Of course we love our mom & pops, and our favorite burger joints around the country are pretty much all independently owned, but there are certain times in life—overnight layovers, hungover Sunday mornings, all-day shopping trips at the outlets—that the only options around are the chains. Chain Reaction is here to help you decide when to go for the burger, and when you're better off sticking with the chicken fingers.

[Photographs: Damon Gambuto]

While I've already documented my love of the superlative steakhouse burger at The Grill on the Alley, what I didn't mention is that the same restaurant group, Grill Concepts, has a small restaurant chain that is more affordable and darn good in its own right.

If you live in the Los Angeles area you've probably found yourself at a Daily Grill at some point. It's a standard business lunch spot that clocks in at a price point that is above the standard combo lunch, but isn't so pricey that it might as well be a special night out. It shares the same attractive, grill room aesthetics with its big brother, but Daily Grill presents them in a way that feels more business casual than the casual businessman vibe at The Grill on the Alley. That is to say, it's the kind of place that makes you think burger before steak. Then again, that's almost always going to be the case for me.

The first thing to know about Daily Grill is that they take their burgers seriously. While speaking with executive chef Phi Kestel, who developed the burger for all of the restaurants (and can be found at the Downtown LA location), he explained to me that he tried to create a classic burger built from quality ingredients. He wanted a hefty 8 ounces of chuck to be the foundation (taking a cue from the meat-first, steakhouse tradition) and built around that. He determined that all Daily Grills buy whole cuts (chuck roll) and break them down in each location's kitchen. The 80/20 meat-to-fat ratio beef is ground fresh twice a day: once for lunch, once for dinner. To do this he makes sure every location gets a special grinder that is set up in the walk-in refrigerator so that natural heat generated by the grinding process is mitigated. Once the beef is prepared it just gets a simple seasoning of salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Patties are formed by hand and are minimally compressed. Kestel was so concerned that everything be handled correctly he shot a training video and flew to each location to make sure they knew the procedure (I kind of love this guy!).

The basic cheeseburger comes with your choice of cheese and the standard lettuce, tomato, and onion on the side. The bun at the Downtown LA location is an excellent seeded challah, but you'll find brioche and wheat options depending on the location. The meat on this burger is that fantastic, clean, minerally flavor of fresh-ground chuck.

My burger was way past my medium rare preference, but still managed to show some impressive juiciness. The char was thorough and the patty had a great crust. The bun, which looked a bit too substantial, was actually a nice ratio to the eight ounces of beef. My one complaint would be the addition of the granulated garlic. On meat this fresh and good quality I prefer just a simple (if ample) salting to bring out the flavor.

The Pepper Bacon Burger gets a double helping of cheddar and some chopped peppered bacon along with Thousand Island. This one also came out way past my temperature preference, which leads me to believe it's worth making a special point about how you like yours. The added toppings didn't add much in the way of flavor for me, so I'd skip this one and go with the classic cheeseburger.

The fries are classic slim-cut spuds that are truly excellent. They came out piping hot and were deliciously salty and crispy.

Additionally I tried the Mac & Cheese made with a blend of three cheese, mushrooms, and bacon. It's a great rendition of the classic side dish that is also worth some attention.

It's a bit of a unfair comparison to lump Daily Grill in with the other chains we see here on the Chain Reaction series, but it really does stand apart from most of them. It's a truly high quality restaurant with a chef that shows the attention to detail, making for a standard far above the usual.

About the author: Damon is one of our roving burger reporters and food writers. When he's not eating more than is warranted or healthful (and then writing about it) he can be found writing and producing for television and film. You can contact him at seriouslydamon@gmail.com.

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