Mess Hall

Los Angeles, CA
messhallkitchen.com



The Order: Mess Hall Burger, medium rare.  Slow onions, Vermont cheddar, b&b pickles, and smokey aioli on a brioche bun.
Side Order: Does not come with fries (add for $5 at lunch, $8 at dinner)
Lunch $10 - Dinner - $15
Drink Order: Stone IPA
Burger Menu Rating: 10.5/15




Located at Los Feliz Blvd and Hillhurst Ave. in Los Feliz, Mess Hall opened about a year and a half ago to widespread positive acclaim from local reviewers, but has remained relatively under the radar as a contender in the established Los Angeles burger scene.  Head chef Keith Silverton has created a menu that falls into the ubiquitous category American (new), with a wide variety of options designed to appeal to the young Los Feliz and Silverlake crowds.


The Fanny Bay Oysters were an excellent starter for the meal with mild brininess and a cucumber finish.

Here in Los Angeles, like in other major metropolitan cities, there has been a resurgence in oysters as relatively cheap artisanal fare.  The small selection of oysters here are moderately priced at around $3 each, and come with accurate descriptions.  Like everywhere else, the Oysters help get you in the door to then spend your money on other higher priced items, except that the rest of the menu isn't so outrageously expensive that you mind.  The entire menu is filled with upscale Southern food with items whose flavor pack a big punch to your mouth.  A fried chicken sando with honey mustard on brioche.  Buffalo wing confit.  You'll come here wanting to satisfy cravings for big flavors and balance them all with beer and cocktails.  The same applies to their burger which treads carefully at the edge of a flavor profile that could be a little too much.


This burger's onions are just pouring out all over the place.

When the Mess Hall Burger arrives, it's just ready to fall apart.  I mean, it's amazing that they've managed to pile all of the toppings onto the burger and maintain a clean plate.  As soon as you touch it it begins to ooze and drip cheese, onions and sauce.  "It sure is a... messy burger," my friend Will exclaims while eating.  Get it?  Messy?  But he's also correct.  This thing will end up everywhere.  Don't wear white when you come here, or you'll end up wearing this thing out.

First off, there are a ton of onions on this thing.  They're all sweet and delicious, but are a bit much.  Now, when you get a bite that has all of the ingredients they come together in your mouth to create an amazing and strong but balanced flavor that is at times sweet, tangy, salty and smokey.  It's just a delight to savor the cheddar with the onions, and when the little bit of sourness comes through from the pickles, it's like your mouth has died and gone to heaven.  There's plenty of cheese and pickles on this burger, but for some reason they're not evenly disbursed so many bites have a disproportionate amount of onions and when eaten alone they become overwhelmingly sweet.  My recommendation?  Remove the bun from the burger before attacking it, and use your knife and fork to more evenly disperse the toppings.  You'll be more guaranteed to have delicious bites every single time.

The meat is a custom blend of brisket, chuck and flank steak with a 70% lean to 30% fat ratio that is delivered from Niman Ranch up near San Francisco and ground daily in-house.  The large fat content in this burger is awesome, allowing a slightly larger margin of error when cooking and allows for good overall cohesion in the patty.  The one big detriment to the burger, however, was that it was a bit overcooked!  They were able to get a fantastic sear on the outside of the burger, so there was a little crunch to every bite, and the meat was nice and flaky, but if the burger is overcooked, you're going to lose points.  It's not as if the place was all that busy so that the chef was churning out order after order and couldn't keep an eye on the patties we ordered.  Regardless, at $10 for a lunch burger (no fries), this a really good deal for the amount of food, and the quality of the ingredients.  Next time I'd stress it being cooked correctly, but overall an awesome burger.  Also, don't miss out on their Monday Night Burger + Beer/Bourbon Deal for $15, or Tuesday night $1 Oysters!




