Like many people these days, I've been cooped up, mainly at home, in excess of five months. As a result, I've been really craving a burger. Sure, I've made a few at home (and I do make a pretty solid burger), but I've really been missing going out to enjoy a burger not cooked by me.
So when I saw an article on L.A. Taco about an El Sereno-based smashburger-style pop-up by the name of Hangaburs, I put it on my short list of things to do. Fortunately, my short list is really short, so I was able to cross this visit off right quick.
The gals who run Hangaburs only pop-up every two weeks or so, usually on a Sunday (follow Hangaburs on Instagram for the schedule). So when I saw that their next pop-up was going to be on August 30, I slotted a visit into the calendar.
The Hangaburs crew started cooking at 3:00 in the parking lot of El Sereno's Village Mart & Deli. I arrived about 3:15 and the line was already 15 multi-person groups deep. After waiting in line for about 90 minutes (good burgers aren't necessarily fast burgers), I stepped up and ordered my first Tepic-Style Double Smashburger. It won't be my last.
Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)
The smashburger is the current burger darling in Los Angeles, and the Hangaburs crew knows how to put one together that looks mighty appealing. After the burger has been cooked up, the crew puts it into inside a little paper box just big enough to contain the expanse that is the twin smashed patties.
Bun: 8 Points (of 10)
This burger's patties are framed by a lightly griddled Bimbo bun. And while I am a sucker for a Bimbo bun, what I appreciate about this particular match-up is the very pleasing bread-to-meat ratio. It's enough bun to support the patties but not so much that it's too chewy, a fine line to walk with any enriched bread.
Meat: 25 Points (of 30)
The hallmark of any smashburger is, of course, super-thin patties. And the Tepic-Style has thoseâtwo of 'em made from 100% ground chuckâcooked up just right. Often smashburger patties can get overcooked or dried out because they're so thin, but these patties had a nice sear on the outside yet remained juicy on the inside. And if that's all the meat this burger had, it would still be a good burger, but the Tepic-Style comes with a slice of grilled ham, elegantly folded over and resting atop the patties, to kick the burger's flavor up a notch or two.
Cheese: 15 Points (of 15)
While the meat is solid, the shining star of this burger is the slice of grilled panela cheese (a cow's milk cheese of Mexican origin typically made in a basket) resting lovingly on the top of the patties. It's not a melty cheese like American (we'll get to that in a moment), so it added a smooth texture to each bite. Now if that single slice of cheese were the only slice on this burger, it would satisfy. But there are also two slices of American cheese meltingly embracing each thin patty.
Vegetables: 12 Points (of 15
The Tepic-Style Smashburger is pretty simple in the vegetable category. It's dressed up with a decent helping of grilled onions, strategically placed on top of the lower cheese-topped patty and two slices of tomato, resting on top of the ham slice.
Sauces: 9 Points (of 10)
The burger's Spicy Mustard Crema, made with freshly toasted Chile de Arbol, is another stand-out ingredient. This stuff has a nice kick to it, but it's not so overpowering that most people wonât have trouble with the heat.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
By its nature, a smashburger tends to be somewhat messy, and the Tepic-Style Smashburger is no exception. One must take a moment to carefully consider how to eat it. Do you dive right in and smash it right into your face? Or do you eat around the edges, looking for a spot where it's safe to dive in. Me, I went all-in, face-first. It was messy. Perfectly messy.
Burgerness: 8 Points (of 10)
I wanted to eat this burger right after it came off the grill, but, since this was a pop-up during a pandemic, the tables were all occupied. Plus it was something like 100° Fahrenheit outside. So I took my burger for a short drive back to my own kitchen before eating it. I was a bit concerned that the burger experience would suffer due to transit time, but I was pleased that it held up very well after its short drive.
One final note: Hangaburs also makes this as a single burger. Of course I ordered the double, and I'm doubling down on the double. The bun-to-meat ratio would be off (too much bread) in a single. At least that's my hypothesis. I'll have to put that to a test at the next pop-up.
Another final note: Hangaburs also offers a Classic burger that also looks quite tasty. So a return visit is definitely in order.
Burger Score: 85
Tepic-Style Double Smashburger is $10 at Hangaburs, in El Sereno. This burger was consumed on August 30, 2020.
Cheeseburger All the Way, Five Guys Burgers & Fries (Costa Mesa, CA)
Doing it Up Orange County Style
For many years, people have been asking me if I've eaten at Five Guys. Since there isn't a convenient Five Guys location in the city of Los Angeles proper, the answer has always been no. That all changed a few weeks back when I found myself stranded in Costa Mesa at lunchtime and spotted a mall-adjacent Five Guys, along Harbor Boulevard. So I steered that way to see what all the fuss was about.
The first thing I noticed when I entered was that this restaurant bore more than a passing resemblance to In 'N Out. Not from the outsideâthat was the drab stucco indicative of an Orange County mallâbut the inside was all done up in white and red. Unlike, In 'N Out, however, this Five Guys location offered up free peanuts. Maybe they all do that; I don't know. In any case, I abstained.
I stepped up to the counter and, after waiting for the woman in front of me to pay for her burger with pennies, ordered up a Cheeseburger All the Way.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
After a short wait, the gal behind the counter handed me a white paper bag from which I drew forth a loosely wrapped foil bundle. Completely covering your burger in a completely opaque wrapping sends a message that says, "don't look too close."
Bun: 5 Points (of 10)
Nothing fancy here. A standard, reasonably soft, lightly griddled, enriched white bun with sesame seeds on top.
Meat: 22 Points (of 30)
Turns out the cheeseburger at Five Guys has two patties of decent thickness, done up smashburger style. They were cooked well, if a little overdone, and seasoned appropriately, if a tad salty. The patties were the best part of the burger.
Cheese: 7 Points (of 15)
The Cheeseburger All the Way comes with two slices of cheese, but those slices weren't thoroughly melted, as if the kitchen had been in a rush to prepare this burger.
Vegetables: 7 Points (of 15)
All right, confession time. This wasn't really a Cheeseburger All the Way as I opted out of the grilled mushrooms. I like my 'shrooms fresh, not canned (too slimy for me) and I suspected these would be canned, so I passed. But there were still a lot of vegetables on this burger. No fewer than four pickles (the the tiny nubbin from the end I couldn't count as a whole pickle), a token amount of ripped-up lettuce (on top of the patties, tooâfor shame!), some grilled onions that weren't grilled (more like warmed on the griddle for a few seconds) and a pair of tomatoes.
