Beach burger sends your senses back in time

The Virginian-Pilot
© June 1, 2010

By Patrick Evans-Hylton
Correspondent

The dish Carolina Cheeseburger with a side of onion rings

The cost $5.30 total

The eatery Shelton's Big Grill, 309 Aragona Blvd., 647-3419, www.sheltonsgrill.com

Why I liked it What this country needs is a good burger, and I found it.

It seems everyone does a burger, and the gambit runs from drive-thrus where you order into a plastic clown head to fine-dining restaurants where the sandwich comes piled with high-end toppings and a high-end price tag to boot.

Enter the Carolina Cheeseburger ($3.55) from Shelton's Big Grill - a grilled bun stuffed with a hand-pressed quarter-pound patty and topped with mustard, chili and chopped onions. It bursts with flavors harking back to short-order grills tucked away in corner drugstores.

With a side of onion rings ($1.75), I had a complete meal; a little over five bucks is a great cheap eat in my book.

The restaurant's dining room is Spartan, but the Carolina Cheeseburger shined in each bite as the grilled bread, juicy meat, saucy chili and piquant onions marched across my taste buds and declared victory over my dinnertime hunger.

Suggestions? “Cheap Eats” is a new Beacon feature, published every other Sunday, highlighting an affordable, delicious menu item at a Virginia Beach restaurant. E-mail suggestions to patrickevanshylton@gmail.com.

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