629 Americana Way, Glendale CA 91210 (map); 818-637-8998; americanaatbrand.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A postmodern burger failure Want Fries with That? No. Did I mention NO? Prices: Jewel City Burger, $6.96 Notes: Wednesdays kids eat free. Maybe they won't notice how bad the food is.
The fact that full scale mixed-use mall complexes have begun to blossom here in Los Angeles is, like our penchant for storytelling, not such a big deal in and of itself. What makes the construction of these instant-communities of note is that our malls (and their culture) have a way of sneaking into the lives of people all over the country. Like the Hollywood narratives that have for years vied for attention in America’s living rooms, Los Angeles’ newest iteration of the shopping complex is angling to become your living room.
Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso has re-imagined the mall as a mix of residential and retail space that is a funhouse attraction of the American Main Street seen through a Las Vegas lens. High-end shopping destinations and chain eateries surround facsimiles of the town square, anchored by gratuitous "dancing waters" attractions. Atop the retail outlets sit posh residences which allow shoppers to literally live at the mall. After a series of hugely successful developments across Southern California, Caruso set his sights on the sleepy bedroom community of Glendale and its waning credit limits.
The Americana at Brand is perhaps the premier example of Caruso’s vision (thus far). Hundreds of millions of Caruso's own dollars were transfused into equally valuable land that the City of Glendale gifted him in hopes that he might stamp out another success from his tested mold. And what has Caruso gifted the Serious Eater in return? A meticulously kept, terrazzo-paved hamburger stand. Jewel City Diner is a paean to America’s classic eatery and also, incidentally, a homage to one of Glendale's beloved restaurants from the bygone days. All this in mind, I set aside my mall aversion to try the Jewel City Burger.
330 South Hope Street, Los Angeles CA 90071 (map); 323-465-8500; patinagroup.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A professionally executed burger that shines when eaten it its simplest form Want Fries with That? Yes; the shoestring fries are professionally rendered and the sweet potato version get a nice blistering Prices: (Lunchtime) Steakhouse burger, $14 (served with regular fries or sweet potato) Notes: Consider trying this high quality burger without many of the condiments for an excellent and simple meat, cheese, bun experience
A portion of the downtown Los Angeles restaurant culture seems specifically designed to cater to the needs, tastes, and billfolds of the professional community who fill the handful of skyscrapers of this decidedly low-rise landscape. It’s easy to forget that Los Angeles has industry beyond "The Industry" (a.k.a. Hollywood), but the truth of the matter is these folks (lawyers, bankers, real estate developers) make up the lion’s share of the fine diners in this city and they don't have agents telling them to watch their waistlines. This means there are number of high-end restaurants that are classic, decadent affairs that live amongst the steel and concrete towers.
One of the best of this breed, Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse sits in a small plaza between hi-rises that carry the names Wells Fargo and Bank of America across their facades. Of course, it was the excess of corporations such as these that have made bargain lunches the norm for the rest of us, but the professionals who fill these buildings still have business lunches to which they must attend (I just wish the weren't doing it with our money). I decided to take a weekday lunch excursion to see how this other half eats their burgers.
6372 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood CA 90028 (map); 323-465-8500; bohorestaurant.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A hybrid of styles makes for a confusing and ultimately unsatisfying burger Want Fries with That? Yes, please. Chef Andre Guerrero has mastered the Belgian-style fry Prices: Cheeseburger, $14 (served with fries) Notes: Happy hour doesn't take the bite out of the burger price, but pizzas and beer are half off from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Not sure why, but there's no burger to be had during brunch/lunch on the weekends
As an adult I've found the expectation attendant to the opening of a second (or third, or fourth) restaurant from a chef I’ve come to admire is something akin to the early stages of a relationship. The awkward, get-to-know-each-other phase has passed. So too the numinous rush of headiness before a first kiss. We know each other and we get along. As far as my hopeful nature is concerned, the relationship could go on forever. But this is often, if not usually, a fiction—a story told to oneself about a possible future of a life yet lived... a meal yet eaten. It's absolutely riveting.
Of course, when it comes to my liking chefs, nothing initiates a crush as fast as a great burger. Andre Guerrero put together the truly excellent burger at his "slow fast food" eatery The Oinkster in Eagle Rock. It's a burger that has, for years, been on my short list of Los Angeles' very best.
When a chef who's made one of my favorite burgers in the city decides to set up a new (and swankier) restaurant that is a ten minute drive from me, the giddiness hits school-girl proportions. BoHo is the latest restaurant to open under the guidance of chef Andre Guerrero. When I hear he'd be serving a new, higher-end version of his hamburger-shaped love letter, I could barely wait to rush in. It seemed this eating relationship would be getting serious.
2000 Main Street, Santa Monica CA 90405 (map); 310-396-9145; lagrandeorangesm.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A beautifully crafted burger from a very professional operation Want Fries with That? Yes, please. The skinny-cut spuds can get weighed down by the added seasoning, but shine when hit with some salt straight out of the fryer Prices: Cheeseburger, $11.95 Notes: While the easygoing, cafe feel of lunch is beach-ready, the sit-down restaurant service at dinner makes for an easier go of it
The first time I found myself eating at one of the now growing list of LGO Hospitality restaurants I was visiting my lovely and amazing older sister in Phoenix. The most storied meal I've had in sis’s adopted hometown came to be so because, well, I decided to tell the story. It was a very personal tale of a very ordinary hamburger lunch eaten on an extraordinary weekend. While my family's narrative is an essential part of me, that experience didn’t tell the whole story when it comes to my Phoenix food experiences.
One hot (surprise) Sunday morning we headed to La Grande Orange Grocery. We fought through the Sunday brunch crowds to eat what would be one of the more memorable new pizzas I’ve had in the past few years. It was a surprise to find such a satisfying pizza in what looked to be a gourmet shop that had sprouted restaurant wings. It was an even bigger surprise to find that the my pizza brunch compared favorably with the truly excellent pizza dinner I’d had the night before at the heralded Pizzeria Bianco.
Now La Grande Orange is making waves with its beach-close location in Santa Monica. When I heard it was the same folks who'd made me my memorable Sunday morning pizza I was excited to find out how they’d handle my burger.
Last month in honor of National Hamburger Month, Tony C. of sinosoul.com ate five burgers around Los Angeles—Ammo, Beacon, Cafe Was, Boho, and The Golden State—giving each one props for a different reason. Although he didn't have a favorite of the bunch, he stressed that he liked them all better than the well regarded Umami. Read his post for a humorous review of each burger with photos.
4481 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90029 (map); 323-666-4242 Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: Smaller is cuter, but not tastier Want Fries with That? No! These frozen fast food style spuds are straight from the grocery freezer and they taste it Prices: Mini cheeseburgers, $4.50 Notes: If you are throwing a kid's birthday party, you might be a hit if you show up with a bag full of Mini's
There is some external burger force guiding our reviews this week. Somehow, without out plan or pretext, Nick and I found ourselves eating small burgers at roughly the same time while being 3,000 miles apart from one another. I read his review while taking a break from writing mine and was delighted by the coincidence.
Perhaps it’s not so strange. In some respects, the small burger is why we are all here. That is to say, they're AHT founder Adam Kuban's second favorite food (pizza being the first) and the inspiration for him to start this blog. Of course, we all know semantics of the slider are fraught with slippage despite Mr. Kuban’s valiant efforts to apply a little rationality to the conversation.
Unfortunately, he’s fighting an uphill battle as the fascination with the little has blossomed into a proliferation of the small burger (or small sandwich) labeled as slider. I found the most recent offense just this morning in the form of Philly Cheesesteak Sliders. While we can’t control all of the semiotic sloppiness that has spread across our slider landscape, we can continue to sound the alarm. There is some evidence it’s working.
11058 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90025 (map); 310-312-7013; holeinthewallburgerjoint.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: This self-styled "working man's gourmet burger" is undermined by its haute influences Want Fries with That? No thanks. Not as tasty as they are attractive Prices: Beef Burger, $7.95 Notes: Daily specials, or "Grumpy Bill's Stimulus," are true deals.
Sometimes I want my burger luncheon to be a midday hideout—a place to temporarily evade my life’s welter with the stabilizing pleasure of a foursquare meal served on a round bun. A place that is hard to find for everyone who doesn't know just where to find it. A burger joint that is little more than a hole in the wall. Imagine the height of my burger hopes when I traveled to the impressively nondescript environs of West Los Angeles in search of Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.
This self-styled "working man’s gourmet burger" sits behind a doughnut shop just off Santa Monica Boulevard, but the (slightly) off-the-boulevard locale is where the similarities to that proverbial private spot ends. This relatively new addition to the Los Angeles burger landscape is a painted, polished, and promoted burger theme restaurant. In most respects, this kind of place is the antithesis of its namesake. The stand-up sign that points the way to the entrance means this is no hideout, but its simple message is its own defense: "Burgers."
"It’s a full, rich mouthful that hits me with a rush of pleasure akin to hearing the curtain whisk close behind me as I walk into a plane’s first class cabin."
25 Degrees
7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90028 (map); 25degreesrestaurant.com; 323-785-7244 Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A slick, Hollywood Boulevard "build-your-own" burger spot serves up some very tasty options Want Fries with That? These fast food style spuds are foiled by a sprinkle of thyme, but the onion rings are truly special Prices: Sirloin Cheeseburger, $10.50 Notes: Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
So I had the in-laws in town over the weekend. This is much less the lip-pursed, teeth grinding exercise of holding my tongue than it is a four day extravaganza of eating, drinking, and playing. They’re a decidedly generous pair who somehow endure the facsimile of an adult man that is this boy. The fact that they endure me as a partner for their superstar of a daughter is an even greater measure of their generosity. I suspect it’s the burgers.
You see, Mom is a burger lover and one of my regular interlocutors. Dad is a Texas-bred doctor who brings his studied demeanor to most things, but certainly not least of which is his grilling. Of course, a big burger lunch was on the agenda for the weekend’s festivities (as were some fine steaks from Lobel’s that arrived via FedEx—thanks Dr. C!). As you might imagine, while sitting down for our burger we discussed burgers.
I found out that my girlfriend’s father went to medical school with a chap who insisted on burgers. Only burgers. Lunch and dinner. Every day. We laughed as we imagined a life of just burgers. Dad’s button on the story was that this burger man was “hands down the smartest guy in the class.” Now, I suspect this was presented as a counterpoint to his obsessive burger consumption, but there are days when I think the burger doctor might have been on to something.
Monday would be one of those days. It would be a burger-only day for me. Of late I've been running into some rough hamburgers for my reviews and, quite honestly, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of relating the sad, desiccated state of a drive-in’s roadkill patty, or the overwrought affair I had at a barbecue joint. I don’t sharpen my pen in hopes of slicing up a restaurant with a clever turn of phrase. I’m rooting for all of them. Or perhaps better put, I’m rooting for my mouth. I want a delicious and memorable meal, not food for my evil thoughts.
In light of this, my first stop would take me back to a place that I’ve been enjoyed in the past and—more importantly—I planned on enjoying in my near future. 25 Degrees is part of the movement of “premium” burger restaurants that has taken off around the country. It, like the rest of its ilk, promises high-end ingredients, restaurant service, and (hopefully) delicious updates of the classic. I can really enjoy these places. In fact, my dinner would be another adventure in premium burgering, but I’ll tell that story in another post. Today, let’s do (a burger) lunch.
"Considering how overwrought this restaurant’s design is, perhaps I shouldn’t be so surprised that its burger is a highly constructed affair."
Baby Blues BBQ
7953 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90046 (map); 818-284-4215; babyblueswh.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: This robust barbecue joint simulation misses the mark with its overwrought burger Want Fries with That? No, thanks. Skinny cut, mixed with sweet potato, and bathed in seasoning, they aren't worth the toll. An easy pass Prices: The Lasker Burger, $11.50 Notes: A super friendly atmosphere certainly argues for the trip
Here in Los Angeles, we’ve some of the finest examples of just about every cuisine imaginable with some unimaginable exceptions. First, and most tragically, we lack a robust (or even defensible) pizza culture. I’ve lived here for over a decade and just mentioning it makes me sad, so let’s move on. The gastronomic gap that is germane to today’s (burger) discussion is serious barbecue. While there are many contenders, I’ve yet to find that one that brings me back for the brisket. That said, a number of them do a serviceable job with their cue, and—as one might predict—serve a pretty good burger.
It seems fair to expect a tasty burger from a serious barbecue restaurant. The obsessive and meticulous preparation, the felicitous hewing to tradition, and, of course, the love and respect paid to the meat should mean a good burger is a good bet. I understand that, for the dedicated BBQ-ers, hamburgers shouldn’t share the same sentence as, say, brisket, let alone the same menu, so perhaps I should amend my original statement: If a serious barbecue spot throws a burger on their menu, it’s fair for me to throw some expectations back at it.
Baby Blues BBQ recently opened a third location in West Hollywood and its reputation and my expectation led me there for lunch. The budding restaurant chain itself is little more than a toddler, and with this most recent outpost of Baby Blues being basically a newborn at five weeks, it’s fair to expect a few wobbles. That said, when you put a legendary picture of the legendary Johnny Cash on your wall and serve a burger with its own name, you better be ready to grow up fast.
May 1 marks my one year anniversary of reviewing hamburgers for AHT. During the past 12 months I have reviewed almost 60 hamburgers, mostly in New York City, but also in New Jersey, Long Island, Washington D.C., Connecticut, Los Angeles, and London, England. Despite publishing that many posts I must admit that I still get a tingle of excitement when, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning my review goes live and I get to see how the final layout looks.
My appetite for burgers has not waned in the least—far from it. In fact, at the first pang of hunger my first instinct is to eat a hamburger, an impulse I have to deny as I am fighting a losing battle with a rapidly expanding middle aged spread. These days I try to limit myself to a single hamburger per week.
After sifting through my posts, I now bring you an overview of my year in hamburgers.
9546 Washington Blvd, Culver City CA 90232 (map); 818-284-4215; rushstreetculvercity.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: This Hollywood-sized gastropub production delivers a delicious burger Want Fries with That? This solid iteration of shoestrings doesn't do anything to change my mind about the varietal Prices: Dry-aged burger, $11
Perhaps nothing is as much a sign of high-end restaurant culture going mainstream as the popularization of the gastropub. In the U.S., our bars are where we meet, drink, and —of course—eat. What we opt for in bar food is what we came for in the first place, comfort. Whether it's our burger and fries or a plate of mac and cheese, we are looking for that taste of home while we drink the night away in our home away from it.
The gastropub promises the pleasures of the casual native to a night out at your local without the meal becoming a casualty of it. Here in Los Angeles—where dressy means giving your flip flops the night off and an original idea is one that you stole without getting caught—it's no surprise that this high concept dining experience has spread like superhero movies. It seems as though you can find one popping up on every other corner and can no longer get a pork chop without some sort of glaze on it. One is a burger legend, most have have had big-time debuts, and few have lived up to their promise.
On the Southern edge of L.A. you'll find Culver City's newest gastopub, Rush Street. It lays claim to a Chicago germline, but when I heard that it had Hollywood origins, I rolled my eyes and lowered my expectations.
