Archive for 'Burgers'

L.A.’s 5 Most Genius Hamburger Toppings

I was once told that when attempting to judge the greatness of a hamburger the only acceptable toppings are cheese and maybe ketchup.  Being a fat man who loves throwing shit on top of stuff or stuffing stuff in other shit, I kind of scoffed.  But since then I’ve come to appreciate the burger in its most simple form.  Lettuce and tomato is rabbit food.  Bacon is so 2009.  And a runny fried egg?!  Actually, don’t fuck with the fried egg.  A fried egg makes everything better.  And so does grilled onions, and onion rings, and blue cheese.  Even pastrami. Oh, who am I kidding, I love burgers with tons of stuff on them.  And while at one time topping a burger with any one of those things might have been unique, now burger chefs have to get a little bit crazier with their ideas to really get noticed. Here are my 5 favorite, most crazily genius, individual burger toppings in Los Angeles…

KETCHUP LEATHER – PLAN CHECK

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Pay no attention to the stuff on top, the real genius is underneath.

Did you seriously think that the chef who helped to build Umami Burger would open a restaurant in West L.A. specializing in hamburgers, and *not* have some crazy trick up his sleeve? It looks like a fruit roll up. It feels like a fruit roll up. But it tastes like ketchup, and as you eat the thing the gooey sweetness starts to melt into the burger.  It’s almost like the chef came up with this while working at UB, and thought “hmmm… I think I’m going to keep this one for myself.” Genius. Will it cause Heinz apologists to suddenly embrace the idea of house made ketchups?  Probably not.  But fruit roll up enthusiasts now have a burger topping to get super excited about. 1800 Sawtelle Boulevard. 310-288-6500

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Shaka Shack is Surprisingly Good (And their Veggie Burger is Downright Great)

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I don’t know if it’s because I moved here from New York, but I had to do a double take the first time I read about Shaka Shack– a new burger joint that just opened on Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica.  Change one letter and you’ve got, arguably, the most popular burger place in New York City.  A chain that has not only expanded to Miami, Washington DC and Dubai, but was also big enough to get one star in the New York Times yesterday. What were these Shaka Shack people thinking!?  Could this be west coast payback for the overt In N Out Burger rip off that opened in Manhattan two years ago?  And how did they expect to get away with this? At least McDowell’s was owned by a guy with the last name McDowell.

The answer?  Shaka Shack is nothing like the Shake Shack.  It’s a tiki bar’esque, surfer themed hangout, with a beach bum owner who could argue that he had never heard of the New York chain and you just might believe them (even though his ex wife used to work for Wolfgang Puck and they appeared  on the NBC show Chopping block together).

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My (Short) Order at Hole in the Wall Burger Joint

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I wanted to go to Short Order. I really did. How could I not?  First off, it’s a burger joint party conceived by the queen of Mozza.  Secondly, I have always wanted to find a decent lunch in the “Original Farmer’s Market” and this seems to be the best shot.  And thirdly… did I mention it’s burgers made by Nancy Silverton? Who wouldn’t be excited for this? Answer: nobody. And then I saw the prices.  Burgers $11-14. $4 fries. $6 shakes.  Not outrageous by any stretch, but not a Midtown Lunch.  I’m sure eventually I’ll cave, just like I did for Mozza To Go (I do love a good patty melt), but not this week.  So, with burgers on the brain (thanks for that blogosphere!) I decided to burger it up in West L.A. at a place I’ve been meaning to try for almost a year now: Hole in the Wall Burger Joint.

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Fukuburger’s Egg Burger is as Good as it Sounds

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There is so much to hate about Fukuburger, the new “American hamburgers with a Japanese twist” joint that opened on Cahuenga in Hollywood last week.  There’s the yelling when you walk in.  The “hip” urban Asian (urbasian?) decor, which looks like a fancy design firm was told to Kogi-Truck-ify a bar for anime characters.  Then there is the giant flat screen displaying real time tweets that mention @fukuburger, and the waitresses forcing you to come up with a nickname for your table- “no real names, please!”   After a bit of prodding our waitress put as down as the Purple People Eater, a name she came up with for us based on my wife’s favorite color.  Are we having fun yet!?

It all seems a bit too gimmicky, which shouldn’t be a complete shock considering that Fukuburger started off as a food truck in Vegas, and was brought to L.A. by the same people who own Pink Taco (the ultimate in trendy gimmicks, in a city full of gimmicks, by people who specialize in gimmicks.)  So, it wasn’t entirely shocking when the whole staff broke out into a “When I say FUKU, you say BURGER” chant.  Seriously… are we having fun yet or what?!

And yet, I’m willing to forgive a lot when we’re talking about a burger topped with egg, onion strings, and teriyaki sauce. Fukuburger me!

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The Escondite Brings Burgers (& Secrecy) to DTLA

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Shhhhh… please don’t tell, but there’s a new “secret” burger place in Downtown L.A.  You would think that opening a burger speakeasy would be impossible in a city that treats every bit of Umami news like it’s a presidential address, but there it is off of San Pedro Street between 3rd and 4th, nestled in the no-mans land between Little Tokyo and Industrial Street’s restaurant row.  The building is completely unmarked, and according to the owners they plan to keep it that way (Escondite literally means hiding place.) But a restaurant that is truly serious about remaining completely hidden is a restaurant run by idiots, so in place of a full scale PR onslaught they have subtly taken to Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter, in the hopes that word of mouth would slowly bring the crowds.

Last week, they got their first hit of press- a blog post by L.A. Food God, which was quickly picked up by Grub Street.  And while it sounds like this place will be more nighttime bar hang out than daytime lunch spot, their menu was cheap enough for me.  And once I heard they were topping burgers with fried eggs and hash browns, I didn’t need to hear anything more.

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Olympic Hamburger is a Korean Burger & Burrito Innovator

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If you’re in K-Town and craving a Korean burger chances are you’re going to hit up Kalbi Burger. Need a Korean burrito fix? Hop on twitter and see where Kogi is. Both would be perfect choices if you’re looking for well made, interesting and in many ways refined Korean food, masquerading as a fast food staple. But what if you want something a bit dirtier. A bit greasier. A place that reminds you what burgers and burritos were before they were elevated to something “better”. For a return to burger as diner food grease-bomb land (with a slight Asian twist), you have to check out Olympic Hamburger.

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Five Guys vs In N Out: Is the Grass Always Greener?

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I still remember when the first Five Guys opened in NYC.  As an avid In N Out fan I was pretty excited, because as different as the two places are Five Guys was the closest thing that we were going to get to having an In N Out.  Fresh cut fries, free grilled onions, and most importantly fast food that tasted like real food- not some kind of lab experiment (I’m looking at you Mcwendysking.)  But In N Out replacement it was not.  I still pined for a double double, and anytime I found myself far enough west I actively sought out the closest In N Out, not just for my own enjoyment but to induce jealousy in all the other east coast In N Out disciples I was friends with.  Then something happened…  I moved back to L.A.  All of sudden In N Out was available all the time, and while I still love it, it obviously doesn’t stir up that same excitement.  And when I hear old friends from back east get excited for In N Out it makes me laugh.  “Oh, that old place?”

Of course it’s still my go to fast food burger place, and a road trip essential.  So on my way down to Coachella two weeks ago it was my lunch stop off the 10.  What could be better than that?  I’ll tell you what.  Spotting a Five Guys at Midnight between Indio and my hotel in Palm Springs.  I actually surprised myself with how excited I got.

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