10149 Riverside Drive 
Toluca Lake, CA 91602

818-763-5200

Lucy's 51 posted a $10 for two cheeseburgers deal on Groupon, and Toluca Lake was on the way to the zoo. That was a double bonus for Happy Meal and myself. We found free parking on the street. We parked in front of The Counter, which was funny, because The Counter consistently served up over-priced, joyless burgers. I should have noted this as an omen. Upon walking into Lucy's 51,  I was immediately surprised that they had posted a Groupon to lure diners in to have a burger. Lucy's 51 was a dimly lit lounge. So it goes. Happy Meal and I found a table and ordered a couple of cheeseburgers ($10.95). The wait was about 10 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The 8-ounce patty tasted was 100% Angus beef, and it was 100% Chuck. The burger patties were chewy/rubbery enough to suggest that they had arrived pre-formed and in a frozen state. While the burger was moderately beefy, it brought only one other flavor to the party. That flavor was char. The kitchen did get a nice flavor of backyard cookout char. The fat content was approaching 25%. As a result, the burger at Lucy's 51 was on the oily side. The burgers were cooked to Well-Done by default. Looking back, this was a blessing, since some of the excess fat had been rendered off.

The Seasoning: The exterior of burger was dusted with an appropriate amount of savory seasoning blend.

The Sear: The Sear on the burger at Lucy's 51 was merely OK. The burger patty was cooked on a gas-fired grill. It was turned 4 times to get some hash marks on the surface. The edges of the patty picked up some nice char and a little crispness.

The Preparation: The burgers were cooked hard to Well-Done. The moderately thick burger patties puffed up a little in the center due to the intense heat of the grill. This left the edges charred and the centers oily.

The Cheese: The default cheese was a thin slice of a bland, Tillamook Cheddar. The Cheddar was unmelted, oily, rubbery, and completely uninteresting. The cheese brought nothing to the dish but additional fat.

The Bun: The bun was fresh. It was a seeded, moderately sweet, standard, burger bun. The freshness of the bun did serve to partially compensate for the dry chewiness of the burger patty at Lucy's 51. The bun was untoasted, and this made sense due to the texture of the beef.

The Meat to Bun Ratio: This was fine.

The Toppings: The Romaine lettuce was fresh and crisp. The tomato slices were surprisingly ripe and flavorful.

The Fries: The fries at Lucy's 51 were thick-cut, steak fries. The fries were cooked in fresh oil, and they were nicely crisped. The thick fries were on the bland side, as they were seasoned with parsley rather than salt. There was no salt shaker at the table.

The Value: $15, the $10 Groupon and a $5 tip, was a little more than I was happy with considering the meager quality of the meal and the dingy lounge setting. The non-Groupon price would have approached $30, and that would have been excessively spendy in consideration of the quality of the food.

Overall, I was confused why Lucy's 51 promoted themselves with such a weak menu item. I was relieved that the establishment was on the way to my destination, and that I hadn't wasted a trip going out of my way for something so pedestrian.

Burger Review : Lucy's 51 served up a completely average and somewhat over-priced burger....PASS.

Rating...3 Bites (Rounded up from 2.5)

6333 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-761-7970
website




I had just finished up a Tabata Protocol workout on the Santa Monica stairs, and suddenly a burger made a lot of sense. Short Order had recently opened up at The Farmers Market. Parking was a breeze, and Short Order validated, so the first two hours were free. I ordered a  $13 Nancy's Backyard Burger, since it was the one made from 28-day dry-aged beef. My wait was just under 6 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: The beef in Nancy's Backyard Burger was the star of the show. It was sourced from Magruder Ranch in Mendicino County. The beef came pre-ground from the supplier. The cuts in the blend were a mystery to both the kitchen and wait staff. It tasted strongly of Sirloin. The flavor was beefy. There was a mild and smooth taste of aged funk. The steaky mineral notes were there. Beyond the beefy goodness, there was a nice woody flavor from the wood-fired grill in the kitchen. The staff claimed that the patty weighed in at 7 ounces, but I thought that 6 was closer to reality. The fat content was just above 20%. The burger patty was juicy and satisfying. The bite was tender.

The Seasoning: The exterior of the patty at Short Order was lightly dusted with a salt and pepper blend. The seasoning was correct for the undressed version of the burger, but it was no match for the toppings in the fully dressed version.

The Sear: The Sear on my burger at Short Order was listless at best. The thin, flat patty could have done with a lot more heat to deliver a proper sear while maintaining a Med-Rare cooking temperature.

The Preparation: I was told that the burgers were formed to order. The kitchen staff numbered 6 at the time of my visit, so this was plausible. The beef arrived pre-ground at medium coarse. The burger patty was gently formed, and the beef was not over-manipulated. The burger was faithfully delivered at the Med-Rare cooking temperature request.

The Cheese: Nancy's Backyard Burger was served with Comté, an unpasteurized, French, cow's cheese. The cheese was where the burger took a turn for the worse. The Comté had a waxy flavor, which was closer to Swiss than Gruyere. It served to mask the perfect seasonings on the beef patty, and it imparted a wholly unwelcome chewiness to the dish. The insipid cheese did nothing in terms of complementing the beef.