Cooked Correctly: 4/5
Design/Ingredients: 3/4
Plating: 1/3
Value: 2.5/3

The Oinkster - March 2014 Burger of the Month

Eagle Rock, CA
www.theoinkster.com



The Order: The St. Patrick's Burger. A 6 oz. corned beef brisket and ground beef patty with a bubble n' squeak fritter, Oinkster mustard, and pickles on a potato bun.
Side Order: No side.
 $9
Drink Order: Lucky Charm Shake ($6)
Burger Menu Rating: 8/15




If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.  The Oinkster's burger is hands down my favorite pedestrian burger in Los Angeles.  They began their official Burger of the Month specials in late 2012 and since then have produced a variety of interesting creations.  From the Little Bear Burger to the Oklahoma Onion Burger, to the Chili Cheese Dog Burger, The Oinkster's creations are generally interesting takes on either classic burgers, or classic meals made into burgers, and are often in response to the upcoming season or holiday.  This month's burger attempts to tackle a "classic" Irish dish, Corned Beef and Cabbage, and it does so with some success, but leaves something to be desired.  It turns out that Corned Beef and Cabbage is about as truly Irish as green bagels are, so if The Oinkster missed the mark a little, we'll forgive them. A little


The Bubble n' Squeak Fritter nicely formed and placed on top of the patty.

When this burger comes out, you might ask yourself, "is this a hash brown?!" You wouldn't be that far off.  A Bubble n' Squeak is a traditional English dish made from leftover roasted vegetables, generally potatoes and cabbage.  It is so named because of the sounds it makes as it cooks in the pan.  The Oinkster's version is a little bit bland.  Having deep fried their version, the potatoes and cabbage are surrounded by a layer of breading which is a bit extraneous next to the potato bun.  The potatoes in the fritter don't provide much more than a mushy mouthfeel next to the cabbage, which is slightly sour and left me wanting more.

The corned beef brisket and beef patty is certainly an interesting choice for the burger, but ultimately falls short as a choice for a burger meat blend.  Brisket is cooked to tenderness over a long time, and when it's done, there's almost no fat left to hold it together.  Adding back in some ground beef to up the fat content was a solid choice, but ended up playing down some of the brisket flavor.  The end result was a strange combination that left me unsure of what flavor I should actually be tasting.  It had some of the saltiness for sure, but overall the meat was a little bland.  Or maybe the meat wasn't bland, but was just being completely overpowered by another ingredient: the mustard.


The corned beef had its distinctive pink color.

I've had the Oinkster Mustard a few times before.  It's extremely strong, and on this burger, having a lot of it is a detriment to the overall balance of flavor.  I understand that a lot of people eat their corned beef with mustard, but having a large amount smeared on the bottom of this burger just doesn't work.  Stacking order people!  The ingredients towards the bottom of the burger get the most tongue-time and influence all the flavors that come after!  So with this burger, what I tasted was mostly mustard, with a little bit of corned beef flavor.  Next time use less!


It sure is a good looking combo though.

This burger, like all their other sandwiches, does not automatically come with a side.  As always, the fries at The Oinkster as delicious.  But I wanted to get my hands on that shake, and I knew that if I ate the burger, fries and drank a shake that I would regret it for hours after.  The Lucky Charms shake is absolutely delicious and there are giant marshmallows throughout the thick beverage, but therein lies the ultimate problem!  My mouth was so tired from trying to suck those large chunks of cereal through the tiny little straw.  Either get a bigger straw, use a spoon, or avoid this shake!  But seriously, it was delicious.




Cooked Correctly: 5/5 Corned beef - no choice
Design/Ingredients: 1/4
Plating: 1/3
Value: 1/3

Plan Check Kitchen + Bar

Los Angeles, CA
www.plancheck.com



The Order:  Chefs Favorite Burger, medium rare.  With cheese two ways, bacon two ways, ketchup leather, sunny fried egg, and hot sauce.
Side Order:  Sweet Potato Waffle Fries cooked in with Peach Ketchup.
$13 + $6 = $19
Drink Order:  Ballast Point Sculpin IPA
Burger Menu Rating:  14/15




I've finally done it!  After a year of trying and waiting and not having time to go.  After all of the times I've been in LA this year alone (three times!!).  After hoping and wanting to try this burger since April and not being able to try it.  I finally got to go on Monday night, and it was all kinds of delicious.

