Month: September 2021

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 9:00pm (2nd stop in Burger Crew Does the Best of LA).

Members in attendance: Angela, Sumana, Trev, Wayne, and forever yours, DK
Excused for hardship: Innie

I. Ordering

There are two burgers on the menu: the Single Burger and the Grilled Pork Chorizo Burger. The latter, due to its piggy patty, is not recognized as an official burger by high-ranking members of Burger Crew LA (but is still delicious).

After settling into our table, under the mellow incandescent light bulbs crisscrossed above, our matriarch ordered Single Burgers for the entire table. Wayne asked for his to be made a double. The waitress did not bat an eye.

The menu says the Single Burger ($10) is made with prime beef chuck, Tillamook cheddar, and dill pickle, all inside an egg brioche bun. The pickle was a spear and on the side, and their burger sauce (slathered across the bottom bun) was not listed.

II. The Burgers

The buns were slightly controversial. Half of the group thought the buns used to be gooier, toastier, and breadier, while the sensible ones (me and Trev) insisted they were fine. A few of us ended up with soggy bottom buns, however no one cared because…

These patties, man! First off, big props to ERB for delivering them medium-rare without having to ask. Heavy-handed with the seasoning, these patties popped with every bite. There was nice texture from the sear and it had great chuck flavor. It was a real treat!

And as if the burger couldn’t get any better, enter the burger sauce. Generously spread, it had a slightly tangy, black peppery flavor that was just… *chef’s kiss*. Literally perfect.

Here are some minor gripes:

The meat-to-cheese ratio seemed a little skewed to the meat side. Their choice of Tillamook cheddar is interesting because it seems deliberate. American is the no-brainer, so why go astray? If you know, leave us a comment!

Angela was vocal about wanting the pickle in the burger. She did not like the fact that she had to burn extra calories and manage her own acid.

III. Sides

We ordered a few sides of fries ($5). They came nice and crunchy with a healthy amount of seasoning, accompanied by little cups of ketchup and aioli. You’ll want these to munch on while basking in the afterglow of the Single Burger.

IV. Miscellaneous

Is this a bar with a great kitchen? Or a restaurant with great drinks? Whatever it is, it can get loud whether you’re indoors or out on the patio because the word’s gotten out: ERB is a great place to hang. The inside has swanky booths and their spacious back patio has great ambiance.

Street parking is free, though if you want a little security, there is a lot next to the bar. Look for the BAR sign over the bright orange door. If you know, you know…

V. Value

I asked the members how much they’d pay for the burger they ate. They ranged between $10 and $14 with the majority of us willing to pay more than the asking price. Great effin’ value for one of the best burgers in LA.

VI. The Verdict

The individual scores were 3.8, 4.7, 4.8, 5.0, 5.0. Go get this burger!

Next up… The Window at American Beauty!

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Friday, September 24, 2021 at 1:00pm (1st stop in Burger Crew Does the Best of LA).

Members in attendance: Angela d., Sumana, S., Trevor Y., Wayne T., Dennis K., and Innie C.

I. Ordering

There’s only 1 burger on the menu: Regular. (ground in-house every day) – Cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickle, onion ($7.85). The regular is a double. Everyone got one, but Trev and I split one. We also got fries ($4) and a cheese sauce 4 ounce cup ($2). Everyone also got a variety of beverages; Mexican Coke, root beer, etc. And Sumana got herself a sweet BNSD t-shirt ($18).

II. The burgers

These burgers are the quintessential smash burger. It had some beautiful lacy edges with a crunch we’ve never experienced with any other burger. Since they were so smashed, we felt we needed a little bit more meat. The BNSD double pretty much equated a standard single. So since I always opt for a double, perhaps a quadruple would give me the meat I desired from this burger. And Sumana reminded me not to forget that a quadruple patty would need quadruple cheese to accompany it! 

The toppings on the burger were really good. The cheese was nice and melty. The mustard was very good. It reminded Trevor of a grown up version of a McDonald’s burger. There was a good mix of acid with the pickles and onions. 

The buns were fine. Nothing to write home about. We took them to the Silver Lake Meadow since there wasn’t any seating there so the burgers were a bit cold. But not their fault!

III. Sides

The fries were soggy. They kinda looked like McDonalds fries, but sadly, not as seasoned. They definitely needed a better fry. The cheese sauce was really good though! It was made in-house and stayed nice and gooey.