Sauces: 4 Points (of 10)
Overall, the sauce was overdone. The burger included a thick layer of mayonnaise slathered underneath the top bun (and drowning the pickles) and a hefty amalgam of mustard and ketchup on the bottom that bun provided a place for the onions to swim around in. All that worked together to give each bite a powerful sweetness I found too cloying to be enjoyable.
Messiness: 2 Points (of 5)
Yeah, it's messy. Anytime you put the hot patties on a thin enriched bun without a vegetable barrier, the bun is going to collapseâespecially when that bun is already soaked through with mustard and ketchup. I like a messy burger, but I prefer to eat it as a burger, not a pile of disassembled ingredients on a piece of foil.
Burgerness: 7 Points (of 10)
I'm not sure why people love this burger so much. Maybe it's because other people love it, but I found it to be reasonably underwhelming. It was a fine burger, though much too sweet for me to revisit on a regular basis, but there are better burgers out there.
Burger Score: 57
Cheeseburger All the Way is $8.89 at Five Guys Burgers & Fries, 3030 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA. It was consumed on May 18, 2019.
Double Cheeseburger at Joe Rouer's Bar (Luxemburg, WI)
Pride of Kewaunee County.
Ever since I started writing up my various burger experiences here at Tom's Burger Blog, my dad has been after me to try the burgers served up at Joe Rouer's Bar in the township of Duvall, just outside of Luxemburg, Wisconsin. The place is quite legendary for making a fantastic burger. It has won the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Best of the Bay Award in the Burger category for something like seven years running and has even gotten the stamp of approval from none other than burgermeister George Motz.
So I was thrilled when I finally got the chance to head down County Road X in northeastern Wisconsin to try one of these burgers. We arrived at the joint around 11:00 or so, right when the place opens up, and we weren't the only ones. Cars pulled into the parking lot from all directions. We managed to get a table, but if we'd arrived fifteen minutes later, we would have had to wait. The place fills up fast.
Joe Rouer's Bar is a no-frills sort of joint, and the menu is super-simple offering burgers, cheeseburgers, double hamburgers, and double cheeseburgers. They also have a few other sandwiches, hot dogs, soups, and chili, but the whole menu literally fits on a 5" x 7" card in acrylic stand. Of course I had to go in for the Double Cheeseburger.
Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)
There's one word that can sum up the first impression one has of a Joe Rouer's burger: honest. This isn't a burger decked out with fancy toppings or strange ingredients. It consists of two cooked beef patties on a bun, and it doesn't pretend to be anything else. It might look a little rough around the edges, but overall it was quite enticing. If you've ever seen the burger cook-off episode of Parks & Recreation, this is Ron Swanson's burger.
Bun: 8 Points (of 10)
The bun on the Double Cheeseburger was a pretty standard affairâjust an enriched white bunâand that served this burger damn near perfectly. It was a sturdy bun, and it needed to be. The bottom bun had to soak up the fat dripping from the burger, and even the top bun absorbed a good amount of these burger drippings.
Meat: 27 Points (of 30)
This is Wisconsin. Next to dairy and beer, they know beef. And since Joe Rouer's is located in the middle of dairy-and-cow country, all these burgers are made from some mighty fresh, local beef. Each patty weighs in at 1/3 pound and is fried in its own fat on cast iron. That makes for a juicy, delicious pattyâand this burger has two of 'em.
Cheese: 12 Points (of 15)
The Double Cheeseburger was filled out with twin slices of nicely melted American cheese. Again, nothing outrageous, but rather a near-perfect pairing for this burger.
Vegetables: 11 Points (of 15)
Like the other burgers I'd had in the Midwest (see the Jucy Lucy and the Juicy Lucy), the only vegetable served with a Joe Rouer's burger is a bit of onion just under the top bun. Other than that, the burger is served with a small cup of pickles that you can add to your burger should you so desire. I like pickles just fine, but I abstained from adding them because, well, I like to sample the burger as it's served from the kitchen.
Sauces: 0 Points (of 10)
Again, like other Midwest burgers, my Joe Rouer's Double Cheeseburger arrived with no sauce. I could have a added mustard and ketchup if I wanted, but for reasons stated above, I did not.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
This is what a messy burger is supposed to be. As I devoured my Double Cheeseburger, a lot of fat dripped off the burger, coating my fingers and the corners of my mouth thoroughly. Fortunately, napkins were plentiful. A spot or two may have even ended up on my shirt. But, despite this, the bun didn't collapse and the burger stayed intact until the final bite.
Burgerness: 10 Points (of 10)
This burger wasn't trying to be fancy or overblown. It put forth no intention of reinventing the burger. It promised just one thingâto be a great-tasting burger. And it more than delivered on that promise. So the next time you're in Green Bay, take a little drive out to the country (it'll take you about half an hour from the Green Bay airport) and sink your teeth into one of these mighty fine burgers. Better yet, get two.
Scoring Note: Joe Rouer's Double Cheeseburger had no sauce. Without that category the burger earned a raw score of 77. After factoring out the sauce category, the Double Cheeseburger earned an adjusted Burger Score of 86.
Burger Score: 86
Double Cheeseburger is $7 at Joe Rouer's Bar, E1098 County Road X, Luxemburg, WI. This one was consumed on July 10 , 2018.
The Bucket was a burger destination in Eagle Rock for decades. It first opened in 1935 to serve hardworking Eagle Rock residents and students from nearby Occidental College. Over the years the restaurant had a number of different owners before it closed in 2013. I ate there way back in 2003 or some time around then but don't remember much about the experience. The joint reopened in 2014 as The Patio Burgers & Beer, but that venue only lasted a few years (it closed in August 2018).
However, just this past November (2018), this iconic roadside stand re-opened, once again as The Bucket. Naturally, I had to give the place a try. So I drove on down the boulevard one afternoon recently and ordered up a Julio Burger, namedâI'm guessingâafter the famously cranky fellow who owned the restaurant in one of its earlier incarnations.
Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)
The Julio Burger, like all of The Bucket's burgers, arrived neatly wrapped in red-and-white checked paper inside a little brown paper tray. This is a pretty standard burger-serving practice, but it does a little disservice to a burger like The Julio. Not until it's fully unwrapped can one truly appreciate how well this burger is assembled.
Bun: 7 Points (of 10)
Nothing fancy here, and that's just fine. The bun was toasted slightly, which is a nice touch, but it could have done with a minute or so longer on the griddle.