If you've read my review of Umami Burger then you know I was never too impressed with the burgers there.  They were solid burgers, but not worth all the hype that surrounded the then LA-based establishment.  But there was definitely something there that was worth building upon and as soon as I'd heard in April 2012 that Ernesto Uchimura had split with Umami and opened a new place touting an amazing burger, I was optimistic.  Then the reviews started coming out and friends started going to eat the burgers.  I knew I had to go there.

To be clear, there are two burgers that are worth trying here.  There's the Plan Check Burger, which is Uchimura's unique take on a regular diner-style burger.  The ingredients are all the same, but they're all jazzed up in a way with new textures and tangy flavors to excite your taste buds.  This is all from a few friends that have been there as repeat customers to get their burger fix.

The second burger to try is the Chefs Favorite Burger, which is something new and amazing alltogether.  The ingredients aren't anything new here either, but the flavor combinations all work in tandem creating something rich and amazing.  A perfect mashup of salty and sweet ingredients work to make this burger one you're sure to remember.


Well plated, this is a good looking burger meal.

First the salty:  The meat was cooked perfectly and was extremely juicy, with a perfect fat distribution.  Not over-handled, the meat was crumbly and a great slightly less than medium grind.  In the first bite, there were so many flavors, but the thing that really stood out was the meat taste.  Even with all the other toppings competing with the burger patty, the patty was seasoned in such a way that the slightly coppery beefy flavor was still the focus.

Then there were the bacons and the cheeses.  You'll have noticed that there were two cheeses AND two bacons on this burger.  The bartender was kind enough to describe the differences between the two cheeses and the two bacons for me.  The fried cheese crisp was a custom hand-mixed Americanized Dashi Cheese recalling both the sweetness of cheddar and the savory flavors of seaweed and mushrooms (the Umami for which Uchimura has made his burger name).  The other cheese was a soft bacon cheese, more akin to a spread than anything else.  Then there was a strip of regular bacon on the burger, and one strip of candied bacon.  These were laid out in the standard fast-casual X configuration on the burger so that at times I was tasting either the salty bacon or the sweet bacon, or the one or two amazing bites from the middle in which I got both.  Not only did these ingredients provide their own balanced and exciting tastes to the mix, but they offered a substantial amount of texture as well.  Not too hard or too soft, but just the right amount of resistance, snap and crunch in every bite.

Then there was the sweet counterpart: the ketchup leather and the bun.  The ketchup leather was sweet and tangy, a bright red sauce lathered onto the bottom of the burger so the flavors were able to contend with the myriad salty ingredients.  It hit my tongue like a hurricane, enveloping it in rich flavor before mingling with it's compatriots.  Then there was the bun.  Perfect for sopping up all the juices and dense enough to hold it all together, all with a little bit of sweetness to the bun.  And top top the sweet flavors off, the candied bacon's sugary coating would pop through every once in a while and give my taste buds the old razzledazzle.

All of these ingredients worked together magically, but let's not forget about the fried egg.  How many times have I reviewed burgers that looked promising and had a fried egg on top, only to discover that the egg has negligently been overcooked and thrown on top of a burger to which it added almost nothing?  A lot!  But this egg was cooked over easy so the yolk oozed and dripped out onto the rest of the burger as I ate it.


The waffle fries.  A good portion, but lackluster.

As for the side I got, the Sweet Potato Waffle Fries were tasty, but a little underwhelming.  The beef tallow doesn't add as much flavor to the dish, which is unfortunate.  They were a little under-salted or under-seasoned, which is probably because of the beef tallow's inclusion, but especially when dipped in the pear ketchup, the overall flavor was just too sweet.  The pear ketchup, as the bartender put it, was 'like crack' and tasted fantastic, but it would be better served on a fried chicken biscuit sandwich, or something that is inherently salty.

