Author: Wayne Tam

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!

Burger Crew meeting called to order on October 17, 2020.

Members in attendance: Angela, DK, Innie, Trevor, and Wayne

We’re still following pandemic protocol and picking up our food and eating it elsewhere. As Trevor alluded to in the last review, he concocted a master plan to evade our insect tormentors. That plan: to eat at a higher elevation because as we all know, insects suffer from altitude sickness. We ended up setting up our chairs and eating on top of a nearby parking structure. On to the review!

I. Ordering

All of us ordered our food ahead of time through various food ordering platforms. Surprisingly, the restaurant’s own website had the incorrect link for ordering food, and depending on which platform you were ordering from, different food options were available. Most notably, onion rings were missing from some of them. Trying to place an order by phone resulted in the call going straight to voicemail, and on top of that, their voicemail inbox was full.

As far as meat burgers go, Pop’s follows the In-N-Out model of basically having only one type of burger but you choose how many patties you want. All of them have “Creekstone Farms Beef Patties dusted with House Blend Seasoning, Red Wine Sauce and Grass-fed Butter topped with Special Sauce Pickles, Caramelized Onions, and American Cheese.”

Angela and Trevor ordered a double ($8) with egg ($2.50), onion rings ($4), and fries ($4). DK ordered a single ($6) with Skittles. Innie ordered a single with iceberg lettuce. I ordered a double with Pop’s secret sauce and fried pickles ($6.50).

II. The Burgers

Everyone was in general agreement right off the bat that getting a double was better than getting a single. Trevor said that double meat was the way to go, and Innie felt that her single burger wasn’t beefy enough, nor did she think that it was seasoned enough, and even though I had a double, I still felt like it wasn’t beefy enough. DK thought the patty was like a McDonald’s patty with a slightly better sear.

Aside from the meat, the burgers had a good amount of pickle in each bite, and the cheese was melted well over the patties. The onions were nice and caramelized and the bun was sweet and gooey, but these might’ve contributed to an overall mushiness in terms of how the burgers felt in your mouth.

Angela complained that her and Trevor’s burger (which was cut in half by the restaurant) was super messy and that the burger wasn’t cut appropriately in half, with the bun not distributed evenly.

III. The Sides

The fries were thin cut, and agreed that they were overly salted/seasoned, and Trevor thought they were too peppery. However, they managed to stay crispy despite not eating them right away.

The onion rings had a soft and thick batter, and the onion inside was cooked throughout so it didn’t pull out when you bit into them. They were very good overall.

The big winner of the sides was the fried pickles. They had lots of flavor and the batter stayed crispy as well.

IV. Miscellaneous

Pop’s is located in the 3rd Street Promenade inside of the SocialEats food hall. When we picked up our food, there was only one person handling order pickups for all of the establishments inside of the food hall due to the pandemic, so during a busy time, this might be a problem (we ordered for 4:30PM pickup). Parking is also what you would expect from Santa Monica, where street parking can be hard to find.

V. Value

Most of us valued the burgers between $6-$8.50, with one outlier of $12, so the burgers were priced OK and could be a good value if they were executed better.

VI. The Verdict

The ratings were 2.5, 2.5, 2.8, 3.0, and 3.1. None of us were impressed by the burgers. If you want burgers in Santa Monica, HiHo Cheeseburger is nearby and has much better burgers.

Next meeting: Big D’s Burgers in Whittier on November 15, 2020.

Welcome to the first Burger Crew meeting of the decade!

Members in attendance: Angela, Trevor, Wayne, DK, and Innie (and guest starring Chris)

• Ordering

Electric Owl has only one meat burger for dinner (the other burger is an Impossible burger), so our choice was more or less made for us, and this is what we ordered.

Wayne: Smash burger (wagyu+dry aged beef, house cheese, griddled shallots, pickles, savory spread, frico bun) with bacon and ranch tots

Trangela: Smash burger with ranch tots
DK: Smash burger with bacon
Innie: Smash burger

• The burgers

Innie thought that the burger was super rich and cheesy, but that the burger didn’t fit the definition of a smash burger because the patty wasn’t a smash patty; maybe it was pressed down onto the griddle during cooking but it wasn’t the thin type of patty that one would expect from something called a “smash burger.” The house cheese was very gooey and melty to the point that several of us compared it to nacho cheese in texture. When I asked everybody what they thought of the patty, Trevor’s immediate reaction was “oh yes!” because of how much he enjoyed it. It had the right amount of fat to make a very juicy and meaty tasting burger; when I bit into it, still-hot meat juices poured out of the burger and onto my hands. It also had just the right amount of seasoning and had a very good sear. However, Trevor and Angela’s burger had very uneven doneness; one side was rare while the other side was well-done, but they still thoroughly enjoyed their burger.