On the New York TimesDiner's Journal blog, food writer John T. Edge has been taking questions all week. Here are his answers to some burger-relatd matters:
Ollie’s Trolley [in Louisville, Kentucky], a remnant of a short-lived burger chain built around the personality of Ollie Gleichenhaus, a grease jockey from Miami Beach. Imagine a burger that somehow tastes of salt and sand and sea. A burger that evokes a randy old man who chomps on cigars, cusses a blue streak, and appreciates the sinuous ideal of the feminine physique. An Ollieburger tastes like that. —April 16, 2009
I think you’re right in positing that LA might be the chili-cheeseburger capital of the U.S. I was a big fan of the late Jay’s Jayburgers. And I love Chronis Famous Sandwich Shop in East LA. —April 17, 2009
11801 Ventura Blvd, Studio City CA 91604 (map); 818-284-4215; sparkwoodfiregrill.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: An updated Florentine grill that is all sizzle, no steak (burger) Want Fries with That? No. Wow, no! Surprisingly weak rendering considering the high-end atmosphere Prices: The Kobe Burger, $10 Notes: Lunch, daily, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.; dinner, Sun. to Thur., 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.; dinner, Fri. to Sat., 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
They've instituted a 10 Items for Under $10 menu
Sometimes I want to pay too much for my burger. That is to say, sometimes I feel like sitting down in a nice environment with good service and the extra touches that a higher end restaurant uses to distinguish itself and inflate its prices. I’m in search of tablecloth, weighty flatware, and a flurry of "sirs" directed at me. Often these places lack the creativity or passion of their mid-range counterparts, but they also tend to offer a little more consistency. And when they fall short, they throw (my) money at the problem.
This can be as much exercise in my playing with the toys of adulthood as it is about my looking for a great meal. Truth be told, I assume goodness, not greatness, from these establishments when it comes to burger preparation. In many ways, that’s also what I am paying for. I pay a little extra and I am, at the very least, assured a good meal. Along with this assurance comes the strange, almost dissociative experience of eating my childhood’s meal in the full expression of adulthood. I have my own money, I make my own choices, and I'll have the burger.
The other day the force of this high-end desire came upon me suddenly. I could feel my wallet getting lighter as the front door closed behind me. I decided to exercise my adult agency by exorcising these pangs of burger extravagance at Spark Woodfire Grill in Studio City.
"Gyenari should rethink this American-style 'gourmet' burger and look toward the Korean side of the fusion equation."
Gyenari
9450 Washington Boulevard, Culver City CA 90232 (map); 323-782-8331; gyenari.com Cooking Method: Charbroiled Short Order: A tragically hip lounge and Korean barbecue restaurant misses the mark with a burger in the midst of an identity crisis Want Fries with That? No, no, and no. I had the regular fries, rings, and sweet potato variety—and none made an impression Prices: The Burger, $10
I look for burgers everywhere. I seek them out in the greasiest of spoons, and I look for them hiding on the menus of fine-dining restaurants. I give them all a fair shake (even if they won’t serve me one with my burger). I take pleasure in the looking, not just the finding. It’s a burger hunt, if you will.
I’d wager you’ve done some hunting of your own. You’ve long since stopped worrying about who is looking down an upturned nose at your lack of adventure or your disregard for good health. You know ordering a burger doesn’t have to mean either. On any given day, I’ll try anything (usually more than once) and my cholesterol is just fine, so today I'll be having the burger.
One of my favorite places to discover a great burger is a restaurant that serves a cuisine not usually associated with this American original. I’ve sucked down a filthy and delicious* one at a teriyaki joint in Hollywood, and I’ve loved the cheeseburger hiding between the carnitas and pibil at my local (and truly excellent) taco stand.
When I heard that a Serious Eats reader had found a rose among what one could fairly describe as the thorny situation of a Korean-California fusion lounge, my burger senses started tingling. Maybe that’s just the place to find a great burger hiding in plain sight. Gyenari is a not quite spanking new member of the restaurant revival in Culver City’s downtown, and it’s home to equal parts Korean tradition, California freshness, and designer restaurant. Is there a burger star here waiting to be discovered? Who knows?
426 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90036 (map); 323-782-8331; thegoldenstatecafe.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A couple of childhood friends opened up a neighborhood spot that serves up a very good burger Want Fries with That? A weak point that is easily handled by the option of substituting numerous tasty alternatives Prices: The Burger, $10 Notes: Sun. to Thu., 12 p.m - 12 a.m.; Fri. to Sat., 12 p.m. - 1 a.m. Important note: Great and fairly priced beer and wine choices mean that this casual eatery is destined to be a hipster watering hole.
What kind of restaurant would you open? If you're reading this review, I’d wager you've asked yourself a version of that question. Have you imagined opening a casual, yet elegant room with a perfectly executed menu? Perhaps it's a corner bar where your friends can come for a beer, a visit, and some great food. Maybe it's even a reworking of some family recipes that you've long treasured and dreamed of making available for public consumption.
I have a more intimate relationship to that particular query than most. I grew up measuring my own aesthetic for a restaurant against the one that was the dream of my father. Pop owns a restaurant in New York City called Caffe Cielo. While I am duty-bound to say that it’s very good, as the old man will quickly remind me when I offer up some constructive criticism, it’s certainly not mine, nor is it my vision, However, it is a part of me; I’ve done every job (other than chef) that one can have in a medium-sized restaurant. That means I grew up imagining what my restaurant would one day look like.
When I heard a couple of childhood friends opened up The Golden State on Fairfax Boulevard with the notion that they’d build their version of restaurant perfection I was more than a little intrigued. I wanted to hear what their dreams were and see how the reality measured up. Looking at the menu for the first time left me with a warm and hopeful feeling. The first option offered me? Simply, “The Burger.”
Posted by Nick Solares, March 31, 2009 at 10:00 AM
"Bob's Big Boy is historically significant and in its day was truly revolutionary, inspiring a slew of imitators, most notably McDonald's iconic Big Mac."
Bob's Big Boy
4211 Riverside Drive, Burbank California 91505; map); 818-843-9334; bigboy.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A classic, historically significant burger that in the current state of things is probably a bit too bready and a bit too un-meaty Want Fries with That? Yes, they are very good, crispy, golden skin on ones Price: Combo (includes hamburger, fries and salad) $7.79; milkshakes, $3.89
I hate flying, but strangely I don't hate airports. I like the unifying, egalitarian reductionism of the security line. It is here that one's character reveals itself. It doesn't matter if you are a first class traveler with expensive luggage or a ratty teenager with a back pack—you are all funneled through the same security line, made to take off your shoes just like everyone else and walk through the metal detector. The way you cope with it says a lot about you. I love the contrasting reactions, from incredulous and entitled to humble and good natured.
But something else I like about airports is just how bad the food is in general. It's not that I like bad food—it's that I relish the challenge of finding something delicious amongst all the dreck that is usually sold in these contemporary caravanserai. The thrill of finding a diamond in the rough, so to speak. Of course, this doesn't always happen—there are some airports that just do not have anything decent to offer.
Such is the case at the humorously named Bob Hope International Airport in Burbank. I say "humorously named" not because Bob Hope was a comedian, but because it is still called an international airport. I grant you that there may be flights heading to Mexico and Canada (although I doubt it), but to call the terminal building with a little patch of runway that is shorter than the jets that land there an international airport seems to be the aviation equivalent of Sarah Palin's foreign relations experience: She can see Russia from her house the way Burbank airport can see international flights flying overhead on their way to LAX.
Being as small and parochial as it is, Burbank has rather limited dining options even during peak hours. For instance, there is a small outpost of the Cheeburger Cheeburger chain that I have never tried because it always seems to be serving breakfast when I get there. Fortunately, the oldest surviving Bob's Big Boy is located a short distance from the airport. Before I downed two Lorazepam and gulped down half a glass of wine, I managed to stop by the original to try the double decker burger and revel in a bit of history.
Los Angeles-based artist Tomo Isoyama's Hamburger Series reminds me of Scanwiches but more organized and focused on burgers. To make Hamburger Rose and Hamburger Stacker he says he "visited various hamburger chains in the area and sampled many different hamburgers and French fries." Hamburger Rose is the more interesting piece, consisting of 16 "petals" composed of photos from different burger joints—exterior, interior, different views of the burgers and the fries, and the burger's autopsy shot. See if you can recognize all the burgers, or check it out in real life at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery until April 19. [via shred]
"This is the dilemma of any workday lunch spot: how to make tasty, affordable food that fits inside the time constraints of a workday. Sadly, the Lemon Moon Prime Burger isn’t the answer."
Lemon Moon
12200 West Olympic Boulevard #110, Santa Monica CA 90034 (map); 310-442-9191; lemonmoon.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: Two gourmet chefs teamed up to make an aspirational lunch spot that fails the burger test Want Fries with That? A surprisingly ordinary spud from such a highly trained pair of chefs Prices: Prime burger, $12 Notes: Breakfast, daily 8 a.m. - 10.15 a.m.; Lunch, daily 11:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Important note: A keen eye will find some dishes that are comparable to their much higher-priced cousins at the owners' haute cuisine establishments, but don't expect any truly cheap eats here
Figuring out what to have for lunch during our work week is a process fraught with tensions of time, economy, and personal satisfaction. It has been, for me, a story in chapters.
The first was marked by an obsessive relationship to frugality. I would spend Sunday evenings cooking up the week’s lunches and portioning them into plastic containers. Each was an exercise in nutritional balance born of the weekly specials from my local Ralph’s supermarket. In the second chapter, I found myself a budding Hollywood executive drunk with passion for my expense account. My midday meal became an exercise in restaurant exploration disguised as a working lunch.
My current relationship to lunch is—despite my freelancer identity—the one most common for an urban worker. Lunch is a ongoing decision; a dynamic phenomenon. On some days it's an excursion into excess; on others it's an exercise in personal responsibility. What it longs for is a happy medium (rare).
Lemon Moon is a restaurant that tries to strike that balance. This daytime-only cafe attempts to bridge the lunch gap. The menu is a mixture of gourmet salads and sandwiches (panini, of course) and a few grill items, but for me, in the end, there can be only one. I tried the burger.
4541 Eagle Rock Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90041 (map); 323-257-5654 Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A Los Angeles institution that delivers better atmosphere than burger Want Fries with That? Pass. These frozen spuds aren't resuscitated with any flair Prices: Bucket Burger, $7.50 Notes: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily A number of decent beers on tap, a biker following, and decent pricing on pitchers make this a lively spot to drink your dinner.
We make lists. Lists that remind us what's left to be done and lists that represent a life well lived. The first variety lends structure to our days; they remind us that time is something that can be measured with accomplishment. The latter is a reminder that time is limited so we better decide what it is we want to accomplish. While I am a fastidious to-do lister, I’m not one for those bucket lists (and the movies they inspire). They seem overdetermined and too forward thinking. It’s like my keeping one wouldn't be in keeping with my commitment to live in the present. Every experience would be attenuated by its predetermined value.
That said, as a matter of personal organization and professional pride (or is it the other way around?), I do keep a list of places I want to eat. Coincidence (and writerly contrivance) has placed The Bucket on my burger list. It lays claim to a storied history and a victory in a Los Angeles Times "Best Burger" poll so I knew I had to give it at least one try. As it turned out, I gave it two.
Umami Burger is offering a "recession special" where you can get of free fries or Mexican Coke with any burger between their off-peak hours of 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., seven days a week. Related:Discovering the Fifth Taste at Umami Burger in Los Angeles
850 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90036 (map); 323-931-3000; umamiburger.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A gourmet burger that is both true to the form and deliciously original Want Fries with That? They are more visually striking than tasty, but are a meticulous rendering of boil, fry, fry technique Prices: Umami burger, $8 Notes: Mon. to Sat., 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. - 9 p.m. Important note: There is enough ambiance and complexity of taste to make burger night feel like date night. A reasonable $5 corkage fee means dinner out doesn't have to be fiscally irresponsible.
As I’ve encountered on more than one occasion, the training and technical accomplishment of a fine dining chef or the savvy and business acumen of a restaurateur doesn’t mean that she or he will make anything resembling a burger that I’ll crave. Perhaps that’s not so surprising, as the burger is an eating experience tied to our personal histories. During our childhoods, burgers conveniently and comfortably fulfilled the basic necessity of eating, but more than that they were the locus of our youthful awakening to the joys of food. They taught us just how much want we can tease out of our needs. They represent those moments in our childhood that played out as simple desire and grew into adult memories of youthful pleasure and the comfort of food.
So when I heard a Serious Eats reader decided to open a burger restaurant I got excited. Perhaps a passionate eater’s take on the burger is just what it needs. Someone who will obsess over the balance and complexity of this simple sandwich in a manner that manages to stay faithful to the form.
After my first trip to Umami Burger on La Brea Boulevard, I was so pleased with their tasty and complex burger that I determined to get a look at what goes on behind the scenes. Thankfully, Umami’s owner, Adam Fleischman, cheerfully agreed to show me the Umami process.
317 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale CA 91203 (map); 818-507-1510; damonsglendale.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: This septuagenarian steakhouse serves up superior beef with just ordinary condiments Want Fries with That? No way. Limp and flavorless Prices: Damon's Cheeseburger, $8.50 Notes: Sun. to Thu., 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Fri. - Sat., 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Important note: Order the burger with just the toasted and buttered bun and enjoy the simple elegance of high quality meat that is properly cooked
My name is Damon. That’s how I used to introduce myself. That is, until it was bludgeoned out of me by the relentless teasing by my friends. They thought it was mannered and odd that I just didn’t say, "I'm Damon." Of course, the reasons behind my phrasing, like most things in this self-involved writer's life, constitute a story.
I always took great delight in my first name. I like how it's accessible and easy to pronounce, yet uncommon. I liked correcting people when they'd make jokes about The Omen. "Too many vowels," I’d reply. There's also an origin story about how my parents chose the name. In the Ancient Greek tale about Damon and Pythias and the power of friendship, Damon was the constant one—the one for whom I was named.
Saying "My name is…" was a way to foreground the power and story behind o my name. It was a way for a boy's insecurity to be wrapped in the blanket of a larger narrative. It was a signifier for me and something more; a way of making my name's story a part of my reality.
So how can I possibly be expected to give an unbiased review of a place called Damon’s Steakhouse? About a burger dubbed Damon's Burger, no less. Fear not, all manner of self-esteem issues abound in this burger reviewer that balance out whatever self-regard he has about his name. Let’s try the (Damon’s) burger.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, February 25, 2009 at 3:00 PM
Ruby's Diner
1 Balboa Pier, Newport Beach, CA 92661 (map); 949-675-7829; rubys.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A mid-sized chain that hearkens back to a simpler time that (apparently) had very mediocre burgers Want Fries with That? Yes. These fast food-style little guys are actually worth the calories (and are advertised as zero transfat!) Prices: Rubyburger, $8.49; American Kobe Sliders, $8.99 Notes: Sun. to Fri., 7 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Fri. Sat. and Sun., 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. Important note: There is no bathroom in the restaurant so you are in for a long walk down the pier if you don't plan ahead.
When I first moved to Los Angeles over a decade ago, I would draft long emails to my friends in New York City about my experiences in The Southland. In large measure, it was all very knowable, if punctuated with the absurdities attendant to growing up in a new context. In Los Angeles I still found myself fighting through the young man's desire to own the night, but it wasn't three months before I was paddling out into the Pacific underneath a half-lit, dawn sky to catch a wave. I'd narrate my life's transformation as an act of remembrance, or perhaps defiance, as my new city seemed to encourage forgetting one's past in favor of a new self, fashioned from whole cloth, who might have a future here.
The one portion of the vast Southern California landscape that I’ve always struggled to properly narrate is Orange County. It sits directly between Los Angeles and San Diego—that’s about as defined as it gets. It lacks any meaningful center and sometimes I think it may lack meaning altogether. It's grown with the pace and aesthetic bankruptcy that can only mean two things: edge cities and planned communities. It’s a vast interconnected series of strip malls and gated neighborhoods that share a commitment to resisting any narrative other than the ones approved by their developers. This is, after all, the home of Disneyland.
