Shake Shack

Shake Shack was one of the places I knew I needed to check out when in New York. I had heard from several people that it is the place to go. There are several locations and there seem to be more every time I visit the website. It started as a hotdog cart in the Madison Square Park in New York. They are known for their burgers, fries and what was most recommended, the custard. The custard is like a cross between ice cream and mouse like textures. There are some standard flavors, but you should check the website for the custard calendar since they have some special flavors. I tried the marshmallow milk chocolate flavor, which hit the spot in the August heat of New York.

The burger is more of a fast food style burger. For my west coast peeps, it is closer to In & Out then Fatburger. I ordered the Shack Burger. The meat was good and flavorful for the level of burger you are getting. The bun was a little soggy, but I am not sure if it was from the humidity or just the way it comes. It came topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato and shack sauce. The shack sauce was a little underwhelming and the rest of the toppings were good. Overall, it is a good cheap burger and the fries, shakes and custards are definitely worth the trip.

Hodad’s

In my last post I wrote about one of the San Diego burger staples. Now I am going to write about the other. Hodad’s seems to be quickly becoming the official burger of San Diego. The original location is in Ocean Beach. They have also added a location in downtown and now even have a location in Petco Park, home of the hometown Padres. Since we wanted to check out a Padres game during my visit, we decided to go to the Hodad’s in Petco park. Since it was inside the ballpark , there was probably a little bit of a different atmosphere inside, but it had the old diner feel and was pretty busy considering it was a sit down place rather than getting your burger and heading to your seats.

The burgers are also pretty standard burgers style-wise. They come on a sesame seed bun. The patties are 1/4 pound beef patties with a hamburger stand taste. The thing that sets this burger apart is the bacon. Now if you read my blog, I am critical of places that use bacon or other toppings that overpower the meat. At Hodad’s, they have special process for cooking the bacon and for a sort of bacon patty to go on the burger. Whatever they do, it is the right way to put bacon on the burger. The patty still shines through and you get the good salty, smoky bacon flavor. The burger comes with mayo, mustard, onion, ketchup, pickle, tomato, and lettuce. All of the toppings were very fresh and added some nice texture and flavor to the burger. Overall, this is a very good burger. It may not be the greatest burger you have ever had or make you change the way you think about burgers, but it is very good and if you are in San Diego, I highly recommend it.

Rocky’s Crown Pub

In writing this blog, I get many people giving me suggestions on places to try. Pretty much every time I ask where to go in San Diego, Rocky’s was the choice. It is located in the Mission Beach area close to Sea World. It is a tiny place with bar seating and just a few tables. You have to be pretty aggressive to get a table as they are first come first served. I highly recommend getting friendly and trying to share a table with some people not in your party. They have some good beers on tap, TVs around to watch a game, but most people are there for the burger.

The burger is pretty standard, but I can see why people like it. There is only one burger here. You can get it either with cheese or without. The patties seem like they are hand formed as they were not the standard circular shape you usually see. The meat was good, but not a ton of flavor. They let the meat speak for itself. The burger comes with iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, red onions and lots of pickles. This burger is really good and juicy. It kind of reminded me of a burger you would make at home and enjoy in your backyard with your friends.

5 Guys Burgers and Fries

I finally got around to trying 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. I had heard about it for a while. I even remember taking some east coasters to In-N-Out and having then proclaim that 5 Guys is way better. I ended going to the West Hollywood location with my brother-in-law. When you walk in, it is obvious why there are the comparisons happen so often. Growing up going to In-N-Out, I felt like 5 Guys was a bizarro version, like when the Seinfeld crew had to go to Reggie’s instead of the usual diner. It did seem a little more low key, it more of a Fatburger vibe to me than In-N-Out.

As for the burger, you can get any combination of toppings you want. I chose lettuce, ketchup, mustard, pickles and grilled onions. The burgers are made to order and the meat had really good flavor for a fast food burger. The bun is a standard sesame seed bun. I think there could have been more flavor from the grilled onions and the rest of the toppings seemed a little scarce. I think that was the difference between In-N-Out and 5 Guys. In-N-Out’s grilled onions and and spread set that burger apart. Honestly, the burger tasted closer to a Fatburger, which I like more than 5 Guys as well. But these are clearly the class of fast food burgers in my opinion and this point each person probably has their favorite. Which one is yours? I would love to know!

Local Peasant

I have been wanting to try The Local Peasant for a while now. There are so many great gastropubs in the city and when I found one in the valley I had to check it out. The restaurant is very unassuming from the outside. I actually didn’t know it was there until I looked it up. Inside the décor is standard upscale pub, with beers on a chalkboard on the wall and some communal tables and a long bar to grab a drink and some food. The rest of menu looked very good and the waitress said the short ribs are the best thing on the menu. I will have to go back to try other things.

