AROUND-TOWN

Best Burger: Serving generations

Rachel Whitten

Being a Topeka tradition with a family history helped propel The Pad Restaurant to the top in Best of Topeka's Best Burger category.

Owner Troy Mentzer's grandfather started the business in 1961, and in 1973, his parents, Bud and Rosemary, took over.

"I know North Topeka. I'm a North Topeka kid," said Troy Mentzer, who has had the reins for the past 10 years as owner of The Pad.

"I get to see all the people I know every day," he said. "They all come in here every day, and it makes it fun - it's your neighborhood store. We'd really like to thank our employees and our customer for making The Pad what it is."

To what do you attribute your win?

We have great customers that like our food, and we have some very good employees.

What do you consider your specialty?

Fresh hamburgers - not frozen - and we cook our food to order. We also have fresh hand-breaded pork tenders that no one else has. We have the best salad bar anywhere.

What changes have you made in the past year?

We are always adding things and dropping off some slow sellers, and always looking to what people want. We've added chili cheese fries and pepper jack cheese sticks. Taco salad is a special, chicken fried steak and homemade chicken and noodles are favorites. It all started with just fresh fries and fresh hamburgers.

How has the economy affected your business?

It's been holding pretty steady, I think because people are looking for a good value, and we give them a good value.

Rachel Whitten is a freelance writer.