It’s no surprise then that this landscape has given rise to a number of chain restaurants. Recently I pulled back The Orange Curtain and headed down to Newport Beach to suss out one of the burger chains that seems particularly committed to its fiction. Ruby’s Diner was founded over twenty-five years ago by a guy who longed for the simple, beachcombing days of his youth and…blah, blah. You can read the official story, if you are interested. I’ll get to the burger.
Umami Burger, a new burger joint dedicated to "the fifth taste," has been in "soft opening" for the past few weeks, but their official opening day is tomorrow. The signature Umami Burger contains six umami-rich toppings, including Parmesan cheese crisp and oven-dried tomatoes. Eating L.A. has a menu and review. 850 S La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (map); 323-931-3000
Matt Mitchell at Dig Lounge sacrifices his stomach by hitting six burger joints around South Los Angeles for a "ghetto burger marathon." After hitting Marathon Burger, Hawkins House of Burgers, B & R’s Old Fashioned Burgers, Fresh and Meaty Burger, Fred’s Downhome Burgers, and Master Burger, the top burger prize goes to King Burger with cheese, chili, and bacon from Hawkins House of Burgers. Read about all the burgers at Dig Lounge.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, February 18, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Laurel Tavern
11938 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City CA 91604 (map); 818-506-0777; laureltavern.net Cooking Method: griddled Short Order: Yet another gastropub, yet another high-end burger that is too clever by half Want Fries with That? No thanks. Both the regular and steak varieties get a heaping of seasoning that overwhelm the spuds Prices: Old School Burger, $8; Laurel Burger, $9; Hickory Burger, $9 Notes: Mon. to Fri., 4 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Sat. and Sun., 12 p.m. - 2 a.m. The bar opens at 4 p.m., but don't expect to get an order in, let alone a bite to eat before 5 p.m. or after 11 p.m.
Keep it simple. There are many variations on the idea that simple is a quality to be revered: Occam had a razor, Da Vinci determined it the ultimate in sophistication, and Charles Mingus saw it as the path to creativity. It’s a beguiling concept, but perhaps it’s one that, like most axioms, is only true from a particular vantage. Do I want my wine to be simple or complex? Or my loves? And since I mention love, how about my burgers? Perhaps the answer to all of these is: both.
This conundrum seems to be at the heart of the recent fascination and proliferation of the gastropub. Ask about them in Los Angeles and I can rattle off a half-dozen names before you can say "microbrew." Despite their history being rooted in drink, the measure of these modernized pubs is their burger preparation. In some respects the burger has become a sine qua non of their realization. Without a signature preparation of the classic American sandwich, the gastronomy recedes into the landscape of the English pub.
I decided to make a journey to a recently opened and, by all accounts, successful iteration in The Valley—Studio City, to be more exact. On a strip of Ventura Boulevard just East of Laurel Canyon Boulevard sometimes called “Sushi Row" sits Laurel Tavern. The menu offers three different burger preparations. I tried them all.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, February 11, 2009 at 3:00 PM
The Original Tops
3838 E Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena CA 91107 (theoriginaltops.com Cooking Method: Charbroiled Short Order: A classic burger spot is remade as a very good fast food spot Want Fries with That?Yes, please. These are a truly great representative of the fast food varietal. A small is plenty though. It feeds two people at least. Prices: Old fashioned hamburger $2.89; cheeseburger, $3.19; 1/2-pound cheeseburger (double patty), $5.09 Notes: Daily, 6:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. Sign up online for monthly promotions. You can also call ahead to have your food waiting for you
The first time I found myself at The Original Tops, I had lost my way. It was less an existential crisis than a gastronomic one, but it was a crisis nonetheless. We were on our way to have a beef roll and some noodles from a Chinese restaurant in one of the many fantastic spots east of Los Angeles (more on that in a future post) and I missed my exit. Some say I’d become distracted whilst telling some over-detailed story (can you imagine?), but I’m sure it was the hunger that distracted. By the time I realized that I’d missed my exit we were already thirty minutes past my being too hungry to think straight. You know the feeling. The kind of excited hunger that precipitates impetuous, self-destructive behavior, like tearing the roof of your mouth apart on the stale bread at a restaurant or pulling into a drive through on your way to a nice meal.
As I spun off the freeway, I was greeted by a glowing sign that tempted me toward the latter misstep. The Original Tops boasts "Home Spun Food" and a "Since 1952" on its signage. The snake might as well have offered me the apple with a 12-month Canadian cheddar and a pint of Guiness. I immediately made the decision to add a burger appetizer to my Chinese lunch. We’ll call it a choice, but these are the circumstances that make a mockery of free will philosophical arguments. I don’t really remember the act of eating the burger. The experience lives in my memory as pure emotion—that gentle afterglow of a delicious meal.
Experiences like this are crucial to enjoying our lives. They initiate ambition and love affairs. But do they give us an accurate view into the truth of a burger? As it happens, I am not usually too concerned with parsing the relationship between my cognitive states and my hold on reality. I’m comfortable with the fictions my mind generates to manage the world, but that doesn’t mean you have to be. Let’s head back to Tops under different circumstances and see if I can't tease out some burger fact.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, February 4, 2009 at 4:15 PM
The Kitchen
4843 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90027 (map); 323-664-FOOD; thekitchen-silverlake.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: A neighborhood, comfort food restaurant serves up a near miss great burger Want Fries with That? Sure. They don't stand out, but are not an unwelcome guest as they are included in the price of the burger Prices: Grilled Cheeseburger, $10.25 Notes: Mon. to Thurs., 5 p.m. - Midnight; Fri., 5 p.m. - 1 a.m., Sat., 11 a.m. - 1 a.m., Sun., 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. You couldn't ask for a friendlier neighborhood restaurant, but you could ask for a better bun with your burger. Ask for the foccacia roll instead of the wheat bun.
Sometimes I want dinner to be easy. I want the familiarity of cooking for myself without the hassle. I want to get out of my house, but I don’t want to go far. I want somebody else to cook me what I want to eat. Oh, and I don't want to have to know what I want. That is to say, I don't want to ask myself what kind of food I’m feeling. I want a neighborhood spot that will—for a fair price—take away all of the weight of figuring out how to feed myself. A neighborhood spot that is reliable, straight forward, and comfortable.
Doubtless most of you have a place that immediately jumps to mind. I used to, but having recently moved to the East Side of Los Angeles, I’m still getting to know my neighborhood. Luckily, my most recent introduction feels like a neighbor I can rely on. The Kitchen is located on the backside of a building that sits on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Fountain Avenue. It would be fair to say that this is the gateway to Silverlake, Los Angeles’ hipster/Bohemian neighborhood. Of course, we are talking a decade after this particular neighborhood "happened," but it’s recently happened to me so my interest is rekindled.
A Neighborhood Spot
I’ve been to The Kitchen before. In fact, I came by very early in its life (about eight years ago) to sample a meatloaf that was much talked about. I remember really enjoying it. I could easily have found myself looking to replay that meal in hopes of finding anew the magic of our first encounter. But I am all grown up and I don't fool myself into thinking relationships are at their best during the blush of the new. I want the familiar, the trustworthy, and the comfortable. I want a burger.
I pull into the parking lot and find it illuminated by a neighboring theme park of a McDonald's. There's a playground that sits like an art installation piece behind twenty-foot walls of glass. Their sign reminds me: "Billions Served." Billions and they still can't get it right. I’ll take my chances on the Kitchen.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, January 28, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Rowdy Red Wine & Burger Bar
505 South Flower Street, Los Angeles CA 90071 (map) Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: An underground lunch spot rises above the competition Want Fries with That? Yes, please. They come along for the ride on the exceedingly well-priced combo, but you'd happily pay extra even if they didn't Prices: Classic Burger, $5.50; Classic Cheeseburger, $5.95 Notes: Open daily 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. It's a wine and burger bar without the wine when we went to press. They are waiting on their liquor license, but when it comes through look for some very reasonably priced wines and microbrews, as well as expanded hours
Why is the new so interesting? This is the question that fueled the heated Saturday night dinner conversation at our house this past weekend. Specifically we talked about what I termed “The Cult of the New” that plagues the blogosphere. When it comes to writing about food (or music, among other subjects) there exists a competitive culture of "I found it first" that seems to influence the way people go about forming their opinions.
The relentless drive to be the first to have publicly proclaimed something worth the world’s attention has infected the way people assess just what is worth our attention. In the world of aesthetic arbitration saying that a brand new restaurant is “just okay” alloys the pleasure of having found it first. You want to be the person who told everyone about the must-try spot, not the place that they can skip. That is to say, it’s cooler to find something great because feeling cool feels so good.
Herein lies the source of problem. I’ll skip my drunken ramblings on the evolutionary biology of this pleasure of the new (it’s our brains' fault!), but the basic point is simple: People are incentivized to tell you that what they have had—that you have yet to have—is good. This leads to the formation of small groups of committed fans proselytizing on behalf something that might not be as good as they think it is because it just feels good to say that something is good. (For a musical equivalent, Radiohead comes to mind.)
This isn’t the whole story. There is the simple fact that sometimes those things are genuinely good. There is also the more complicating fact that I’m justifying the value of connoisseurship (which is as ridiculous as it is self-serving). We are all able to determine what we like on our own, much to the collective chagrin of the arbiters of taste. I imagine that what I’m trying to tease out is a discussion of the mechanics of how we go about deciding what we like.
As the evening pressed on we all became louder and more entrenched in our various takes on the issue. It may have had something to do with the fourth bottle of Pinot, but I like to think it was just my and my interlocutors better understanding of ourselves. Eventually I determined that I needed put myself to the test: I would review a spanking new burger spot.
Luckily I live in a city that devoted to the new (and the young, and the blonde), so it wasn’t too tough to find a place that fit my needs. Tucked below twin office spires in Downtown Los Angeles is a new restaurant called Rowdy Red Wine and Burger Bar. The name is certainly a mouthful. The burger? Read on.
You may not think of getting a burger from a taco stand, but food blog What You See Is What You Eat recommends the cheeseburger from the James Beard Award-winning Yuca's in Los Feliz, California, because it shares close quarters with a family of meaty taco fillings:
The only thing that differentiates this burger from the one that you’d make on your grill is that your grill doesn’t have decades worth of well seasoned and well worn flavors of asada, carnitas, etc seared into it. Yuca’s cooks the patty on the same surface that they’re making all the other meat fillings, so you get a patty that is the best of all animal kingdoms.
The cheeseburger is topped with ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Aside from cheeseburgers and hamburgers, Yuca's menu includes chiliburgers, double patty burgers, and variations of all of the above. [via laist]
Posted by Damon Gambuto, January 14, 2009 at 5:45 PM
The Nickel Diner
524 S. Main Street, Los Angeles CA 90013 (map); 213-623-8301; 5cdiner.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: This 'instant classic' neighborhood joint reveals its Achilles heel in the form of a bland burger Want Fries with That? Yes. Seasoned and shoe-stringed goodness abounds, but don't miss out on the rings Prices: Nickel Burger, $8.50 Notes: Open daily 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. The dessert chef did time at Per Se, but doesn't let the fine dining aesthetic take over. Bacon donuts? Yes, bacon donuts.
Can we all agree that making a great burger is difficult? We’ve seen otherwise accomplished chefs reduced to flailing tyros when trying to recreate the burger with a gourmet flourish. Alternately, we’ve watched a simple cook’s devotion to flipping and seasoning patties turn this humble sandwich into mouthfuls of balanced perfection. There doesn’t seem to be a sure-fire formula for success, but a dedicated owner seems to tilt fortune in her favor. That’s why when I heard that the restaurateur team behind Banquette had opened a straightforward diner along a seedy strip of Los Angeles’ (slowly) gentrifying downtown, I marked it down on my list.
The Nickel Diner is the newest and quite heralded second restaurant opened by Monica May and Kristen Trattner. Their aforementioned first act, Banquette, is a small, French bistro in the bank district of downtown Los Angeles that hasn’t so much enthralled me, but rather made me interested to see what comes next. The gastro-diner concept seems a good fit for this easygoing, but attentive duo.
The Nickel, as it is referred to by those in the know, showed up with a nickname and a patina that made the months-old spot seem like it had been there for years. The name of the joint is a reference to its location on Main Street just south of 5th. This part of downtown (centered around 5th Street) is Los Angeles’ Skid Row and has long been referred to by locals and detectives in noir novels as "The Nickel." Despite years of the city attempting to redevelop downtown into a yuppified loft district, Skid Row persists. Even the newly minted Nickel Diner finds itself next to an SRO hotel. Instead of a full gentrification, Los Angeles has built an uneasy truce between hipsters, bankers and those in need. Not to make light of one of the great failures of my city’s governance, but in the instant case, the one in need is this boy. He needs a burger. Let’s see if the Nickel can keep the peace.
2520 Hyperion Avenue Silverlake, CA 90027 (map); 323-661-8494; thefixburger.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A friendly, affordable neighborhood joint that offers good (not great) burgers that won't compromise your environmentalist credibility Want Fries with That? Yes. They are a solid choice, but onion rings are a special treat Prices: 1/2-pound hamburger, $7.45; 1/4-pound Mini Fix with cheese, $6.45 Notes: Open daily 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Plenty of non-beef burger options make this a good choice if you want your meat and happened to burdened with meat-averse dining partner
The east side of Los Angeles has is a huge swath of land running from the iconically dangerous edge communities of downtown ("The boyz n the hood are always hard") north to the posh suburban landscape that has itself become a movie star though its job is to dissimulate its identity. (In the movies, many a quaint street in Anytown, USA, is really just one of these Los Angeles byways). Of course, "the east side" is distinct from what most people mean when they say "Eastside." The latter is a catchall for a group of communities (Silverlake, Echo Park, and Los Feliz) that has become a destination for young urbanites looking for a cheap residences and, more recently, skinny jeans. It’s full of hipsters and artists and wannabes like me. (Of course, I can’t wear anything with the word "skinny" in its description.) It also has broad immigrant and first generation communities. It’s my favorite part of town and is now where I live.
You see, I’ve recently moved. Even as I write this the crush of moving still lives and breathes in the mess of boxes and furniture that are piled up around me. There is nothing pleasant about moving—one can only find redemption in that abstract foreknowledge of what transition brings. Waiting on the other side of all of this is something more: something bigger and someone better. It’s a new home, a new life, a new love. Of course, there must be a new burger waiting for me nearby as well.
I decided to take a ride down to one of Silverlake’s main drags, Hyperion Avenue, where a new spot called The Fix Burger has opened. It’s not more than a five-minute drive from my front door, which is perfect for my impatient appetite.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, December 24, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Lucky Boy Drive-In
640 South Arroyo Parkway Pasadena, CA 91105 (map); 626-793-0120 Cooking Method: Char-broiled Short Order: An old school greasy spoon delivers on the grease Want Fries with That? No, no, no. Please, no Prices: 1/4-pound hamburger, $2.90; 1/4-pound double cheeseburger, $4.65 Notes: Open daily 6 a.m. - 2 a.m. The breakfast burritos are legendary giants
As I write this I sit on a plane that will fly me across this vast and stormy nation and drop me into the arms of my childhood home and family. It’s the holiday season and that means mellifluous sounds of Christmas carols and familial recriminations. I can almost taste my favorite meals and see the disappointment in my parents’ gaze that make me feel at home.