Meat: 24 Points (of 30)
The Julio is loaded in the protein department. The patty itself, which I'm guessing weighed in at about six ounces, had a nice thickness. It was seasoned well and cooked nearly perfectly (a bit too on the medium-well side of the spectrum) with good flavor. But that's not all! The patty was accompanied by twin strips of bacon and topped off with a nicely fried egg.
Cheese: 7 Points (of 15)
The Julio's patty was crowned with a single slice of American cheese, which was definitely an appropriate choice here, but it could have used a little more time to melt into the patty.
Vegetables: 11 Points (of 15)
The patty rested atop a small bed of lettuce (just enough to keep things interesting) and a slice of onion (slightly too thick). In turn, a crunchy collection of pickles (three) and serrano peppers (just enough to give the burger some heat), along with a thick tomato slice (again, maybe just a little too thick) sat on top of the patty. This bisection of the vegetables worked on two levels. First, with the patty sandwiched between these two layers, I got a lot of flavor and good melding of textures in every bite. Second, the lettuce and onion acted as a barrier to keep the bottom bun from getting too soggy.
Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)
I enjoyed the Spanish garlic aioli on top of the Julio. It provided a nice, tangy zing and a little heat to complement the serrano peppers. This sauce really worked on this burger.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
This was a messy burger in the best way. And, as mentioned above, the onion prevented total burger meltdown.
Burgerness: 9 Points (of 10)
The Julio Burger is a great burger. With a few tweaks, mainly with regard to the thickness of the vegetable slices, it could be quite excellent. If you're ever on the Eastside of Los Angeles, I heartily recommend stopping by The Bucket. It's great to have this classic back in the neighborhood.
Burger Score: 75
Julio Burger is $7.50 at The Bucket, 4541 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. This one was consumed on December 13, 2018.
I'd never heard of Wayback Burgers, a place that claims to make burgers the way burgers were meant to made, before the family took a holiday-time road trip up the coast of California to spend some time among the redwoods. As it turns out, Wayback Started as Jake's Hamburgers in Newark, Delaware in 1991 and now has something like 130 locations all over the world. So when we were looking for interesting stops to make along the journey, Wayback Burgers, just off exit 368 on Interstate 5, stood out.
When we pulled up in the small town of Firebaugh (yes, technically, Firebaugh is 23 miles to the northeast, but, it's the town listed on restaurant's address so I'm going with it), an agricultural community smack in the heart of Fresno County, I didn't know what to expect. But I didn't expect this much-vaunted burger joint to be attached to a busy Mobil station. After waiting in the lengthy lunchtime line, I decided I'd go in for their take on the classic American burger titled, simply and appropriately, the Classic. I did cave to the upsell, though, and had them add bacon to my burger.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
On first glance, the Classic looked to be an decent burger, though the massive leaf of lettuce sitting on top of the burger and hanging out of one side detracted from the burger's appeal. It looked kind of funny. I mean, just look at it.
Bun: 6 Points (of 10)
Not sure about the bun, exactly, but it seemed like a pretty traditional potato-style bun. Solid, which was good because the bottom bun had soaked up quite a bit of drippings from the twin patties.
Meat: 20 Points (of 30)
The menu says they cook their beef patties to order, but no one asked me how I wanted mine done. As it turns out, they were done medium-well. The flavor was okay, nothing special, slightly above the meat you'd get on a traditional fast food burger. The addition of bacon brought a little extra oomph to the party, as tends to happen.
Cheese: 6 Points (of 15)
The Classic comes with American cheese. The picture of the burger that's displayed on the menu and all over signs as the gas station shows the Classic with two slices of cheeseâone on top of each patty. However, there was only one on my burgerâcovering only the top patty. I was disappointed by this.
Vegetables: 7 Points (of 15)
Any burger named the Classic should come with the traditional pairing of lettuce, tomato, and onion. That's certainly the case here. The tomato was almost vanishingly small, the onions were chopped (which I didn't mind), and the lettuce was overflowing. The Classic had a couple of pickles in the mix, too, which added pleasingly to its overall flavor profile, but as a whole nothing really stood out.
Sauces: 5 Points (of 10)
There's no fancy sauces on the Classic, just ketchup and mustard dabbed on top of the vegetables. It worked okay, but I would have preferred them spread on the buns.
Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)
Disappointingly, all the veggies were piled on top of the patties, and this led the bottom bun, as sturdy as it was, to disintegrate halfway into the meal. I don't mind when a burger falls apart near the end, but when it happens at the beginning, that speaks to a fundamental problem with materials and construction.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
In short, although there's nothing really remarkable about Wayback's Classic, if you're rolling up I-5 into the Bay Area and feel like a burger, you could do a lot worse than stopping here to satisfy your craving.
When we visited, the place was very busy. I got the impression that, because it's attached to a Mobil station, itâs always busy. A lot of visitors (including us) fueled up the car then went to Wayback to fill up on burgers. The restaurant is small, and the order line extends right down the aisle, so it also felt very cramped. People going to the stationâs bathroom had to cut right across this line, so the whole experience felt very hectic. The place was kind of dirty, too, as none of the tables were wiped down while we were there.
Burger Score: 56
Classic is $6.99 ($7.99 with bacon) at Wayback Burgers, 46365 West Panoche Road Firebaugh, CA. This one was consumed on December 26, 2017.
Classic Double Cheeseburger at Al's Hamburger Shop. (Green Bay, WI)
The best burger in Green Bay.
In 1934, Al Rank opened his eponymous burger restaurant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, just 350 feet from the bank of the Fox River. The Rank family operated the jointâat the same locationâfor 82 years before closing in 2016. The family sold it to Michael Wirz, who re-opened the much-loved restaurant just a few months later.
I grew up in Green Bay, but for some reason I never managed to have a burger from the iconic Al's Hamburger Shop, an oversight I corrected when I visited Green Bay earlier this year. I ordered a Classic 1/4 lb, then added cheese and another patty to make a Classic Double Cheeseburger. Or maybe a Double Classic Cheeseburger. In either case, here's how it went down.
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
My Double Cheeseburger arrived at my table on a quarter sheet pan (who needs plates, anyway?), resting atop a single sheet of brown paper looking like something right out of a sexy burger showcase. The fact that the thinly sliced onions were dangling pell mell off the side of twin patties only made it more enticing.
