Good burger = Hood burger

[broncosaurus]

Really, if you insist on the Apple Pan and similar dreck then you are missing out on LA best burger deals, to be had at:

B and R old fashion in the strip mall at Cerise and Rosecrans

Fresh and Meatty burger on Florence near 10th, sou th side of the street

Fred's Down Home Burger on 4th and Slauson

All have specials w/drink and fries that will run about 6 bucks. Love Fred's fries in particular.

These are close dopplegangers to the late Meatty Meat burger, and leave most of the stuff discussed on chowhound in the dust (particularly when you factor in prices).

[wilp]

All this hood burger talk and no Piggies?

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Piggies Char-Burgers
4601 W Rosecrans Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250

[DiveFan]

Thumbs down. I've lived withing walking distance for >+25 years and it's nothing special.

[Hughlipton]

I have always enjoyed the hamburger at the 17th St. Cafe. If, however, you are in the Valley (you know, that place on th other side of the hill) give the Pineapple Hill Saloon a try. It's on Moorpark just east of Van Nuys Blvd. Don't bring kids though. Must be 18 years or older. My favorite is the Kona Burger with raw onions. don't like them sauteed. Comes with salad or frech fries. They will cook it medium rare. It's about $8.95.

[Servorg]

Hugh, do you mean the age limit is 21+ at Pineapple Hill? 18+ would be an unusual cut off for a "bar." Father's Office is 21+ for instance.

[Hughlipton]

Caught me. My wife says I misinformed you it is 21. I don't understand why though. One side of the establishment is a restaurant and the other side is the bar.

[Servorg]

They are probably trying to market themselves to a particular demographic. I like the fact that FO's does this as it eliminates the "screaming child" effect from consideration.

[Faulkner99]

Has anyone tried Louis's burgers on La Cienega & Manchester?
It was called Quick N Split when I was a kid, and I use to love their pastrami burgers. They also made great seasoned fries. I wonder if they are any good now.

[Wes]

Hi,

I live close to Louis and I find them only slightly below Q&S. Still a hand made generous patty but a tad salty. The fries have a slight seasoning, sometimes. Following in the old S&Q tradition they don't always get the order right.

A destination. Not quite. Grab a quick burger on the way home, yep.

[Faulkner99]

Good to know, thanks for the report. We're moving into that neighborhood this weekend, and I was looking forward to trying it. Sounds like it might still be a place for a quick burger on the way home from work.

[feedthebelly]

went to fathers office again this weekend (not by choice) and it was a drab boring rude place just as it was the first place. over 7 bucks for sweet potato fries? small raw burgers? AT THE BAR! AT THE BAR!!! thats all people who work there say when you ask them a question. well the tip goes out the window with that attitude

[AdamNVillani]

Yeah, my wife and brother-in-law and I just checked out the one in Culver City. I asked for one without cheese. Sorry, no substitutions. OK, sorry, then, no tip. I got the duck breast instead, but what I had wanted was the burger. Wandered around trying to find a place to sit, hadn't found one by the time our food came, so we went to the bar. Oh, sorry, you have to keep the area in front of the register free. Grrr.... crappiest service I've had in a long time. We actually ended up sharing a table with a nice couple from Arizona, so that was fortuitous, but I left a tip of ZERO. First time in years I'd done that.

Never going back to Father's Office.

[susan salem]

I love IN and OUT burgers when I was in LA thats all I ate

[gfrblxt]

The late Meatty Meat burger has been resurrected at Indulge Cafe on Pico. Same owners, new place. Same heavenly burgers.

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Indulge Cafe
5101 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

[ccapestro]

Best hood burger - Mom's - Alondra Blvd (near Acacia), Compton. Best burgers ever, and cheap. There, I said it.

[DiveFan]

Another good burger on the edge of the 'hood is Big Burger near CSUDH. The quality is very consistent, although the meat isn't up to B & R standards.

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B & R's Old Fashion Burgers
3512 W Rosecrans Ave, Hawthorne, CA 90250

Big Burger
17940 Avalon Blvd, Carson, CA 90746

Hawkins House of Burgers
11603 Slater St, Los Angeles, CA 90059

JNJ Burger Shack
5754 W Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016

Mom's Burgers
336 W Alondra Blvd, Compton, CA 90220

Fresh & Meaty Burgers
3016 W Florence Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90043

Fred's Downhome Burgers
2524 W Slauson Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90043

[TonyC]

I go to Big Burger for lunch every other week. In fact, will be having BB in 45 minutes. What really perks me up tho, is that BB is Korean operated.

nothing like a lil anyon-i-ke-se-oh to go w/ a Big Turkey Burger... recently also discovered Burger Basket in ELA is also Korean owned...