Okay, it’s not that bad. The truth is my family is so deeply loving and supportive of me and this extended adolescence I pass off as adulthood that it barely feels real sometimes. The problem is I've lived thousands of miles from them for a dozen years. This makes it easy to forget the primitive pleasure of being embraced by my parents or my sisters. Stepping back into the rhythms of my youth and hometown is, for me, a joy I can count on this time of year. To be fair, I grew up in New York City, so going home doesn’t suck suburban eggs for me the way it does for many of my friends. I’ve got Mom, Pop, my sisters and Shake Shack waiting on the other end of my plane ride.
Before I get all that holiday cheer for myself, I thought I’d share a little with you. I am recently back from a visit to a vaunted greasy spoon called Lucky Boy Drive-In. You can find it in Pasadena, California, which is, by all rights, a city unto itself that sits just a bit north and east of Downtown LA. That said, anyone you ever meet who grew up there will claim to be from Los Angeles like the the way people from Westchester say they’re from New York. I’ll let the Los Angeles version slide since in car culture like ours, it seems less egregious. Pasadena is an easy ride from Los Angeles proper; the New York version is another story.
For me, going for a burger in Pasadena has always only meant one thing: Pie 'N Burger. It's a classic American diner with a truly great hamburger, but since you read AHT you already know that. As much as I’d like to add to Mr. Solares’ love letter to Pie 'N Burger, it seems a dereliction of my duty not to offer up a new burger. Where to go? I'd heard tell of a spot in Pasadena that sounded worth a look. So I looked. And I ate.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, December 17, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Hinano Cafe
15 Washington Blvd, Venice CA 90292 (map); 310-822-3902 Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A beachside dive bar delivers a quality burger Want Fries with That? Nope; chips only Notes: Daily, 10 a.m. - 2 a.m., food until 1 a.m. The weekend nights get packed so do yourself the service going at an off time
I woke up on Monday morning to the sounds of sheeting rain pounding against the rooftop and windows of my little tree house apartment in the Hollywood Hills. A rainstorm doesn't initiate a lot of thought or conversation in most parts of the country. The same sound outside your window might just serve as a reminder to bring an umbrella and wear some sensible shoes. Here in Los Angeles, it's something to talk about. You see, we don't get much rain. In fact, we don't get much in the way of weather beyond warm and sunny. I love it. I've lived with long, cold winters and hot, sticky summers—I now prefer only visiting that kind of weather. Today, the weather is visiting me. It's supposed to be a downpour all day.
What does a burger reviewer do with a rare rainy day in Los Angeles? Go to the beach! Well, go to the beach to have a hamburger, that is. I fired up the engine and this (sort of) young man headed West. The drive to the beach from the Hollywood Hills can be as quick as twenty minutes with no traffic, but that's like saying I could be in New York City in five minutes with a time machine. I hunkered down for my forty-five minute journey. As I made my way down the hill, I was reminded of one thing that I miss doing in cold weather. I turned on the seat warmers in my car. Cold nose, warm backside… Okay, seasons can be nice, too.
Today my destination is Hinano Café in Venice. Hinano's is a 46-year old Venice Beach dive bar that claims they and their burgers are "world famous." That might be a bit of a stretch, but certainly many folks in my extended network of foodies have mentioned it when suggesting places that I should try. (Truth be told, I've been to Hinano's. No matter, it was years ago and it wasn't raining that day.)
Posted by Damon Gambuto, December 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM
8 oz.
7661 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood CA 90046 (map);
323-852-0008; 8ozburgerbar.com Cooking Method: Grilled Short Order: Another celebrity chef takes on the burger and delivers fare that's just fair Want Fries with That? Yes, if you are going for the combo as it's a solid deal. If not, the other chefified sides tempt Notes: Mon. to Sat., 11:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.; Sun., 11:30 a.m. - 12 a.m. Combos can be had with soda or beer before 7 p.m. and there's a Suds & Slider Sampler always on offer at $16
When fine dining chefs take on the hamburger, they seem to head in one of two directions. In the first turn, the burger becomes a canvas for their wild imaginings and ingredient fascinations, resulting in abstractions that demand to be eaten under very specific rules. That is to say, the burger becomes one definitive thing that is to be eaten one very specific way. Think Daniel Boulud's db Bistro, foie gras-filled, ready-for-food-profile creation, or the have-it-my-way-or-get-out version at Father's Office. These iterations tend to be interesting meals, but in the final analysis, don't really qualify as hamburgers.
The second path of 'the chef's burger' leads toward hyper-customization. Cheese? They'll offer you six options (three of them you've never heard of). Toppings? The choices can run into the teens and often include vegetables that could pass as high-end side dishes. It's as though the argument is, "Burgers are good, they just need some high-end accoutrement."
Govind Armstrong's 8 oz. (Burger Bar) falls into the second category. His entrant in the burger-themed restaurant competition is a re-working of the Melrose Avenue location that was home to his former, restaurant-of-the-moment, Table 8. The original spot was the culmination of a culinary career that dates all the way back to the early days of Spago, where Armstrong is said to have begun working at a mere 13 years of age. Child labor laws be damned, Armstrong continued on through some of the great West Coast kitchens (City Restaurant, Campanile, et al) before opening Table 8. It was–for a time–the "it" restaurant in L.A. Set amidst the Melrose Avenue shopping strip (think Bleecker Street-lite), Table 8 had a casual, elegant feel that welcomed the famous, the wealthy, and (of course) the aspirational.
The motivation for the overhaul of Table 8 (and the birth of 8 oz. in its stead) will have to–like most origin stories–remain a web of competing narratives. Let's concern ourselves with what's happening now: burgers. Full of hope and fancy, I stopped in for lunch the other day. What happened is, even now, a puzzling story of missteps and almost there's. Let's sort it out.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, December 3, 2008 at 3:00 PM
The 101 Coffee Shop
6145 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles California 90028 (map); the101coffeeshop.com Cooking Method: Grillled Short Order: A retro Hollywood diner burger that looks better than it tastes Want Fries with That? They are creative in that they're mixed with sweet potato fries, but I'd go with the mashed potatoes with gravy instead Notes: Daily, 7 a.m. - 3 a.m. Take a stroll into the hotel lobby to catch some Hollywood memorabilia
If you are thinking of heading to Hollywood to follow yours dreams of silver screen stardom then you can be pretty well assured that you will find yourself sliding into the leather booths at The 101 Coffee Shop at some point during your journey to fame or misfortune. Perched on the Northern edge of Hollywood, this retro diner resides on the first floor of a Best Western. The chain that runs the mid-range hotel belies its history. Hollywood luminaries have been making their way to this spot since it opened as The Franklin Hotel in the 1930s. These days the clientele is more Hollywood-hipster than Hollywood royalty, but then again, history is just the story told when the game is over. Winners and losers can be hard to spot in medias res. Today’s tattooed waitress could be tomorrow’s Olivia de Havilland (or Angelina Jolie, for those of you who demand contemporary references). Part of the magic of celebrity is simply the notion that the person dreamt big and won.
These kinds of thoughts can be distracting when dining at a Hollywood spot like this one. You can almost feel diners' heads lifting and falling with each new patron that enters in hopes of stealing a glimpse of an up and coming ingenue pretending to eat or—at the very least—a former cast member of That 70’s Show finishing off an evening of drinking and carousing with a some late night pancakes. Sorry gang—it's just Damon here for a burger (or two).
When AHT reader Rich Kaszeta tried to visit Ercole's in Manhattan Beach, California, this past Monday, he was unfortunately denied burger goodness—they don't serve burgers during Monday Night Football (they serve chili dogs).
Luckily, he managed to find another burger just a few blocks away at Ebizo's Skewer. Although you wouldn't expect to find good burgers at a shabu shabu joint, Rich explains, "Apparently, the idea was that they already bring in all sorts of good beef, and decided that it would be easy enough to grind some of it fresh to make burgers."
Rich praises the "Kobe" beef burger for its "pleasantly crisped exterior and a very moist interior"—a little too moist, he adds. He also recommends the Belgian fries, which are "tender and fluffy in the inside, and perfectly crisped on the outside without too much browning."
Ebizo's Skewer
229 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 (map)
310-802-0765
Posted by Damon Gambuto, November 19, 2008 at 3:15 PM
The Tam O'Shanter Inn
2980 Los Feliz Boulevard, Los Angeles California 90039 (map); lawrysonline.com Cooking Method: Grillled Short Order: An old school eatery offers a twist on the classic burger Want Fries with That? Since they come with the burger, but not a special treat Notes: Lunch: Mon. to Fri., 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.; Dinner:
Mon. to Thurs., 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., Fri. and Sat., 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sunday: 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.; Brunch: Sun., 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Mondays offer a discount wine
The name Tam O'Shanter was first made famous in the eighteenth-century by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Burns, often referred to as the national poet of Scotland, plays a bigger role in your life than you probably realize. Once a year you (try to) sing along to his strange poem set to the music of a Scottish folk tune. It's about drinking to the good old days and forgetting your friends. Auld Lang Syne is Burns' legacy to most of the world, but in a little pocket of Los Angeles, the eponymous hero of Burns' greatest poem has bequeathed his name to an old-school restaurant and public house that has become an historic landmark.
The Tam O'Shanter Inn (or "The Tam") is on the east end of Los Feliz Boulevard in a neighborhood now called Atwater Village. The establishment is so rich with Los Angeles history, I barely know where to begin. Let's start at the start. In 1922 Lawrence L. Frank and Walter Van de Kamp decided to open up a bar and restaurant on a dusty strip on the Eastern outskirts of Los Angeles. Just a few years later, they'd turn to a Sottish theme and a menu of numerous hamburger steak options to save the ailing eatery. The current look and theme of "Scottish Inn" was born. At the time, the neighborhood was an almost-countryside landscape and the traditional-looking Anglo Inn seemed to fit right in. Today it sits across the street from a Costco and a Best Buy. Ah, progress.
Irene S. Virbilia’s review of the new Father’s Office location at Helms Bakery in Los Angeles is more a primer on how to navigate the complex rules and regulations for eating there than it is a true review. And, she doesn’t even like the burger:
I’m not the biggest fan of that burger. It’s more like a beef patty sandwich. The beef is nice and juicy, but the bun is more like a sandwich bun than a classic burger bun, and spongy to boot. I don’t like the sweetness (and sliminess) of the caramelized onions or the embellishment of the blue cheese. No lettuce, no mustard, too rich—and greasy. But I’m definitely in the minority. Fortunately, that’s not all there is to eat. With this second location, a real kitchen means Yoon has been able to expand the menu and get creative with the specials, scratching his itch to do something more than burgers.
Having never had it, I can’t really blab about whether she’s on or off here, but I would say that all that crap the place is piling on the burger doesn’t sound all that appealing.
Nick has had the thing and says that, while it’s delicious, it’s more a “haute cuisine sub sandwich” than a burger.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, November 12, 2008 at 2:00 PM
The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Boulevard, Eagle Rock CA 90041 (map); 323-255-6465; theoinkster.com Cooking Method: Griddled Short Order: A fine dining chef's take on the fast food leads to an excellent burger Want Fries with That? Yes, please. The twice-fried, Belgian-style fries are a superior value at $2.25 Notes: Sun. to Thurs., 11 a.m - 10 p.m.; Fri. to Sat., 11 a.m. - 12 a.m. They serve beer and wine so you can make it a night out!
Eagle Rock is what I grew up dreaming a suburb was like. For a boy living in a cramped Manhattan apartment, there was nothing more fantastical than having a home with a backyard and a neighborhood of kids with whom to share it. It sounds strange to narrate it now, but growing up I never really experienced the American suburb—not even an overnight visit to a friend’s place during a summer vacation. My life was a mix of New York City’s impossibly urban landscape with occasional sojourns to the beach or a rural farmscape. It was nothing like the lives of those kids inside my television who populated the quiet bedroom communities built on the back of a post-war boom. They lived a magical life of mid-sized cars, big families, and little leagues. To me, it was all perfectly sized, and even though I could gaze across the river to its edges, it seemed far, far away.
When I reached my college years and finally ventured into the planned community landscape that was home to so many of my new friends, the fiction television helped me write was shattered by the facts of their lives. Suburbs could be just as—if not more—stultifying and limiting. The grass, it seemed, wasn’t any greener in their backyards.
Los Angeles offers up a third option: the suburb masquerading as a city. (Or is it the other way around?) In either direction, Los Angeles seems like it can be all things depending on how you look at it. This comes into sharp focus when you first get a sense of the varied landscape of Los Angeles and realize that its many neighborhoods have been passing for Anytown, USA, or Anycity, USA (even my New York City!) throughout television and movie history. It’s a bit uncanny, the sense of driving though a neighborhood for the first time and feeling like you’ve seen it before. The truth is, often times, you have.
Posted by Nick Solares, November 11, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Cassell's
3266 W 6th Street, Los Angeles CA 90020; map); 213-480-8668 Cooking Method: Double broiled Short Order: Classic LA burger spot using a unique method of preparation. USDA Prime beef is ground daily in house and served on a world class bun. Want Fries with That? Yes, they are crispy and golden, but don't miss the horseradish potato salad either Price: Cheeseburger 1/3 pound, $6.75; 2/3 pounds, $7.95, Fries $1.95 Notes: Mon. to Sat., 10:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Cassell's has been serving USDA Prime burgers cooked with their unique double broiler system since 1948. The beef is ground fresh daily in a Hobart grinder that sits proudly in the front of the store, gleaming in the Southern California sunshine. It is just about the only thing that gleams within the weathered and worn confines of the nondescript single-story edifice tucked away on 6th Street in Korea Town. The daylight that floods in through Cassell's windows provides a stark contrast to the dull, spartan decor that doesn't look like it has changed much—save perhaps a layer or two of paint—since the 1940s. The yellowed walls, tarnished stainless steel, and tired signs are evocative of a school cafeteria. There is nothing romantic or charming about the room, unlike, for example, the Apple Pan and its impossibly idealistic preservation of its agrarian roots. Cassell's represents a grittier, urban, almost dystopian continuation of tradition.
Clicking in to the AHT inbox recently, we've got this bit of juicy intel. Eat up!
In the Los Angeles area, you need to know about Ercole's in Manhattan Beach. It is a nondescript dive bar, but inside they have some seriously good burgers. Ercole's has been around since 1927, and it is pretty much a neighborhood hangout. They get fresh ground meat from Manhattan Meat Market, which is next door to Ercole's. The burger is served in a wicker basket lined with paper. Very fresh, soft egg buns soak up the juice of the burger. The burgers are cooked just right—It certainly isn't a "well done" burger! The cheese is perfectly melted, and it is served with a very generous slice of red onion, slice of tomato, iceberg lettuce, and mustard. A nice long Kosher pickle spear and a bag of Lay's potato chips accompany the burger.
- Clay I.
Chowhound member ripken00 also recommends Ercole's, but warns that it's cash only and they "stop serving food at whatever hour they feel like, usually only serve food until happy hour times."
Posted by Damon Gambuto, October 29, 2008 at 2:00 PM
The Hungry Cat
1535 North Vine, Hollywood CA 90028 (b/n Selma Ave and W Sunset Blvd; map); 323-462-2155; thehungrycat.com The Short Order: A foursquare, seafood eatery defies the odds and its location to deliver a great burger Cooking method: Grilled Want Fries with That? Definitely. They come with the burger and they'll leave in your belly Price: The Pug Burger $16; add a fried egg for $2 Notes: Mon. to Sat., 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.; Sun., 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Over past few years Hollywood has been undergoing a gentrification of housing bubble proportions. From my living room window I can see a huge crane looming over the rapidly changing landscape below. For a while it was sort of exhilarating—new businesses opened at a fever pitch and created the most vibrant club and restaurant scene in Los Angeles. Of course, reality soon set in as real estate developers jumped at the opportunity like bankers to a government loan.
