Oh My Burger -- Gardena, CA

2142 West El Segundo Blvd.
Gardena, CA 90249
213-283-8638
website

KGB Deals posted a $7 for $14 deal for Oh My Burger in Gardena, and I was unable to resist the siren's call of low price and an unknown burger in a part of LA to which I had never ventured. I grabbed Happy Meal and we buzzed down the 405 and the 105 to seek out Oh My Burger. When we arrived, it did not seem like the sort of place well-established enough to be utilizing local deal sites. It was a typical LA burger shack. There were three folding tables inside and a handful of partially covered tables outside. I came to learn that Oh My Burger was also getting great word-of-mouth referrals from around the neighborhood. One of my favorite decor touches was the stack of bail bondsman cards beside the advertisement for chili cheese fries.

Oh My Burger had only been open for 6 weeks when we visited. I learned that, and a host of other facts about the place, by eavesdropping on the conversations between the proprietor and her various customers. The location had already been host to a number of restaurant ventures, each of which had sputtered out in rapid succession. The last one made it 6 months. Oh My Burger was the first go at a restaurant by the young woman, 24, that owned it and ran the kitchen.

One of the more adventurous burgers on the menu was the Big Luther, which was a bacon cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme donut bun.

We kept it simple and ordered a couple of basic Fresh Burgers with Cheddar. I ordered fried pickles, and Happy Meal went with fries. After about 15 minutes our orders were ready at the window.


The Burger Breakdown...


The Beef: The burgers at Oh My Burger were mild Chuck, but the Chuck was blended with bits of fresh onion.  The burger was about 6 ounces. The fat content was in the 20% range. I found the beef over-manipulated to the point where it was a little chewy. The onion flavor dominated, and the burger had a very homey taste like when your mother would try to jazz up a burger with onion soup mix. I am not a fan of onion in my burger, so I was not a fan of the flavor of this burger. Still, it seemed to cater to local tastes.

The Seasoning: There was no seasoning.

The Sear: The thin patties were well-seared around the edges. Unfortunately, the dry bun and the lack of seasoning robbed the sear of any style points.

The Preparation: I assumed that the beef arrived pre-ground (medium). It was blended with chopped onion and formed into firm, thin patties. The burgers were cooked on a properly hot gas griddle/flat top. My burger came out an odd sort of Med-Well. There were little blotches of pink interspersed throughout the patty.

The Cheese: The Cheddar at Oh My Burger was likely a Tillamook, but it didn't matter. The dry bun crushed the cheese and destroyed any contribution that it might have made.

The Bun: The Brioche bun was stale and crumbly. It was likely 2 days past its prime. The young owners definitely cut corners here, and that was unfortunate. The high-domed bun was also oiled, and I could have done without that.

The Fries: Under-cooked and mealy but nicely seasoned. I discovered, by listening in, that they were working their way through the last of the frozen, crinkle cut fries so that they could transition over to house-cut fries. It was clear that she knew she was serving an inferior product, but she didn't want to throw out product, which she had already purchased. I found that a little insulting, since I was within earshot and eating the very fries, which she was discussing/disparaging.

Later, while doing additional research, I noted that the owner, Danielle H., had commented on Yelp that the fries were hand-cut and par-cooked, in the past. This led me to conclude that Oh My Burger had tried the frozen crinkle cut fries, discovered that they were not as good as the previous fries, and continued to serve them just to get rid of them. This was most disappointing.

The Deep-Fried Pickles: These were fine. They were tart and crunchy. 

The Sides: The veg looked fine on other burgers, but I came to Oh My Burger for a cheeseburger, not a salad.

The Value: I paid $7 for the coupon and an additional $4.99, so this would have been a $19 meal. It was not worth $19. It was nearly worth the $12, which I actually paid.

Oh My Burger had a long way to go when I visited. The quality and prep were in need of much fine-tuning. I hoped that the young owners didn't go broke learning the lessons required to earn repeat business.

Burger Review : A home-style burger, which may improve as the staff gains experience.

Rating...2 Bites

Earl's Gourmet Grub -- Los Angeles, CA

12226 Venice Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 9006
310-313-1717
website

Just down the block from where I had been taking take Happy Meal for his haircuts was Earl's Gourmet Grub.  I had been meaning to stop in, but since it was a breakfast and lunch only shop (most days), it had been tough to work it in. Fortunately, Chi Burger was down for a lunch burger, so we rolled over in his mobile ashtray to see what gourmet grub was all about. At noon on a Thursday, we found metered parking in front of the 1/4 full restaurant, and we encountered no line when it came to ordering at the counter.

