M Street Kitchen

I met up with some friends and coworkers for dinner after work and we decided to check out M Street Kitchen. This used to be La Grande Orange. The menu seemed to be the same. There is a variety of items from sushi to fried chicken to burgers.

Speaking of burgers, I ordered the cheeseburger. It comes on a typical sesame seed bun. The meat is house ground all natural beef. It wasn’t overly flavorful and a little bit on the small side. The meat flavor did not come through as with other burgers I have tried. It comes topped with lettuce, onions, pickles, tomatoes and Russian dressing. Finally, it was topped with shredded cheddar cheese. The cheese wasn’t fully melted and tasted almost cold. Overall I was a little disappointed as everything else on the menu seemed so flavorful and fresh.

Townhouse

Townhouse is a newer restaurant in the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Although I had a couple of bad experiences when it first opened, I had to give it a few more chances as it is a great spot. It has a lounge/gastropub. There are plenty of beers on tap and a very cool bar area where you can watch a game or just hangout.Best of all, they started $5 burgers every Tuesday and $3 brewery of the month beers. That’s $8 dollars for a burger and beer. Not a bad deal at all.

On to the burger. I ordered the Townhouse burger. It comes on a brioche bun. It was good and not overly greasy, which is a pet peeve of mine. The meat came in two different thin patties. This was probably the worst part of the burger. I wish they would have ground the amount of meat used for both patties together into one because it would have been juicier than the two smaller patties. It came topped with goat cheese, arugula, tomato, red onion and pickles. It usually comes with mushrooms, but if you are regular reader you would know that I am not a big fan of mushrooms so I did not get them on the burger. Overall, I was a little disappointed in the dryness in the meat but will probably go back as the deal is too good to pass up and it is a great location and atmosphere.
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L.A. Buns

I used to live in West Hollywood. I am man enough to admit this. While I lived there I was fortunate to live next to one of the best car wash places in the city. But more importantly on the corner next to the car wash is a hidden gem called L.A. Buns. This is a cash only shack serving burgers, hot dogs and Mexican food. There were plenty of football Saturday and Sundays were it was very easy to go grab something from the corner rather than cook. Apparently I am on a standard burger run here. It is hard to judge these against the gourmet burgers as the quality of meat is so different. Sometimes you need to eat quick and cheap.

Without any further ado, on to the meat. This is one of my favorite standard burgers. It comes on a standard sesame bun. The meat is cooked on a griddle and is always juicy and seasoned with seasoning salt. The best part about this burger is that they do not skimp on the toppings. It comes with iceberg lettuce, pickles, diced onions, tomato and a slathering of 1000 island dressing. I hadn’t eaten there in a couple of years, which ment that I had to take a bite before taking a picture, but it still lived up to its billing. One of the best standard burgers around.

Hamburger Habit

A coworker mentioned Hamburger Habit to me a little while ago and I finally got out to try it. I normally review high-end burgers making this review a little difficult. This place is an icon in West LA. It seems like it is straight out of the 50’s. It had the red and white color scheme and crazy pictures and news articles on the walls.

On to the burger. These are simple burgers. You  can choose additional toppings like lettuce, tomato, cheese and chili. I got “The Big Scene”, which comes with lettuce, tomato and dressing. I ordered it without tomato. The bun was a standard sesame seed bun that was lightly toasted on the griddle. The patty were thin and browned on the outside but still juicy. Overall it was a really good standard burger. Better than any fast food burger or chain restaurant burger out there. I also got the chili fries. The fries were very crispy and the chili was very meaty and flavorful. My one objection was that they over salted the fries causing the whole thing to be a bit too salty.

Pretzel Burger

I didn’t have a new place to review for this so I figured I might try something of my own. One of my specialties has become making soft pretzels. I was making soft pretzels for a family function and decided to save some of the dough and make it into a hamburger bun. I have always enjoyed pretzels and love a good pretzel burger.

I used 80/20 ground beef seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. I grilled the patty and toasted the pretzel bun on the grill as well. I didn’t have any lettuce but topped the burger with pickle, red onions and brown mustard.

I definitely got the taste of the meat first with the crunch of the pickles and the onions. Then the saltiness and the the pretzel flavor really comes through. Overall it was a very good creation and something I will have to try again in the future.

