A Savory Meal at STOUT — Studio City

If you live in The Valley and you love burgers and beer, but you hate having to drive to South L.A. every time you’re fiending, we’ve found your G-Spot. (Gastropub Spot, just to be clear.)

Stout Burgers & Beers, located on Ventura Blvd. in Studio City between Vineland & Tujunga, is a chill spot to experience some unforgettable pairings. Don’t fret Hollywood foodies, they’ve got another location down there for you. (Santa Monica and Pasadena locations coming soon.)

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These sneaky newbies hide their gems. Kickass hidden menu items include:
Fried Zucchini Sticks: Tried it, loved it!
Pretzel: The staff talked up this “giant” pretzel for 20 minutes. I regret not ordering it!
Truffle Burger: Brie, truffle sauce and garlic sautéed mushrooms. I’m not a huge truffler, but I’ve heard great things about Stout’s.

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Cheeseburger Week in Pasadena!

“I can’t be on the cheeseburger diet all the time” ~Bobby Flay

In the birthplace of the cheeseburger you can!!! Pasadena pays tribute to the inventor of the cheeseburger, Lionel Sternberger, with their 2nd annual Cheeseburger Week. On January 13-18, 45 restaurants will be cooking up great burgers just for the occasion. (If you’ve never been on a cheeseburger crawl, or missed cheeseburger week, don’t worry—most of these cheeseburgers are still around if you need a fix.)

We started our cheeseburger crawl with King’s Row Gastropub. We chowed down on their most famous burger, King’s Burger: 21-day dry aged beef + St. Agur Bleu cheese + aioli + white cheddar + duck fat onions + arugula + house bun; and their special for all those mohawk-wearing JPL fans, the Mars Rover Burger: chorizo burger topped with a fried egg, cilantro aioli, pepperjack cheese, arugula, and house bun. Both were fantastic! Very juicy, with so many flavors working perfectly with the burger, and paired deliciously with Hanger 24’s Hullabaloo.

DSC_0762Mars Rover Buger, King’s Row Gastropub

DSC_0763King’s Burger, King’s Row Gastropub

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Bob’s Big Boy Broiler - Downey

A reincarnated classic. Drew wrote about the transformation of this joint a while back, but long story short: this great old burger joint (née Johnie’s Broiler, née Harvey’s Broiler) was bought and remodeled into a Bob’s Big Boy franchise. It’s a beautiful old Googie place that lights up neon when the sun goes down…

the broiler

Photo by Kathy Gonzalez, obv.

It’s got your standard solid Bob’s Big Boy cheeseburgers, though we made the mistake of ordering the plain-jane kids’ burger. No one should do that to their kids.

Bob's Big Boy- Chocolate Shake

The shake that we got was outstanding. So thick that it kept well for our entire drive back to Culver City. If you love this kinda place, you already know you gotta get over here. But for casual fans, this one’s pretty great and hey, it ain’t far off the freeway.

Bob's Big Boy Broiler


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The Money Pit - San Marco

On our way down to the Color Run in San Diego, we were hankering to try out a notable drive-thru for dinner. After consulting Yelp for a few miles, Lisa led us to a local favorite 40 minutes outside San Diego in (what we thought was Escondido, but is actually just across city lines into) San Marco… The Money Pit. With a menu covering burgers, dogs, and sandwiches, there is a drive-thru, but it would be a shame to skip the ridiculous interior.

The Money Pit

The food? The place is basically a solid hometown diner with a drive-thru.

The Money Pit- Onion Rings, Cheeseburger, Ring Dog

The cheeseburger had a big slices of fresh iceberg lettuce and tomato with a helping of special sauce—a great hometown-diner-style burger. However, the onion rings were undersalted and underwhelming. As tempting as it sounded, the Rings Dog (a hot dog sheathed in onion rings smothered in BBQ sauce) just didn’t have a great sausage either, making me want to just order this the next time I’m at Vicious Dogs to see where Willie goes with it. The piping hot zucchini fries were good dipped in the ranch sauce, but let’s get to the main event…

The Money Pit

We had to check out the decor inside. It’s an interesting space; it has the wide-open windows and bright lights of a fast-food place, but the awesome/cheesy decor of a homebrew money-themed T.G.I. Friday’s. If you’re nearby, like a good burger, and want your next profile pic to be taken next to a penny mural, [INSERT TERRIBLE MONEY PUN HERE].

The Money Pit

Rounds Premium Burgers - West Hollywood

Do you ever have those nights when you just want a good burger? Man, I do. Rounds Premium Burgers in West Hollywood have those burgers and they invited us to come check them out. Their burgers are easily customizable and are just the right amount of everything you’d want in a good burger. It’s a balanced burger… pending your choice of additional toppings.

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When you walk up, there’s a great patio outside with bar-height tables and chairs. They have a similar bar inside and tables as well, giving a casual vibe to the place. When you walk in you’re greeted by an organized ordering system. Other establishments are a little tougher to figure out so this was very intuitive.

I appreciate a place that actually wants me to understand what I’m ordering. The ordering sheets are a step by step guide to the burger ordering process itself. Also, there are just the right amount of options so I don’t have to ask, “So what’s actually in this sauce?”

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Tommy’s Original World Famous Hamburgers - Hollywood

Tommy’s has been around for 65 years. Which is interesting, because the chili there tastes like it’s probably been hanging around in the fridge that long.

Original Tommy's Hamburgers- Cheeseburger

Sorry. I know. It’s an institution. You grew up with it. I get it. I’m assuming it used to be great since there are so many of them, but whatever Tommy’s once had, it ain’t got it today. Out of all 21 places we ate at this week, all the chili, all the pastrami, all the burgers—Tommy’s was the only burger I wouldn’t eat again. It literally had the aftertaste of something left in a refrigerator for 3 months. Not cool.

Maybe we caught ‘em on an off day. Maybe people are just coming for the (admittedly pretty good) fries. All I can tell you is I’m not coming back.

#WeekWithILX

 

Tommy's


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In-N-Out @ LAX

Guys, we’ve all been to In-N-Out. There’s probably one within walking distance from where you live. It tastes good. It’s consistent. We didn’t want to go to just any In-N-Out, so we went to probably the coolest one.

In and out - #1 Double Cheeseburger w/ Fries

“They’re all the same!” you say. We say they aren’t. After dark, this In-N-Out is super cool because there are airplanes practically landing on top of you. Is it worth it to come out here just for the planes? That’s up to you. It’s pretty cool, but most people would probably prefer to go to the In-N-Out by their house. You’ll end up here eventually, though. We all head out here to pick up friends from the airport sometime or another. If you find yourself out here one evening, it’s worth lingering around.

#WeekWithILX

In n' out


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Bob’s Burgers - City of Industry

A fun, quirky little place with a koi pond out front. The chili cheese fries were pretty good. Another neighborhood type joint, if your neighborhood is kind of out in the middle of nowhere.

Bob's Burgers in La Puente

It’s in the City of Industry, but just feels a little out of the way. Overall slightly better than Chris’s, but like the aforementioned, not worth a long trip.

Bob's Burgers


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