Overall the service was fast and very friendly.  From ordering to eating, the burger was only about 10 minutes, if that much.  The bartender was extremely helpful and personable, and pointed out Uchimura to me when I asked.  Uchimura is in the restaurant most nights of the week, unless he's out working on the other two soon-to-open locations in Los Angeles.  I have to say that I was a bit of a fanboy and totally clammed up when I introduced myself to Uchimura.  Burger Blogger Fail.  The same happened to me when I met Kenji Lopez-Alt.  To his credit, Uchimura was super nice, and very appreciative of my stammering compliments.  One day I won't make a fool of myself!  One day.  Until that day, I hope Uchimura knows he's created a fantastic burger.  Watchout there Stout.  This is definitely a contender for my LA #1.




Cooked Correctly:  5/5
Design/Ingredients:  3.5/4 - Waffle Fries were lackluster
Plating:  3/3
Value:  2.5/3

The Morrison Pub

Los Angeles, CA
themorrisonla.com



The Order:  The Morrison Filet Burger, medium rare.  Port salut, celeriac remoulade, a 3oz filet mignon, and marrow butter on an English muffin.
Side Order:  Comes with fries.
$16
Drink Order:  Sweetgrass APA
Burger Menu Rating:  10/15




In February, when I was in Los Angeles, I visited a new burger joint.  I actually visited a few, but one of them was more exciting than the others, and that was The Morrison.  Alex Kagianaris, the Executive Chef of Stout, my favorite Los Angeles burger joint, is also the Executive Chef at The Morrison, a new upscale Scottish pub in the Atwater Village area of Los Angeles.  For those of you who don't know anything about Stout, read my review from 2011.  After you do you'll see why I had such high expectations for the burger at this new gastropub.

I'd managed to strike up a conversation with the person running their twitter who recommended their burger up and down, with whom I was able to set up a tour of the kitchen, and an in depth look at their Morrison Filet Burger.  When I got there, I was welcomed by Brian, the General Manager, who made sure I was well at home and who also shares an extreme love for burgers.  He gave me the rundown on the place and made sure I could get into the kitchen for this review.  To Brian, I must apologize for the tardiness of this post and hope he'll forgive me.

First of all.  They put a steak... on the burger.  That should tell you a little something about what to expect when going to eat this monster.  Rich, big, and decadent: there's a lot going on in this burger.  The patty is a custom blend of 40% brisket to 60% chuck from a local provider.  The brisket makes for a slightly leaner burger, but gives you a hearty beef flavor in every bite.


Getting a good sear on both sides of the patty.

Each burger is seared on both sides, then a huge chunk of marrow butter is added to it,while the patty cooks to temperature.  Adding the marrow butter after searing lets the butter melt down all over the patty and keeps it from completely cooking off, so the bone marrow flavor was really present.  Then, the Port Salut (the cheese) is placed on top of the burger, while the Filet Mignon is cooked.


The filet mignons cook while the Port Salut melts on top of the patties.

Unfortunately, the piece of steak is super thin,and cooked well done instead of medium rare.  To be fair, I didn't think to try to order the steak cooked to medium rare also, but I figured that if I ordered the burger medium rare, the whole thing would be cooked that way.  The English muffins are then toasted and the stacking begins.


They begin the stacking with the celeriac remoulade.


Then add the burger and steak combo.


All your burgers in a line.

First of all, the custom burger meat blend is a good one.  I was skeptical at first, but brisket has such a distinct flavor and it really made the beef flavor stand out.  With every bite, the patty just kept on delivering a fantastic combination of meaty goodness and marrow butter.  I don't know who first created marrow butter, but I'd like to shake his/her hand.  Maybe also a high-ten just to drive the point home.


Sadly, my burger was undercooked.  Rare instead of medium rare.

