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: HOLE IN THE WALL BURGER JOINT

Los Angeles, CA


The Canuck and I were starving come lunchtime Saturday, and I suggested a westside place, I'd been looking to try for a while- Hole in the Wall Burger Joint. It's tucked away off Santa Monica Blvd in a strip mall (sort of) behind the Winchell's Donuts. It looks like a junkyard dive from a cult classic movie. The front is painted to look like rusty metal sheeting and there's a neon sign that says 'BURGERS' over the door. Inside, it felt like a tiny taco shop, or a small midwestern mom & pop diner. Much like The Counter, you fill out you own menu, picking meat, bun, toppings, extras and sides. The menu looked good and the buns on the counter by the register looked tasty. I ordered a beef patty, with an original bun, onion mayo, tomato cheddar and bacon. The Canuck went for the beef patty and original bun as well, but switched it up with chipotle mayo, pepperjack cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. We both ordered the kennebec fries (we could have easily shared one order.)

At first, we were excited. Food came out in brown paper bags, the burgs were huge, wrapped in white wax paper and the fries were in their own little sleeves. We took our first bites and kept going up to maybe five bites and then we looked at each other.  "I'm not so into this." We were so hungry initially that we weren't really assessing, but as our hunger pains abated, our more discerning pallets took charge. The burg's were hearty and homestyle, but the plain ingredients lacked flavor and the large buns were overpowering. It felt like a ground beef sandwich, not a cheeseburger.  

The pepperjack on the Canuck's burger was overpowering the bacon. I think the meat and bun were just so big and plain that you couldn't taste the condiments. On top of that, the meat was juicy/greasy and dripping out of our hands. The one quality I did appreciate however, is that the cheese was on the bottom of the burg, between meat and bottom bun. It served as a protective layer to keep that excessive juice from creating a soggy mess.  

Note the cheese barrier!

Now for a redemptive paragraph: The fries were amazing. Just absolutely delicious. Crisp, salty, excellent flavor. And they offer three dipping sauces. The first is their homemade ketchup with crushed tomatos and garlic. The second is regular boring ketchup. The third, and my favorite, is a ranch dip made with sour cream, mayo, onion, dill, parsley, lemon juice, dijon and salt and pepper. I could not stop dipping the fries in it. The Canuck has more willpower than I do and was able to stop when he got full, but I kept going.  I wanted to bottle the ranch and hoard it, and then put it on everything I eat year round.

Magical Ranch Dip

They serve soda in cans which added to its dive feel. The inside was a little claustrophobic to me so we sat out front in the sun and fought off some pigeons. For the two of us, the total was nearly $30 and after tasting the burgs its definitely overpriced and not worth the cost. Oh, and by the way, its CASH ONLY. If you are craving a proper french fry, or you have a naked salad that needs dressing, this is the place to be.  

Mini-Recon: Q's

Los Angeles, CA


We have all spent a night of some sort in this sports bar, but until recently I didn't know they had such adorable sliders on the menu.  A patron on the bar stool next to me ordered them, and I bothered him for a picture, so I can't attest to taste, since I thought asking for a bite of each mini burg might be inappropriate... But now they're on my radar and he is clearly giving them a thumbs up.

Cris Bennett, Owner of Good Stuff

Just had a brief chat with Cris Bennett, the owner of Good Stuff Restaurants and he had some lovely things to say about the West LA location and the wonderful staff that makes the joint what it is:


"I am really proud of that store and it is the people that make the difference.  My employees have been working there for years and years.  My head cook has worked for me since we opened in 1979 and we worked together at a restaurant in Beverly Hills before that."


Sounds like a tight-knit group, and a nice contrast to the high turnover in other restaurants around LA.  Read more about Cris and all the good stuff he serves up on their website.