Though the building and miniature golf course are now gone, Steakburger and its special sauce live on.
After the much-loved burger joint closed its doors on May 29, Steakburger is returning as a mobile food trailer dubbed Steakburger on the Go. For Tina Condon, it’s also a return to Steakburger’s family roots. The daughter of Steakburger owners Bob and Merilyn Condon, she grew up working alongside her parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
“When my parents sold the place they came to me and asked, ‘What do you want from Steakburger?’ I said I would like the special sauce,” Condon said. She recalled people enjoying the restaurant’s family atmosphere, but they “came back for that special sauce,” she said.
The food trailer will be Condon’s way of keeping that special sauce out there, she said, with plans down the road for bottling the recipe, which remains a family secret. “Putting a little twist and still making it your own, that’s what my parents did, what my grandparents did,” Condon said.
In many ways, the trailer is a return to Steakburger’s original mom-and-pop style of food. “That’s how it began, it’s sharing your family with other people’s families. A little taste of family all over Clark County,” Condon said.
When she took on the manager’s role at Steakburger, the responsibilities of the business diverted her focus from family, she said. “Now going smaller, it is bringing my family back to me,” Condon said. “We’re enjoying doing something together. We’re sharing this journey together.”
Her daughter, Tiffany Castano-Sawyer, 28, has been helping to get the trailer up and running. She spent 10 years working at Steakburger in her teens. “I said to my mom ‘I’ll help you with the sauce and help market.’ I’m fry cook again. It wasn’t what I was expected to do after college,” Castano-Sawyer said in good humor.
Opening a food trailer is not without its challenges, as they transform a truck and trailer into a mobile kitchen that meets state and local codes. “It’s been a long process; we still have some more bumps in the road to take care of,” said Condon.
The 20-foot trailer offers 13 feet by 8 feet of interior working space for a crew of two or three. Steakburger on the Go plans to offer a small menu featuring the signature burger, a bigger signature burger, plus a chicken sandwich, hot dogs, fries and of course the Steakburger sauce.
Driving the big truck and trailer with confidence has required some practice. Condon recalled barely sleeping the night before she was to drive it to downtown Vancouver so a sign company could apply its logos. As she drove the newly adorned trailer home, motorists following her on the freeway honked at her.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, what am I doing wrong?'” She worried she may have left the trailer open. “By the time I got to the fairgrounds, someone drove past and gave me the thumbs-up, and I realized they were honking for the Steakburger on the side.”
Condon and Castano-Sawyer have already started to put the trailer through its cooking paces, conducting dry runs this week with volunteer “guinea pigs.” People have already started requesting they show up to sites and events. “I’m excited to be reconnecting with the public again,” said Condon.
While Steakburger on the Go does not have a opening date set, you can follow Tina Condon and her family’s progress on Facebook by searching for “Steakburger.”
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