Bun: 10 Points (of 10)
This may be the best hamburger bun I've ever had. It was slightly square with a nice sprinkling of corn meal. It was soft and fluffy on the inside, firm (but not too firm) on the outside, and crisped up just right on the inner edges. As much as I liked this burger, I loved this bun.
Meat: 25 Points (of 30)
Each of the Double Cheeseburgers 1/4 pound patties were perfectly seasoned and wonderfully flavorful. They were cooked only slightly too done for my taste, but other than that, these were some mighty fine burger patties.
Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)
We're in Wisconsin, so you know the cheeseâeven the American cheese I opted for on this burgerâis going to be good. And, unlike some burger places, this Double Cheeseburger came with double cheese (which is how it should be, by the way), one slice covering the top of each patty in a warm, melty blanket.
Vegetables: 9 Points (of 15)
The only vegetables that graced this Double Cheeseburger were a generous pile of finely sliced onions and a couple of pickles. That might seem lacking at first consideration, but it totally worked. They complemented the other ingredients quite well without overpowering them.
Sauces: 0 Points (of 10)
As I've mentioned before, there seems to be a trend in the Midwest trend to not add any sauce on burgers. I guess the idea is for the customer to add the level of sauce (whether it's ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, special sauce, or all of the above) they feel comfortable with. While I find this trend slightly off-putting, in general I'm not a fan of an overwhelming amount of sauce on a burger. And, in the case of Al's, the burger really stands on its own and doesn't need sauce.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
I could have done with a little more messiness, but overall this burger hit that sweet spot of making a bit of a mess while still maintaining its burger integrity throughout the course of the meal.
Burgerness: 9 Points (of 10)
This was a damn fine burger. I'm a bit angry at my younger self for never making it to this place back when I lived here. What the hell was I thinking? No matter, I can assure you that henceforth, Al's will be a regular stop on my return visits to the Midwest. If you ever find yourself in Green Bay, treat yourself to a trip to Al's. No less a luminary than Alton Brown agrees with me. And don't forget to get a side order of their deep-fried cheesecurds, a Wisconsin staple.
Scoring Note: The Double Classic Cheeseburger had no sauce. Without that category the burger earned a raw score of 75. After factoring out the sauce category, this burger earned an adjusted Burger Score of 83.
Burger Score: 83
This score puts Al's Classic Double Cheeseburger right up there with Cassell's Cheeseburger and the Apple Pan's Steak Burger.
Classic Double Cheeseburger is $6.50 at Al's Hamburger Shop, 131 S. Washington St., Green Bay, WI This one was consumed on July 5 , 2018.
Testing an infamous Burger Rivalry in the Twin Cities. Part Two.
There's a war going on in Minneapolis. Two different restaurants lay claim to having invented a type of burger known as the Juicy Lucyâor Jucy Lucy, depending on who you believeâa simple burger with molten cheese stuffed into the patty. This was an intriguing notion, so when business took me east to Minneapolis, I decided it was timeâand my dutyâto get to the bottom of this controversy.
Matt's Bar is a dingy eatery on the corner of East 35th Street and Cedar Avenue in Minneapolis. From the outside, it looks like any of the innumerable local bars peppered throughout the northern reaches of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It looks a lot like that on the inside, too. What sets it apart, though, is that shortly after it opens, there's a line of people out the door and around the block, each waiting to sink their teeth into what some call the original Jucy Lucy.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
The Jucy Lucy isn't the most appealing burger that's ever been put in front of me. After I freed it from its plain white paper wrapper, the burger itself looked thick around the middle. This noticeable bulge in the center was, of course, a function of its molten cheese interior.
Bun: 6 Points (of 10)
There was nothing noteworthy about the bun on the Jucy Lucy. It was a standard enriched bun, not all that different that you could buy at the grocery store. But is was serviceable enough.
Meat: 19 Points (of 30)
The Jucy Lucy is made up of two thin patties sealed together around a mass of American cheese. The burger is cooked for quite a while,much longer than the average burger, because of this cheese center. As a result, the meat was quite well done and a little dry. Despite being heavily peppered, overall the meat had a good amount of flavor.
Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)
When the waitress put the burger down, she said, be careful with the first bite. And she was rightâthe cooked cheese in the center was bubbling hot as it oozed out of the burger. It's hard to go wrong with American cheese on a burger because of its meltiness, so it seemed even more perfect when, on the first bite, that cheese flowed forth with volcanic fury. After the initial cheese explosion, I adopted a cautious approach.
Vegetables: 5 Points (of 15)
The Jucy Lucy is served with a sprinkling of diced onions. On my burger, this sprinkling was so sparse, they may as well not have been there.
Sauces: 0 Points (of 10)
The Jucy Lucy, like most burgers I've ever had in the American Midwest, was served with no sauce.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
Largely because of the molten cheese centerâas well as the bar-food style in which it was cookedâthe Jucy Lucy is a good, messy burger. When it came to the messy category, it delivered exactly what it promised.
Burgerness: 7 Points (of 10)
The Jucy Lucy is a novelty burger. People flock to Matt's (and the competitor, the 5-8 Club) from all over the world not because they want a great burgers, but because they want to try a burger with melted cheese in the middle. And, of course, they come to judge for themselves who actually invented this style of burger (my money, for the record, is on Matt's Bar). That said, the Jucy Lucy delivers on the promise of a simple burger with a molten cheese center.
Scoring Note: The Jucy Lucy had no sauce. Without that category the burger earned a raw score of 58. After factoring out the sauce category, the Juicy Lucy earned an adjusted Burger Score of 64.
Burger Score: 64
Jucy Lucy is $7.50 at Matt's Bar, 3500 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55407, Minneapolis, MN. This one was consumed on June 30, 2018.
Testing an infamous Burger Rivalry in the Twin Cities. Part One.
There's a war going on in Minneapolis. Two different restaurants lay claim to having invented a type of burger known as the Juicy Lucyâor Jucy Lucy, depending on who you believeâa simple burger with molten cheese stuffed into the patty. This was an intriguing notion, so when business took me east to Minneapolis, I decided it was timeâand my dutyâto get to the bottom of this controversy.
So I met up with my friend and Minneapolis emissary Mike for lunch at the 5-8 Club, a former speakeasy, to try their take on the famous Juicy Lucy.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
The Juicy Lucy is an odd-looking burger. I think it's because the cheese in the middle forces the patty into an an odd, slightly bloated, oblong shape. This had an off-putting effect.
Bun: 6 Points (of 10)
The bun on the Juicy Lucy was nothing special. it was a little on the thick side, but that worked here because of the density of the patty and cheese combination.