Big dreams and easy credit have begotten that most imaginative of development ideas: the mixed-use facility, where residences and businesses are built next to each other in a city. Imagine that. And so was born the bastard child of public urban renewal efforts and the private exurban aesthetic: the new Hollywood.
At the northwest corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street can be found the current centerpiece of the Sunset & Vine Business Improvement District. It’s called—wait for it—Sunset + Vine. It’s about as creative as its name. Cookie-cutter condos sit atop standard issue chain businesses. Baja Fresh, check. Borders Books and Music, check. Smoothie King, Verizon Wireless, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and on and on.
Why would I be heading to this imitative space for an authentic burger? To visit The Hungry Cat, that’s why.
Posted by Nick Solares, October 28, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Father's Office
1018 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90403 (b/n 10th Street and 11th Street; map); 310-393-2337; fathersoffice.com The Short Order: Fancy pants hamburger using premium ingredients that strays so far from the archetype that it is difficult for purists to even classify it as a hamburger Cooking method: Flame grilled Want Fries with That? Yes, they are very good, well worth the extra $2 Price: The Office Burger $12, with fries or sweet potato fries add $2 (prices include sales tax) Notes: Mon. - Thurs., 5:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.; Fri., 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.; Sat., 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.; Sun., 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m
21 and over only
It is a hot day in Los Angeles, at least compared to what is going on back home in New York where my friends tell me the weather is quite inclement. I have a plane to catch in a scant two and a half hours, yet I am heading in the opposite direction from both my hotel and the airport. I am on a mission to eat what has been widely lauded as the best burger in L.A.
I arrive a quarter hour before opening. The sun beats down mercilessly on me as I stand in the street waiting for the clock to strike 5 p.m. and the doors of Father's Office to open. I am not alone—huddled parties of twos and threes lurk by the entrance, their eyes expectantly darting in the direction of the shuttered door at the slightest stirring behind it. When it finally swings open—an agonizing two minutes later than expected—there is a passive-aggressive stampede as the disparate parties conglomerate in an effort to funnel through the entrance first without appearing rude or pushy.
We spill out into the long, narrow confines of a room that is ensconced, floorboard to ceiling, in blond wood paneling and rush for the bar to place our orders. I have a distinct advantage here: I may not have arrived first, but since I know what I want, there's no need to peruse the printed menu or the chalk boards. I hasten to order the Office burger. The fact that "no substitutions, modifications, alterations, or deletions" are permitted leaves only two question. "Fries?" Yes please. When queried on my drink preference I instinctively order the most familiar label amongst the seemingly endless number of beers on tap and request Old Speckled Hen, betraying my English upbringing.
Posted by Damon Gambuto, October 22, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Editor's Note: Please welcome the newest member to the AHT family, Damon Gambuto! He'll report with a Los Angeles-area review every Wednesday. Learn more about him in his Grilled interview or read on for his first review.
Bill's Hamburgers
14742 Oxnard Street, Van Nuys CA 91411 (b/n Kester Ave and Cedros Ave; map);
818-785-4086 The Short Order: Two 2.7-ounce griddled patties stacked for maximum enjoyment Want Fries with That? They don't serve fries Price: double cheeseburger $4.45 Notes: Mon. - Fri., 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
When pondering which Los Angeles burger destination I would make the subject of this, my inaugural post, I took a moment to contemplate the vastness of the landscape of my adopted home.
The borders of this metropolis stretch to almost five hundred square miles. It is the only city in the U.S. that is bisected by a mountain range. There are over two hundred languages spoken here. Neighborhood hopping can feel like a transnational adventure. The car culture and traffic further fragment the population. If cities make you think of tall buildings, imagine being in one in which you can drive for miles and not see a structure over four stories tall. And drive we do.
Millions of us making our way past one another with nary a turn signal to acknowledge our shared space. It often feels like a bunch of small cities got together and decided to marry for the money. If we don’t keep our eyes trained on the road ahead, we’ll find that the life(style) we agreed to is a city that traffics in decisions that turn into accidents.
A City United by Hamburgers
Perhaps you’ve figured out what I am driving at. What unites this city full of people in cars? It’s where we stop, park, and eat. Together. We get out of our cars to do what humans have always done, usually together: eat. Eating here in Los Angeles is often all that gets us out of our cars and next to our neighbors. Privately owned restaurants are our public spaces. It’s how we get to know our city’s other residents. For this reason, eating is always more than an exercise in existing; it lurches into the existential. It’s a food experience.
Posted by Nick Solares, October 21, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Original Pantry Cafe
877 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA (at W 9th Street; map); 213-972-9279; pantrycafe.com The Short Order: Eight-ounce griddle-cooked burger with great beef but on the wrong bread Want Fries with That? Comes with excellent, crispy, skin-on fries Price: The Pantry Burger $10.95
The Pantry is technically called The Original Pantry Cafe, but I refuse to call it that as I have yet to find another Pantry that is older than this one, which dates back to 1924.
Located in a rather dodgy part of downtown Los Angeles, The Pantry is the quintessential greasy spoon. Remarkably, it has never closed, remaining open every hour of every day since 1924. Even when they moved to their current location back in 1950 they stayed open by serving lunch at the old restaurant and dinner in the new one. There are no locks on The Pantry doors. My waitress told me that once during a blackout following an earthquake they continued to serve patrons by candle light—it was probably the closest any meal here came to being romantic.
Always Open and Never Changing
Being open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for over 80 years has its benefits and and its drawbacks. Certainly the restaurant's longevity is an indication that they must be doing something right, whether that is offering good value, good food, or a combination of both. A late night visit on a random weekday invariably finds the restaurant more than half full, and early on weekend mornings for brunch, a line forms down James M. Wood Boulevard.
But one of the downsides of never closing is that it becomes difficult to actually change either the decor or the menu much. The metal kitchen counters, which must have once gleamed with optimism, now bare only a dull sheen, betraying decades of wear and tear. So do the necessarily broad tables that line the dinning room—"necessarily broad" because the food portions at The Pantry are simply enormous, spilling off the plates and on to the tired, yellowing Formica. Even before you order your food, a loaf of bread so large that it could possibly feed the 5,000 is deposited on your table.
Earlier today Nick Solares dropped in with an L.A. burger roundup on A Hamburger Today. He travels there every now and then, but we'd like to get more L.A. coverage on the site.
So, do you live in Los Angeles? Interested in blogging for A Hamburger Today? We're looking for a burger-mad devil to document the rich burger scene in the City of Angels.
You should love, love, love burgers and know all the L.A. haunts—from the old standbys to the up-and-comers. From the tourist traps to hard-to-find hole-in-the-walls. And this is no small matter: You should also be able to write and edit well and have mad photo skills. This is an ongoing assignment that would pay per post. Details after the jump.
Posted by Nick Solares, September 9, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Although I live in New York City I spend quite a bit of time in Los Angeles, which gives me the chance to explore all that the City of Angels has to offer in the way of hamburgers. And that is an awful lot. As a friend who lives in L.A. stated, "NYC has pizza; we have burgers." Indeed, the proliferation of burger spots across the L.A. landscape is heartening for any lover of America's favorite sandwich. I have recently reported on the Apple Pan, Pie N Burger and Fred 62, so here is a quick roundup of some other burgers that I have tried in L.A.
In-N-Out Burger
There is surely no burger more synonymous with the Southern California style than the venerable and ubiquitous In-N-Out Burger chain. If I fly into Burbank, the Sunset Boulevard location is usually my first stop from the airport. While most people go for doubles, I prefer the simplicity of the single. I have also recently discovered Animal Style fries (topped with cheese, spread, and grilled onions), which make for an interesting diversion from the standard. If you have never eaten at In-N-Out, it should be your first stop in L.A.; if you have been there, it probably already is. 7009 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood CA 90028 (map; numerous other locations); 800-786-1000; in-n-out.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 7, 2008 at 4:00 PM
This great show is "A tasty, colorful tour of the Los Angeles burger and drive-in scene that also traces its Americana roots from post World War II through the 1990s."
At 47 minutes, it's quite a bit longer than most videos we highlight on this site, so we're running it here this weekend, when you've got plenty of time to watch it. Grab a burger, sink in, hit play, and enjoy! Take a tour of Burgertown after the jump. [via Philip]
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 2, 2008 at 2:00 PM
More L.A. burgerage for you. A Hamburger Today reader Mike Makis just dropped us an email: "Those that are not college football fans may have missed last night's segment on ESPN of the Apple Pan. Todd Blackledge covers a 'Taste of the Town' for every week's prime time college football game, and since last night's overtime showdown was at the Rose Bowl, he ended up at the Apple Pan."
Posted by Nick Solares, September 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
Pie 'N Burger
913 East California Boulevard, Pasadena CA 91106 (b/n South Lake Ave and South Mentor Ave; map); 626-795-1123; pienburger.com The Short Order:Classic So Cal-style griddle-cooked burgers replete with Thousand Island dressing. While there is nothing unique about the recipe, the execution is unmatched. It's the author's favorite example of the breed Want Fries with That? Absolutely—they're golden, crispy and delicious Price: hamburger $6.25; cheeseburger $6.75 Notes: Open Mon.-Fri., 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sat., 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun., 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Last week I reported on the venerable Apple Pan restaurant and its justifiably hyped burger offerings. An equally compelling burger—albeit with far less star power (you probably won't see Jack Nicholson or any other celebrity dining here)&madsh;can be found in Pasadena at the decades-old Pie 'N Burger. I have to thank George Motz for featuring Pie 'N Burger in his book Hamburger America. I would have definitely made it to the Apple Pan irrespective of his book, as it is world famous, but a hidden gem like Pie 'N Burger would have likely slipped under the radar, overshadowed by L.A.'s more celebrated burger joints but for Motz's coverage. And what a shame that would have been, for Pie 'N Burger provided me with one of the seminal burger experiences of my life.
While the Apple Pan benefited from its proximity to the Hollywood movie studios and has served everyone from Clark Gable to Barbara Streisand, Pie 'N Burger has thrived on the back of a different constituency: local college students from USC and Caltech, as well as legions of those salt of the earth-type working people that you only hear about during primary elections.
Posted by Nick Solares, August 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
Apple Pan
10801 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles CA 90064 (map); 310-475-3585 The Short Order: Plump, succulent, and tender quarter pound burgers made with toasted, squishy buns are generously topped with lettuce, cheese, pickles, and mayonnaise. They're arguably the finest example of the California-style burger Want Fries with That? Crispy and delicious, they're worth getting Notes: Closed on Mondays. Tue.-Thu. and Sun., 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Back in 2005 Hamburger Hadley reported on the the venerable Apple Pan in West Los Angeles. It has since been featured in George Motz's Hamburger America—rumor has it that the idea for Motz's film and subsequent book originated at Apple Pan's counter over a burger. As the newest member of the AHT staff, I considered it a rite of passage to make Apple Pan a destination when I recently visited Los Angeles.
An Eatery That Takes You Back in Time
Nothing has changed since Hadley's visit—the Apple Pan remains exactly as he described. In fact, I doubt that much has changed at the Apple Pan since it opened back in 1947. At that time the Apple Pan was surrounded by the citrus groves and family farms that blanketed the undulating terrain of what was then rural West Los Angeles. A riding stable used to be located just across the street—a lady that I struck up conversation with at the counter remembers taking lessons there as a child and then heading over to the Apple Pan for burgers. She confirmed that absolutely nothing has changed at the simple ranch-style building in the ensuing years. On the other hand, almost everything else in the vicinity has transformed from rural to urban—the massive Westwood Pavilion Mall located across the street towers above the Apple Pan and rows of houses have replaced the rows of orchards.
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
Fred 62
1850 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90027 (at Russell Avenue; map); 323-667 0062; fred62.com The Short Order: The Jucy Lucy here is not modeled on the famous cheese-stuffed burger at Matt's Bar in Minneapolis but on the burgers at In-N-Out. The Jucy Lucy here, though, is like an In-N-Out burger on steroids. And tastes even better Want Fries with That? They come with, but if they didn't, you could skip them. They're not as crisp or flavorful as they need to be Price: $9.63 for the Jucy Lucy
Fred 62 is named after its owners, both named Fred, both born in, you guessed it, 1962. Back in 1997, designer Fred Sutherland and chef Fred Eric collaborated to create what they call a "retro-kitsch diner" in the burgeoning Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angles. There is a distinct possibility that such ambitions can result in a trite, tiresome, and contrived restaurant that focuses too much on the kitsch and not enough on the food. Fortunately Fred 62 avoids most of the culinary pitfalls and turns out some inventive twists on classic diner fare.
The decor is an interesting mix of traditional diner trappings (a long counter divides the room, replete with classic soda fountains), along with a cheeky, low-brow slant (the servers all have racing stripes to match those of the leather booths that resemble cars seats). The building is painted in shades of green, orange, and yellow, giving it a rather gaudy and cartoonish look. Like I said, low-brow. Aesthetic misgivings aside, I was here to eat what the menu modestly bills, as "the worlds greatest hamburger sandwich."
I won't keep you in suspense. I don't think it is the world's greatest hamburger, but it is nonetheless very good—certainly one of the best burgers I have had in L.A. The burger in question is called the Jucy Lucy, but it is nothing like the one that has been reported on here at AHT extensively, which is actually filled with cheese before cooking. Fred 62's Jucy Lucy might not be filled with cheese, but it does at least live up to its name.
As part of McDonald's strategy to appeal to local tastes and aesthetics, a Mickey D's in Hacienda Heights, California, which has a large Asian community, has gone all feng shui. Elements include "leather seats, earth tones, bamboo plants, and water trickling down glass panels." Near the counter, eight rows of red tiles appear on the wall (eight is a lucky number, and red symbolizes "good luck, laughter, and prosperity"). [via Jason Perlow]
Ever since Bar Marmont in L.A. changed management, and changed its burger from the Best in the World to just plain old delicious, I've been searching the streets of Hollywood for the next perfect burger. Pretty close is the Kobe Burger at Dusty's on Sunset in Silverlake. I recommend it rare and without the condiments provided on the side.
Amazing!
—Dino
Thanks for the tip, Dino. Good LA intel is always appreciated!
As editor of AHT, I'm ashamed to say I've never been to the Apple Pan, but I've read and heard plenty about the place. Over at Serious Eats, we even have a nice video about general manager Charles Collins and his own 50th anniversary of service there. But today's story in the L.A. Times brings some new, quirky info (at least to me):
It's well-known that you can't get tomato on your burger, but "regulars know you can request an onion slice or even fried onions, when the grill isn't too busy."
The Apple Pan has remained stubbornly old-school in terms of food prep and service: "Soft drinks are still poured in paper cones supported by stainless steel cupholders, in the 1940s lunch-counter way. Over time those bases began to disappear, and about a year ago it looked as if the restaurant would finally have to start using cardboard or plastic cups. 'But then a customer found a bunch of bases for us on EBay,' [owner Martha] Gamble says."
It's a loving portrait of a type of place that is sadly becoming all too rare these days. One that treats its customers and employees with respect (the "newest" kitchen member has been there 17 years) and doesn't try to meddle with a good thing or expand or chain itself out, thereby losing quality.
The Apple Pan, an institution of a burger joint in Los Angeles (covered here on AHT), opened in 1947. For 50 of its 60 years in business, Charles Collins has worked there. Burger documentarian George "Hamburger America" Motz catches up with Mr. Collins as he marks his golden anniversary there.
