CORINNE — Just over a decade ago, Fidel Galvan moved to Utah from Southern California because he thought it would be a better place to raise his young family.
It didn’t take long after his arrival that Galvan’s intuition was confirmed. He loved the mountains, the open space and the people. He was at home. But still, something was missing.
“We immediately loved it here,” Galvan said. “But I eventually realized there was no place to get a burger like the ones I used to get in the Los Angeles area.”
So naturally (at least to him), Galvan decided to open such a place.
In March 2010, Galvan opened Golden Spike Burgers, 3960 State Route 13, in Corinne. As one might guess, the restaurant’s name pays homage to Promontory Summit, which is just a few miles to the west. The western Box Elder County site was where the ceremonial Golden Spike was driven in 1869, connecting the rail lines of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific and marking the completion of The First Transcontinental Railroad.
Galvan said he’s worked in restaurants since he was a teen, learning to hone his burger-making craft. In 2008, when he first moved to Utah, one of his first jobs was managing the Layton Crown Burger.
“Ever since I was 16, I worked in these kinds of restaurants,” Galvan said. “So I learned, from working at these places every day through high school and college, what it takes to be successful.”
His Corrine restaurant serves everything from sandwiches to Greek and Mexican food, but as the name suggests, it specializes in burgers. Galvan said his philosophy is simple. He’s committed to making delicious food with quality ingredients. He cooks with fresh, local products and uses produce from farms in Box Elder County.
“We always use fresh, never frozen, patties for our hamburgers and we make our own sauces, onion rings, and hash browns,” Galvan said.
The restaurant’s biggest draw, the Golden Spike Burger, features two beef patties, onion rings, cheddar, bacon, lettuce, pickles and tomatoes on a sesame seed bun.
Two years after the Corrine location opened, Galvan opened a second location in Garland. That restaurant, which sits at 1387 S. Main St., serves breakfast along with the menu items from the original location. Galvan said he sells about 400 breakfast burritos in Garland every week.
Though the restaurants are somewhat off the beaten path, located in small towns, Galvan said business is good at both spots.
“We get a pretty consistent crowd,” he said. “We have a lot of loyal customers and that’s kind of what you need in small town restaurants. But I also like to tell people (outside of Box Elder County), ‘If you’re looking for a good burger, it’s worth a drive up to Garland or Corinne.’”
