Lucky Boy in central Phoenix serves up burgers with a side of nostalgia

I suspect a lot of you are like me in the sense that you've driven past Lucky Boy a thousand times without ever stopping to eat at the old-school hamburger shop with 1950s aesthetics.

Dig in: I finally stopped in to see why Lucky Boy, on 16th Street north of Osborn Road, has stood the test of time.

What I ordered: A burger, naturally. To be specific, I got the "international," which comes topped with Thousand Island dressing.

• I also got a side of fries and, just to add to the restaurant's "Back to the Future" vibe, a butterscotch malt.

The verdict: A great burger, by any account. It's everything you'd want it to be.

• The fries were crispy and delicious, and the malt added a sweet treat to the meal.
• It won't take me another 20 years to make my second trip to Lucky Boy.

Flashback: The 16th Street burger shop is the last remaining location of a local franchise that once had nine restaurants in the Valley, according to a 2014 story in the Arizona Republic .

• The oldest mentions we could find are a May 1950 column about an invitation to enjoy a "luscious hamburger" at Lucky Boy and a job ad from July of that year seeking "girls to fry hamburgers" at a location at Fifth Avenue and McDowell Road.
• Phoenix New Times dated the 16th Street location to 1950, though the sign out front says it's been open since 1951.