Meat: 18 Points (of 30)
The Juicy Lucy patty is actually two patties slapped together with big hunks of American cheese in the middle. The meat itself was on the dry side, which I found odd for a burger with "juicy" in the name. After accounting for this misconception, the meat was reasonably flavorful.
Cheese: 11 Points (of 15)
The cheeseâagain, stuffed between two pattiesâis what makes the Juicy Lucy so juicy. The burger is cooked for 12 minutes (probably why the meat gets so dried out) so the cheese can get nice and melty. I'm not sure how much cheese they put inside, but if the video that endlessly loops in the bar is any indicator, it's quite a bit. The cheese is why people eat this burger, and it was pretty goodâalthough I was disappointed it didn't squirt out in a molten mess like the menu warned.
Vegetables: 6 Points (of 15)
There wasn't much in the way of vegetables on the Juicy Lucy. First, there were three lonely pickle chips placed haphazardly on top of the patty. They didnât really do much to enhance things. Second, there were onions. As I ordered, my waitress asked me if I wanted onions on my burger. I asked if that's how the Juicy Lucy was originally intended. She answered with "Some people like it that way." That wasn't exactly what I asked, so I'm not really sure if the original Juicy Lucy had onions or not. I went for it anywayâbut not before I asked if the onions were grilled or raw. She told me they weren't grilled. I was mighty surprised, then, when my Juicy Lucy arrived with a big pile of grilled onions. Although a little bland, they did add a bit of texture to the sandwich.
Sauces: 0 Points (of 10)
Burgers in the Midwest don't seem to typically come with sauce. The Juicy Lucy remained true to this omission. No sauce.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
I wanted this burger to be messy. They warn you right on the menu to be careful because the cheese inside the meat is like molten lava and will squirt out all over the place. But it didn't. It was definitely hotâscaldingly so evenâit just didn't squirt. I was slightly disappointed.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
For me, this burger didn't live up to the hype. I wanted a burger that would blow me away. I didn't get that. What I did get was a reasonably okay burger that seemed to draw crowds based off the marketing of "It's got cheese ... in the middle!" and the allure of truth seekers looking to figure out who really invented this style of burger.
Scoring Note: The Juicy Lucy had no sauce. Without that category the burger earned a raw score of 54. After factoring out the sauce category, the Juicy Lucy earned an adjusted Burger Score of 60.
Burger Score: 60
Juicy Lucy is $9.99 at 5-8 Club, 5800 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN. This one was consumed on June 29, 2018.
Grindhouse Style Burger at Grindhouse Killer Burgers (Atlanta, GA)
They say men die for this burger.
Late last year I took a trip to Atlanta, Georgia with the family. By no small coincidence, at some point we ended up at Grindhouse Killer Burgers. This is one of those build-your-own-burger joints, but they offer a number of pre-built burgers for the indecisive (or those who choose to trust the chef). I was couldn't make up my mind what direction I wanted to go, so I threw in with the chef and rolled with their namesake, the Double Grindhouse Style Burger.
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
All Grindhouse Killer Burgers are served to you on an trendy quarter sheet pan and wrapped up in branded white paper. Once unwrapped, I was faced with an epic stack of meat and cheese with a few vegetables thrown in for variety. It looked like a pretty good burger.
Bun: 7 Points (of 10)
There was nothing special about this bun. It was just a standard squishy white bun, but it worked well on the Grindhouse Style.
Meat: 23 Points (of 30)
The meat here was rather good. The patties were cooked well, not too done, with nice charring and good flavor.
Cheese: 12 Points (of 15)
The twin slices of wonderfully melty American cheese were in full effect and played off the meat really well.
Vegetables: 8 Points (of 15)
The Grindhouse Style kept it light on the vegetablesâonly shredded lettuce, pickles, and grilled onions. The pickles were great, but for my taste the grilled onions could have been grilled a bit more. If youâre going to grill âem, then grill âem good. The shredded lettuce let me down a bit because it didn't have the power to stand up to the meat and the cheese. As a result, it tasted a little soggy.
Sauces: 6 Points (of 10)
The Grindhouse Style Burger was smeared with, appropriately, something called Grindhouse Sauce. This was, as you can probably guess, a 1000 Island style dressing. Not bad, but nothing mind-blowing either.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
This was a good, messy burger. I mean just look at that picture up there.
Burgerness: 7 Points (of 10)
For $8.00, Grindhouse Killer Burgers gives you a decent burger that tastes good and is fun to eat. I would have liked to have seen a sturdier bit of lettuce that could stand up to the power of the patties and maybe a little tomato for a smack of umami flavor. Overall, though I enjoyed visiting this place and will do so again on future trips to Atlanta.
Burger Score: 74
Double Grindhouse Style Burger is $7.99 at Grindhouse Killer Burgers, 1842 Piedmont Ave NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. This one was consumed on December 4, 2017.
For the final burger of Burger Week 2018, the folks at The Oinkster brought back a fan favorite from 2013âthe McRibster. As one might guess, this is an upscaled version of a similarly named sandwich from a fast food chain you've probably heard of. I'd never had it before, so I was really eager to sink my teeth into this one.
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
I'm not a fan of the McRibster's namesake, but I am a big fan of the Oinksterâs McRibster. Once unwrapped from its paper envelope, this particular burger (if once can rightly call it a burger) looked mighty enticing.
Bun: 8 Points (of 10)
The McRibster is served on a French roll. I'm not certain why this particular bread was selected, but it worked for the sandwich. The bun did what it was supposed to do: keep all the other ingredients together and get out of the way.
Meat: 27 Points (of 30)
The patty on the McRibster wasn't a patty at all. Rather, it was a short rack of boneless baby back ribs. They were tender and juicy and quite flavorful.
Cheese: 0 Points (of 15)
There's no cheese on the McRibster. Nothing to see here.
Vegetables: 12 Points (of 15)
The meat was the main attraction of the McRibster, but the sandwich's few pickles, as minimal as they were, added a nice tanginess and texture to each bite. The McRibster was also garnished with a smattering of onions, which gave it a little extra zing.
Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)
The McRibster was slathered in barbecue (or BBQ if you prefer) sauce, a most appropriate saucing for this sandwich that really added to the overall experience.
Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)
I had high hopes for a wonderfully messy burger, but it was startlingly non-messy. I suspect the relatively solid bun was the main culprit.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
Okay, so the McRibster was more of a pork rib sandwich than a true burger. And while it was a very delicious sandwich and very much worth eating, I felt I had to knock down its burgerness a few points for not actually being, you know, a burger. Other than that, it was fantastic.
This burger had no cheese. Without that category the McRibster earned a raw score of 69. Might impressive on its own. However, as we do here fairness here on Tomâs Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the McRibster earned an adjusted Burger Score of 81.
Burger Score: 81
The McRibster was $12.00 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 10, 2018.
Los Angeles burger joint The Oinkster has a habit of re-creating big-chain burgers and making them better. One of the earliest burgers to get this treatment (back in 2012!) was the Sourdough Jack from Jack in the Box. Chef Andre Guerrero and the team at the The Oinkster flipped this into the Sourdough Josh, a burger I was fortunate enough to enjoy when it first appearedâand also fortunate enough to enjoy again as a limited release as part of Burger Week 2018. This was the burger I was most looking forward to. Let's see how it stacked up!
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
The Sourdough Josh is a damn fine looking burger.
Bun: 7 Points (of 10)
Two slices of sourdough bread lovingly embrace the rest of the ingredients, making this burger look more like patty melt than a traditional bun-clad burger. I like patty melts, so this burger played to the right crowd here. I would have rated this higher, but mine fell apart with the juiciness fo the meat and, especially, the tomato.
Meat: 25 Points (of 30)
The pairing of Nebraksa Angus beef and bacon (two slices!) is always a winning combination. That's no exception here. The patty was cooked perfectly and the bacon was pleasantly crispy and flavorful.
Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)
American Cheese is, in most cases, the ideal cheese for a classic burger. And while the Sourdough Josh isn't a classic burger per se, the white American cheese definitely worked perfectly for it.
Vegetables: 11 Points (of 15)
The only vegetables that accompanied the Sourdough Josh were twin thick slices of fresh tomato that sat on top of the patty and bacon slices. This proved to be somewhat detrimental as we will discover in a moment.
Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)
The Sourdough Josh came with two sauces, ketchup and a generous portion of onion mayo. I didn't really notice the ketchup, but working in concert with the onion mayo, they provided the burger an intense tanginess.
Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)
The Sourdough Josh was a little too messy. Halfway through consumption, the top piece of bread had soaked so much moisture from the tomatoes that it disintegrated. Maybe if the bread was toasted a little more it could have stood up to the intensity of the tomatoes and juiciness of the meat. But maybe that's part of the fun.
Burgerness: 8 Points (of 10)
The Sourdough Josh is one tangy burger, but I really liked it. It delivered on the expectations I had from my earlier experience eating it six years ago. Now that's saying something. I look forward to when this burger makes a return to The Oinskter in the future.
Burger Score: 80
The Sourdough Josh was $10.00 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 9, 2018.
The Lumpia Burger at The Oinkster (Los Angeles, CA)
Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 5.
Itâs safe to say that this burger, an original creation by Oinkster head chef Andre Gurrero, was the strangest burger on the docket for The Oinksterâs Burger Week 2018. The name was even strangeâso strange, in fact, it was the only burger this week The Oinkster deemed necessary to brand with a sub-title: âThe Thrilla From Manilla.â If you had no idea what lumpia was, this sub-title sort of let you know that you were in for a Filipino experience.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
I really didnât know what to think about the Thrilla from Manilla. Iâm not the most ardent consumer of Filipino food, so I was rather surprised that this burger didnât immediately turn me off.
Bun: 7 Points (of 10)
The Lumpia was served on a pan de sal roll (a traditional Filipino bun), which was a completely appropriate choice for this burger (and one Iâve used in my own burger-making adventures). It was perhaps a little on the stiff side, but overall, no complaints.
Meat: 22 Points (of 30)
One of my biggest challenges with this burger was that the patty isnât beefâitâs pork. Iâve sort of had an unwritten rule that Iâd only write up beef burgers on these pages, but I couldnât not write this up since it was part of Burger Week. Now the door is open and all meat-types are are fair game. The patty was decent enough, a little dry perhaps, but quite flavorful. But the Lumpia also had a chunk of pork belly that draped over the pork patty which really added a depth of flavor to the whole.
Cheese: 0 Points (of 15)
The Thrilla from Manilla ainât down with the cheese. And thereâs nothing wrong with that.
Vegetables: 12 Points (of 15)
The Lumpia Burger was a little hard to grade in the vegetable category. First of all, thereâs the mushrooms, which are wrapped in lumpia, a thin, crepe-like pastry (think about what egg rolls are wrapped in). Itâs also the burgerâs titular ingredient. Iâm not the biggest fan of mushrooms, but wrapped inside the deep-fried lumpia, I didnât even know they were there. And the lumpia added a nice crunch to the whole experience. Secondly, the Lumpia also came with a (quite tasty) green papaya relish, which, in this case, was more vegetables than sauce.
Sauces: 5 Points (of 10)
In addition to the green papaya relish (which, again, was more vegetable than sauce), the Lumpia was graced with a sweet Thai sauce. This stuff was a little too sweet for my taste and really sticky.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
The main reason this burger gets a high score for messiness is the stickiness of the sweet Thai sauce. Itreally should have been served with a handi-wipe.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
This burger was a little weird and definitely not something I would have ever ordered, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I donât know Iâd ever order it again, but Iâm glad I tried it. It jut goes to show youâsometimes you have to trust the chef.
This burger had no cheese. Without that category The Thrilla earned a raw score of 59. But, as we do here fairness here on Tomâs Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the Lumpia earned an adjusted Burger Score of 69.
Burger Score: 69
The Lumpia Burger was $12.00 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 8, 2018
The Pantera Burger at The Oinkster (Los Angeles, CA)
Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 4.
On the fourth day of Burger Week at the The Oinkster things got real heavy with the Pantera Burger. The Pantera, named for the metal band, comes to The Oinkster by way of Grill âEm All, another Los Angeles burger joint (and food truck) that serves up the most metal burgers in town (and most likely the world).
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
The Pantera was impressive in its massiveness. Itâs so big, it barely fits in this picture.
Bun: 7 Points (of 10)
The Pantera is served with a brioche bun. Nothing too fancy, but a good choiceâthis is a burger that needs a dense bun.
Meat: 26 Points (of 30)
The meat category was where the Pantera shines. It had not one, not two, but three different meats! First, as the headlining act, was a thick Nebraska Angus patty. But opening for the patty was a serious amount of pulled pork which in turn was not to be outdone by the twin strips of bacon resting on top. There was certainly no subtlety with The Pantera.
