RECON: HAMBURGER HABIT

West Los Angeles, CA

After two horrible missteps at Cafe 50's and Patrick's Roadhouse (never again!) the Canuck and I ventured over to Hamburger Habit, which claims to be the best hamburger in LA. Seriously, there are signs all over the mini mall its in, touting the radios station that crowned them. The cashier who handled our order was sassy and quick with the wit, but his accent threw me off to the point that he might have considered me retarded. The vibe of the place was kind of a run down old school diner. They had a lot of coke memorabilia, a bar height counter running around the edge of the restaurant, and shiny red bar stools cemented evenly into the floor. The other patrons were young dudes who looked like they belonged in Half Baked.

The Canuck ordered The Works, which has chili, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickles.  I ordered The Big Scene which has dressing, lettuce, tomato and pickles. (The burger titles and their ingredients just didn't match.)  I ended up adding cheese - which the guy called cheddar, but it was American - and adding bacon and grilled onions. I would also like to say that paying more than a dollar for add-ons at a dive-y restaurant pisses me off. Bacon and avocados aren't that expensive. He wrote the orders on egg-crate plates and passed them over to the grill. Then we ordered chili cheese fries, a diet coke and a chocolate shake.  Spoiler Alert! The shake was the best part of the meal.

I couldn't find the bacon in my burger, stupidly, I thought oh, it must be in there somewhere, but no, so I got shafted right off the bat. And without texture, its not a great burger. The patty had a nice char, and grilled onions are always delicious, but it just got all gooey. I am going to admit something here and confess that I've had Del Taco chili cheese fries on more than one occasion, and the chili cheese fries at Habit had all the same flavors. And to top off all the (insert wah-wah sound effect here) elements of the meal, the diet coke was caffeine free. Where I come from, that just ain't right.

BUT the chocolate shake was absolutely delicious. It was thick, and had a dash of chocolate syrup on top and it made me happy on the inside.

Hunger pangs satisfied, but not wowed.  For $22, you might as well go wild at In N Out.

RECON: SLATER'S 50/50

San Diego, CA

   

     I popped down to San Diego over the Thanksgiving holiday and couldn’t wait to hit up a new burger joint that my dad had told me about: Slater’s 50/50. Located in the fast-developing Liberty Station, Slater’s has a nice outdoor patio, a healthy obsession with bacon and fantastic service.

     I went with the Canuck and my Dad, and since it was unseasonably warm, we sat on the patio. They ordered water, but I was in the mood for a beer and the manager suggested the Hofbrau Hefe Weizen, which turned out to be a nice contrast to the burger I ordered. We started with the Onion Strings that come with BBQ sauce, but as always I requested Ranch. They were solid, not out of this world, but solid and we ate every last one. 

     Then it came time to order our burgs. Slater’s is famous for their 50/50 patty, which is half ground beef and half ground bacon!  Obviously I was having that patty no matter what, even though they offer a variety of meats (and non-meats) to choose from. Both the Canuck and my dad ordered the 50/50 burger, which is the first burger in their ‘Burgers Designed’ category. It comes with an egg sunny side up, avocado, pepper jack cheese and a chipotle mayo:

My dad swapped out the chipotle for baconnaise on the side, the pepper jack for cheddar and added bacon, so he kind of designed his own in a round about way:

I chose to build a burger: 50/50 patty, (which must be cooked medium well to get the bacon right) baconnaise, brie, tomato, grilled onions and thick cut bacon. Like other places that have a build-your-own menu, they provide half-sheets for you to create your burg, only Slater’s takes it a step further and gives you a space to name it. I named mine The Heart Attack:

  

     The burgs come out stacked tall, with a knife stabbed through the center, and trust me you need the knife. {And Side Bar: If you name your burger, they say it when they bring it to you: "And who had the Heart Attack?" I raised my hand, "I did!" Now that I know that, I will have to abuse this privilege.}

     The Heart Attack was delicious! I built a winner. The brie and bacon were awesome, the patty was perfectly cooked and I could definitely taste the ground bacon. After a few bites, the onions were too slippery and the yummy baconnaise was oozing out, getting burg juice all over both my hands and my face. I looked like the fat kid that’s in every camp movie ever made stuffing his face with sloppy-joes. The point is, I ended up using a fork and knife. 

The egg escaped the Canuck’s burger; it slid out the back while he was taking a bite. Eggs and grilled onions are awesome on burgers, but sooo slippery. The Canuck also said the chipotle sauce overwhelmed the mild avocado, so maybe ask for it on the side if you go that route during your visit. Next time I want to design my own mac n cheese (yes, they let you do that!) and do a combination plate for the appetizer so I can try the fried artichoke hearts.  

Oh, and by the way, my dad managed to keep his burger together the whole time and never resorted to silverware; he says the trick is to never put it down.  

Recon: FIVE GUYS

San Diego, CA


The east coast staple has finally hit the west coast.

I went down to San Diego last weekend, where my family was eager to take me to Five Guys, a burger joint they already held in high esteem. Tucked into the revamped Liberty Station in Point Loma, Five Guys has a spacious layout covered in white and red tiles with sacks of potatoes stacked around.  At first I thought there might be some construction still going on, and then I realized the potatoes are part of the décor.  The menu is simple enough, with less than 12 burger, hot dog or sandwich options, and all toppings are included in the price of the burger. All patties are cooked well done. There’s a little hanging chalkboard that tells you where the potatoes are from- that day’s hailed from Rich Lance Farms in Blackfoot, Idaho.  At the counter where you order there’s a bin of peanuts and you get to scoop some out to snack on while you wait for your burger.

We all opted for the bacon cheeseburger (what a family!) but our toppings differed: I asked for mayo, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, ketchup & mustard.  You can also have pickles, grilled mushrooms, relish, onions, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, A-1 sauce, barbeque sauce and/or hot sauce.  My sister was raving about the Cajun fries so we got orders of both.  Food comes out in slightly greasy brown paper bags, fries spilling out everywhere on everything. 

Great flavor in that first bite.  We all know I’m a huge fan of American cheese on a burger, and it was fantastic.  Bacon was thin-sliced and crisp.  This is by far the messiest burger I’ve had yet, but it had an excellent classic flavor. It will fall apart and you will lick your fingers. The bun is sweet and doughy and there’s a light crunch to the edges of the patty.  They put more than one slice of tomato on each burger, which made me happy. I felt like this wouldn’t have been so messy or fallen apart so quickly if the components had been stacked differently. Putting ketchup, mustard and mayo next to the grilled onions and tomatoes made for a slippery burg.  Even with the mess and constant reassembly, the taste was spot on.

The Cajun fries definitely brought the heat to the equation. My sister was all about them but the rest of us preferred the regular fries. They’re naturally cut and cooked in peanut oil, and while this might make them healthier, their uneven sizes meant they didn’t cook evenly. Smaller fries were perfectly crisp while longer fries were soft. All of them needed more salt. They offer ketchup and a few other Heinz products to dip your fries in, but I would have preferred a thousand island dip with a dash of mustard.  (I probably could have asked for the components and mixed a little thousand island at my table, but I think it should automatically be offered.)

Service was friendly and fast. Their walls are covered in reviews, praise and awards. It’s definitely an all ages joint. Price is around $10 per person if you get a drink, which consisted of the usual fountain beverages –including my BFF Coke Zero- and bottled water. When the food came we got quiet- which means we were gobbling it up.  Anytime I am craving a quick, classic burger I will definitely think of Five Guys. Like right now…