Jack N’ Jill’s

We went to Jack N’ Jill’s for lunch a while back and kind of forgot about it. The Santa Monica location is a bit on the small side and there is a lack of seating. The first time I went I got the rotisserie chicken, which I highly recommend. They also have a lot of pastries that I have not tried, but they look amazing.

On to the meat! I ordered the Hickory Burger. The burger comes on standard bun. The meat is nothing special, probably a standard 80/20 blend. It was cooked well to medium. It comes topped with cheddar, tomato and lettuce. It also comes with bacon. If you read this blog you know my feelings on bacon. But this was a perfect application of the delicious meat. The burger stood on its own and the bacon was purely complimentary and that is a good thing. Bacon can really steal the show making it a less impressive burger. I will say the star of the show was the hickory barbeque sauce. It was tangy and sweet and complimented the rest of the burger. There is also an aioli on the burger, but I feel it is wasted since it gets lost behind the barbeque sauce.

Kalbi Burger

My coworker Lindsey tipped me off to Kalbi Burger and I purchased the Groupon a while back and realized I needed to use it before it expired. It is not quite what I was expecting based on what I read. I thought it would be more of a upscale place but it is really just a typical burger place in a strip mall in Koreatown. We also ordered the garlic fries to share, which I highly recommend as they were still crispy even though they had a good amount of garlic on them.

On to the burger. I ordered the Kalbi Burger (I figured this made sense since it’s the restaurant’s namesake). First off I totally missed where it said that all burgers are cooked medium-well. The patty was still juicy but would have been better cooked medium. The meat is made of ground beef rib and chuck. It was quite flavorful, but not quite the meaty flavor of some others. The bun was a sort of brioche-style bun that held together well while eating the burger. The burger came topped with American cheese, romaine lettuce and tomato. The differentiator in this burger was the Korean vinaigrette and Kalbi aioli. This is really where all of the flavor of this burger comes from. It really tasted like getting bulgogi at a Korean BBQ place. It was a very interesting burger and would recommend checking it out if you are in the area.

Oscar's Cerveteca

Oscar’s is a new restaurant in Venice. My friends and I met up there for dinner one night. I read some of the reviews on Yelp and a few of them were touting the burger, so I had to give it a try. Before we get to that, a little more about the restaurant. It is a smallish place, so be prepared to wait a little bit for a table. The menu is a mix of Latin tapas and interesting entrees. Everyone else at the table seemed to really enjoy their meal.

On to the burger. The burger comes on a standard hamburger bun. The bun was nothing special but it held up well amongst the sloppiness of the burger. The patty tasted fresh and was cooked to medium as requested. It had a very distinct peppercorn flavor to it. It kind of overwhelmed the rest of the flavors. It came topped with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, tomato and iceberg lettuce. I could have done without the iceberg lettuce. It added a little crunch, but fell out the back of the burger while eating it. Overall it was a pretty good burger.

BLT Burger

I found myself in Vegas recently. Before going I did some research and reached out for some burger recommendations. I seemed to have a consensus to check out the BLT Burger in the Mirage. The restaurant seemed to be a typical casino restaurant and was quite busy when we showed up. We ended up skipping the line to sit at the bar. The restaurant had a good vibe even though it did feel like hotel restaurant.

 I ordered the Shaft’s Blue burger minus the mushrooms. The patty is made from certified angus beef. It was a well cooked medium and was very juicy. The flavor of the patty did not stand out among the rest of the burger like others I have tried. The bun was a toasted white sesame bun. It was fairly ordinary, like something you would get at the supermarket for a backyard BBQ. The burger came with blue cheese and balsamic caramelized onions. The blue cheese was very creamy, but a little too strong and overwhelmed the burger. The best part of the burger were the caramelized onions. They have really good flavor and went well with the rest of the burger. Overall, this burger was ordinary. I don’t think it was bad and if I was at the Mirage craving a burger I would go back, but I don’t think I would seek it out.

Slater’s 50/50

I first heard about Slater’s 50/50 from my friend Tim. He told of a burger patty that was made of 50% beef and 50% bacon. More on that later. I showed up at Slater’s prior to going to the U2 concert at Angel Stadium. I don’t find myself in Orange County that often, so I figure I should take advantage of this opportunity. The restaurant is located in a shopping center and is very unassuming. When you walk in, you are taken back by the décor of a really cool high end sports bar. Everyone there was very friendly and out going and was a really great place to hang out and check out a game.

Since I figured I wouldn’t be out there again, I had to try the 50/50 burger. As I wanted to try to keep it even, I built my own burger (very similar concept to The Counter). I selected a 1/3 pound 50/50 patty. I was not asked how I wanted it cooked, but I am assuming because it is not all one type of meat the cooking can only be done one way. The patty was definitely juicy, but I feel like it was more pork-like than burger. The bacon flavor completely overwhelmed the beef flavor. It was mostly smoky but a little too rich. I also chose the white brioche bun. As I have said before and will continue to say until something changes, brioche buns do not need to be greasy. I know they are mostly butter, but I have had very good ones and allow you to pick up your burger without feeling the need for a shower afterwards. Finally, I topped the burger with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, dill pickle chips, baby field greens and garlic aioli. The toppings were very fresh and added some nice crunch, but were mostly overshadowed by the patty.

True Food Kitchen

For my birthday, my department took me out for lunch and we decided to try one of the new restaurants at Santa Monica Place. After looking at the menus and realizing that we wanted to sit outside, we decided on True Food Kitchen. This restaurant is perfect for Santa Monica. When you walk in, the vibe is that of organic place and most of the menu is locally sourced or organically grown. They also have vegetarian/vegan and gluten free selections. Now you might be thinking, seems a little too healthy to have a good a burger. You will have to keep reading to find out how good it is.

The burger is made from grass fed bison. This is my first bison burger and I must say I am fan. It tastes very similar to beef and as I understand it is leaner. Even though it is a leaner meat the burger was still very juicy and had great flavor. The bun is a flax bun. This type of bun is made from whole grains and flaxseed. It was not the best tasting bun as I usually have a butter filled brioche so this was a little bit of a change. Even though it was health-food style it tasted pretty good. The burger usually comes with mushrooms, which I have mentioned in previous post that I do not care for on my burgers. It also comes with caramelized onions which were sweet and tasty as well at topped with mayo and Parmesan cheese.

Overall this was a very tasty burger. One downside is that it cost $16 which is a little more than what you would want to spend on a simple burger such as this.

Westside Tavern

I have been wanting to try Westside Tavern since it opened, but I was never in the area for dinner. So recently we went to check out a movie at The Landmark, which is a great theater for watching movies. What better way to check out a movie than grabbing a good dinner beforehand. The restaurant is very modern in design and has a fairly simple but elegant menu. It felt like I was dinning at Houston’s or one of their many restaurants. They also have a decent beer and wine menu as well. I highly recommend it and hope to go back again and try the other entrees.

Now to the main event! The burger is very generous in size. This was one of the first burgers I had trouble finishing. This was a good thing because the burger had excellent flavor. The overall taste was very meaty and the condiments complimented those flavors very well. The patty tasted freshly ground and had so much flavor. It was also cooked perfectly, which makes all the difference.The egg bun was like a lighter brioche bun and worked very well, but became a little bit soggy on the bottom due to the juicy patty. The arugula is always a nice touch and the roaster garlic aioli was delicious. The cheddar didn’t add much flavor and the caramelized onions didn’t really come through flavor-wise. Overall this was a very good burger and deserves its high ranking.

BRÜ Haus

BRÜ Haus is a new gastro pub in Brentwood. I heard about it from my coworker Kien because his friend is the head chef. We had been waiting a while for this place to open because we had a sort of connection and we are always looking for somewhere to go to grab a drink and a bite after work. Unfortunately there are no special happy hour prices, but overall the food and drinks were not overly expensive. The place has a great vibe and got pretty busy around 7 PM the Friday we were there. They do specialize in German-style beers and sausages with all sorts of varieties to choose from which is very similar to Wurstküche downtown. Setting BRÜ Haus apart a bit is the better location and the fact that they server a burger along with the sausages.

Speaking of the burger (look I’ve learned how to transition), I tried it on my first stop in. The overall presentation is very nice and it looks like a good hearty burger. The first thing I noticed was that the brioche bun resembled that of the bun at Umami. If you remember my view of this bun, I was not pleased. This bun did not change my mind. It was very tasty and had a good texture, but overall it was way too greasy and made me not want to pick up the burger. The meat was cooked well although it was probably cooked a little past medium, but was still very juicy and flavorful. The burger came topped with butter lettuce and very ripe tomatoes. The menu said it came with gruyere cheese, but it tasted more like American cheese to me. It also came with a homemade sauce they called 1K. Seemed like a take on thousand island and it worked very well with the rest of the burger. I got the burger with fries and there was a special spicy mayo that is very good on burger as well.


Overall this burger is very good and I recommend it highly. I just hope they think about switching out the bun for a less greasy brioche or maybe a pretzel roll since it is a German-style pub.

Prohibition Burgers and Beer

I have driven by Prohibition Burgers and Beer a few times and decided I needed to check it out. I mean the name of the place has beer and burgers in it. Upon entering I was greeted with extreme excitement as I was the first to arrive. The wait staff was very helpful and very attentive. The theme of the restaurant is 1930’s gangsters and all of the burgers are named as such. The décor is very modern swanky. The beer selection was decent. I could see this place becoming a great place to hangout and grab a burger and a beer in the valley. There will also be TVs playing mob movies. At the end of the meal, the manager came over and asked us for our opinion and wanted real feedback. The restaurant has not been open for very long and they are still fine tuning the menu. I plan to return after a while to see if there were any changes. But here is my initial review.

On to the burger. I ordered the John Dillinger. I am not sure what type of meat they use, but it cooked well and had very good flavor by itself. My only complaint is that the patty fell apart while I was eating the burger. The bun is a standard brioche style bun but seemed a little stiff and the bottom became a little bit soggy. It also had a garlic butter melted into the top of the bun. The burger came with apple wood bacon caramelized onions, gruyere, white cheddar, and mozzarella. The bacon was used well since it complimented the flavor of the burger without overpowering it. The mixed greens were a nice touch and the onions added good flavor. I wish there would have been more of them. The cheese seemed like a waste since the mozzarella overpowered the other two cheeses. Although I couldn’t taste all of the cheeses the mozzarella flavor worked with the rest of the burger. The one thing missing was some sort of sauce. I felt it could have added some more flavor and made it a little bit less dry.

Pete's Burgers

I went to a speaker series event at USC and my friends Ngoc and Tim wanted to go for burgers afterward. I went to my resources and had a couple of places in mind. We didn’t want to move the cars all the way downtown and we all live in somewhat different directions. IT was also around 10 pm when we finally left campus and headed over. We finally decided to go to Pete’s Burgers. I had driven by this place so many times while going to school at USC and I never stopped in for a bite. The building is kind of a Victorian style exterior, and the inside is very 50’s style diner. As we were there so late we didn’t get a chance to hang out inside as they were closing down, so we got it to go. This is the first entry on this blog of a standard cheap burger. I ordered a burger and fries and the total came out to $5.25. Ngoc ordered the pastrami burger (second picture) and Tim ordered the bacon burger. We also tried the onion rings, which were a little stale tasting. I am not sure how to do that with a deep fryer, but they did.  

On to the meat! This is your standard fast food style burger. The patty is ¼ pound. The bun is a standard sesame seed bun. The burger comes with lettuce, tomato, chopped onions and Thousand Island dressing. It is superior to a fast food chain, but can’t quite compare to the fancier gourmet burgers. Overall, if you are around SC and wanting to get a quick bite to eat and burger, this is the place to go.

Mad Bull’s Tavern

Mad Bull's Tavern (@madbullstavern) is a new gastropub that opened in the Valley. I was very excited when I found out about this place since there were not many late night places to hang out on this side of the hill. The place is perfect for watching a game since they have TVs all around the walls of the bar. There is a great beer list consisting of microbrews, imports and the usual fare. The menu is typical of bar food, but with a homemade twist. They also have a nice happy hour every night from 4-7 PM.

I decided to try the MBT Burger. It is made of 100% angus beef. The meat was cooked a little over medium, but was not dry. The burger came topped with manchego cheese, bacon and crispy onion stings. The cheese was good and not overpowering. Fried onion strings are always a good complement to a burger. The issue was with the bacon. To me, bacon needs to be a complimentary part of the burger, otherwise it overtakes the flavor of the burger. This burger was case in point. Moist of the flavor I got from each bite was bacon. Overall it is a solid burger. I do recommend Mad Bull's for a good time, the burger left a little something to be desired.

Hot’s Cantina

Hot’s Cantina is a neighborhood bar around the corner from where I grew up. My friend knows the owners so he is always suggesting we go there to see his friend and maybe get some free stuff. It is a pretty cool place to hang out and watch a game. This type of place is great for a neighborhood. I wish it were there when I still lived around the corner. Now on to the burger.

I got the Hot’s Famous Burger minus the avocado, as I am not a fan. Let me start with the meat. It was cooked to perfect medium and had good flavor on its own. Not the best I have ever had but good. Next is the bun. This is the biggest fault with the burger. The bun was a fairly generic hamburger bun and the patty was too small for the size of the bun. The burger is topped with a Mexican enchilada cheese, cilantro, tomato and grilled onions. The flavors all work very well. The best part of the entire burger is what they call hamburger sauce. The sauce is a tangy spicy mayo/Russian dressing combo. It really does steal the show. Overall, this is a very good burger so if you are in Northridge, you should stop by and give the burger a try.

Blue Dog Tavern

It was my friend Brandon’s birthday, and I thought, what better way to celebrate than trying a new burger joint? I decided it was finally time to check out Blue Dog Tavern. I mean it is about 5 minutes from where I live and I have been hearing good things. When I first heard I could not figure out where this new place was. Then I heard that it was a former dentist’s office then I knew this could be something great. The bar has a great atmosphere. It is a mix between a sports bar, gastropub and a dive bar. You can also send them photos of your dogs and they will put them up in restaurant. They also have a very good beer selection. It seems like a good place to hang out and have some beers while not being too much of a dive or club.

And now on to the burger. Brandon ordered the Chi Chi Burger and our other friend Brian ordered The Dickens. In trying to keep with my standard burger, I ordered the Blue Dog Burger. I got it without the mushrooms because as I mentioned before I am not a big fan of mushrooms and the other burgers did not have them. The bun was a standard white bread bun. It held together well but did not add much to the burger other than keeping everything together. The meat is a house packed blend. I am not sure if they just cook everything one way but the waitress did not ask us how we wanted out meat cooked. It came out a little above medium but was still juicy. The burger came topped with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and their homemade root beer barbeque sauce. Upon taking the first bite, there seemed to be a lack of flavor. I tried the meat by itself and there was not a lot of flavor in the meat. The most flavor I got was out of the onions. I also tried The Dickens burger and the same bland taste existed there as well.

Overall, the burger was satisfying and the fries that came with it were very tasty. And it was not the best burger, I plan on going back to Blue Dog Tavern and trying the other burgers and to hang out and grab a beer. I think you should do the same.

The Infield

It finally stopped raining enough for me to take my car to the car wash. Luck for me the car wash I went to is right next to The Infield. This place is awesome. It is completely baseball themed. The menu looks like the old style scoreboards. The tables are all about baseball teams. The one I sat at had Yankee facts and pictures on it. The best part is the chairs are all old stadium chairs. They had some from Angels Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and my choice Wrigley Field. Not that I am a Cubs fan but having been there before, it is the sentimental choice.

Now on to the dogs. I had a Groupon so I needed to get to $12 dollars. This worked out so I could try two different kinds. The first I honored my heritage by getting the Koufax Dog. It is a standard Hebrew national hotdog served with your choice of toppings. I chose ketchup, mustard and onions. The dog was perfectly cooked and was nice and plump.

The second choice I wanted to get one with the Sabretta dog in it. The person at the window recommended the Deli Dog. The dog came topped with deli mustard and sauerkraut. The Sabretta dog had great snap and again was cooked perfect. Nice and red inside.

If you haven’t figured it out yet; April Fools! But seriously, if you are looking a good place to eat hot dogs and hang out, check out The Infield. And follow them on Twitter (@theinfield). They have all sorts of deals every day.

Corkbar

I was downtown at Staples Center for All-Star weekend and decided to stay away from the crowds at LA Live for dinner. I remember by friend Neil (who is supposed to be contributing to this blog) has wanted me to go to Corkbar for a while now, so I gave it a shot. The restaurant is sort of tucked away from downtown on the first floor of an office residential building. It is not very big but has a very foodie vibe. Our waitress was very personable and was knowledgeable about the menu and drink list. They have a good wine list and plenty of microbrews for any taste you might have. The menu is always fairly small and everything looked very good. But, we were there for one reason…

The burger is not huge but was very filling. It comes on challah bread but was not as egg-y as most challahs I have had, which made it a bit like a brioche. Overall, this bun was very good. I thought they could have sliced it to have more on the bottom half but I enjoyed it. It comes topped with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, house-made pickles and roasted tomato burger sauce. Other than the sauce, the toppings were lost in grand scheme of the burger. The reason they are lost is the meat is amazing. I think this was the best burger patty I have had since I started blogging. The waitress told us that the chef grounds the beef for the patties fresh at the restaurant. You really need to go try this burger. It may not be the best all around burger, but the meat is worth the price of admission.