Everybody loved the savory spread, which was a horseradish-mustard aioli. Angela thinks that the burger should actually be renamed to the “French dip burger” because the addition of the aioli reminded her of a French dip sandwich. Trevor thought that the spread gave you all of the good of horseradish in terms of flavor but none of the bad in terms of how strong horseradish can be. The bacon was thick cut and what I would describe as “80% crispy,” meaning it was cooked enough that it stood on its own, but it still had a bit of chew to go along with a bit of crispiness.

The pickles were cut into long flat slices, and they were very good but they unfortunately didn’t put enough of them into the burger to ensure some pickle in every bite. The griddled shallots gave the burger a sweetness that some of us liked, particularly Trevor. The buns were toasted, which probably helped keep the burger from falling apart, but DK and I had buns that were over-toasted (DK described his as burnt).

• The sides

There’s not a whole lot to say about the ranch tots other than that they were very good (some said maybe the best tots they’ve ever had). They stayed crispy for the entire meal and the ranch dust helped set them apart from more generic tots. At $2 for a side, they were also very reasonably priced.

• Miscellaneous

Trevor appreciated the “ketcup in the squeezy bottle that’s extra extra large” for optimal ketchup consumption. Their cocktails are very spirit-forward (strong). The booth we sat in was very comfortable, and the restaurant had great ambiance and felt very lively, helped in no small part by being fairly noisy. They don’t use an online reservation system and in order to make reservations, you have to email or call. Only street parking is available so you’re at the mercy of finding a meter if you want to park nearby.

• Value & Rating

Most of us thought that the burger was priced pretty approriately at $15, with only one dissenter at $12.50. Overall, the burger was a pretty big hit for all of us, with scores ranging from 3.7 to 4.5 and an average score of 4.1.

Next Burger Crew meeting will be in February at BurgerShop in Downtown Los Angeles!

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, August 17, 2019 at 12pm.

Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Dennis K., Innie C., and myself (Wayne T.)

1. Ordering

Wayne: Monk Burger with Skinny’s Garlic Fries

Trangela: Monk Burger with Portobello Fries (and Pulled Pork Sliders for Marty)

DK: Double Burger with pickled jalapenos and bacon, and Skinny’s Garlic Fries

Innie: Double Burger with bacon, and Skinny’s Garlic Fries

2. The burgers

Monk Burger: The bleu cheese in the burger was the star of the show for Angela. The patty was neither beefy enough nor seasoned enough, although it was surprisingly juicy despite being overcooked (I asked for medium rare and it came out medium). The flavor of everything else in the burger besides the patty was very good but the burger was just lacking in beefiness. There was also no acid the complement everything else in the burger, especially since the burger was a bit sweet. The buns did hold up surprisingly well considering all of the wet ingredients.

Double Burger: DK didn’t get a sense that there was double cheese in his burger, but he did feel like the burger was made better by the addition of jalapenos, and he enjoyed the texture of his burger, with a nice crunch from the lettuce and pickles. Innie felt that the presence of cheese helped with the patty’s lack of seasoning, but she did find the buns to be odd since the top bun was cut much larger than the bottom bun.

3. The sides

Skinny’s Garlic Fries: These fries were pretty amazing. They were thinner than most shoestrings, and they stayed crispy for the entire meal. Definitely order the fries if you come here.

Portobello fries: These were also a hit with everyone. Lots of mushroom flavor, and the batter provided great texture. The included sauce was a good complement as well.

Pulled pork sliders: Angela really liked them, although she said that they had some kind of spongy balls inside of them that tasted good but had an off-putting texture. Marty didn’t seem to have any complaints about them.

4. Miscellaneous

There’s a parking lot next to the restaurant but it was very full, so you might need to find metered street parking. The restaurant had self-serve beef on tap with beer cards, so you could try as much or as little of each beer as you wanted as long as you paid for it. According to the beer snobs, the selection was just ok. Seating was very plentiful on a Saturday afternoon.

5. Value

The burgers were ok as far as value goes, with the range between $10.50 and $12 for the group.

6. Ratings

Most of our ratings for this places were pretty average, ranging between 2.6 and 3.5. The sides were the real star of the show here, although if they could improve their patties, it would go a long way towards turning them into very solid burgers.

Our next stop: Nexx Burger in Downey on Sept 14.

The final stop for Burger Crew does San Francisco!

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Sunday, June 30, 2019 at 9am.