IV. Miscellaneous

They have an awesome mural outside. They are one of those rare places in this area that has its own parking, but the spots were pretty tight. There is no seating during the pandemic. The seating is only for the adjacent coffee shop. So the result is there were a lot of people eating in their cars or trunks. 

As we’ve been here before, we noticed the change due to COVID. In the pre-COVID times, you went inside to order, but now, they have a little window that you order at. Service was really friendly! They don’t take cash. There is no restroom available. They also sell t-shirts ($18) and buttons. There’s a large variety of different drinks to accompany your burgers. Mexican Coke. Root beer. La croix. 

V. Value

I ask the members how much they would pay for the burger they ate. We would pay any where from $5 (that’s an outlier) to $10. So the burgers are nicely priced!

VI. The Verdict

This burger is undoubtedly the epitome of the smash burger scene in LA. Enjoy those crispy, crunchy edges! The ratings: 3.9, 4.0, 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 5.0!

See you all at the next location: Everson Royce Bar (my favorite!!!)

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Friday, September 24, 2021.

Members in attendance: Angela, DK, Innie, Sumana, Trevor, and Wayne, with special guest Will.

Welcome to the beginning of Burger Crew does Los Angeles! Despite the fact that the main goal of our staycation was to revisit and re-review our favorite burger places in the LA area, we decided to visit Bill’s Burgers for the first time because we were going to be swinging by the Burbank Airport anyway, and Bill’s is only open Tuesday through Friday, so we decided to take advantage of this opportunity to eat burgers in a new area.

I. Ordering

Bill’s Burgers has a very basic menu as far their burgers go, offering single and double hamburgers and cheeseburgers, as well as a chili burger.

Innie: Cheeseburger with jalapenos on the side

Trangela: Double cheeseburger

DK: Cheeseburger

Will: Cheeseburger

Sumana: Double cheeseburger

Wayne: Double cheeseburger with a bag of chips

II. The Burgers

The burgers were definitely on the smaller side. The patties were very well-seasoned, with a peppery taste and good sear. Most of us agreed that the patties were very dense with a sausage patty-like texture, which wasn’t unpleasant, but just different from a standard ground beef patty. As can be seen from the picture above, the American cheese was melted over the patties, coating them in cheesy goodness. The buns were very simple and gooey. Despite having shredded lettuce, Angela didn’t hate the lettuce since it wasn’t falling out of her burger, and she felt that the double cheeseburger had the perfect ratio of meat to bun; if she had gotten a single cheeseburger, she would not have been satisfied. The tomatoes were thinly sliced, which was a plus because it kept the burger from getting too wet. The jalapenos that Innie got on the side were very generous in portion size, with more than enough to cover two burgers.

III. The Sides

I was the only one to order a side, which was a small bag of Lay’s potato chips, and I didn’t even eat them while we were at Bill’s, so I’ll go out on a limb and say that they probably taste like standard Lay’s potato chips. For $0.50, they were actually quite cheap for a small bag.

IV. Miscellaneous

Bill’s has a nice and big parking lot. They have a small counter in front of the ordering area, but unfortunately because of the current pandemic, they don’t currently have seats for the counter. They’re cash-only, and the hours and days that they’re open are very limited right now (8:30/9am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday).

V. Value

The prices that we were willing to pay were in a pretty narrow window, between $5 and $6.50, which isn’t bad for a small single or double cheeseburger. As I mentioned earlier, I thought that the small bag of chips was a pretty great value as well for $0.50.

VI. The Verdict

The ratings came out to 3.0, 3.8, 3.9, 3.9, 4.4, and 4.9, so most of us were generally satisfied with the burgers, with the outliers ranging from meh to amazing.

Up next is the first re-visit of Burger Crew does Los Angeles with Burgers Never Say Die.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, August 21st, 2021.

Members in attendance: Angela, DK, Innie, Trevor, and Wayne, with special guest Chris.

This was Burger Crew’s first foray into the city of Paramount, a city so well-hidden that some of the members had never even heard of it before. Will it become the hidden city burger-equivalent of Shangri-La? Read on and find out.

I. Ordering

The ordering started off in a confusing manner because the restaurant’s full menu is split between two opposing walls, one above and behind the cashier and one on the wall on the other side of the room. If you weren’t aware of it, you could easily miss half the menu because it’s behind you when you face the cashier.