While the patty was so delicious, it was undercooked, coming out rare instead of medium rare.  And the steak was disappointing as well.  It added very little to the burger except for a textural element.  There didn't seem to be enough seasoning on the steak to really bring out that flavor, especially with filet mignon being such an excellent cut of meat when handled correctly.  When added to such a delicious burger patty, the excess meat became a detriment to the burger, rather than adding interest with a contrasting flavor and texture.


The celeriac remoulade was super tasty, but couldn't stand up to the other flavors.

The celeriac remoulade was delicious and had a fantastic texture on its own.  It was such an interesting ingredient to find on the menu, but, when put on the burger, I ended up wishing that it had a stronger flavor to balance against the bone marrow and the meat.  Perhaps there just wasn't enough of it on my burger, or maybe the flavor just wasn't strong enough, but it left me wishing for more of that delicious topping to cut through and compliment the other flavors.  The Port Salut, a cow's milk cheese, had the same issue.  On its own, it had a great mild flavor, but to make it on this burger, something with a bit more attitude would have been more appropriate.  Points for using different elements that aren't generally found on burgers, but some more experimentation with the toppings and their interaction would have been good here.


Deliciously seasoned golden deliciousness.

The fries were delicious.  That's probably all I need to say.  They were a medium size cut, salted and spiced to perfection, and left me wanting more.  The fries were tasty on their own, but when dipped into the burger juice drippings, there was no way I was going to have any left over after the meal.  But watch out.  Other burgers on the menu don't come with fries, and if you want them, you'll be slammed with paying for a $6 side dish.

The best part of our meal wasn't the burger, or the fries, or even the beer.  It was the dessert.  The bread pudding at The Morrison is phenomenal and not to be missed (sorry no picture!).  It's the best I've ever had and the best in Los Angeles, as agreed upon by others who've stumbled upon the pub.  There were lots of edge pieces, so there was a fantastic texture both soft and crunchy, and when mixed with the vanilla ice cream, it was an explosion of rainbows and unicorns in my mouth.  I might actually just go there for one of these.

When put together, this is a beautiful burger and it ends up being a huge tower of gorgeous meaty goodness.  I mean, for $16, you'd hope that it would be pretty big right?  While this burger is good, however, it, sadly, is not all it's cracked up to be.  The quality and freshness of the ingredients, with the appeal of saying that you ate a burger AND a steak at the same time, makes this worth the visit once.  On the whole, it was still a tasty burger, but it lacked balance, and for the price tag, you should be able to expect to eat something that was really going to wow your taste buds.  I'd still choose the burgers at Stout over this one.




Cooked Correctly:  4/5
Design/Ingredients: 2/3
Plating:  3/3
Value:  1/3

Yard House

Los Angeles, CA
www.yardhouse.com



The Order: Classic Sliders
Side Order: Comes with fries
$10.45
Drink Order: Alaskan IPA



Juicy. Very salty. Soft. These are the classic sliders at Yard House. And they are very easy to eat. Small and scrumptious, these sliders are great when paired with beer, or anything really. You just need something to wash them down because of the amount of salt you'll be ingesting.

Joined by a group of about ten people, the staff at Yard House were quick to get us a table and to get us our food. No rush, but I wasn't going to complain. But the burgers. It's very easy to eat them in no time because of how tasty they are. They just get devoured, but it's not as if they are the tiniest sliders ever. Maybe it's the large amount of beer I seem to always consume at Yard House, but I always seem to suck these things down in 5 minutes. The patties aren't as slim as the server led me to believe (read: they could have at least tried to cook it medium rare), but they were consistently delicious across all four burgers. There is a ton of seasoning that is unfortunately undefinable... You'll start noticing a trend in this review. I honestly can not tell you what this tastes like, other than it is salty and delicious.

They also have bearnaise sliders (pictured above... somehow I don't have a picture), which are also delicious. They come with some fried shoestring onions on the sliders, and the bearnaise sauce is pretty awesome. AND you don't have to choose between the two if you can't or don't want to. You can mix it up with two of each kind for no additional charge.

