Having the suffix "-burger" referring to the Sternberger family, cheeseburger was first invented by Lionel Sternberger in 1924 at the age of 16. He was working as a fry cook at his father's Pasadena,
California, sandwich shop, "The Rite Spot", and "experimentally dropped a slab of
American cheese on a sizzling hamburger." An early example of
the cheeseburger appearing on a menu is a 1928 menu for the Los Angeles restaurant O'Dell's, which listed a cheeseburger smothered with chili for 25 cents, or about 4.7 dollars in 2025 after inflation.