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

I. Ordering

Wayne: PB&J Burger with bacon, Nashville hot chicken sandwich (split with Sumana)
Sumana: PB&J Burger with bacon, The Okie Burger, The Hot Wes Burger
Trangela: PB&J Burger with bacon, breakfast tacos, coffee
Dennis: PB&J Burger with bacon, cheesy tots
Innie: The Hot Wes Burger, Nashville hot chicken sandwich

II. The burgers

The burgers were a huge hit, and for many of us, it was the highlight (and savior) of a trip filled with mediocre and overpriced burgers. Wes spoke to us personally and told us that the burgers were made entirely of coarse ground brisket and were hand-smashed. They were very beefy, nicely seasoned, and had a great sear while staying juicy. Everybody who had the PB&J burger felt that it went very well with the rest of the burger; Angela even wanted more PB and less cheese. The onion strings were a huge hit in the burger, with the right amount of chew and crispiness, and the same could be said about the bacon.

Those that ordered the Hot Wes enjoyed them. They didn’t have a spicy kick but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing if you were looking for spicy flavor rather than heat. The queso and onion strings made for a great texture combination.

The Okie Burger brought Sumana back to Texas, reminding her of hometown favorite Whataburger, with mustard grilled patties and pickles with great flavor. She said that Southerners living in the bay area should definitely try it out if they want a slice of home.

III. The sides

The cheesy tots were awesome. The tots themselves were nicely fried, very crispy and salted. The cheese itself was very creamy and there was a generous amount of it.

Trevor really liked the breakfast tacos, saying that they tasted like how he wished the breakfast tacos in Austin tasted. He also really liked his coffee. Great flavor, and it came in a French press.

The Nashville hot chicken sandwiches were very good. The chicken was crispy and juicy, and the heat level was what some of us called “approachable,” meaning that you’d definitely know that it was there but that it shouldn’t be overwhelming to anyone who wanted to give it a try. The breading stayed crispy for a long time, and it was so crisp that Innie described it like having a crispy shell of breading.

IV. Miscellaneous

The restaurant feels like an old school diner, with a jukebox playing, bottle cap counter top, and burger paraphernalia everywhere, including an awesome neon burger sign. The tables had purse hooks under them, which is always a plus for everyone carrying a bag, and they have restrooms on site (which was more rare than we would’ve expected this trip).

Wes is a super cool guy, and despite not normally having the full burger menu available for breakfast, he told us that we could order any of the burgers once he realized how serious we were about trying them. His restaurant motto (“burgers are fun”) fits in very well with Burger Crew’s way of life.

V. Value

Everyone thought that the burger pricing was pretty spot-on, with the amounts that we would’ve paid for our burgers ranging between $12-$12.50.

VI. Rating

The burgers were almost universally praised. Out of a 5.0 point rating scale, our ratings were 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, and 4.4, easily the highest scores of the entire trip.

This concludes Burger Crew does San Francisco! Our next stop: Burgers Never Say Die in Los Feliz on July 27.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, Feb 16, 2019 at 11:30am (Trevor’s pick).

Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Wayne T., DK, Innie C.

I. Ordering

Trangela: Big Hunk O’ Love with fries

Innie: Ha’bull’nero with onion rings

DK: el Diablo with baked beans

Wayne: Big Hunk O’ Love with sweet potato fries

II. The burgers

No one really enjoyed the burger buns. DK and Wayne both thought the buns were really dry, although Innie’s was soaking in burger juices by the end. In terms of spiciness, both spicy burgers delivered the right amount of heat. DK really liked the spicy relish in his burger. Innie’s egg was cooked the way that she and Wayne like, which is just starting to congeal. The patties had a good sear and seasoning, but Wayne’s was overdone to the point that he sent his back to the kitchen. His replacement burger was much better. The maple bacon in the burgers was thick and crispy. The peanut butter in the Big Hunk O’ Love was smooth, probably overly smooth, to the point where it felt like it was just coating your mouth; chunky would’ve been better for texture. The burger also came with lettuce, which was a strange combination with peanut butter.

III. The sides

The onion rings had a nice and crispy batter, and the onions were cooked through so that you can actually take bites out of them without pulling out the whole onion. The sauce that came with them was very good. DK’s baked beans were a mix of black and kidney. It was very light on meat and could’ve used more sugar; he thought it was just ok. Innie thought that the sweet potato fries, which were coated in a sweet and salty seasoning, were too sweet, but on the plus side they were cooked all the way through despite being pretty thick.

IV. Miscellaneous

The service was slow and it was hard to get the attention of our server(s). The restaurant also identifies as a whiskey bar but their selection is nothing special, although this is partially offset by their great hot sauce selection. It was pretty busy on a Saturday afternoon and it can be a little loud inside. Street parking is fairly easy to find. Innie and Wayne also had their burgers delivered to the wrong person.

V. Value

The prices that people would pay for their burgers ranged from $9 to $12, making their burgers on the pricey/overpriced side.

