I ain’t gonna lie, the LAist “Best Burger in LA” list is compelling, and there are definitely some very good burgers on this list – including some of my favorites. But come on now:
And to be sure, this single post won’t put the ‘Best Burger In Los Angeles’ debate to rest for you (even though our pick is absolutely correct) so don’t worry about being wrong when you criticize the list below. Who knows, maybe you get a real kick out of being wrong. Like we said, different people like different things.
Ahh, never mind, it’s pretty funny. And only because I’m right, and they’re not.
I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. I loved it. It made me reconsider the food I eat every day. It made me second guess the path to destruction that seemed like such a good idea for the American farmer (I grew up in farmland). And it made me consider the difference in taste between naturally grown food and the corn-fed stuff that we typically eat every day. I’ll be the first to tell you that grass-fed beef tastes a hell of a lot better than corn-fed.
O! Burger is the exception.
There simply was nothing exciting, flavorful, or otherwise extraordinary about this burger. The beef patty was miniscule – absolutely reprehensible given the hefty price tag. I’m willing to pay $10.99 for a burger and fries, but it better be good. The napa cabbage, tomatoes, sweet pickles, chipotle ketchup and ranch were pretty good….. but I ordered a burger, not a salad.
OK, I understand the appeal of natural foods goes waaaay beyond just flavor. It’s an environmental issue, a political issue, etc. But for me, it’s simply inexcusable if it doesn’t taste good. Sorry O! Burger, but you better up the ante. Your organic sandwiches just don’t cut it.
If my research is correct there’s a burger war out there people! No, not in the streets of Fallujah or the glorious nation of Kazakhstan, but right here in our very own backyard (the notoriously rough burger corridors of West Los Angeles).
I just read this burger breaking news on LA Weekly’s Squid Ink which highlights The Foundry’s call for the Father’s Office’s head. Signs declaring burger war were written in blood-red ketchup and posted on the doors of both FO locations last night.
Burger Bout via Squid Ink 2
Reading over this burger on burger violence coincides perfectly with the rapper on rapper warfare I heard about just this morning on NPR. Essentially, the piece contends that new rappers to the game often go after well established rappers in an effort to claim fame.
I believe that the guy on the far right is eating a burger
Although I’ve been due for a visit for way too long – I’ve never had the Foundry burger (and as I’ve mentioned before the Father’s Office is a highly controversial burger here at Hambur.gr) but I can tell you that Mr. Greenspan (the Foundry’s owner/chef) better not be dropping any “Mission Accomplished” banners prematurely.
There’s this dark area of the morning, just after you’ve scratched the sleep from your eyeballs, thrown on the dirty T-shirt from the night before, and desire to drink coffee as if it were the sweet sweet nectar of life. You drag yourself out into the thin morning, shielding your delicate skin from the cool burn of the morning sun, and partake in that strange ritual we like to call brunch.
I’m a huge fan of brunch. I love eggs and bacon and sausage. And while I personally feel that burgers are the only thing on this planet that is not always made better by adding bacon, I do feel that brunch is universally made better by adding hamburgers. I’m somewhat convinced that this is a product of my midwestern upbringing. Many a childhood meal consisted of little more than two fried eggs and a frozen beef patty in a pan. Then again, maybe my mother is the sole source of my obsession with meat. Something like that.
This morning I ventured to Swingers, a trendy diner chain in Los Angeles, where I was met with a bevy of fascinating options on their menu. One whole page is dedicated to breakfast (as it should be), but only three burgers were to be found on the sandwich side: a classic California burger, a turkey burger, and an old-fashioned patty melt. Not really feeling the eggs and bacon vibe at that particular moment, I opted for some ground goodness.
But I got to thinking, is the patty melt really a hamburger? A classic patty melt is served on rye bread with fried onions and cheese. Surely the bread substitution doesn’t disqualify it as a hamburger, right? After all, if I had a pound of ground beef, but no bun, you better believe I’d slap it on a couple slices of sandwich loaf before I turned it into Hamburger Helper. And what about the specificity of the toppings? Does it qualify as a wholly separate entity, a sandwich of its own? It does have its own name, after all. Even the name suggests it is a melt, and not a hamburger.
Well, I for one don’t really care, so long as it’s delicious. And for my money, there are few things as wonderful at brunchtime than a patty melt. It’s dinerlicious, it’s greasy, it’s cheap, it’s like a hamburger, but maybe not. In my book it’s good, and that’s all that matters.
This particular patty melt was cooked exactly how I asked, medium rare, despite its thinness, and that is no small feat. The fries are fresh (I love when I can taste the oil it’s been cooked in, rather than the previous 6 batches worth of burnt bits). The onions were sauteed perfectly, not burned, and not overpowering. And the Swiss cheese was not as mild as typical Swiss, making for a really great added dash of tanginess. It was a solid sandwich, a little overpriced at $8.50, but not so bad when you consider how good it tasted.
Just for fun, a little poll, which you can answer in the comments: is the patty melt a hamburger, yes or no?
