How to Live in El Paso: Rosco’s Burger Inn

In and Out? Fuddrucker’s? Johnny Rockets?

Blake’s? And even (heresy alert) Whataburger?

Forget it. El Paso has lots of great burger joints that aren’t part of any chain. And among the best of these is Rosco’s Burger Inn.

Local lore has it that Rosco’s was opened by Mr. Carrasco way back in 1955. Even I wasn’t alive back then, and I’m old. That’s retro to a whole new level.

The secret to Rosco’s burgers is they smash the patty onto onions right on the griddle. It’s an open kitchen (like Wolfgang Puck’s) so it’s not really a secret.

They bring squirt bottles of ketchup, barbecue sauce, and green chili salsa, so condiment your heart out. And don’t order too much like I did or you’ll have to leave food on the table. I ordered a cheeseburger basket, and onion rings to share, and I didn’t finish my fries.

Two bucks would be a lot for a soda, if they didn’t keep bringing you refills. (Stop already!) I didn’t order them, but the Chili Cheese Fries seemed to be a big seller.

Rosco’s Burger Inn is located at 3829 Tompkins, where Tompkins forks off of Fort, right behind the Chico’s on Dyer. Rosco’s is closed Sunday and Monday. Museums are closed Mondays, too. They open at 10:30 the rest of the week, and close at 5:00 Tuesday through Thursday and 8:00 Friday and Saturday. So yeah, it’s not an option for the two o’clock shuffle, but it’s too good to eat when you might be mildly incapacitated anyway. Go to Whataburger for that. That’s what Whataburger is there for.