THE APPLE PAN Location:10801 West Pico Blvd. (at Westwood Blvd.), Los Angeles 90064 Phone: 310-475-3585 Price: $5.75 Short Order: Two classic burgers dating to the '40s still amaze tastebuds with individuality and kick-ass quality in old-school diner digs.
About the filmmaker: George Motz is the burger-mad genius behind our favorite burger movie, Hamburger America. For more from George, visit his website, HamburgerAmerica.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 27, 2007 at 2:16 PM
Oh, the stars. They too love the burgers. Who'd have thought "the Queen" (Helen Mirren) was up for a bit of the ol' In-N-Out? In what seems to be a Hollywood tradition, a stand providing the famous California treat was set up at the back of the Vanity Fair Oscar party.
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 6, 2006 at 12:27 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, last week we introduced you to AHT's Matty Jacobs. This week, it's time you got to know "Hamburglar" Hadley Tomicki a little better. Without further ado, let's get Grillin' —Ed.
Name: Hadley "Hamburglar" Tomicki Location: Los Angeles Occupation: Editor lataco.com, educator, and actor
How often do you eat burgers?
Less and less it seems these days after opening up to the taco lifestyle, maybe once or twice a month.
Where did you eat your most recent one?
Fatburger on a very classy date, unless you count the Runza I had in Nebraska the other week.
American, cheddar, other?
I like Gruyère, cheddar, even blue cheese. Typically sharp cheeses for me on my burger.
Ketchup or mustard?
Both. But if George W. Bush instituted a draconian one-condiment doctrine, I'd choose the ketchup.
Sesame-seed or plain?
Sesame, please.
Grilled, griddled, or broiled?
Grilled—with lots of char marks.
And how would you like that done, sir?
Medium, possibly medium-rare, if you’ve got a good rep.
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 7, 2006 at 3:20 PM
A little bitta the ol' In-N-Out for you, Paris? ...
Celebrity Paris Hilton was arrested in Hollywood early on Thursday for suspected drunk driving, but she said the incident had been blown out of proportion and that she may have been speeding to get a late-night burger....
"I had one margarita (and) was starving because I had not eaten all day," she said. "Maybe I was speeding a little bit and I got pulled over. I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out Burger."
Shouldn't she have been speeding to get a Carl's Jr.? ...
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 6, 2006 at 8:30 AM
From an op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times:
The great taste hasn't changed, but the mystique that inspired our carnivorous cross-valley quests sure has. The earlier, spartan drive-throughs, which once kept us at arm's length, a sheet of glass sealing off the inner sanctum where clean-cut workers frenetically packed the grill with meat patties, has given way to brightly lighted indoor seating no different from the national fast-food chains. The fabled secret menu, for years passed around solely by word of mouth, giving those of us in the know an easy way to separate the true In-N-Out fan — and true Southern Californian — from the wannabes … well, the Web ended all that.
How can we preserve that vanishing sense of wonder while giving proper respect to the important role In-N-Out has played in postwar SoCal culture? An idea came to me a few months back while driving on the 10 Freeway, when I glimpsed a well-worn yellow-arrow sign, bearing a quaint pre-digital clock....
[In-N-Out No. 1] has been closed and gated off since 2004, replaced by a much snazzier restaurant just on the other side of the freeway at the same Francisquito Avenue exit. Next door stands the two-story "In-N-Out University" managerial training center and company store, selling such items as ski caps and beach towels emblazoned with the chain's name.
Company honchos have told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that they plan to preserve the building, and there was even talk of a museum, but I envision something more — a full-blown In-N-Out shrine.
Went to Joe's Best Burger in Flushing, Queens, NYC, a couple weeks ago to compare its double cheeseburger to In-N-Out's Double Double. New York City-based Joe's has been compared favorably to the California-based chain, with people saying it comes pretty close to the INO formula. Both taste great and are as fresh as you can get for fast-food burgers. But In-N-Out is a little meatier, as seen above. You can get a better idea of the differences and similarities here: Joe's Best Burger Double Cheeseburger In-N-Out Double Double
Relax. In-N-Out isn't going to change with the death of cofounder Esther Snyder. From the Los Angeles Times:
The new head of In-N-Out Burgers said Monday that the venerable restaurant chain would remain in family hands and stay true to its time-tested strategy — a simple menu and slow but steady growth — after the death of company matriarch Esther L. Snyder....
"The general perception in the industry is that it's under-developed — that there could be a lot more of them," said Randall Hiatt, president of Costa Mesa-based consulting firm Fessel International.
The trick, Hiatt said, is to achieve that growth without losing the In-N-Out mystique.
"Because of the way they have restricted growth, it still has that cult kind of buzz," he said. "Like Krispy Kreme had but lost when you started to see them at every gas station."
Esther Snyder, who with her late husband Harry co-founded In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin Park in 1948 and popularized the drive-through window for the fast-food industry, has died. She was 86.
Snyder, who had succeeded her husband and two sons as head of the family business, died Friday, according to an announcement from the company. Neither the cause nor the place of death was announced.
She was an inspiration for all the associates at In-N-Out and for all the people in the community whose lives she touched over the years," Lynsi Martinez, her granddaughter and sole heir, said in a statement.
L.A. CityBeat visits 25 Degrees, the burger joint attached to the recently renovated Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and finds that (and I'm paraphrasing here) it is Lestat slurping a milkshake wearing Fonzie's jacket.
As you might expect, the burgers are fairly iconic and superannuated. They start as nine ounces of good sirloin and are cooked on a griddle rather than charbroiled – as they should be, because it preserves those pink and golden juices that ooze out the burger’s sides. They’re served on brioche buns made on the premises, and these are quite fine, their tops resembling a mushroom cap in shape and peanut brittle in color, with a fine sheen.
It’s a mix-and-match proposition. You can choose from 12 different cheeses, both domestic and imported, along with other accompaniments, like fried egg, shiitake mushroom, jalape�os, and arugula. Dipping sauces cost 50 cents each and include horseradish cream, tarragon remoulade, chipotle, and Dijon, just to name a few; you can slab that on your burger too, or save it for the fries. If you’re like me and become paralyzed when faced with too many choices, you can go for one of the two house burgers, so it’s all decided for you.
The name refers to he temperature difference between medium-rare (mmm) and well-done (gargh!).
Here's a killer list we've mentioned on AHT but have never elaborated on. It's Alan Richman's top 20 from his July 2005 story "The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die" in GQ. Do click through to read the entire piece; it quickly made its way onto the Required Reading list at AHT HQ. Bon appétit! ...
AOL Cityguide has done it again. In late March, the good folks there brought you the best burgers in New York. Now they've compiled the "15 Burgers to Try Before You Die" (hmm ... strange echo of Alan Richman's piece in GQ last year, "The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die.") Without further ado, they are ...
Like Ahab chasing his white whale or Quint on the thrashing tail of Jaws, I had been doing my best to track down the elusive burger truck for weeks, having spotted it in my neighborhood one lazy afternoon. Despite my voyages though the neighborhood of West Los Angeles, just a little shy of the swarming 405 freeway, I came up with nothing, the burger truck a fleeting ghost in my life. In Los Angeles, we have more than our share of taco trucks, so this phantom purveyor of transportable burgers seemed an anomaly, a natural progression from south-of-the-border quick cheap eats to the northern cuisine enjoyed the world over.
Thar She Blows!
I pride myself on a healthy lifestyle. In order to bring you the best and brightest of L.A. burgers, I must maintain a good diet and an intense workout regimen. So it was that I awoke one morning and made a quick trip to Vons Supermarket to replenish my supply of Grape Nuts and almond milk. Driving home, I spotted the burger truck on a nearby block. My heart skipped a beat. I dashed to my apartment to snatch my camera and went off again, the sounds of K-Day blasting Tupac in my ears, "I ain’t a killa, but don’t push me ..."
Spotting the truck, still at its drop-off point, I locked onto it and drove forward. As I approached, it must have seen the voracious intent in my eyes, as the driver slammed on the gas and made a break for it. I flipped a fast U-turn in plain view of the local police station, and the pursuit was on. Across Iowa and down Sawtelle, I pursued my prey with thoughts of ground beef on my brain. At one point, an interloping Acura came between us, and I worried I would lose my target. Once that problem disappeared in a few minutes, we hit the busy throughway of Olympic and following the burger truck's suicide left, I was hot on its azz and close enough to catch a phone number on the backside of the truck (right). I placed a call to the confused owner and found out the next stop would be a construction site on Greenfield.
Sure enough, we planted ourselves on the aforementioned street, Martin’s Burgers in front of a half-built house, myself in a red zone with motor running. I approached the kind owner, Martin, just before a rush of hardworking Mexican and Central American fans joined the queue. I placed my order for a cheeseburger, then questioned Martin as to how he developed the idea for the first hamburger truck I’d ever seen.
“I used to work over at Big Joe’s burgers, and I wanted to name my truck Little Joe’s before being told that might be a problem. So I named it after myself, Martin (pronounced Marteen)." Simple enough, now how about that burger?
The Belly and the Beef
Five minutes and $2.50 later, my cheeseburger was in my hands and ready to be devoured in my illegal parking spot. The burger was slightly bigger than medium size, about perfect for a filling lunch. My first bite of Martin’s mobile burger pleasantly surprised me. It was good, great even. A coarse patty with slightly charred ends and gooey American cheese poked out of its white wax wrapper. Very juicy with a charbroiled taste, just enough lettuce and a tasty dollop of mayo had me happy I’d eschewed the Grape Nuts for a burger at 11 a.m. The mayo was perhaps too plenty for some tastes, but the tomato and lettuce toppings and thin layer of cheese mixed well with the nearly hot patty and soft bun. Juice and yummy grease oozed out of the patty, ruining my diet but completing my life. Martin’s burger is much tastier and fulfilling than many I’ve sampled at stands and chains who claim they have "the best burger in town."
Sometimes it’s the thrill of the chase that gets us burger bloodhounds all revved up. In this case, the quarry was just as satisfying. If you can’t find Martin’s Burgers on your block, give them a call at 310-422-9337 and see where he’ll be next. We are yet to arrive at the Pico-Union address Martin’s gives for his burgers, but maybe they are available and just as good over there. We shall soon see!
MARTIN'S BURGERS Phone: 310-422-9337 Location: Mobile throughout Los Angeles or 924 W. Washington Blvd. 90015 Price: Cheeseburger, $2.50 Short Order: The first burger truck we’ve ever seen and quite tasty at that
Despite what Everclear says, Summerland is not just a name on the map, though it still seems like heaven to me. Nestled in a shady nook between Montecito and Carpinteria, for years Summerland slumbered away as a small artists' beach community of quaint houses and inspired decorations. Now, as the rich get richer, Summerland has experienced a boom as everyone else becomes too poor to live in Santa Barbara or anywhere within a 20-mile radius. Today, Summerland is a patchwork of yuppie antiques stores and slowly invading cafés, but many of the village’s treasures remain to this day, including the Sandpiper Liquor Store, the Wild West burgers of the Nugget, the Big Yellow House, and the town’s two tiny burger veterans, Tinker’s and Stacky’s Seaside.
I pulled into Summerland on a hot summer weekend in July, tempted by the sign on a newer restaurant promising Burger Madness Tuesdays. At $3.99 a pop, I had trouble understanding what great deal was afoot, so I turned my attention toward Tinker’s, unable to remember which had the better burgers between it and Stacky’s. Tinker’s is a thin hallway (top right) with a sandy 1950s beach obsession and an outdoor patio. Slinging all sorts of burgertime treats, Tinker’s has quite a few devotees.
Taking my place in line before a gang of pre-pubescent surf rats, the first things to catch my eye were the cute high school girls working the counter (left). Smiling with teeth full of glimmering braces, they were sweet and funny, even allowing me to snap a candid photo or two. I placed my order for a cheeseburger and ordered a plate of mini-burgers for myself and my friend Cody, visiting from Vero Beach, Florida. After a ten-minute wait outside baking in the sun and watching the weekend traffic saunter by, our burgers arrived in nostalgia-inducing red plastic baskets piled high with fries (below).
Unfortunately, the warm fuzzy feeling did not extend toward the burger. Despite a great-looking presentation of glimmering traditional-style burgers, mine was not only less-than-remarkable, and I was sad to discover more than a couple gristly bites that I’d rather not have taken. The grilled bun was a nice touch, but the patty did not hold up, it was noticeably inferior in quality. It also had grilled edges that tasted nicely charred, but the thinness of the meat was also somewhat shady. The sauce (Thousand Island?) and fixings—onion, tomato, lettuce—came correct (above right), but the burger rated about 5 out of 10. The mini burgers (above left) were a tad better, their diminutive size obscuring any inconsistencies in the patty. At more than $6 for a meal, however, it doesn't seem worth it. Upon realizing my follies, I figured that it must be Stacky’s that had the legendary Summerland burgers.
Coming back to Summerland is a treat. With the Nugget (where presidents Clinton and Reagan went for burgers), the place announcing Burger Madness Tuesday, and the expectation set by Stacky’s and a lackluster flavor at Tinker’s, it will be a pleasure to return soon and settle who is slinging the best burger. Until then, I’m recommending Stacky’s. Maybe they can hire these two cute cooks and have the best of both worlds!
TINKER'S BURGERS Location: 2275 Ortega Hill Road; Summerland CA 93067 Phone: 805-969-1970 Price: $5 burgers Short Order: Beachside 1950s grill could have better patties, but still high on ambiance and charm. Better burgers in neighborhood worth exploring.
Great news! On Monday, September 20, the West Hollywood City Council and Historic Preservation Commission gave Irv's Burgers a Cultural Resource Designation. This important decision means the original burger stand, in place since 1950, will remain intact, a true testament to burger history and the fight the community waged to keep its beloved stand. The only bad news is this does not necessarily protect the Hong family's business, which will rely entirely on the decision of the (hopefully beneveloent) landlord. Technically, Irv’s could still become Irv’s Starbucks, as long as the structure and patio are maintained. Read the entire recommendation in this PDF, and then go get a superior Irv’s burger with those amazing fries. Congratulations Irv’s and West Hollywood!
Many people agree that having one less McDonald's is not necessarily a bad thing, but the recent removal of the old school McDonald's at Highland and Sunset in Hollywood is a sad departure of a North American icon. Rather than a standard issue McDeez, this small white hut was a relic from the 1950s, when McDonald's first began. It featured steeple-esque roofing and a gigantic statue-sign of the chain's original mascot, Speedee the Chef, a cuter, simpler precursor to the bad-acid-trip-recalling, HR Pufnstuf rip-offs that now rule McDonaldland (RIP Mac Tonight).
So Speedee, who would glow in neon come nightfall and reveal a questionable lump in his trousers, has been offed, leaving merely a maze of gang graffiti covering his sad remains.
With In-N-Out and even Carl's Jr. as neighbors, I guess this change was inevitable. But we would have rather seen the McDonald's on Hollywood Boulevard—dubbed the most expensive McDonald's in existence, with a giant movie marquee announcing itself but a fairly lackluster interior—removed than this small slice of our hamburger heritage. So it goes sometimes. At least the oldest existing McDonald's still resides somewhere out on Lakewood Boulevard in Downey and still sports a giant Speedee with that old school burger-stand style.
On the other end of the McDonald's funding universe, I spotted this corporate-style McDonald's in San Diego's downtown recently, blending into the landscape of steel and glass. I kind of like it and have learned as long as we have to have McDonald's, maybe it's preferable to have them buck the cookie-cutter spaces for some ingenuity. We'll always recognize those golden arches from a mile away.