Cheese: 14 Points (of 15)
Not just any cheese will do for a burger of this nature. So things were amped up with a hearty helping of mac & cheese. And of course that mac & cheese was deep-fried. Enough said.
Vegetables: 0 Points (of 15)
The Pantera laughed at the notion of vegetables.
Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)
The Panteraâs thin spread of garlic aioli added a subtle bit of flavor to this meat-heavy ensemble.
Messiness: 5 Points (of 5)
With as much meat as the Pantera had, it couldnât not be perfectly messy.
Burgerness: 9 Points (of 10)
The Pantera was a serious comfort food burger that turns it up to 11. Itâs not the burger for everyone, but
This burger had no vegetables. Without that category The Pantera earned a (still impressive) raw score of 73. But, as we do here fairness here on Tomâs Burger Blog, we factored out that category, and the Panterra earned an adjusted Burger Score of 86.
Burger Score: 86
The Pantera Burger was $12.00 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 7, 2018.
Bet It All On Black at The Oinkster (Los Angeles, CA)
Burger Week 2018. Burger No. 3.
Burger Week at the The Oinkster continues! On day three, The Oinkster treated us to Bet It All On Black, a burger inspired by and a tribute to the Fox animated series Bobâs Burgers.
As you might guess, this was an all-black burger, but it was also promised to be loaded up with plenty of garlicky goodness.
Overall Appearance: 5 Points (of 5)
The Bet It All On Black is a might interesting and cool-looking burger. Full points.
Bun: 9 Points (of 10)
As expected, the bun was blackâand not just on the outside. It was a deep, rich ebony all throughout and had the added advantage of being toasted with a black garlic butter. It was a very dense bun quite unlike the soft buns that accompanied the previous two Burger Week burgers. It received a few bonus points for being unusual.
Meat: 12 Points (of 30)
This patty let me down. When I took my first bite, I found that the burger was still cold in the center. Medium rare is one thing, but this meat was downright chillyâas in just out of the refrigerator and not enough time on the griddle. I know itâs probably hard to make so many burgers for many hundreds of people all day long, but the frosty temperature of this patty really brought down my enjoyment of the whole thing.
Cheese: 8 Points (of 15)
The Bet It All On Black is topped with a properly thematic black garlic cream cheese. It was a tasty topping, to be sure, but there wasnât enough of it. Plus, it didnât have quite enough garlic bite to overcome some of the other flavors that came with the burger.
Vegetables: 6 Points (of 15)
The Oinkster kept things simple in the vegetable categoryâa small sprinkling of baby mixed greens between the bottom bun and the burger along with a massive slice of onion resting on top of the patty. The greens were fine. The onion, however, was so thick that it dominated the taste of the whole burger, overwhelming what should have otherwise been a tasty garlic bomb.
Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)
The Bet It All On Black was accompanied by a thin spread garlic aioli, the flavor of which was all but lost between the cold patty and the thick onion slice.
Messiness: 3 Points (of 5)
So far this was the least messy burger of Burger Week. The dense bun kept it all together a little too well, but the biggest culprit here was the cold patty. It just wasnât cooked enough to allow for the juices to make a nice messy eating experience.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
I had my Bet It All On Black at lunch. I went back for dinner with my daughter so she could get her Burger Week experience (and all-important wristband). I had a bite of hers and it was cooked much better, so it tasted much better as a result. Again, when youâre cooking so many burgers for so many people, there are bound to be a few that donât pass muster. But I can only rate the burger as it was served to me, not as itâs intended. And mine could have been much better, especially for a burger that cost $12.
Burger Score: 55
Bet It All On Black was $12.00 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 6, 2018.
Burger Week at the The Oinkster continues! On day two, the folks behind the grill served up The Maron, a former limited edition burger from back in 2016. itâs named for Marc Maron, the comedian and host of WTF with Marc Maron, who lives in the area.
Itâs a bit of an unusual burger (as are many that are served up during Burger Week), but I was really looking forward to this one. Iâd had it in its original incarnation back in May 2016 and remember enjoying it.
Overall Appearance: 3 Points (of 5)
I was a little disappointed in how The Maron looked when it arrived at the table. As you can see, it looked a little bit of a smushed mess.
Bun: 5 Points (of 10)
There wasnât much going on with this bun. It was a standard enriched white bun that didnât really bring anything to the burger. The best I can say about it is that it did its job and stayed out of the way of the rest of the ingredients.
Meat: 23 Points (of 30)
It was hard to judge this ingredient on its own merits because of the cheese, which weâll get to in just a moment. But overall, the single patty was well-cooked with a nice bit of charring on the edges and good flavor.
Cheese: 13 Points (of 15)
When it came to cheesing, The Oinkster took a different approach with The Maron. Instead of lying on top of the patty, the chorizo-infused queso fundido was stuffed inside the patty then cooked so it got all melty on the inside. The queso fundido was quite delicious, but hereâs wanât enough of itâor at least it wasnât evenly distributed throughout the patty. Some bites were wonderfully cheese-filled while others were woefully cheese-free. Despite this, it gave this burger a certain sense of delight.
Vegetables: 13 Points (of 15)
The Maron has a lot going on with its vegetables. It was served with some standard shredded lettuce, but the star of the show was the escabeche, the Oinksterâs take on a classic Mexican pickled condiment made from jalapeños, spicy carrots, and onions. The escabeche, which sat between the burger and the bottom bun, was joined by a nice amount green chili relish (from New Mexico, Maronâs home state), which sat between the burger and the top bun.
Sauces: 8 Points (of 10)
The Maron was dressed up with a chipotle aioli that lent the burger a nice, smoky flavor.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
The Maron was appropriately messy. When I first saw it I was concerned it would fall apart too easily (mainly because of the wimpiness of the bun), but it surprised me.
Burgerness: 6 Points (of 10)
The Maron was an interesting burger. It used some unconventional ingredients that resulted in some delicious flavor combinations. Overall, it suffered from its initial appearance and weak bun. It seemed slightly different from what I remember having during its original run, but Iâve had many burgers in the many months since then, so I my memory could be a little off. I will, however, happily order The Maron again if it should return to The Oinskterâs menu.
Burger Score: 75
The Maron was $9.50 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 5, 2018.
The Oinkster has been serving up burgers in Eagle Rock, California for more than a decade. For the last eight of those years they've hosted Burger Week, a little event that draws people from across Los Angeles to stand in line for hours to get their hands on a variety of tasty, special, and at times unusual burgersâeach offered for a single day only.
