Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 11am.
Members in attendance: Trev, Angela, Wayne, DK, and me, Innie.
Special guests: Marty, and the newest member of the Burger Crew Junior League, Ellis!
I. Ordering
The menu at Bixby has all the classics, with hamburgers, cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers (dubbed the Bixby Double), a variety of hot dogs, and french fries. They also offer chili cheese fries and dogs. A nice surprise was an additional seasonal menu of Texas style barbeque, with a special menu item for every Saturday of the summer.
Angela and Trev shared a Bixby Double for $5, a Long Beach hot dog (chili, mustard, onion) for $4.25, and a smoked sausage sandwich. Marty, DK, and I all ordered a cheeseburger for $3.75, and Wayne ordered a Bixby Double and a smoked sausage sandwich. DK also had an order of chili cheese fries.
II. Ordering
The burgers had a very classic backyard-burger vibe. The patties tasted fresh, but were fairly thin, and looked to be the standard pre-formed patty seen in most fast food joints. Also, even though they were cooked on a griddle, none of us really noticed the kind of good sear we love from flat top-cooked burgers. The cheese was the quintessential gooey American, and tasted great with the spread and raw onions. The buns held together well, although the group all agreed they were on the dry side. Resident tomato aficionado, Trev, approved of the tomatoes, and said that they reminded him of In-n-out. In fact, Trev thought the whole burger made a good In-n-out clone, but he was the solo member with that opinion.
As for the non-burger items ordered by the crew, the hot dogs were a huge hit. The sausage had an impressive snap and flavor, if just a bit too salty. Angela and Trev noted that the hot dogs were split and grilled on the flat top, and thought the chili, onion, and mustard were great additions. The buns for the hot dogs also shared the same dryness as the burger buns.
On the other end of the moistness spectrum was the BBQ sausage sandwich, which was the specialty BBQ item of that weekend. The sausage itself was delicious, but was unfortunately drowned in a volume of BBQ sauce that turned the sandwich into a pretty wet mess. (To be fair, our order had to survive a 15 minute drive to our final destination, so that probably did not help with the sogginess.) The BBQ sauce was good, so our suggestion would be to just order it on the side to add a little more control over the moistness (wetness?) of your sandwich.
III. Sides
The fries in the chili cheese fries were a little on the thick cut side. While they were nice and fluffy on the inside, the outside could have benefited from being crispier. DK even tried some fresh after he received his order and noticed they weren’t particularly crispy. The cheese was nicely melty and the chili had pieces of very tender beef that reminded DK of Chipotle’s steak.
IV. Misc
Bixby Classic Burgers is a little stand in the corner of a lot shared with a 99 cent store. Apparently, the area is called Bixby Knolls, hence its name. The exterior is very charming and inviting, and has a great old school retro vibe. There are a couple of outdoor tables and benches available if you’d like to eat your burgers fresh. We think we may have had our orders taken by the owner and/or manager, and he was super friendly. I also noticed that he really took care while packing our orders and he seemed to take a lot of pride in the food.
The parking was plentiful, at least around the time we went (11a on a Saturday). According to their signage, they are open Monday through Saturday, from 10a to 6p, and are closed Sundays.
V. Value
The members were asked how much they would pay for their burgers. Our answers ranged from $3 to $10, with an average of $6.20.
VI. The Verdict
Overall, a cool neighborhood burger place for our members who live in the area! Our ratings for Bixby were 2.8, 2.1, 4.0, 3.2, and 3.3.
Next Burger Crew meeting will be held at Hangry Belly in Long Beach on July 16th.