The cheeseburger was invented by Lionel Sternberger in 1924. At age 16, while working as a short-order cook at his father's sandwich shop called The Rite Spot in Pasadena, California, Lionel put a slice of cheese on a cooking hamburger patty, reportedly either to cover up a burnt patty or at a customer's request. This creation came to be known as the "Aristocratic Burger," considered the original cheeseburger.

Other places like Louisville, Kentucky, and Denver, Colorado, also claim to have invented the cheeseburger, but the earliest credible record credits Lionel Sternberger in Pasadena.