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.

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.

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.