Burger Week 2018 is a walk down nostalgia lane. The Oinkster has brought back seven of its most popular Burger Week offerings of the past eight years, kicking things off with the Big Max, an upscale version of a somewhat similarly named burger from an international burger chain.
Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)
Like most (if not all) of The Oinkster's burgers, the Big Max arrived at the table snugly wrapped up in carefully folded paper. After unwrapping, the burger was a little lopsided. I suspect serving the same burger to hundreds of people for hours on end can lead to a hasty assembling process, so I wasn't too worried about it. The Big Max still looked worthy of eating.
Bun: 6 Points (of 10)
I wasn't wild about this bun. The main problem was three pieces of breadâone on top, one on the bottom, and one in the middleâand that's just one piece too many. The meat, which should be the centerpiece of any burger, was overshadowed by the volume of bread.
Meat: 23 Points (of 30)
The twin Nebraska Angus patties were cooked well and tasted good, although they were on the thinner side and mine were the result of an overly zealous salter. The thinness of the Big Max's patties was almost certainly a function of the form, but (as mentioned above) the meat did get lost among the prodigious amount of bun with more than a few mouthfuls.
Cheese: 11 Points (of 15)
For a burger like the Big Max, using anything but American cheese would be a crime. The fine folks at The Oinkster know this, so that's how it arrivedâtwo nicely melted slices, one on the top patty and one on the top of the bottom patty, kept the Big Max appropriately gooey.
Vegetables: 10 Points (of 15)
The classic pairing of pickles, onions, and shredded lettuce played well together in the veggie section. The good amount of lettuce was placed (properly) on top of the bottom bun was accompanied by a small amount of lettuce on top of the middle bun, thus saving the Big Max from falling completely apart (something that would have easily happened with leaf lettuce). And while the onions seemed to get lost in the sauce, the pickles, in particular, added a nice crunch.
Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)
On a burger like this, 1000 Island dressing is almost a legal requirement, and that's what was present here. But, as I've said before, it's not my favorite sauce, and on the Big Max it was generously smeared on the top and middle buns. For my taste there was too much of the stuff, and its sweetness overwhelmed what could have been a nice melding of flavors. I wanted to give this a 6, but I added an extra point for staying true to the original model.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
A good messy burger. I did have some concerns that with the middle piece of dressing-slicked bread this burger would fall apart, but in the matrix of messiness, the Big Max delivered an enjoyable eating experience.
Burgerness: 8 Points (of 10)
As I was eating, I overheard a nearby patron proclaim: "Strong first burger!" If you wanted a standard, tried-and-true burger, then the Big Max was indeed that burger. And while it satisfied a certain burger craving, I know The Oinkster can deliver a more transcendent burger experienceâone that I hope to attain at least once during Burger Week 2018.
Burger Score: 73
Big Max was $8.50 at The Oinkster, 2005 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock (Los Angeles). This one was consumed on June 4 , 2018.
Single Burger at Everson Royce Bar (Los Angeles, CA)
The appealing boldness of simplicity.
Everson Royce Bar (ERB to those in the know), an offshoot of Pasadena's Everson Royce (which is in turn tangential to Silver Lakeâs Silverlake Wine) opened in fall of 2015, making it a vanguard in the exploding Downtown Los Angeles development scene. It's also been named one of the best bars in the United States by Esquire Magazine.
ERB's menu, which sprung from the mind of James Beard Award-winning Los Angeles chef Matt Molina, received high praise right from the start. Most of that praise was lavished on the Single Burger, which was honored as "the best burger in Los Angeles" in numerous places. So, naturally, it's been on my list of burgers to try for some time.
However, since ERB is more bar than restaurant, they don't open until 5 PM on most nights, which makes visiting the place hard for this burger-loving family man. But, fortunately, on Sunday afternoon the doors open at 2:00 in the afternoon, a most civilized time for me to head down and sample the famous Single Burger.
Overall Appearance: 4 Points (of 5)
Seeing the Single Burger for the first time, one can't help but be drawn into its paradox. One one hand, it's a just patty on a bun with a dollop of cheese poking out. On the other hand, there's something bold and appealing about its simplicity that entices the diner to dig in.
Bun: 8 Points (of 10)
This burger features that darling of the artisanal burger sceneâthe buttered egg brioche bun. This one was better than most and did its job well.
Meat: 28 Points (of 30)
The thick patty, made from an 80/20 blend of ground beef sourced from Harris Ranch, was well cookedânice and pink on the inside with a picture-perfect sear on the exterior. However, it was saltyâoverpoweringly soâand that distracted from what would otherwise have been a perfect patty.
Cheese: 11 Points (of 15)
A melted slice of melted Tillamook cheddar cheese graces the top of the patty. Nothing out of the ordinary here. It's nothing exceptional, but it is a good slice of cheese and a nice way to dress up a burger.
Vegetables: 6 Points (of 15)
There are no vegetables on the Single Burger proper, but it is served with a bisected dill pickle. I'm a big fan of dill pickles, and, as such, my dill pickle standards are quite high. This one was just okay. I'm of the firm belief that if your only vegetable is a dill pickleâand you make that fact a big dealâit better be a damn good dill pickle. Honestly, it would be better if they just left the pickle in the kitchen.
Sauces: 7 Points (of 10)
This burger is sauced with a generous slathering of something the culinary world calls "Dijonnaise," which is a high-falutinâ word for a blending of Dijon mustard and mayonnaise. It was a cut above a typical Thousand Island derivation.
Messiness: 4 Points (of 5)
This Single Burger holds up better than I thought it would. Without some sort of buffer between the juicy patty and the bun, I expected it to fall apart quickly. But this brioche bun is made of stern stuff, and the whole thing held together well, offering a nice amount of joyous messiness while retaining burger integrity.
Burgerness: 7 Points (of 10)
The Single Burger is a decent burgerâtasty and well-craftedâbut for me it falls a short of being "the best burger in Los Angeles." If they ramp up the quality of the pickle and scale back on the heavy-handed salting, then this burger would be worth a repeat visit. All in all, not really a burger I'd travel for, but if I ever happen to be Downtown during the cocktail hour, then I'd certainly consider swinging by.
Burger Score: 76
Single Burger is $10 at Everson Royce Bar, 1936 E 7th St., Los Angeles, CA. This one was consumed on November 5, 2017.
