Top 5 Hamburgers

If you are doing the food tour of LA, I think my fav old school restaurant is Phillipes The Original. Lamb and beef dips are delish. My car can go there on autopilot.

Up North, I love Joe's Cable Car in SF, The Squeeze in Sacramento, and Lunchbox Lab in Seattle. Back Yard Burger in Little Rock also rocks my world.

Philjolet,

Go to Redamak's in New Buffalo, MI. Pan fried with grilled onions; simple is still the best. You can thank me later.

:-)

David

02-22-10: Byegolly

Fatburger was decent in late 80's/early 90's - they must be gone or crap now cause no one ever mentions them anymore.

02-22-10: Samhar
Hhh the R.B. Fat Burger on PCH was the best and later the ones Magic Johnson owned on the West Side were great. Once Magic sold out the quality dropped.

Certain ones still are. I just took the XXXXL(four 1/2 lb patties w/ cheese and full fixins) challenge at the Redondo Beach Fatburger a month ago, and besides being a serious undertaking, it was one of the best burgers I've had in a long time. It was juicy beyond all getout. What I like about FB is that they still seriously season their beef patties.

Hhh, thanks for the Buffalo Fire Dept tip in Old Torrance. I live about 15 minutes from there and will give it a try in the next week or so.

Fatburger and In N Out both have this dynamic where people who've heard about how great they are for years finally break down and go there for the first time, only to come back saying "I don't get the hype". You can't just go in and order a burger in joints like this. In the case of Fatburger, if you ask instead for a Double King with cheese, egg, bacon and chili with everything on it, you'll be impressed; and with In N Out, a Double Double with extra grilled onions is a tasty burger indeed. On your second visit, ask for it "Animal Style". BTW, the french fries served Animal Style are pretty fun also.

Bongo,

Good call on Phillipes for the old. Bay area is food n drink nirvana. I can think of several mom & pop joints in North Beach alone that trip the salivate meter. btw, I'm a Palo Alto, Cali native. Can't afford living in the town or the state anymore. Just scatter my ashes off the coast of Big Sur and they'll say he came home.