Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A taste of Chicago, on Hawaiian sweet buns

Lefty's adds sliders to its Mission Hills menu

Everybody gets a pickle. Sliders. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.
Everybody gets a pickle. Sliders. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.
Place

Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria

4030 Goldfinch Street, San Diego

Every time I walk into Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, I hear Sean Connery's voice in my head, growling "That's the Chicago way!" Granted, his Untouchables character wasn't talking about deep dish pizza. But then, neither am I.

Lefty's on Goldfinch. You won't find sliders at the North Park location.

Sure, Lefty's is well known for their Chicago-style pies and Italian beef sandwiches, and offers pasta named for Al Capone as well as polish sausages topped by sport peppers. But I'm pretty sure their latest offerings have little to do with the Windy City.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lefty's recently began serving sliders. On Hawaiian sweet buns.

How can you improve on this? Char-cheddar cheeseburger. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.

I've been going to Lefty's for years to get what I think is one of the better burgers in town, so when I heard about the new miniature versions, I had to rush over to the North Park location to try them.

No luck. They're only served at the larger Mission Hills restaurant.

So I grabbed a slice from North Park before resuming the rush to Goldfinch, where they've continued to offer what was originally a Burger Week promotion.

The $9 set nets you three mini burgers, each topped by grilled onion, cheddar cheese and pickle. You also get a side of fries.

I don't know what the deal is with this "decorative" weirdo. Maybe eat in the rear dining room if you want to avoid its gaze.

A Lefty's char-cheeseburger with fries runs about 8 bucks, which makes it just a bit cheaper. And a bit enviable when your roommate ditches the whole slider concept at the last minute and goes for a standard char-cheddar with extra pickles. What a D.B. He also happens to be from Chicago, so maybe that's the Chicago way.

Still, when the sliders showed up at my table they looked terrific, and the beef held that same char flavor, just in relatively bite-size portions. The Hawaiian sweet rolls excel at being soft and fluffy as well as sweet, and I have to admit the chewiness of it all turned out to be pretty satisfying. So did the slight contrast in flavor, balanced with the salty fries.

But sitting across the table from a bigger burger, loaded with toppings and savory as can be, I couldn't help but feel let down.

I think the sliders work okay as a group order — share a table, fight over sliders and fries as a complement to a slice of pizza, maybe some buffalo chicken tenders.

But if you like burgers, skip 'em. Lefty's original char-cheeseburgers are just the size you want 'em to be. You might even say they're... untouchable.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
Everybody gets a pickle. Sliders. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.
Everybody gets a pickle. Sliders. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.
Place

Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria

4030 Goldfinch Street, San Diego

Every time I walk into Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria, I hear Sean Connery's voice in my head, growling "That's the Chicago way!" Granted, his Untouchables character wasn't talking about deep dish pizza. But then, neither am I.

Lefty's on Goldfinch. You won't find sliders at the North Park location.

Sure, Lefty's is well known for their Chicago-style pies and Italian beef sandwiches, and offers pasta named for Al Capone as well as polish sausages topped by sport peppers. But I'm pretty sure their latest offerings have little to do with the Windy City.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Lefty's recently began serving sliders. On Hawaiian sweet buns.

How can you improve on this? Char-cheddar cheeseburger. Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria.

I've been going to Lefty's for years to get what I think is one of the better burgers in town, so when I heard about the new miniature versions, I had to rush over to the North Park location to try them.

No luck. They're only served at the larger Mission Hills restaurant.

So I grabbed a slice from North Park before resuming the rush to Goldfinch, where they've continued to offer what was originally a Burger Week promotion.

The $9 set nets you three mini burgers, each topped by grilled onion, cheddar cheese and pickle. You also get a side of fries.

I don't know what the deal is with this "decorative" weirdo. Maybe eat in the rear dining room if you want to avoid its gaze.

A Lefty's char-cheeseburger with fries runs about 8 bucks, which makes it just a bit cheaper. And a bit enviable when your roommate ditches the whole slider concept at the last minute and goes for a standard char-cheddar with extra pickles. What a D.B. He also happens to be from Chicago, so maybe that's the Chicago way.

Still, when the sliders showed up at my table they looked terrific, and the beef held that same char flavor, just in relatively bite-size portions. The Hawaiian sweet rolls excel at being soft and fluffy as well as sweet, and I have to admit the chewiness of it all turned out to be pretty satisfying. So did the slight contrast in flavor, balanced with the salty fries.

But sitting across the table from a bigger burger, loaded with toppings and savory as can be, I couldn't help but feel let down.

I think the sliders work okay as a group order — share a table, fight over sliders and fries as a complement to a slice of pizza, maybe some buffalo chicken tenders.

But if you like burgers, skip 'em. Lefty's original char-cheeseburgers are just the size you want 'em to be. You might even say they're... untouchable.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birdwatching bonanza, earliest sunset of the year, bulb planting time

Venus shines its brightest
Next Article

Mang Tomas, banana ketchup barred in San Diego

What will happen to Filipino Christmas here?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader