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.