[nrique]

Ah! Now your letting the GOOD secrets out!
I've been doing burger basket since the ORIGINAL owner had the place.
The current owners have kept up the great food tradition. The burgers are hand made right there with a little chopped onions added before the cook smashes it. They are always busy and close up shop by 1 or 2 in the afternoon so they can go to their other restaurant.
Here's the biggest problem : they have VERY limited counter seats and only four or five tables. Generally they can fit around 25 people in the place. IT's a small joint.
Atlantic blvd just south of Olympic blvd. Look for the Midas muffler shop and it's right next door.

[kevin]

jUst tried fred's it was downright awesome, reminds me a lot of b and r burgers.

great handformed beef patties, great bun, great chili and cheese, and topped it off with some turkey bacon too. probably not very healthy but oh, well.

Great hood-style burger for lack of a better term (i think it's better than the Best burgers on Western and 35th, which is a similar style).

[TonyC]

Thanks for the tip. Mom's just made my day. With 2 hoodie burger joints 10 minutes from my work, chowhound proves itself relentlessly useless yet again.

$3.84 Soul Burger with cheese FTW. Cheaper than Big Burger, a bit more filling, a bit fresher, a bit tastier (must be the big flakes of ground black pepper?), a lot more adventuresome.

[DiveFan]

I think you mean 'relentlessly useFULL' :-). Agreed!

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Louis Burger
8425 S La Cienega Blvd, Inglewood, CA 90301

Burger Basket
1264 S Atlantic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90022

[TonyC]

OOPS. useful. useFULL. *banghead*

[Burger Boy]

Love Fresh & Meaty! Great Chili also! Can not compare these to 26 Beach, 25 Degrees or Lucky Devil, these are a different beast. Try Hawkins Burgers, OMG ! ! ! http://www.chowhound.com/photos/41903

Have you had a Taco at Original Bill's Taco House, check it out ! http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/10...

[broncosaurus]

Been meaning to try Lucky Devil, but really...at three times the price, is it three times as good?

Best thing at Bills was the tamale I thought. The one on Slauson is mediocre.

[Burger Boy]

The Slauson one was a sort of franchise that has no more connection and you can tell they have changed the recipe to the sauce/chili.
Lucky Devils is good, you should really go to 26 Beach, they make their own buns. I am amazed at how inexpensive Freah & Meatty and the place on Crenshaw just south of Jefferson on the west side of street. J&J Burger Shack & BBQ on Adams also does a good burger and great BBQ.

[Feed_me]

I'm glad this topic was brought up. Sometimes driving down Washington Boulevard in the mid-city area I see this rather ugly building fortified with metal mesh at the windows called I believe, Best Burger. It's hard to tell if it's open, but invariably I see someone out there getting something. One of these days, I've got to chance it. If anyone has been there, I'd love a review. I did try B&R in Hawthore and while the burger was big and meaty, it didn't match the few "high end" burgers I've had. I do like the few Nano burgers I've gotten at Room 5 which is part of Amalfi on La Brea. I was talking to one of the musicians who hangs out there and he told me to go to Father's Office and check that burger. I'm thinking the choices of beer may be partially the reason too.

[wutzizname]

"...he told me to go to Father's Office and check that burger. I'm thinking the choices of beer may be partially the reason too."

No, not really. Though the beer menu is great. But for all the wildly varied opinions on L.A. burgers, and the disparate range of burger tastes expressed by folks on this board, very few dispute the superiority of the Father's Office burger. After all, it started the modern, upscale burger movement that has since spread throughout the city and across the U.S. Every $60 Foie gras Burger being sold in New York tonight can trace its roots directly back to that tiny little beer bar on our own Montana Ave.

[Burger Boy]

You know, Hampton's in the 70's and 26 Beach in the late 80's and early 90's were doing some pretty wild and upscale burgers, 26 Beach still is, long before the burger nazi came along, part of the FO mystique is the eat it my way or don't eat it attitude of the owner, whatever. And they do have an amazing selection of beer.

[wutzizname]

True. But neither of them sparked a chain reaction of copycats the way the nazi's burger did.

[mikester]

BTW, did you guys see the segment of After Hours with Daniel (on MOJO HD) where they were at Father's Office ? Pretty interesting...it mentions the taste-off that was done back when between Daniel's Foie Gras burger and the FO burger (IIRC this was by the NY Times - there may have been other burgers in the tasting as well). The FO burger won.

[sel]

My recall is that the article was in Esquire Magazine and that D.B. came in #1 and S.Y. was #2. The other burger was McD.

[Kevin B]

Just picking nits...

I was a regular before Sang Yoon took over, and before Father's Office had a kitchen. (lovely rent controlled apartment @ 14th & Montana.) The Foie Gras burger @ DB Bistro Moderne pre-dates the kitchen at F.O. I like Sang a lot and love the burger, but the idea that he started the trend doesn't wash.

[karamazov]

Few $15+ burgers in this town are worth the price, but the one at Lucky Devil's is.