DK: Stockberger ($19.99) (Created by Tommy Stockberger himself. A Texas toast burger build that starts with our smash burger and all its fixins’, adds brisket and is of course topped off with mac n cheese) and street corn ($4.99).

Innie: Smash burger ($8.99), mac & cheese ($4.99), street corn, and waffle fries ($4.99)

Chris: Nashville hot chicken sandwich ($12.99)

Trangela: Smash burger and Texas style brisket fries ($13.99) (Battered waffle fries, covered in creamy cheese sauce and topped with our smoked Texas style beef brisket, and handcrafted BBQ sauce. Add some bread and butter pickles and fresh cut cilantro)

Wayne: The Mac Rib ($30) (A full smash burger with all the fixings, smoked brisket sautéed in our house bbq sauce, and topped with a full dino short rib. Put together with 3 pieces of Texas toast to hold things down) and no sides because The Mac Rib was ridiculous enough on its own

II. The Burgers

Almost everyone had great things to say about the burgers. The beef had good texture and there was excellent meat to bun coverage. Since it was smashed, it had a lot of the crispy caramelized bits that are associated with smashed patties. Angela thought that the beef could taste meatier, but everyone else was generally satisfied. The cheese was nice and melty, coating everything else in the burger, contributing to an overall feeling of a nice and gooey burger. For the burgers that included Texas toast, there was ample butter applied to the toast, giving it a very rich mouthfeel. The short rib in The Mac Rib was really tender and tasted good as far as short rib goes, but as far as smoked short rib goes, it definitely could’ve used more smoke. Angela hated the bread and butter pickles that were in the smash burger, but she hates bread and butter pickles so this was very much a personal choice because Trevor loved them.

III. The Sides

The mac & cheese was super gooey. The Stockberger included it inside the burger, and DK likened it to a velvety cheese sauce, although he felt that the macaroni shells themselves weren’t al dente enough. The street corn was overly roasted to the point of being burnt, and the overall consensus was that it lacked flavor, and it notably didn’t include cotija cheese, which is standard in Mexican street corn. The waffle fries were pretty standard in a good way. The Texas style brisket fries were very good, so good that Trangela ordered a second portion to take home. The only notable complaint about them (aside from Angela’s hatred of the bread and butter pickles) was that the cheese was underneath the fries instead off drizzled on top.

Chris’s Nashville hot chicken sandwich was great as a chicken sandwich, but as far as being a Nashville hot chicken sandwich went, it was lacking in heat. However, the chicken was juicy and the portion was large.

IV. Miscellaneous

Towards the end of our meal, the cashier asked us if we wanted dessert, and since only monsters turn down dessert, we said yes. A few minutes later, she brought out an awesome platter with two slices of their mud pie ($6.99 each) and a cup of smokey cookies and cream ice cream ($4). The desserts were very good (especially if you like chocolate), if a bit hard to finish due to everyone being so full already.

The restaurant has multiple seating areas that encompass every level of comfort that people might consider during a pandemic: fully indoors, fully outdoors, and semi-indoors (with one wall open to the outside). Service was excellent, there are lots of beers on tap, and parking was easy.

V. Value

Ignoring The Mac Rib as an outlier since it’s significantly more expensive than the other burgers, the value proposition of the burgers was pretty average, with the total prices that we’d be willing to pay trending pretty closely to the actual total prices of the burgers. The actual range was between $7.50 to $16.

As far as The Mac Rib goes, I thought that it was a good value for what it offered. The short rib on its own on the menu is $25, so for $5 more, you also get a pretty great burger.

VI. The Verdict

The ratings came out to 3.8, 4.2, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4, and it’s somewhat rare for a location to get this many ratings for 4+ from the Crew, so overall, Smoke & Fire gets pretty high marks. Big thanks to the hostess for the delicious dessert platter.

Since I’m a huge procrastinator and waited until the last minute to get this review out, the next Burger Crew meeting is later today for our annual trip!

We do our burger crew trip every year (with the exception of last year due to a little thing called COVID).

In past years, we’ve done Las Vegas, Austin, San Diego, and San Francisco.

This year, we’re staying on our home turf and revisiting the best places in LA. Sadly, some of our favorites have closed. But here are the one’s that made the list!

Burgers Never Say Die

Everson Royce Bar

The Window

Standing Room

Electric Owl

Plan Check

Pier Burger

Grill ‘Em All

Lock & Key 

Great ready LA! We’re coming for you this weekend!