Worth the $10.45 for the sliders and fries, and Yard House often has happy hour deals where the sliders are 1/2 price. Also worth it if it isn't too crowded. Avoid the downtown LA establishment if an LA team is playing. For all of you east coasters: they recently opened locations in Boston, MA and Westchester, NY!

Oh yeah, and they have beer. Their list occupies the first two pages of the menu. Its a decent selection, but it rarely changes. The draw is their mixed beer with alluring names (Snake Bite? Black Velvet?), which are actually pretty good, and their happy hour discounts on half yard drinks.

Original Tommy's

Los Angeles, CA
www.originaltommys.com



The Order: Double cheeseburger. With chili, American cheese, mustard, tomato, pickles, onions
Side Order: A #1 comes with fries
$7.19
Drink Order: Large Mr. Pibb

Tommy's has been around now for over 65 years, starting at the original location at Rampart and Beverly. All the locations have basically the same food, and comparing the Hollywood blvd. location, where I met Dan for lunch, and the original location, the fare is pretty much the same. The other locations just lack the charm of the original stand.

And the burger never disappoints. If you're looking for a heavy, post-drinking burger, look no further. Every burger comes standard with chili and there's no reason to ask for one without. You wouldn't be getting the full experience. The chili is thick and delicious. The double cheeseburger is more than enough burger for any one person to handle, but if you're feeling man enough, go for the triple. Hell, go for the new Mega combo (a triple, chili cheese fries and a 44oz drink). That'd be enough to take you down a peg or two.

The chili cheese fries are a bit superfluous when there is so much chili dripping off the burger to begin with, and don't make the mistake of eating the free chilis first. You'll be especially unhappy about having to eat the burger so slowly because the heat of your burger in your mouth will be somewhat painful.

Tommy's is a mainstay in LA. I'll always recommend going to the original location over any of the others, especially because they are open 24 hours, and its always the best at 3 in the morning.

Stout Burgers & Beers

Hollywood, CA
www.stoutburgersandbeers.com



The Order: Goombah, medium rare. Parmasiano flakes, smoked mozzarella, crispy prosciutto, and lemon basil aioli.
Side Order: Beer Battered Onion Rings ($4)
$10 + $4 = $14
Drink Order: Ommegang BPA



Wow. With recommendations from two friends, Stoud had a lot to live up to, and by no means did it disappoint. First off, these onions rings are the best I've ever had. Perfectly golden, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and when you bite into one, you bite all the way through, not pulling out the entire onion. The beer batter they use is fantastic and incredibly tasty. They aren't light, and the portion is definitely generous.

The Goombah is a wonderful burger. My hat is off to the chef for designing this amazing creation. The lemon basil aioli was such an interesting compliment to the burger without getting in the way. Just a slight sour taste made the burger that much more delectable. The patty itself is HUGE and by huge I mean almost an inch think of in-house-ground (daily) beef. They aren't messing around here. Perfectly cooked, really tasty, and big. The cheese was melty and fantastic, lending a slightly smokey and sweet flavor to each bite. And the crispy prosciutto? Sprinkled on top of the cheese adding a fantastic crunchy texture and a little bit of saltiness. Perfection.

I would DEFINITELY come back here. The beer selection is great, if a little bit pricey, but they've got staff who know their beers, and are actively learning more about them. My bartender is getting into home brewing, helps buy the kegs for the bar, and I heard the waitresses asking about certain beer recommendations they might be making in the future. They've definitely got their burgers and their sides right here. All you other burger restaurants take notes. Stout is doing it the way it should be done.

Umami Burger

Los Feliz, CA
www.umamiburger.com



The Order: Kombu Meal #3: Hatch Burger, medium rare. 4 types of green chilies, house made American cheese
Side order: Kombu Meal #3 comes with Tempura Onion Rings
$16
Drink Order: Kombu Meal #3 comes with a Poleeko Gold Pale Ale



I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Everyone always talks about how good Umami Burger is, and there must be something to it right? I mean, they now have five locations. There has to be something great about this place. I've only been here once before and I wasn't thrilled, but after a friend recommended a specific burger over the signature Umami Burger, I thought I'd give it another shot.

