AM10: Sam’s Classic Burgers

This place is somewhat special. Sam’s Classic Burgers is the place that I was driving by for the umpteenth time when my curiosity finally piqued and I had the idea to eat my way through Roseville. 5 years later and I’m finally going there!

This is a little roadside drive-in burger joint located on Auburn in Citrus Heights, between Old Auburn and Antelope. I pulled in just after 5 and thought they were closed. I was peering intently into the building, which didn’t seem to have any lights on, and finally spotted a face staring back at me. They did have an open sign in the window, so I parked and walked over to the front.

The menu is very typical for this type of place. The only thing that seemed out of place was a grilled ham and egg sandwich, the only item with egg on the menu.

I studied the menu briefly and waited probably 30 seconds before the woman slid the glass window open. That seemed a little strange. The customer service was pretty lacking up front, but later, when she brought the order to my table inside, she seemed to be in a slightly friendlier mood.

I got a double cheeseburger [$5], a small fry [$2], a small butterscotch milk shake [$3.25] and a water. The three concrete tables out front were right in the sun and slightly warmer than I was interested in so I headed inside. There were only 6 seats in there and it was a bit run down.

My order came in a stuffed paper bag with greasy spots already showing through. The burger was on the bottom and piled up with quite a lot of fries. Topping it off were napkins, ketchup packets and a straw for my shake.

The shake was delicious! I can only think of pudding and syrup topping for ice cream as far a this flavor is concerned, and this shake pretty much nailed it. Comes in a foam cup so nearly 2 hours later, as I type this, I’m just finishing it up and it still hasn’t melted.

The fries were very hot, obviously right out of the fryer. About half were crisp on the outside and soft within, and the other half a bit limp. All of them could have used a bit more salt, of which there was only trace amounts. I couldn’t find any salt packets or shakers, though something might have been up at the front outside. Ketchup would have done the trick, but with not much other than a paper bag there wasn’t a neat place to squeeze it out.

The burger was pretty much exactly what I expected. The patties were thin, cooked well done and fairly greasy. A double cheese burger at most places usually means 2x patties and 2x cheese. Here it must only be 1x cheese (or 2x very thinly sliced cheese) because there wasn’t a whole lot on it. The large, thin slice of tomato wasn’t very ripe yet. One of the more redeeming things of this burger was the sauce. It was kind of a creamier, sweeter version of thousand island. Overall, this burger was acceptable at best. I wonder how late they stay open considering they are right next to a bar. Probably a good spot for the inebriated looking for a bite while they wait for their Uber.