ISO a truly amazing PATTY MELT

[FatTooth]

help me...i'm having a craving. if there's one worth eating in the south bay, that would be great. otherwise, i don't mind the drive at all.

[Foodandwine]

Yep, there is one in the South Bay. Cozy Cafe small place never knew it was there unil someone had mentioned it. I had the Patty Melt and liked it very much..

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Cozy Cafe
307 S Pacific Coast Hwy, Redondo Beach, CA 90277

[maudies5]

Good Stuff at Olympic and Bundy makes a great one. I believe they also have a couple of locations in the South Bay.

[paprkutr]

Jan's on Beverly Blvd has a good patty melt and their tuna melt is really good too. It comes with fries, cole slaw and a pickle.

[ExtraCheesePlease]

I work around the corner from Jan's and I have to agree that their patty melt and tuna melt are pretty awesome. Perfect comfort food on a bad day.

[pwrye]

Cassel's - it ain't just great at burgers. Indisputably best patty melt!

[Oh Robin]

Call me crazy, but one of the best patty melts is at Spires.

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Spires
2590 N Lakewood Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90815

[kevin]

hamburger hamlet in years past made a really good one.

recently i tried one made with a veggie burger at Cafe 50s on Lincoln and it was pretty darn good, I think it lost it's relationship with the Cafe 50s on Santa Monica and Barrington area, which now seems to be the more popular one of the bunch.

[maxzook]

For a classic textbook patty melt (one patty, American cheese and grilled onions on rye bread with caraway, side of great fries), I recommend Sitton's Diner in North Hollywood.

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Andrew's North Hollywood Diner (fka Sitton's)
11329 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601

[bodie]

I have been away from LA for most of this year but I see Sitton's has changed names and possibly owners to Andrews Diner. Anyone got the backstory?

On to patty melts: I like Paty's in Toluca Lake but mostly, I find that a good patty melt is easy to make at home.

[maxzook]

Really? I eat there at least once a month, and I went less than a week ago ... can't say I looked too closely at the sign, but the menu hasn't changed.

[condiment]

As in all things hamburger-related, Pie n' Burger is the correct answer. A luscious patty melt.

[Condiment Queen]

Are we related?
Pie n' Burger is the correct answer!

[Will Owen]

So did I in fact hit them on a bad day? I'm not going to rewrite the story - it's on the Patty Melt Smackdown thread - but I was disappointed almost to the point of tears in the one they fed me.

[maxzook]

See my comment downthread re: Sitton's, a classic old-school no-frills melt:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/52906...

--Max, who has never figured out why people drool over Pie 'n Burger

[Will Owen]

Well, I have in fact had edible food at Sitton's, a place which regularly gets shredded here - one of the nicest plates of liver'n onions ever, for one thing - so I'm certainly up for trying their PM.
- Will, who usually does drool over Pie'n'Burger

[condiment]

Crisp on the outside, gooey on the inside, epochal grilled onions - PnB's patty melt has it all. Except for the all important spark of acidity, which is why you will want to dab just the smallest bit of ketchup on the corner of the sandwich every once in a while.

[Will Owen]

Alas, mine was not like that at all. Quite the opposite in almost every respect, which confirms my suspicion that it WAS a fluke, and I should try them again. Either that, or call both you and J. Gold liars, which I'm not prepared to do...

As for the acidity, mustard does that for me, thanks. And yes, they all do need some, and the richer they are the more they need it. Good point.

[khh1138]

I am in absolute agreement. And it comes with a scoop of their delectable potato salad with the essential flat pickle chip.
(I also like the patty melt at the JPL cafeteria.)

[kevin]

do you mean Jet Propulsion Laboratory? do you have to an employee to get into the JPL cafeteria?

[PayOrPlay]

I don't know about "truly amazing," but I very much like the patty melt at the Rancho Park Golf Course restaurant (Pico & Patricia in West LA)--simply done with good cheese and meat and decent rye bread grilled to a crunch.

[banquisha]

i thought they had sourdough and other kinds of bread too?

[Das Ubergeek]

So here's the thing.

I don't want the gigantic double-patty weird thing that most people serve as a patty melt -- so the gold standard to me is actually at Hot Wings Cafe in Glendale and WeHo.

[Will Owen]

I've never seen a two-patty PM, Ubergeek. I have to assume that's how a chain joint manages to produce a half-pounder, since they're stuck with those crappy quarter-pound preformed patties...and I don't ever get burgers of any sort at those places anymore.

[Emme]

try Nichol's in Marina del Rey
26 Beach in Venice
if you're ever in Pasadena, apparently Topz does a good one

[bulavinaka]

Pann's has a standout patty melt - get the wings as well...