The Bun: The owner of Short Order, Nancy Silverton, also started La Brea Bakery, which was where the mild, brioche bun was sourced from. The bun was fresh, yeasty, and moist. The bun halves were toasted on both sides, but the bun still lacked any crunch. This, coupled with the lacking sear and the chewy cheese, led to a cheeseburger, which was dull in terms of texture. The bun was heavily oiled, and this started the dish down the path toward becoming a legitimate gut bomb.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: This was perfect for the undressed version of the burger. The bun failed miserably when it contended with the host of wet toppings, which accompanied the burger.

The Toppings: Bad to worse. Undressed the burger at Short Order was quite good as long as one peeled away the chewy cheese. Fully dressed, Nancy's Backyard Burger was sloppy and obnoxiously oily.

• Bacon--The smokey, thick-cut bacon was fine, but it was chewy rather than crisp. This made it both greasy and nearly impossible to bite through cleanly.
• Avocado--The burger came with a overly tart, whipped avocado topping. I was assured that this was freshly made in the kitchen. If it was, then the kitchen was wasting its time. This was just a way to ruin the subtle and creamy character of avocados.
• Special Sauce--This was a spicy mayo, so....more oil.
• Iceberg lettuce was partially wilted, so this contributed further to the weak and wet texture of the assembled dish.
• Heirloom Tomato--The tomato slices were juicy, but the flavors of the tomato failed to pop as I had expected. This tasted like a standard red tomato, and was on the mild side. 

The Fries: Short Order charged $3.00 for fries, which was steep considering that the burger was already $13.00. The fries were par-cooked and then cooked to order in canola oil. The kitchen cooked the cut in house, peel-on fries to a perfect golden brown. The fries were creamy. Sadly, the fries were over-salted, and this rendered them impossible to finish.

The Value: No! A burger, fries, and a soda came to $20.66. This was far too much to pay for delicious beef in a poorly executed, wet, and oily dish.

Short Order delivered burgers with great speed and efficiency from the gleaming kitchen. Sadly, the burger that they churned out was obscured by a variety of unpleasant and/or poorly considered toppings. The burger beef itself was terrific. The lack of sear and the overt greasiness of the dish, combined with the disjointed flavors and textures sent the whole thing into a culinary tailspin.

Burger Review : Nancy's Backyard Burger at Short Order was a study in "Too Much." Too much grease. Too much wet. Too much tartness. Too much money.

Rating...3 Bites

8585 Sunset BLVD
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310-854-7201
website




It was a perfect LA Saturday afternoon. The exception being the Hooray-For-Me drivers on Santa Monica Blvd, but perfection is hard to come by.  Happy Meal and I had a Groupon for Mel's Drive-In, and we were hungry for cheeseburgers. Parking at Mel's was a breeze--free valet!  We chose the counter for instant seating. We ordered a couple of cheeseburgers, and Happy Meal ordered his very first float--Diet Coke with Vanilla ice cream. Our orders were up in about 5 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: Mel's Drive-In used 100% Chuck for their burgers. While I made a point of ordering my burger Medium, it came out Well-Done. I really didn't want to argue, since I had already sent it back once for having the wrong cheese. That cheese (Cheddar) was partially scraped from my burger, and the American, which I ordered was just melted over the "used" burger patty. That said, the over-cooked burger patty was moderately beefy. The burger weighed in at 1/3 pound. The fat content had to be near 25%. The burger patty was not juicy, but it was on the dry and greasy side. There was no trace of minerals or aging. The bite was firm without being chewy. The beef was slightly below average.

The Seasoning: The burgers were nicely seasoned with a salty blend. The seasoning was solid.

The Sear: The griddled sear on the burgers at Mel's Drive-In was crisp, dark, and even. The bites near the edge provided a firm crunch, and that coupled with the toasted texture of the bun, were particularly satisfying.

The Preparation: Meh. The burger was over-cooked. Instead of a re-fire, the incorrect cheese was simply scraped off of my burger. The uniformly round patties were formed with medium pressure.

The Cheese: Mel's Drive-In applied 2 slices of American cheese to its cheeseburgers. The cheese was perfectly melted. It was creamy, savory, and satisfyingly gooey. The cheese picked up the slack where the beef was too dry. The cheese was the hero in this cheeseburger.

The Bun: The seeded bun was nicely toasted and mercifully unbuttered. The bun was mildly sweet. It was about a day past its prime, but the cheese filled in like a champ.

The Meat To Bun Ratio: A 1/2 pound burger would have been a better match for the Mel's Drive-In bun.

The Toppings: The Iceberg lettuce was fresh and crisp. The tomato slice was ripe and juicy.

The Fries: Mel's Drive-In served up some competent, peel-on fries. The seasoning was meager, but the color and crunch were strong.

The Value: A 1/3 pound cheeseburger was $7.95...ouch, and a ice cream float was $4.95...double ouch. The pre-Groupon total for our meal was $24.58. This was an overly steep price for a very average couple of cheeseburgers.

Mel's Drive-In served up pricey food with little regard to quality.

Burger Review : Over-priced mediocrity at Mel's Drive-In in West Hollywood.

Rating...3 Bites

8048 W 3rd St
Los Angeles , CA 90048

The Burger Kitchen had recently been featured on Kitchen Nightmares. The son, Daniel, had taken over the operation and sent father, Allen, off to do other things. Fat Bruce Lee and I were curious to see if the Gordon Ramsay treatment had delivered or fizzled in terms of burger success.  We walked i