There are two burgers on the menu. One has egg and the other doesn’t. I took the waitress’ opinion and got the one with the fried egg. The meat is all natural grass fed beef and the flavor really showed. Even with the egg on top it had the really good meat flavor that I look for in a burger. The bun may have been almost as good as the meat. It was a brioche bun that had a good chewy texture and didn’t get soggy with the egg yolk dripping all over. The burger also comes with onions and a choice of cheese, I chose cheddar. The burger was very good, but not elite. My one change would be more onions. It was really great when I got all of the flavors mixed together with the meatiness from the patty to the sweetness of the onion and the gooey egg yolk. I want more of that.

Hole in the Wall Burger Joint

I have had many people tell me about Hole in the Wall Burger Joint. Many claimed it to be one of the best burgers they have had. Naturally, I had to check it out. It took me a while to get around to it, but it was worth the wait. The place is aptly named. I went to the West LA location. It is located behind a strip mall off a side street. Normally the driveway would lead to the loading zone or an alley behind the mall, but in this case it leads to meaty deliciousness. The place is not that big. There are a few tables inside and a couple more right outside on the “patio”. The order process is similar to The Counter where you fill out your sheet. There are a lot fewer choices, but they are all quality choices.

As you can see above, I chose the beef burger. The beef is grass fed angus meat. The burger was cooked to a perfect medium, a little pink on the inside and a little char on the outside. The meat was fresh, but didn’t come through as much as I would have expected. They have 5 different choices for bun, including brioche, pretzel and even no bun. Of course I had to go with the pretzel bun. On first glance it looks impressive.

When you get that full pretzel taste included with all of the other flavors it is really tasty. Unfortunately, it seemed to get lost a little bit. I think because the bun wasn’t salted, the flavor got a little lost. I got my burger topped with onion mayo, cheddar cheese, lettuce, sliced red onion, mustard pickle relish, and sautéed onions. The sautéed onions were very sweet and plentiful. Almost made the burger hard to pick up. The mustard pickle relish was the flavor that held it all together. I recommend adding that to whatever combination you choose.

Overall the ingredients are fresh, the place is cozy and chill. If you happened to be in west LA and can find it, I highly recommend trying Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Shack

I have a lot of family and friends from Philadelphia including my Mom and my Sister's boyfriend, Marc. On a visit to LA, we all went to The Shack to watch the Eagles game. The Shack is the Philly bar in LA. Watching a game there is so much fun. Almost feels like you are in the upper deck of the old Vet with the chanting and singing Fly Eagles Fly. Also important is that they are known for their Shack Burger…

The Shack burger is basically a standard burger with a Louisiana Hot Link split and put on top. The burger is the standard 4 oz. patty topped with castup (that's how they spell it in Philly), mustard, mayo, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato and cheese on a standard hamburger bun. While the burger itself was good the kicker was really the hot link. Biting through all of the layers at once was a really great bite of food. Overall this burger does not compare to the others on the list, but if you want to watch some football and have a tasty burger then this is a good place.

8 oz

The latest adventure came for my Dad's birthday. Upon hearing about the blog and all of the great burgers I was eating he decided that he wanted to partake. We decided to try 8 oz. Burger Bar. Originally started in Miami, 8 oz. is a perfect fit in Los Angeles. The place is unassuming and low key. There is a great selection of local beers and friendly wait staff. We even had a celebrity sighting in one Luke Wilson. The owner was also circling around and stopped to chat with us. He was very passionate about his food and the quality of his restaurant. He also mentioned there is a good chance of more locations around the country and the city.

 
Now on to the meat! I ordered the Melrose which comes with arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes and red onion marmalade. The meat was perfectly cooked and juicy. The peppery arugula worked in perfect harmony with the sweet red onion marmalade and tomatoes. The best part of the burger is the red onion marmalade. It doesn't overwhelm the burger and the rest of the condiments. When you go, and you will go, you must try the fried olives and the truffle potato skins. They are amazing.

 
I may get some flak for this but I think I liked it better than Father's Office. As stated before I think I need to go back to Father's Office but in Santa Monica for a fair comparison.


 

Bar Food

The original purpose of this blog was to document our adventure through the best burgers in LA list. But as I have come to realize, there are many good burgers that didn't even make the honorable mention of the list. One such example is at Bar Food on Wilshire. I was there recently for happy hour before a softball game. I usually stop off prior to a game for food and a beer as I play more relaxed afterward. I found Bar Food a few months ago. It is a great place with high-end bar food and a great selection of beers including a few that they make themselves.

The burger does not compare to Father's Office as it is not as gourmet. As far as regular burgers go this one is pretty good. The burger comes on a typical sesame seed bun with cheddar cheese and what they call bacon jam. A good sign was when I cut the burger in half to get a good look at the layers, and the patty oozed juices. I like my burgers medium and this one was perfectly pink throughout. The cheese was melted and a little bit gooey. I did not get a lot of the bacon flavor out of the "jam", but it was tasty. As far as burgers go this is certainly not the greatest. But for a happy hour burger and for only $6 ($9 normally) this is a great deal and certainly goes well with the great beer selection.