VI. The verdict

The ratings out of 5 ranged between 3.3 and 3.7, so the burgers weren’t bad but they definitely could’ve been executed better. Better buns and medium rare patties would go a long way.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Sunday, Sept 16, 2018 at 12pm (Trevor’s pick).

Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Wayne T., and Innie C.
Members not in attendance: You know the one.

I. Ordering

Trangela: Double bacon burger with chili fries
Innie: Lava burger with zucchini fries
Wayne: Colossal burger with onion rings

II. The burgers

The burgers were very meh. The patties were very thin, so thin that Innie’s tomato slice was twice as thick as the patty. The patties were also dry with not much beefy flavor. It reminded Angela of burgers that you would get at a backyard party. The lack of pickles in the burgers was also noticeable. Everyone liked the buns, which were gooey and sweet, and the thousand island sauce was good. The bacon was crispy, and the pastrami in Wayne’s burger was not bad for pastrami in a burger. Innie’s burger had pickled jalapenos, which she enjoyed but they weren’t distributed evenly around the burger.

III. The sides

Ranch was necessary for the onion rings and fried zucchini because they were unseasoned. The zucchinis were too thin to retain enough zucchini flavor. The onion rings were nice and crispy but also very thin. The chili fries were ok; the chili itself was of the pasty variety and not too salty.

IV. Miscellaneous

The stand has no indoor seating, only covered seating outside, and we were constantly harassed by flies. There were many cars taking advantage of the drive thru so it seems like a popular place for picking up food. Restrooms were also only outdoors. The menu didn’t have descriptions of the burgers, only their names, so it’s not immediately apparent what’s inside of each burger.

V. Value

As far as how much everyone would pay for the burgers that they ordered, it ranged from $2.50 to $4.50, so as far as value goes, the burgers were slightly overpriced in our opinion.

VI. The verdict

The ratings out of 5 ranged from 2.2 to 2.3, so everyone was pretty consistent in their disappointment. Thicker and beefier patties would’ve helped immensely.

Burger Crew meeting called to order on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 11am (Trevor’s pick).

Members in attendance: Angela d., Trevor Y., Wayne T., and Innie C.

Members that picked work over burgers: Dennis K.

I. Ordering

Angela and Trevor ordered the Tavern burger ($14.50; medium well due to the parasite growing inside of Angela) with a side salad, plus an additional order of garlic fries ($7). The Tavern burger comes with St Andre triple cream brie, Dr. Pepper caramelized onions, arugula, ketchup, and garlic aioli.

Innie ordered the Brutal Burger 2.0 ($15; medium rare) with a side of chips. The Brutal Burger 2.0 comes with pepper jack, romaine, red onion, grilled jalapeno, avocado, brutal sauce, and mojo verde.

Wayne ordered the Black & Bleu burger ($14.50; medium rare) with a side of chips. The Black & Bleu burger comes with Shaft’s bleu cheese, black pepper bacon, arugula, and horseradish mayo.

II. The burgers

Angela and Trevor said that their burger was very sweet due to the Dr. Pepper. They felt that the pickle included with the burgers was crucial to balancing out the sweetness of their burger, which also lacked saltiness. Innie felt that the burger was monochromatic in flavor; it was a good level of spicy for a Korean person, but it might be too spicy for non-Koreans, and she felt that the spiciness was mostly just added heat rather than added flavor. The arugula and red onions also pushed the spiciness of the burger over the edge. Wayne enjoyed his burger but said that the bleu cheese was the standout flavor of the burger rather than the burger itself. He did enjoy the bacon in his burger, which was chewy (his preferred bacon texture), thick, and peppery. Everyone generally enjoyed the patties, although Angela said that their patty was only seared around the edge. The buns were gooey with a good chew and they held up to the juices of the burger.

III. The fries

The garlic fries were AMAZING. Huge garlic flavor, even on the fries without garlic chunks. The Dodgers need to copy these fries and sell them in the stadium. The fries were quite crispy and seemed to be double fried. They came with two sauces: one jalapeno sauce and one horseradish sauce that were both good.

IV. Miscellaneous

Service was great and attentive; our waitress even warned Innie that the Brutal Burger 2.0 might be on the spicy side depending on your tolerance. The chips that came with our burgers were made in-house, which is a nice fresh touch. The restaurant is on 2nd Street in Long Beach, so parking can be hard to find. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating, and seating was easy at 11am on a Saturday. They have a good beer selection, and the restaurant was featured on Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives if you want to take a trip to Flavortown.

V. Value

Everyone was pretty much in agreement as far as what we would pay for our burgers, which was between $9-$10.

VI. The verdict

We thought that the burgers were pretty good for the most part, with the following ratings: 2.5, 3.0, 3.2, 3.7.

Next Burger Crew meeting: May 12, 2018 at noon (Wayne’s choice). Location: fundamental DTLA, Los Angeles.