I was not convinced that "gourmet' meant what they thought it meant. The counter staff was sarcastic, dismissive, and uninformed when it came to the ingredients. The cut of beef was a mystery. When I asked about the origin of the produce, the answer was, "the ground." I hoped that the kitchen was more on their game than the individual at the register. We did get a 10% discount on the $9.00 The Earl's Burger for knowing the phrase of the day, which could be found at www.earlsgourmetgrub.com.  Our meals were ready in about 12 minutes.


The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: Earl's Gourmet Grub made use of Niman Ranch beef. The one-dimensional flavor led me to assume that the cut was Chuck. The burger patty was juicy, and it carried a nice beefy flavor. That was it in terms of flavor, though. No minerals, no funk, no nothing. The fat content was most likely 20%, but that was a guess, since the counter staff was clueless about the menu.

The Seasoning: The cheeseburgers at Earl's Gourmet Grub were properly seasoned with a salt and pepper blend while on the grill.

The Sear: The tiny gas grill at Earl's Gourmet Grub imparted about 50% of the amount of sear that would have made the burgers interesting. The grill marks were present, but the sear was not crisp, dark, or deep enough to enhance the flavors of the average-tasting burger patty.

The Preparation: The burger patties were straight-sided and uniform in thickness, so it was assumed that the burgers were pre-formed using a mold during morning prep. Either that, or they were pre-pattied by the purveyor. The grind was medium. The pressure used to create the patties was also medium, so the bite was firm without being chewy. The kitchen nailed my Medium cooking request. I did make a point of ordering everything on the side. When I flipped over my burger, I noticed that they had applied sauce to it, and then kind of, sort of, sloppily wiped most of it off. Weak.

The Cheese: The cheese part of the cheeseburger was Tillamook Cheddar. The nine-month aged Cheddar was melted well, and it was relatively flavorful, but it was lost in the unforgivably cold bun.

The Bun: The buttery brioche bun at Earl's Gourmet Grub was provided by Homeboy Bakery. This bun would have been spectacular had it been warmed up. The brioche had a layered, croissant-like interior. Sadly, since the bun was cool, those buttery layers were not luscious--rather they were overly springy and a little greasy. The cool bun chilled the cheese and the burger and robbed the dish of any savory notes. The cool bun also caused the cheese to loose its gooeyness and become dense. Finally, the bun was freshly oiled on top, and this served to round out the unpleasantness--it was greasy in the hand and the mouth.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: Had the bun been toasted, Earl's Gourmet Grub would have nailed this. Since the bun was chilly, the ratio was skewed, unfortunately, toward the bun.

The Fries: The were none.

The Toppings: I was grateful that I ordered my veg on the side. The lettuce was so far past its prime that it had deep veins of black rot. The tomato, on the other hand, was wonderfully juicy and fresh.

The Value: With the 10% discount, each burger was $8.10, before tax. No fries, rotten veg, laughable service, and a cold bun all ratcheted the value down from a grudging "OK" to a well-deserved "mediocre."

Yuck, just yuck!

In the case of Earl's Gourmet Grub, the cheeseburger was most certainly less than the sum of the parts. The word "Gourmet" must have been code for "Careless."

Rating...3 Bites

Yuca's -- Los Angeles, CA

2056 Hillhurst Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
323-662-1214

I had visited Yuca's a few times over the past few years. I had always been hoping to catch a glimmer of that James Beard Award winning excellence. In 2005, the small taco stand was recognized in the American Classics category. That was a long time ago.



Yuca's had two locations, one on Hillhurst Ave., the other on Hollywood Blvd.  I have tried the cheeseburger at both locations, and I have experienced similar results. The Hillhurst Ave. location shared a parking lot with a liquor store, so parking was free and plentiful. The menu was small, and the food was inexpensive. I ordered and paid at the counter and waited for my name to be called out. There was an assortment of tables and metal chairs available in the partial shade of the awning that was attached to the taco stand. After about 10 minute, my burger was ready.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The miniscule, 3-ounce patty was not especially interesting. The beef was ground at a medium setting. It was mildly beefy, and that was it. The burger was cooked hard, so it was moderately chewy. It was moist and not greasy. The beef was most likely Chuck, and the blend was most likely 20% fat. I did not interview the staff, since I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the kitchen on a busy day. Overall, the beef was fine but not interesting.

The Seasoning: TOO MUCH! The burger patty at Yucs's was over-seasoned and nearly punishingly salty. There were a hint of chili powder in there, too. This was all topped off with a single drop of hot sauce.