Remember to follow on twitter @bestburgerla.

26 Beach

Once my coworker found out about my burger adventure, she started raving about 26 Beach. We decided to check it out one day after work. This is definitely a beachy place. It is located right on the border of Venice and Marina Del Rey. There are two sections of the restaurant. One is a normal restaurant type of place with booths and tables. The other, where we sat, is on a patio of sorts where the roof can be opened or closed depending on the weather. It does not have the feel of a great burger place. The menu is as varied but burgers dominated the choices.

On to the burger. I was torn between the King Kobe the IV or the Maytag Burger, which is not on the website. The waiter said the Maytag burger was better so I went with that. The burgers are very impressive when they first arrive. Bigger than some people’s head. They Maytag burger comes on a choice of wheat or brioche bun. I went with the brioche. It is becoming the typical bun at all of the burger places. The patty is 100% Angus beef and was cooked to a perfect medium with a little pink in the middle. The burger came with mixed greens, red onion and Maytag blue cheese. They did a good job of not over-doing the blue cheese, especially since Maytag is a particularly strong. To go along with the blue cheese, the chef went with bacon and pear compote. The pear compote is what intrigued ne about the burger. Thankfully, the bacon did not overwhelm the rest of the burger. The pear compote was a nice complement to the rest of the flavors.

Overall this was a very good burger. I could not bring myself to put it in the top five, despite some campaigning. If you are in the Venice or Marina and are looking for a good burger, check out 26 Beach.

Blu LA Cafe

UPDATE: Blu LA Cafe is closed. 

Back to burgers in in Los Angeles. I found Blu LA Cafe through other burger blogs and websites so I thought I would try it. The restaurant is located in downtown LA and that can be either good or bad. In this case, the restaurant is not in a great location. There is only street parking and regular public parking and most of the street parking is in front of homeless people city. The restaurant itself has a cool vibe but a limited beer selection. The service was a little slow but we were a big party.

The burgers all sounded interesting. I was interested in the tamarind turkey burger, but I need to keep this blog legitimate. I ordered the sage derby burger. Most everyone got the Blu LA Café burger. I tend to shy away burgers with bacon on them as I feel it masks the taste of the burger rather than compliments it. The burger is a ½ pound angus beef patty. The odd thing about this place is that they did not ask how we wanted the burger cooked. I usually like mine medium and a little bit juicy. This came out about medium-well. They also were overly seasoned almost as if they were covering something up. The burger was topped with sage derby cheese, grilled onion, garlic, lettuce and tomato. The one redeeming feature was the brioche bun. It was perfectly sweet and tasty and not greasy like some.



Overall, this place was very disappointing. Hopefully my next adventures will bring better burgers. Be sure to find out @bestburgerla

The Oaks Gourmet

We have arrived back on the original list that started the blog. Ever since we found the list, I have been intrigued by The Oaks Gourmet. It stood out because it is not a restaurant. We all thought it was a market in Koreatown, which happened to server a great burger. That myth was debunked when it was featured on the Food Network. It is a gourmet market with a premium beer, wine and cheese selection. They also have a bakery and coffee bar where you can get fresh ground coffee, teas and frozen drinks. They also serve salads, sandwiches and brick-oven pizzas. The only bummer is that they do not have a liquor license, so you can buy beer and wine, but you cannot drink it on the premises.

Let me just start off by saying this is a great burger. I am going to start with the bun. They use a brioche bun, which seems to be a popular choice. This was the best brioche bun I have had. It was not greasy and had a great texture and flavor. The patty is ground on-site and is a mix of very good cuts of meat. It did have a bit of a steak flavor, but I actually didn't mind it. The burger is topped with Taleggio cheese, red onion, tomato, baby arugula, which are all pretty standard and worked well with the rest of the burger. The last two toppings are what I want to talk about. The first is the Black Forrest Bacon. My opinion on bacon burgers is that the bacon should not be the star; the beef should be the star. In this case, the bacon is a complementary flavor, which was perfect. Lastly, is the smoked jalapeno-pineapple compote. I didn't taste much of the jalapeno flavor, but every bite with the pineapple was delicious. It released a bit of tangy sweetness to the burger that worked well with the rest of the flavors. It was a little stronger than the pineapple flavor used by the Foundry but worked well in this instance.