First of all, what is with the letter "U" stamped on the top of the bun? Is it ink? Food coloring? A slight searing? Great. They've put their stamp on the bun. A good thing because honestly, the bun is the best thing about the burger. 4 types of green chilies! Great! No taste. Not even any heat. I didn't feel anything at all in the way of spiciness until I was almost done with the entire burger. And some of you may say that I have a huge tolerance for spiciness. Not true at all. I just happen to really enjoy spicy foods now, even though they burn like volcanoes in my mouth. The house-made American cheese did nothing to add to the flavor of the burger and the meat was cooked past medium rare, even though medium rare is supposed to be the standard preparation for all of their burgers here. So yeah, the bun was sweet and delicious. But that's it. What the burger lacked in flavor it had in price.

These are by no means cheap burgers, and while I haven't had all of the burgers, I'll definitely think twice about coming here again to try something else. The Kombu deals are pretty good for your money, but you still end up having to eat a lackluster burger.

The onions rings, however, are delicious. Umami Burger definitely has gotten their side dishes right. A taste of the special Truffle Cheese Fries was great, and the Tempura Onion Rings with Umami Ketchup was fantastic. They had great tempura flavor (the rings are basically just coated with tempura style batter and then deep fried), with the sweet and tangy ketchup working together in a really interesting combination. There could be a few more onion rings in the order, but I won't complain about it.

I wouldn't choose this over the myriad other places to go in Los Angeles. Break the cycle. Tell all your friends to go somewhere else that is better and cheaper.

Lucky Devils

Hollywood, CA
www.luckydevils-la.com




The Order: Kobe Sliders (diablo and bacon bleu)
Kobe Cheeseburger, medium rare. Apricot house-smoked double thick cheddar, tomato chutney, lettuce and crispy fried onions.
Side Order: None
$8.95 + $13 = $21.95
Drink Order: Water



Back in Los Angeles again and I have a long burger road ahead of me! I unfortunately had to skip my burger lunch plans because of last night's festivities (congratulations Vanessa and Mike!). So the beginning of my LA burger adventure was at Lucky Devils, joined by Sarah, Joe and Gloria.

The sliders were a fantastic way to start the meal, especially after a long night of binge drinking (thus.. the water). I started with the bacon bleu (Swiss gruyere, blue cheese, double-smoked bacon, drunkin' beer caramelized onions, wild arugula and roasted garlic aioli). The aioli is really sweet and, paired with the onions, makes this slider absolutely delicious. You don't really taste the bleu cheese at all because it's overwhelmed by all the other flavors. To be honest it's actually not a bad thing. The slider really doesn't need any other flavors to muddy things up.

The diablo wasn't nearly as good as the bacon bleu (white cheddar, double-smoked bacon, avocado, wild arugula, house 1,000 island, and devil hot sauce). The hot sauce is fantastic but that's really all this has going for it. Slightly tangy, and not too hot, but they didn't hit it out of the park with this one.

The Kobe cheeseburger was actually subpar. Everything about the burger was good, except for the flavor of the meat. Come on! When you've got Kobe beef to work with, how can you not make it taste amazing?! The patty was cooked well past medium rare and was essentially flavorless. The cheddar and the bread were both very sweet tasting, but not in any way overbearing, and not strong enough tastes to make up for the beef's shortcomings. The bacon wasn't at all smoky and the crispy fried onions didn't add anything to the experience at all.

The burger doesn't come with fries and $4 to add a side of sweet potato fries wasn't going to happen, but the fries were definitely tasty, and the pastilla garlic aioli was fantastic. The problem with the side of fries is the size of the portion. When you spend $4 for a side, it should be a bit on the larger side. This is not true of Lucky Devils.

