated with Louis Ballast) is often said to have sought a trademark on "cheeseburger." Competing menu claims from the 1930s show the idea was in the air in multiple places at once.
Why multiple claims can all be "true"
Putting cheese on a hot patty is an obvious idea, and obvious ideas tend to be invented repeatedly and independently. That's why the cheeseburger, like the hamburger, has several plausible originators. A trademark or a first menu appearance proves who registered or advertised the word — not necessarily who first melted the cheese.
📚 Sources & notes
Pointers for verification — real, checkable sources on this topic. These are references for further reading, not claimed direct quotations.
- Pasadena, California (local history) — Regional materials tied to the Lionel Sternberger claim; useful for tracing that tradition.
- Kaelin's Restaurant / Louisville, Kentucky (local history) — Source of a competing mid-1930s cheeseburger claim.
- Denver, Colorado / Humpty Dumpty Drive-In (Louis Ballast) — Associated with an often-cited claim to have trademarked the "cheeseburger" name; verify trademark specifics before asserting them.
- Smithsonian Magazine — Popular-history coverage summarizing the competing cheeseburger claims.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented the cheeseburger?
It's disputed. Lionel Sternberger is most often credited (Pasadena, 1920s), but Kaelin's in Louisville and a Denver drive-in linked to Louis Ballast also claimed it. None is definitively proven.
Did someone trademark the word "cheeseburger"?
A Denver establishment associated with Louis Ballast is frequently said to have sought a trademark on "cheeseburger." A trademark claim, if accurate, would concern the name — not who first put cheese on a burger.
Why are there so many claims?
Because adding cheese to a patty is an obvious step that different cooks almost certainly took independently. Obvious innovations tend to have many simultaneous "inventors."