Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Nutburger in Santa Ana

OCThen reader Gary asks if anyone remembers a burger joint in Santa Ana called "Nutburger"...

I was living in Santa Ana during the mid to latter 60's. Does anyone remember The Nutburger? It was a hamburger joint on Harbor and Warner that featured hamburgers with peanuts in them. The were actually pretty good.
And he also asks if anyone remembers another place in Newport Beach...
Also, does anyone remember the name of the restaurant that featured cute carhops in short dresses who roller skated to your car to take orders and deliver food? It was on the corner of MacArthur and PCH in Newport Beach (where the Gulfstream is now). This would have been in the 60s and 70's.
If you have anything to add, click on "Post a Comment" below...

9 comments:

  1. Gary,

    I remember the Nutburger. It was at Warner and Edinger? My Sister and Brother in law worked there when they were in High School. They graduated in 1970. I remember one night that my buddies and I saw a guy breaking in. We both had just had our cars stolen over the course of a few months. We ran this guy down, caught him and turned him over to the cops.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I lived in the area in the 60-70s and I also remember The Nutburger, but I thought it was at the N/W corner of Fairview and Edinger. I could be wrong about this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The resturant on the corner of PCH and MacArthur was "The Zoo" and sometimes had a Gorilla out front on the street waving to get people's attention. His counterpart at the time in Laguna Beach was "The Greeter" out near the Pottery Shack.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The restaurant on MacArthur and PCH was called Merle's Drive In. I lived in Santa Ana as a teenager in the 50s & 60s and would go to Merle's to eat and drag race. We would start at the drive in and then look for guys that wanted to race. We would then go back up MacArthur to the Buffalo Ranch which is now Ford Road. We would then race back down MacArthur for about a quarter of a mile and then meet back at the Drive In to talk about what modifications we made to our engines. What a cool time to grow up. Because of all the drag racing on the streets, Orange County racers started a drive to open up a legal drag strip, which came to be the Orange County Dragstrip. Great times, great food and a great time to grow up in Orange County.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember the Nutburger. I've been trying to reproduce that hamburger for years now. Still trying. They had the best malts too. Does anyone know the owners?????

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am 3rd generation OC and I was a teenage in the 50's / 60's. Friday night was cruise night and we would start on Main Street at Al's Kwick Snack better known as the In and Out and cruise down to Merle's. At the time MacArthur was a two lane road with a middle lane we named the Suicide lane because either direction cars could pass in that lane. Once at Merle's it was back down to Main Street and all the way to Chapman Street in Orange to a drive in restaurant called Ivan's. Bit of Trivia: How many remember the name of the Santa Ana Police Officer that use to chase us home from the In and Out. Hint: He was Al's brother in law. His name was Flag.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I remember NutBurger on Fairview and Edinger, I live about 4 blocks away back in the early 70s. Its now Albertos Mexican food

    ReplyDelete
  8. There was a Burger Shack next to the All American Market in Corona Del Mar that served burgers with peanuts on top. I worked at the market in the early 60's. They moved to the area behind the Drugstore that bordered the All American/Albertson's.

    ReplyDelete
  9. There was a Merles drive-in at the cornet of PCH and Beach Blvd, (Highway 39) during that time.

    ReplyDelete

Custom Search