Verdict: Get the sliders, but ask if you can have two of the bacon bleus instead of the diablo. Don't get a burger here.

Stand4 Burger

Manhattan, NY
www.standburger.com



The Order: HELL Burger, medium rare. Wasabi, caramelized onions, Thai chilies, sweet chile sauce, with white cheddar ($1)
Side Order: Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Parmesan ($5)
$11 + $1 + $5 = $17
Drink Order: Six Point Sweet Action
Dessert Order: Mini Ricotta Pistachio Milkshake $6

Mike's Order: STAND Burger, Medium. Specially seasoned beef, red onion, lettuce, tomato, house sauce, with white cheddar ($1)



After a multiple enthusiastic recommendations from fellow burger enthusiast Malia, I finally found the time to go and try Stand Burger. Or is it Stand. Or is it Stand4. Actually, not even Stand itself can agree on the name. If you look at their website, they call themselves any and all of the above names. We'll stick with Stand.

Apparently my choise of side was agreeable to our waitress ("good choice!"). Again, joined by Mike and Vanessa, Mike and I decided to split our two burgers. He ordered the STAND burger and I ordered the HELL burger.

Starting with my half of the HELL burger first may have been a mistake. The first bite instantly cleared my nose (the wasabi). If you want to try something that is beyond spicy, go for this burger, but it isn't so much the wasabi that gets you as it is the Thai chillies. They made it so hard to eat the burger that by the time I finished my half I was glad it was ONLY half the burger.

The STAND burger on the other hand was delicious. The seasoning on the meat was an explosion of flavors complimented perfectly by the house sauce, and the other toppings, and the meat was perhaps the juiciest I've had in the past few months. Both burgers were definitely high quality burgers, and a good size for their prices, but I'll definitely be going with the STAND next time.

Our burgers came with fried pickles on the side, which were fantastic and a wonderful surprise. The butter pickles that they were made with weren't too sweet, and they were just a little sour. If you have had the fried pickles at Corner Burger, come try these and be amazed at home much better they are. No offense Corner Burger, but these have you beat by a big margin.

The sweet potato mash was excellent, but just a little too sweet, and there definitely could have been more Parmesan on top. In fact, perhaps a more bold choice of cheese topping could have worked better. The dish was interesting, but if they were really looking to wow with it, they were just a little off the mark.

I have only three words left for you. Ricotta. Pistachio. Milkshake. This is EXPENSIVE, but AMAZING. Giant chunks of pistachio throughout, a healthy amount of whip cream, and the ricotta flavor poking through every once in a while make this one of the best milkshakes I've ever had. If you come here, you can not leave with out trying one of the milkshakes, and there are definitely other interesting flavors to order. Toasted Marshmellow. Honey Lavender Chocolate. Blueberry Pie. Maple Almond. AND they have alcoholic shakes.

Come here early to avoid the lines, or come for lunch when they offer a few lunch specials. Definitely worth a try... or two.



Coming up next week:
Dear readers! Beginning this Friday I will be in Palm Springs, CA and Los Angeles, CA eating burgers! I'll also be watching my sister get hitched, but there will be tons of burgers! It will be raining burgers! A thunderstorm of burgers has been forecast and I'm going to be getting soaked in it!

But seriously. Next week I will be making it to 9 different burger establishments in Los Angeles and 1 in Palm Springs. That's a total of 10 burgers for my dear readers to read about. I will choose 4 of them to review immediately, that is to say, as soon as I can get to a computer after eating that burger, you'll have that post. The other 5 will be sprinkled in between the regular weekly reviews. Those 10 are the definite places, but there are a couple others that I MAY get a chance to go to somehow. So get excited! And check back often.

Here is the definite list:
In N Out (I know, its fast food, but I'm going because its amazing)
Oinkster
Umami Burger
Father's Office
Yardhouse
Lucky Devils
Tommy's
Bucket
Stout Burger
Matchbox