Island Pasta, an Italian restaurant, opened for 30 years, has officially come to a close. Its successor? A retro American burger spot, Double Standard. According to them, the name is a play on the “double double” burger, supposedly the double being the standard. I admit, the name and its explanation made me a bit skeptical walking in, sounding like a clever upsell. Nonetheless, customers seem to have already made up their minds.
At 6 p.m. on a Wednesday, a line spilled out the door. Patties flipping, milkshakes spinning. Across the room a tiny, bleach-blond boy blew through his straw in my direction, and next to me, a little girl held her dad’s hand in one fist, a toy in the other, waiting for her kid’s meal. The place is clearly designed as a throwback to an earlier America — an innocent one, sort of like Coronado.
With the walls kitted out in pop culture memorabilia: band posters, cult classic movies, celebrity portraits, and surfboards hanging from the ceiling, it felt like stepping into a ‘90s California teen bedroom.
The front-of-house staff, mostly young women, wore retro ringer T-shirts with forest green trim as they took orders and twirled milkshakes only to make the nostalgia all the more convincing. All that to say, it did feel slightly staged as I don’t remember flipping burgers to be that picturesque.
According to Jared Flores, one of the menu curators and chefs, who has been with Blue Bridge Hospitality for five years, the surfboard bar-style countertop is repurposed from the previous spot, shaped by a professional surfboard designer. The only other item retained: stain-glassed green and blue chandeliers, which set the color scheme, according to Flores.
The menu centers on wagyu burgers. There’s the “classy,” the “dirty” with garlic aioli, and “The Leroy”— alongside more archetypical American fare like fried chicken sandwiches and onion rings. According to Flores, they pride themselves on the chicken, brined for six hours “to keep it extra moist,” then dunked in a homemade buttermilk dredge, floured and fried crispy. Double Standard also serves massive onion rings and an enticing American-Cheddar-Muenster grilled cheese on brioche.
To cater to the carb-less community, the menu offers bun-free options like the cheeseburger salad — which, to me, doesn’t have quite the same ring as a burrito bowl. And, in the California spirit, nothing contains seed oils, and most ingredients, according to Flores, are made in house — even the pickles.
“The Leroy,” a staff recommendation, is a classic burger with muenster cheese, bacon jam, and garlic aioli on top of a potato bun. The double was a bit steep at $17, so I went with the single patty for $12 to make room for a side of fries and a hand-spun Oreo milkshake made with MooTime Creamery ice cream.
The patty was juicy on the inside with crispy edges, evidence of the flat-top stove, a bit restrained in size, maybe about a quarter less of what I’m used to, but the rich flavor makes up for it, thanks to the tallow they use to cook it in and the quality of the wagyu. It was smeared with a bacon jam made from brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, onion, and bacon bits for some savory texture, a reimagined version of ketchup that took my palate by surprise.
A slash of garlic aioli added sharpness but was partially hidden beneath the sweet bacon jam, while creamy muenster cheese melted gooey down the sides. A sliced tomato, leaves of lettuce, and rings of raw onion were all stacked inside an ever-so-soft, pillowy bun to create a truly beguiling bite.
In between burger bites, I munched on the rectangle fries, crispy but long enough to fold over in the cardboard container. I analyzed the plastered poster collage as both locals and out-of-towners struck up conversation with me. That, paired with the natural woods and beachy accents, gave the feeling of the end of a long summer day.
I finished with an Oreo milkshake, something sweet and creamy. Although I was disappointed it came in plastic and not one of those steel malt cups, since I saw they were hand-spun while being prepped, the small crunches of Oreos made up for it.
Double Standard is located on 1202 Orange Ave., Coronado, and open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
