Years ago a dear friend explained that burgers fall into one of two camps: “restaurant burgers” and “everything else“. This was a time when chefs weren’t tweaking burgers of convenience like what Andre Guerrero does at the Oinkster or when gastropubs miraculously brought beef back onto our dinner plates during the recession of 2008 with the advent of the $10 and up burger. The Park is very much a “restaurant burger” since it is served at a restaurant that also ...

Armed with the almighty tastemade app, I journey to one of my fav spots for Bang: LA BUNS where they make bacon cheeseburgers affordable, loaded with flava and sling it smooth like the blue collar hood they represent: Downey CA in South LA.

The search for Bang for your Burger Buck can take you parts of town you might otherwise seldom tread. To places in your ‘hood that you never got around to trying or even a place you may not ever return to, unless the just the right circumstances place you there. Patras is such a place and it is a good thing. Good because it lies conveniently near dive bars like The Short Stop and Gold Room, makes a perfect stop ...

Los Angeles is giant sprawling metropolis, choked with traffic, covered in smog and studded with neighborhood eateries you feel blessed to have in your hood. Marty’s on Pico is such a gem and this gem sits snuggly on busy Pico blvd in West Los Angeles. If you lived in Los Feliz, you could call Marty’s the Yuca’s of the westside. Or Al and Bea’s West if you hang your hat in Boyle Heights. Whatever your geographic position, know that Marty’s ...

The path we take to Bang for your Burger Buck can be strange one. My visit to Yuca’s focused on a burger type I never get, as I find chili on top of a cheeseburger wholly unwarranted, and yet here I was, eating a double chili cheeseburger, because, at a mere $5, it is a value one should not pass up. Further, when you think about how most burger stands simply can’t put in the time and effort to make ...

Chinese food and a good diner should not be a surprising combination. Both are welcomed when faced with a particularly strong hang over, neither should be followed with exercise and both extol value – yeah, Im talking Bang for your Burger Buck and I haven’t even dropped the price yet. Let’s talk patty melt, let’s talk a side dish and let’s talk about a damn heavy plate. $7. Do I have your attention now? Good.

Pono Burger was that run don’t walk standing order when I visited this fine burger establishment in the late spring of 2013. Though known to still be working out their kinks, when restaurants are in their first few weeks to months of opening, prices are dropped to lure and establish a customer base. That was my justification for how they could offer a premium burger for $8. There were impressive combos that hit the $12 mark but, organic grass fed ...

It has oft been said that good beef needs little else besides salt and pepper. The same holds true for the hamburger, despite the popularity of cheese, it just aint necessary. When I came upon the menu at Corner Burger, I saw the “Naked Burger” as a sort of challenge to take on a burger sans any topping(except bun) and see if my palate could appreciate this “meat minimalism“. And for $5, I was a man with nothing to lose ...

For most that ride this train of Bang for your Burger Buck, we patron and ultimately celebrate the humble luncheonette. Village Kitchen is such a place, coupled with a charitable inception as the restaurant serves as a training ground for women living at the Good Shepherd Shelter. They also happen to offer a $4 cheeseburger that despite some expected modest ingredients, delivers one juicy and tasty burger.

It is a good thing that the meteoric rise of “concept” food trucks didn’t hinder the continuance of “classic food trucks”. Whether you call it a “roach coach”, “truck” or that “guy on the corner of blank and blank”, these traveling commissaries are critical to the day to day function of our city and the sight of them, such as Levon’s Quality Foods Truck, is a welcomed one indeed. A line filled with hungry construction workers, a drifting lab tech ...