Also, if any readers have any pictures of the passed Sunset–Highland McDonalds, I’d love to see once again what it looked like and share it on AHT.
The Apple Pan in West Los Angeles is as famous as its bones are bare. A simple horse-shoe counter brimming with customers, behind which two cooks and three servers (all long-in-the-tooth, sweet gentleman rocking white paper hats and aprons) scurry like chaps on a mission, its guts are not much to behold. Instead, the effort goes into the few items that dominate the sparse menu, from fruit pies to ham-and-tuna sandwiches to, of course, the famous burgers.
The Apple Pan resides in a charming wood-and-brick house (see photos at top) that faces the Westwood Pavilion like an indie David facing off against corporate Goliath. Stepping inside instantly transports you to the 1950s, with local families enjoying the same awesome burgers and famous pies that they have for generations. It's not the 1950s recreated à la Fatburger or In-N-Out. No, the Apple Pan harks back to a more rural Los Angeles and a time when this location was surrounded by farms and orchards. Despite innumerable offers from developers, the Apple Pan has remained in the same family since its founding in 1947. It is now run by Martha Gamble, whose parents, Alan and Ellen (cute, right?), started the restaurant with an early focus on one of their parents' pie recipes as a star attraction. Today, the Apple Pan is an L.A. institution and serves a hamburger worth coming a great distance for.
Walking into the Apple Pan with my two associates—Mike, a visiting warrior from Swaziland, and Brooks Rosenquist, former New Orleans public school teacher/warrior and current hard rocker—the Pan's every last seat was filled, as usual. The wait died in five minutes, however, and we bellied up to the counter, catching sullen looks from some middle-aged men in the corner who no doubt used to munch here while ditching the high school bell, now seemingly ditching the ball 'n' chain.
Though the seats have too little space for some burger loving butts, it is an honor to sit before the harried staff of the Apple Pan. A lot of people say the servers are gruff, but they are just old school, looking as if they have worked here since they were teenagers, as some sort of Sisyphean punishment to serve hamburgers until the day North Americans have had enough. In other words, they are not about to introduce themselves like "Stacey from Torrance" does at your favorite California Pizza Kitchen location. They average about 70, and you know serving burgers to a bunch of punks and their padres at that age has to suck. Essentially, if it's not on the menu, don't waste anyone's time asking for it.
The Apple Pan busts two famous hamburgers: the Steakburger and the Hickory Burger. Both are amazing, so my crew and I mixed it up with a few of each. Watching the servers in action as they placated and fed normal-looking Angelenos (they exist) helped pass the time fast enough. Mike broke down the significance of the cow in Zulu culture, making us feel a venerated gravity in anticipation of one of Los Angeles's best.
First the fries arrived on teensy paper plates (left) to stave off the salivation, coming thick but with a good balance of lightness and crunch—though not really anything to spazz about. Our waiter, ever the hardcore pro, flipped his Heinz bottle like Tom Cruise in Cocktail, pouring a thick blotch of ketchup all over our plates in a flash, before moving on to the next victim.
Shortly after undertaking my exploration of Los Angeles's burgers, I heard more and more whispers about Irv's, the classic West Hollywood hamburger stand in constant danger of being turned into yet another redundant chain store, thanks to its precarious month-to-month lease on some prime real estate. As my burger search intensified, so did the pressure to bring the word about Irv's to AHT readers; support is desperately needed for its plight. A surprising plight, considering Irv's shows up on every food critic's top-Angeleno-burger list.
Irv's is one of few remaining Post-WWII California roadside diners that sits along Route 66, that fabled stretch of highway that once ran from the Pacific Ocean through the Southwest to Chicago. There used to be hundreds of joints just like it, quickly dispatching burgers to Cali's erupting car culture. Irv's, dubbed Queen's Burgers in olden times, was the beloved burger of '70s heroes like Cassavettes, Rowlands, Hendrix, Janis, and Mr. Mojo Rising. Linda Ronstadt even featured Irv's on one of her LP covers in her superhottie days (see photo, above right). Check their history on their website, a true testament to Irv's value in this city and nation's heritage.
Today, it is owned by the incredible Hong family, striving to keep their business at Irv's as much as the community is clamoring to keep them. Locals formed a vigilante crew, the Burger Brigade, dedicated to defending Irv's from ubiquitous corporate greed.
Last Saturday, during an action-packed tour I was giving to a visiting Floridian amigo, I swerved from Melrose to Fairfax to Santa Monica, hunting down Irv's, which has been stationed there since 1950. Wading through Saturday-afternoon traffic, I spotted my destination at Sweetzer, realizing I had passed the corner 80 times in the past six months without once spotting Irv's. Upon inspection, I saw that it proudly stands, 55 years of burger history, behind a colorful hand-painted hut, sporting simple patio seating blanketed with homemade roofing.
At the counter, a beautiful, friendly face, illuminated by a bright-pink shirt, popped out from the stand's shallow confines. I was sweetly greeted and asked for my order. With each request and ensuing adjustment, my sweet young order-taker showed a knack for warm-hearted prophecy. "I know you wanted a cheeseburger," she said, noting, "Grilled onions—good for Saturday." Never have I had service with such genuine smiles and spirit. The sugary lass is Sonia Hong (see photo, left), owner of Irv's. She clearly has a genuine passion for serving burgers to her neighborhood fans, evident in the flavor of the eats. She even posed for pictures, something the Apple (Dumplin') Pan Gang didn't seem into (Apple Pan review to come).
When my Irv's cheeseburger hit the easy, breezy tables, I was truly touched by the hand-drawn blue shirt and inscription, "Just for You," on my paper plate (see photo, second row from top). It gave me feelings of specialness I'd never felt before. Sonia has a reputation for customer interaction that goes above and beyond, often knowing intimate details of her burger-, breakfast-, and teriyaki-addicts' lives and hollerin' at 'em by name. Cute, sweet, and funny (sigh). But can she pull a burger bachelor's dream quartet by serving a perfect burger?
Unlike New York City, the East Coast HQ of A Hamburger Today,our West Side hometown Lake Charles, Louisiana, still has an oldies station. And it's Los Angeles's oldies station LA 92.9 on your FM dial that recently named AHT its Website of the Day.
Hamburgers and oldies just seem to go together. Need proof? Think of the nostalgic atmosphere found at Fatburger, Tommy's, and Howard's Famous.
We're honored that LA 92.9 chose us to highlight for its listeners. Thanks, 92.9! And of course, we wouldn't have achieved this recognition without the hard work and detailed writing of our West Coast editor, Hamburglar Hadley. Thanks, HH! If you haven't read all his reviews, click his name and have a gander.
ARCHIVES > AHT REVIEWS>CALIFORNIA>LOS ANGELES Seeing as the Fourth of July is the biggest burger-munching day for Americans, I could hardly stand to face it alone. Using the scant wits I could muster up, I employed a scheme certain to get ravishingly gorgeous AHT senior editor Honey P. to Los Angeles for the weekend. Knowing Honey P’s heart to be as deep as the livid pools of amber she refers to as her "eyes," I placed an urgent call to her on behalf of Irv’s Burgers, the legendary West Hollywood burger stand which has been fighting to stay alive amid plans for neighborhood redevelopment. I told Honey P. she must help me help Irv’s, and before I knew it, the kind, sweet soul was westbound from New York City for four wonderful days.
The sad news is that we never made it to Irv's. My search for something to surf on during a flat weekend and her desire to explore L.A.'s farthest reaches kept us too busy. The good news is that Irv's recently won a battle to overturn the designation that would see it demolished, though it's not in the clear yet. However, Honey P. and I did find ourselves at Santa Monica's The Counter, a popular designer diner with a unique Build Your Own Burger concept.
Entering the sleek eatery, with its Emeco chairs, giant open garage door, and photo exhibition of the Dogtown skate days, we were seated immediately by one of the Counter's friendly and gorgeous young waitresses (ours even scribed a smiley face and heart on our bill). Meeting us at our table were small clipboards holding smaller pencils and a checklist of everything a control freak could desire while crafting a perfect burger.
The Counter is no doubt cool, bringing a bevy of families, dates, and coworkers to the old-school-classic-meets-contemporary space. Candles line the doorway, and a long bar sits opposite a roomful of satisfied-looking guests. Browsing the menu, we found a great selection of interesting, adventurous treats to indulge in. Fried dill pickle chips, a cold meatloaf sandwich, PB & J, and something called "taco turkey" bit our interest. But the burger possibilities seemed endless. In addition to its six signature burgers and the build-your-own device, there was burger-in-a-bowl for the carbophobic, mini burgers, shakes and 50-50 onion ring–french fry combos.
We decided to build the burger of our dreams, a challenge given the Counter's seemingly endless combinations. Diners are given a choice of beef, turkey, or veggie in 1/3 pound, 2/3 pound, and 1 pound weights. Ten choices of cheese are available, from Greek feta and Danish blue to horseradish cheddar and herb goat cheese. You can choose four toppings (additional ones are 50¢ each), which range from standards like red onion and lettuce to the exotic (for burgers, anyway), such as dried cranberries, grilled pineapple, and roasted corn and black bean salsa. $1 premium toppings include avocado, fried egg, Black Forest ham, and honey-cured bacon. Next comes the sauce section, with a staggering display of 23, ranging from apricot sauce to peanut to sweet barbecue. Bun choices are a bit more limited: English muffin, honey wheat bun, and the traditional style.
I put together something not too unconventional, a 1/3-pounder on a regular bun with jalapeño Jack, a lettuce blend, roasted red peppers, grilled onions, tomaters, and dill pickles with roasted-garlic aioli. Hot-as-a-firecracker-on-the-Fourth Honey P. put together, on a traditional bun, a 1/3-pounder with grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, Tillamook cheddar, and the same aioli I chose. (You can see her creation toward the top of this entry.) We went with the 50-50 and refillable Cokes, and soaked in the atmosphere. Honey P. was excited to spot actress Jennifer Elsie Cox, who debuted as Jan in the Brady Bunch Movie. Soon, our 50-50 came. The wispy onion rings topped the standard fries by leaps and bounds.
LOS ANGELES > CULVER CITY
Culver City is a subtle stretch of Los Angeles lying low on the West Side, but there's nothing low-key about one of its oldest eateries, Howard's Famous Bacon and Avocado Burgers. The strip mall that eventually grew to surrounded Howard's—a block of dreary businesses that looks more like a series of black-market fronts than the realization of its tenants' entrepreneurial dreams—looks like it wants to keep a low profile. No such luck, however: Howard's Circus Circus–style sign is a beacon of flashing lightbulbs and screaming colored letters announcing itself to Sepulveda traffic far and wide.
Dating to 1971, Howard's claims to be the first to have dressed a burger in that celestial combination of bacon and avocado that now makes a mint for chains such as Carl's Jr. We're glad Howard's introduced these toppings to our beloved all-beef patties, but I had serious doubts as to whether it was worth recommending. Still, something had kept it there for more than 30 years good and bad times, and I needed to find out what it was.
I had been to Howard's Famous shortly after moving back to Los Angeles and long before joining the AHT staff. Sad to say, I was not impressed by the old man at the time. My burger's beef patty looked disturbingly like a veggie burger, and, truth be told, even the initial excitement of avocado and bacon wore thin. The divine green fruit was sparse, and the bacon was limp and flavorless. Despite this bad experience, I decided to give Howard's another try in the name of hamburger journalism and, of course, as a service to our readers.
Stumbling into Howard's, I was taken with the nostalgic charm of its surroundings. L.A. used to be quite a different monster, and I'm sure Howard's was once a perfect fit in the more rural Culver of the long-gone Beach Blanket Bingo era. Now, a rustier vibe pervades, that of a lost seaside shanty in slow collapse, left inland by a shrinking sea. It seemed I was the only visitor that evening, with the movie posters on the wall and the hand-painted menu—delightful beyond belief—my sole sources of companionship.
I ordered a quarter-pound burger with cheese, slumped into one of the booths, and took in the old-timey digs with a radio-broadcast NBA game as my soundtrack. Howard's has many options, from hot dogs, turkey burgers, and patty melts to tacos and chili, all topped or filled with as much avocado and bacon as your veins can stand. Burger-topping options are egg, chili, and extra avocado or bacon. Onion rings and thickly cut fries are on the menu as sides. Keeping an eye on the grill, I noticed the patty placed on it looked to be of the generic frozen variety.
As the sun started to sink, though, the joint picked up. First came a work-weary lady ordering burgers to go, followed by some of L.A.'s finest, um, security guards. By the time an Asian b-boy strode in, my order was up. Grabbing it from the counter, I was amazed by its appetizing appearance. Weighty and freshly topped, it was not the puny excuse for a manwich I remembered from the last time I visited.
The taste of this cheeseburger defied my expectations. It was hot and soft, a subtle salad dressing mingling with the cheese on the bottom bun, providing that gooey mess that I love. The tomato and lettuce toppings were fresh, and, overall, the burger was hearty and scrumptious. The beef patty was still not anything to go out of your way for; it was flat, gray, thin and only a slight upgrade from a McDonald's patty. But the silky, ripe avocado and crisp bacon were there in spades, making for a unique and tasty burger. It exhibits good orchestration as far as toppings go, but the sandwich would benefit from pickle or onion for an extra note in the medley of tastes. The bun, not all that special looking, wins points for being soft yet firm and easily chewed. This Howard's cheeseburger was bun and lettuce above the first one I'd tried some months back.
Howard's Famous Bacon and Avocado Burgers wins points for a fun experience, but it's more McDonald's-gone-SoCal than a great revelation in hamburgerdom. The burger might be inconsistent, but there's something enjoyable about being the restaurant's old-school environs, which evoke a more innocent time without the Happy Days theatrics of Fatburger and In-N-Out. And after this second round of Howard's, I'm tempted to say it won't be the last time I get a hankering for all these great tastes that taste great together. Still, the place will have to fight hard to maintain its game amidst such mediocrity. The concept is golden, but the execution is bronze. Maybe Howard's could keep the sign and update the burger?
HOWARD'S FAMOUS BACON AND AVOCADO BURGERS Location: 11127 Venice Blvd. (at Sepulveda), Culver City, CA 11127 Phone: 310-838-9111 Cost: Quarter-pound burger, $3.05; half-pound, $4.45 Short Order: Crazy atmosphere yields favorite ingredients on an inconsistent burger
LOS ANGELES On your typical good day in SoCal, shortly after you take another sip of the potion and hit the three-wheel motion and just prior to your late-night sighting of the Goodyear blimp bigging you up in lights, you're gonna hit Fatburger. Say around 2 a.m.*, with pager still blowin' up.
It's always been between this big bad boy and In-n-Out here in Cali, but for some reason Fatburger lost the PR war after a glorious run in the long-gone '80s. Back then, even emerging national rap superstars the Beastie Boys recognized it as the best option out west in absence of their beloved White Castle.
Now, in its 50th year, Fatburger still has true blue fans who won't accept anything else. Still, the place rarely gets the love it deserves. Maybe it's been out word-of-mouthed by devotees of the competition. Maybe its rapid franchising into markets as far as Jersey City and Clearwater, Florida, has given customers the feeling that Fatburger's quality was a thing of the past.