The Sear: Not so much. The burger patty received a light sear around the edges, but otherwise the beef had a steamed appearance.

The Preparation: The burgers at Yuca's appeared to have been hand-formed into the tiny, thin patties. The burger meat was cooked on a moderately hot gas grill. The burgers were cooked to Well Done.

The Cheese: My cheeseburger at Yuca's came with a single slice of American cheese. In spite of the diminutive patty, the cheese was barely discernible over the heavy seasoning and the cool, untoasted bun.

The Bun: Blah: The bun at Yuca's was wildly uninteresting. It was a generic, burger bun. It was cool and untoasted. The bun was fresh, moist, and a just barely sweet.

The Meat to Bun Ratio: This was fine, but it was a fine ratio of two completely mediocre components.

The Fries: There were no fries.

The Toppings: The produce was far superior, and more filling, than the actual cheeseburger at Yuca's.

The Value: A cheeseburger at Yuca's was $2.20. This felt like it was too much for a tiny burger, which was prepared in such an uninteresting fashion.

Yuca's won a James Beard Award a long time ago. From what I have seen, that award had nothing to do with the quality of its burgers. If that was the case, then standards have slipped a long way since 2005.

Burger Review : A cheap burger, which was prepared with little regard at Yuca's.

Rating...3 Bites

The Bucket -- (Eagle Rock) Los Angeles, CA

4541 Eagle Rock Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
323-257-5654
website

Happy Meal and I had a Groupon for The Bucket burning a hole in our collective pocket, and traffic was light on the Sunday afternoon of this review. I think everyone was watching the Raiders get destroyed by the Patriots. I know that was what was happening at The Bucket. Half of the crowd on the loud patio of the sports bar was composed of Raiders fans, and the other half was families with kids. We were lucky to arrive near the end of the 4th quarter as the fans of the losing team were wrapping things up. 
 
Free parking was easy enough to find in the attached lot. The Bucket's menu was strictly burgers and wings. The Bucket was celebrating its 76th year of operation. It was a typical, LA burger stand. There were a handful of counter seats near a sweltering grill, and there was a collection of tables in an enclosed patio area with some TVs. I had Happy Meal stake out a table, and I ordered a couple of cheeseburgers, fries, and some canned soft drinks. This set us back $10 (Groupon). Our burgers arrived in about 20 minutes.


The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The Bucket used a pretty average tasting Chuck for their cheeseburgers. The beef was mildly beefy. It had no trace of aging. The fat content was about 20%. The beef was moderately juicy. This was perfectly average burger meat.


The Seasoning: I tasted a very faint amount of seasoning, but it was not nearly enough to complement the mild beef flavor of the burger patty.


The Sear: The Bucket got a decent looking sear onto the burger patties, but it was neither deep nor crisp. The sear was cosmetic only.


The Preparation: The Bucket cooked their burgers on a very small gas grill (6 patties at a time), and they toasted the burger buns on the attached griddle. Burgers at The Bucket came out Well Done. It was safe to assume that the burger meat arrived pre-ground. The 1/2 pound Chuck patties were thick, and they were packed loosely enough. The bite was firm but not rubbery.


The Cheese: The Bucket offered two cheese choices...Monterey Jack and American. We went with American. The cheese was fine, and it was properly melted. Unfortunately, the single slice was lost in the 8-ounce patty, so the cheese was largely invisible to the palate.


The Bun: The generic, seeded burger bun was moist, fresh, and toasted. It was mild to the point of contributing no substantive flavor to the dish. While the bun was toasted, it was not crisp, so there was no crunch from the bun.


The Fries: The Bucket used frozen, par-cooked, crinkle cut fries. The fries were cooked to a crisp golden brown, and they were properly seasoned. Then the fries sat around for about 20 minutes. The fries came out luke warm, so the interiors were on the mealy side.


The Toppings: The tomato slice was surprisingly fresh and juicy. The dill pickle chips were refreshingly spicy. The Romaine lettuce leaf was crisp and fresh.


The Value: We only paid $14 for our meal...$10 Groupon and a $4 tip. That was about what it was worth. I would have been bummed out if I had paid the menu price of $7.50 for each burger. Fries...$3.00 per serving--ouch. Canned soda...$2.00 each. The value at $10 was fine, but at the $24 that we would have paid for full menu price, the value would have been............discouraging.


The Bucket served up a perfectly average burger. It was big and bland, but it was filling. 


Burger Review : Big, average burgers at premium prices.


Rating...3 Bites