I highly recommend you try this burger. The place has limited seating and may be better as a to go option since you can't enjoy a good beer with your burger, but overall an enjoyable evening with a good burger.

Henry’s Hat

This one was a little off my radar, but my friend Brandon bought a Living Social coupon and we decided to check out Henry's Hat (@henryhatla). At first, I was skeptical seeing as the restaurant is located on Cahuenga just across from the entrance to Universal Studios. Thankfully there is valet parking for a reasonable (for LA at least) $4. Inside there are TVs everywhere so it is a great place to watch a game. They also have a big bar with seating and a huge community table in the middle of the restaurant if you want to make new friends. The most interesting part of Henry's Hat is that they have board games and some video games available for you to play while eating. This would be a great place for a birthday party (young and old) or just a place to hang out while playing games and being served good food and drinks.

The burger I chose is the Black and Blue. This normally comes with sautéed mushrooms but seeing as how I am not a big mushroom fan and this was the closest burger to the others, I ordered it without the mushrooms. The meat is Meyer Ranch Prime beef. The patty itself was just average, but cooked perfectly medium with a little pink color inside. The onions were also sautéed, but in balsamic vinegar. The onions were very good but a little sweet and a little over powering. The burger came with Danish blue cheese, which was nice and creamy but not overpowering, and arugula. I wish more of the peppery flavor of the arugula would have come through as that would have been a nice complement to the onions and the cheese. The bun was a brioche bun that is becoming almost expected as I go through this adventure. The bun was actually a very nice addition to the burger as it was not greasy and the softness of the inside was a nice contrast the rest of the textures of the burgers. Overall, this is a very good burger but not spectacular.


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Seven Mile House

While I was in San Francisco, I was looking to find a place to watch the USC v UCLA game after my cousin's birthday in Brisbane. My sister and her boyfriend had gone to a local sports bar called Seven Mile House. This place was originally built as a stagecoach stop back in 1853. It evolved from a trucker/biker hangout to a sports gambling joint. Now it is a place for watching a game or catching a great band play. They also have some pretty good food. We started with some appetizers. The clear winner here was the Lumpia. If you haven't had them before, find a Philippine restaurant and go get them. They are little egg rolls filled with pork and came with a sweet chili sauce. So good. Also, if you go make sure you order the garlic fries. They are perfectly crispy and too much garlic that would overpower the potato. As more of our family showed up, they convinced me to test the burger.
 

Now on to the burger. Obviously, if you are watching a game, there is little better than chowing down on a good burger and drinking a cold beer. The burger comes on a standard sesame seed bun. The patty is Angus ground chuck and cooked very well. The burger comes with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, sautéed onions and pickles. It is your standard sports bar burger, but made a little better than most. While I don't think I will be craving this burger when I go up for my next visit, this is a very cool place to take in a game or just hang out and get some great food. 

Roam Artisan Burger

I was up in San Francisco for my cousin's first birthday and so it was the perfect time for an Adventure outside of Burgerland. I have been in contact with the Best Burger in SF blogger and decided to go to the only place she gave 5 out of 5 stars, Roam Artisan Burger. We decided to make this a family outing. Roam Artisan is an interesting place. It has the feel of a bar and a great place to hang out. The issue I had was that it was run like a fast food restaurant. To order food or drinks you had to go up to the counter and order from the register. Considering we did not all get there at once and were going to order a few rounds of drinks and appetizers, we could not even start a tab. The service was also lacking a bit. They accidentally spilled one of the beers and did not seem to have much initiative in cleaning it up. They also had some issues with the numbers given when we ordered food and it didn't all come out at the same time.

In keeping with my standard of ordering similar burgers, I got the Pacific Blue. At Roam Burger you get to choose the meat. I chose the beef (obviously) and the patty was great but a little on the small side. Unfortunately the great patty was overshadowed by the overly sweet caramelized onions and the blue cheese. The bun was a bit uninspired. The watercress was a great addition. Overall I was not impressed.