That's a true shame given the quality and value found at this phat chain. Not to mention the copious quantities of love at Fatburger. The food is imbued with nostalgic good vibes—like a jar of Skippy run through with Mom's butter knife. Clean, service oriented, and chock-a-block with knickknacks, black-and-white photos of Ray and the Godfather of Soul, and rollicking '50s tunes from the glowing jukebox, Fatburger is a vision in neon. You almost picture Gidget and her friends sucking down thick milkshakes and engaging in wholesome good times before the next longboarding session. Although, we do have to admit we've seen some dodgy Fatburger locations where amped-up thugs were not having a good day.
No such dodginess was in evidence the other night when the AHT team, with fresh objective tastebuds at the ready, visited the Fatburger on Wilshire Boulevard in tony Brentwood to sink our teeth into the restaurant's famed sandwich. Despite the Fox News report blaring away on one of the numerous TV sets, we were not only able to hold our meal down, we came away aggressively in favor of a "back to Fatburger" movement. The meal was that good.
Unlike the misleading experience we had while attending the Neverending Story when we were 8, Fatburgers are indeed fat. There are options to have either the 1/3-lb. Fatburger or the bigger 1/2-lb. Kingburger and even double up on meat, cheese, or anything else.
Angelenos who enjoy the early morning, bathroom-centric genius of Howard Stern, the markedly less-than-genius musings of Frosty, Heidi, and Frank (at least they crack themselves up), and the hardcore butch feminism of a perceptibly burger-inhaling Tom Leykis surely love what KLSX 97.1 FM is feeding them.
For the rest of you who shun the King of All Media's "Celebrity Game with Mike Walker" and who reserve your modesty on "Flash Fridays," KLSX is preparing for an invasion of the burger kind. Register now for Malibu Dan's Fatburger Friday Office Invasion. Lucky winners, of which there have been eight to date, watch helplessly and hungrily as Big Mike and the Fatburger crew bust their way into the winner's office, sporting hamburger-heavy lunches for 14 lucky coworkers.
Force feeding your peers with ground cow, fries, and ice-cream shakes with the help of Big Mike or Malibu Dan, or whoever the hell, is sure to bring you instant popularity among your esteemed colleagues, with the exception of that assistant who complains about being fat then always eats the most cake at those unavoidable office birthday parties. Seeing as we love the juicy largeness of a Rubenesque Fatburger, we only hope the bossman will turn a blind eye to our greasy fingers and drooling mouths when our sweatshop, er, office, gets the call.
LOS ANGELES Attentive readers will have seen the Yahoo! News feed in the left-hand sidebar, just below the strip of photos. Too often the stories that come up on that wire are about profit margins at the big fast-food chains or some football club in Deutschland. But sometimes, stories like this justify the presence of that newsfeed.
In this week's "Counter Intelligence" column, L.A. Weekly's Jonathan Gold highlights pljeskavica:
Pljeskavica is a thin, Balkan hamburger, as big and round as a phonograph record, flavored with salt and onions and peppers and briefly cooked over a hot charcoal fire, a chewy meat patty that still has all its juice. Pljeskavica and its cousins can be found throughout the former Yugoslavia, feeding swarms of Serbian teenagers on a Saturday night or adding ballast to the table at a Dubrovnik café, but the outstanding examples of the breed are generally acknowledged to come from Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the Turkish Muslim influence has insinuated itself as firmly into the kitchens as it has into the culture. Bosnia is where you find the tastiest cevapi, grilled ground-meat capsules that are tucked into bread, the juiciest grilled lamb, the most succulent kebabs. It has been hard to think of Bosnia as much of a food destination in the last decade or so, but reliable people tell me that the charcoal-grilled pljeskavica in Sarajevo is still worth the trip....
Tucked into its sturdy, focaccia-style bun, a steroidal construction that bears the same relationship to a supermarket roll that Barry Bonds' left arm does to the musculature of a ballerina, Aroma's pljeskavica is an awe-inspiring unit of consumption, almost as daunting in its appearance as it is difficult to pronounce. Outside of an El Tepeyac burrito, Oaxacan tlayudas and the kind of tenderloin sandwiches found in some precincts of central Iowa, pljeskavica may command more acreage than any other foodstuff on the planet. Imagine a sausage pizza built from sausage, a minced-beef Frisbee, a sizzling 50 Cent platter fabricated completely, entirely of meat. Eat enough of a pljeskavica, and youíll know what an anaconda feels like when it passes an entire capybara through its system.
Sounds delicious, but this reporter is based in New York City. I know we have Bosnians here, so we've gotta have this dish. Never fear: Doing some quick research on Chowhound, A Hamburger Today came across this post about a place called Samra's in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn. That's not too far from AHT's BK HQ. We'll be sure to hit it up soon and make the full report.
LOS ANGELES From the window to the wall to more unmentionable regions of the universe, this is truly what a hamburger is all about. If you grew up in California, you probably remember that magic moment when you first drove up to the long queue at In-N-Out Burger and discovered the regional chain's superior never-frozen, never-precooked hamburgers topped with the freshest produce. And those fries, oh lawdavmercy, those fries. Cut from giant potatoes right in front of your face, they're best washed down with a thick shake made with real chocolate ice cream. One of my earliest memories was of a driver who had rearranged his free In-N-Out Burger sticker to read "Inner Butt Urge," much to the amusement of the Hamburglar clan.
If you're not from around these parts, you're probably tired of hearing your West Coast homies rave about this place, but we will stand by it. Having "done" both coasts, I can honestly tell you Blue 9 Burgerwas doing a pretty excellent job of recreating these burgers, but as the Whack Eyed Peas would ask about the place these days, "Where is the love?" In place of Blue 9's "troubled teens messily running our store" vibe, In-N-Out is a vision straight out of Happy Days. An immaculate white-walled, red-tiled castle filled with cheerful servers in clean uniforms, with booths inside and original counter stools outside, In-N-Out is more than a restaurant, with its secret menu and legions of devotees, it is a culture unto itself.
Under pressure for an In-N-Out review from West Coast readers and from this site's editor in chief, my homie "El Loco CBro" and I sped down Sunset Boulevard toward the Hollywood location with eager anticipation and great faith. We pulled into the parking lot, and, under signage glowing brightly against the deep-blue twilight sky, stepped over a man sleeping on the sidewalk, and entered the main attraction. A gregarious group of empty-teen and after-work bellies had gathered, either sinking teeth into a sumptuous repast or impatiently shifting in line.
In-N-Out not only boasts supreme quality, it's "hella cheap," as our Nor Cal brothers might say. Eschewing the almost mandatory Double-Double, CBro and I just went for the straight cheeseburgers, making sure to order grilled onions. I took my fries "well-done" while he went with the usual lightly fried suspects. Our attractive servers got to work, slicing the 'taters and grilling the beef. In a little more than five minutes, it was burgertime, bitches!
Founded in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California, In-N-Out was the first drive-thru hamburger stand in the country, so we won’t quarrel with their style. Nonetheless, I’m always a bit squeamish about hamburgers whose "toppings" are not on top, as is the case here. Not sweating the technique, though, we dove into our burger bliss, pleased as always with the experience. The hot 100 percent pure-beef (free of fillers, additives, and preservatives) is made from only chucks, front ribs, and shoulder and is divine, perfectly cooked to give just a hint of the grill. The veggies are not only fresh, they taste it, bursting in your mouth with crispness and flavor. A light dressing of secret sauce gives just a soupçon of tang, blending greatly with the freshly baked buns. Taken as a whole, it is the incarnation of Wimpy's dreams, his perfect burger (and ours). Not oversized, the burgers fit perfectly in your hand and can be neatly devoured in a few bites, always leaving you with a hankering for just one more.
Speeding toward Original Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart at 3 a.m. early Sunday morning, the first thing my drinkin', dining, 'n' driving companion and I spotted was not the blaring red signs famous across Los Angeles for marking the location of the city's favorite chiliburgers, nor the parking-lot shack that started it all 54 years ago. What really caught our eye was the ring of about forty cops standing in the neighboring lot, as more and more squad cars pulled up for support. Had the Crips and Bloods backed out of their truce? Was Robert Downey Jr. on the loose and jonesing again? Had the Governator flipped a circuit and gotten stuck on kill mode?
Tommy's considerable legend began when first-generation Greek-American Tommy Koulax opened his shop in 1946 and praise spread through word of mouth, as it does still does today, as Tommy's does not advertise. Known for its legion of imitators and for the hamburger-eating contest it supports at USC, it is recommended that you ward off charlatans using and abusing the Tommy's name by looking for the shack depicted on the red sign. This location, the first of 27 Tommy's, serves more than 15,000 hungry burger lovers a week, according to well, Tommy's.
We took our place in the considerable line, made up completely of well-dressed and even-better coiffed Latino twenty-somethings (think Y Tu Mama También, not American Me) and the gorgeously put-together chicas who love them. Three thugged-out and tattooed security guards clung tight to one another in anticipation of some skulls to bust, buoyed by the presence of the entire LAPD next door.
As the line speedily snaked along, the parking lot provided more than enough scenery to take in, with a collection of bangers and bros getting together to talk cars, girls, and burgers. Plus, as you get closer to the heat of the grill, you can watch the burgers a-cookin' by the white-uniformed staff. Although faint shit-talking was detected, possibly spawned by the length of the line or the presence of an out-of-favor army of Rampart cops, the love emanating from the kitchen was palpable. Once our five-minute wait was up, the burgers were our only point of focus. Stepping up to the repetitive-motion-stressed cooks, we made our order, which was met instantaneously by our delectable chili cheeseburgers being plopped in our hands for under $2 a pop. Could they be using the new HyperActive Bob technology or are they just "that damn on it" at Tommy's? We can only wonder.
The strategy behind eating one of Tommy's delicious burgers after a night of copious liquor, quaffed to the tune of an 18-piece Brazilian band at Little Pedro's Blue Bongo, is questionable for sure. Even more so when that sucker is unwrapped from its thin wax paper at the chairless counters that dominate Tommy's. Chili gets everywhere. Yes, everywhere. The bite is what matters though, and Tommy's does not disappoint. Although the patty and bun look a little more Ronald than Angus, the taste is simultaneously comforting and new, warm chili contrasting brilliantly with the fresh toppings of a double-cheese, pickle, onion, and beefsteak tomato.
Sometimes a messy burger is in order, and the generous amount of oozing chili intermingled with the soft patty and melted cheese at Tommy's make for an unrivaled taste combination that is both delicious and nutritious—OK, well, one out of two ain't bad. As the burger quickly soaked up a stomach of vodka and Newcastle, I was tempted to go for a second, something my stomach and the other passenger in the car would undoubtedly regret.
Scarfing down the last bites, it became apparent what some of the adjacent fuss was about. Although 50-plus cops seems to be an overwhelming response to one skinheaded gangbanger, it was one more dude off the streets and a lesson to those who seek to menace hamburger lovers the world over. Overlooking Rampart one last time, my partner-in-crime jumped behind the wheel of his low-key Nissan Maxima and we headed West toward a new horizon, a new day, and new burgers.
Shit happens. You spend all week elipticizing your ass, stair mastering those calves, and squat-thrusting your pelvis, all so you can enjoy a greasy burger on a Sunday. Waking up and skipping a formal introduction to that cutie you met five hours ago, you bound outside with a hangover-crushing craving for your favorite beef 'n' special-sauce surprise.
What happens next pounds you with the weight of the world's injustices. It appears your No. 1 burger secret is not only low-key; it's actually closed on Sundays! Your preferred spot has gone Christian on you, needing a rest from six divine days of cow-slinging!
Minus the getting lucky and exercise parts, it was this very scenario that had us wandering the streets aimlessly for something to quench our burger lust once we found the doors of West L.A.'s Hearty Deli and Culver's Howard’s Famous closed. Fortunately, we spotted a glorious vision in red-lacquered tabletops and diner stools. Had we magically gone back to the 1950s, when burger joints were spotless and efficient temples for the neighborhood, with gumball machines, paper hats, and playing cards in place of order numbers"
"Best Hamburger in Southern California' —KABC AM 790," shouted the banner for Culver City's Hamburger Habit. We love nothing more than probing the claims of the so-called experts, so with a delectable smell hitting our noses from the parking lot, we stepped inside. Old-school strains of rockabilly shook the sound system, and a steady stream of clean-cut regulars flooded in while we salivated over images of a classic sesame-seed burger high above our heads.
We are not afraid to tackle the most difficult philosophical quandaries at A Hamburger Today. Many prestigious publications, gutter gourmands, and self-anointed food critics* have dubbed the frou-frou burger at Father's Office in Santa Monica the "Best Burger in L.A." Ninja, please! In the birthplace of Carl's Jr.? In the land of Fatburger? On the native soil of In-N-Out and the Apple Pan?!
This so-called "hamburger," which consists of the confounding ingredients of dry-aged sirloin topped with applewood-smoked bacon compote, Maytag blue and gruyere cheeses, caramelized onions, and arugula on a French roll, is certainly delicious. But is it really a hamburger in the truest, bluest, real McCoy sense of the word?
Not saying a creative take on a classic is wrong, but this high-class perversion of an institution so American that a daily dose is required in most states, does not seem worthy of a "Best Of" label in the face of so many great local spins on a traditional favorite.
A burger can be messy, a burger can be bloody, a burger can be giant, a burger can be topped with guacamole, chili and brontosaurus ribs—a burger can be any or all of the above, but it must resemble an actual hamburger and not force us to reach for a French dictionary (compote? Say quoi?) to have honors bestowed upon it.
Despite its delectability, Father's Office's spices and strange combinations of fresh ingredients do not scream "HAMBURGER." To top off the madness, Father's Office even denies you ketchup and mustard. If I wanted restrictions put on my dining choices, fellas, I'd go to Alain Ducasse. This is America damnit! Give me the choice to slather overprocessed tomato paste on my meat or give me death! Still, the meal is over much too fast, leaving you with a hankering for a real greasy standard—and a $14 tab.
Save yourself a trip through the traffic on the 10, and hit up AstroBurger in Hollywood instead. The physical space of Father's Office is like that white-collared weekend warrior who takes his Harley for a drive to the country on the weekend and calls himself a biker. This wood-walled roadhouse is crushed with yuppies; it's usually impossible to find a seat, and the prices are exorbitant.
Still, the wine list (no glasses under $12 when we were there), plus local and Belgian drafts are delicious, the shopping cart full of fries, either sweet or frites, wins serious points for cuteness and taste.
I know many Lost Angels will disagree, but when a burger does not look, smell, or taste like a burger, sorry kids, it ain't a burger. But try it for yourself; there are many I respect who put this one at the top of their lists. And I have been wrong before. Once.
Umami Burger is offering a "recession special" where you can get of free fries or Mexican Coke with any burger between their off-peak hours of 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., seven days a week. Related: 
Jenny Hontz of dineLA.com shares a 
Being open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for over 80 years has its benefits and and its drawbacks. Certainly the restaurant's longevity is an indication that they must be doing something right, whether that is offering good value, good food, or a combination of both. A late night visit on a random weekday invariably finds the restaurant more than half full, and early on weekend mornings for brunch, a line forms down James M. Wood Boulevard. 
Citysearch lists their 
Earlier today Nick Solares dropped in with 
Snyder, who had succeeded her husband and two sons as head of the family business, died Friday, according to an announcement from the company. Neither the cause nor the place of death was announced.
Despite 
So Speedee, who would glow in neon come nightfall and reveal a questionable lump in his trousers, has been offed, leaving merely a maze of gang graffiti covering his sad remains. 
This so-called "hamburger," which consists of the confounding ingredients of dry-aged sirloin topped with applewood-smoked bacon compote, Maytag blue and gruyere cheeses, caramelized onions, and arugula on a French roll, is certainly delicious. But is it really a hamburger in the truest, bluest, real McCoy sense of the word?
