Top 5 Hamburgers

I'll go along with Hodad's in Ocean Beach, i.e. San Diego!

I'm not a fan of the new, high-end, high-priced designer burger fad. Kobe beef? Wagu? Give me a friggin' break. What's next culinary foams or suspensions? It's a burger for Chrissakes, not Haute cuisine

Honestly, if you can't get it right for under $10 in this economy, get out of the game. Good meat, hand formed patty, good bun, thick slice of tomato, sliced or grilled onions, some lettuce, etc. Nothing particularly tricky, but so many get it wrong.

Good burgers in LA:
Original Tommy's
Nickel Diner - 525 Main St. downtown
Fatburger - (go for the XXXXL, four 1/2 lb patties)
George Petrelli's Steak House (Culver City) - seriously old school steaks and burgers, stay away from everything else.
Rick's Tavern On Main - Santa Monica

Posthumous nominees
Meaty Meat Burgers
Original Fatburger location

D Mob: The Nickel Dinner is incredible. I also like their bacon doughnuts.

Azaud: Apple Pan is great. So was the original Pie And Burger in Pasadena. Nice tip on Le Grande Orange. Joe's Cable Car in SF also grinds their meat to order.

Bongofury, Nickel Diner is one of the great little secrets of downtown. Honestly, eating there made my night. You've got to try their homemade red velvet cake and Ding Dongs. Unfortunately, they were all out of donuts when we got there.

I have to go back and give Apple Pan another try. Back in the mid 90's, I was on a quest to find the best apple pie in Los Angeles. Of course, I had to try the Apple Pan. The pie was disappointing and the burger even more so. It was a greasy spoon, alright, but not in a good way. But, everyone keeps saying it's great, maybe I just caught a bad day?

BTW, the best apple pie I found, at that time, was Cafe Montana in Brentwood. Although, I think their deserts were actually made by Cafe Buglaoo. Anyway, it was their apple-boysenberry. 3" thick. Apples cooked, yet still firm. Not too much sugar. And a a great crumb/granola crust and top.