The Burger Kitchen (3rd Visit) -- Los Angeles, CA

CLOSED

8048 W 3rd St
Los Angeles , CA 90048

323-944-0503

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 into a completely empty restaurant at 12:30 PM on a Thursday afternoon in a section of Mid-Town Los Angeles, which was otherwise bustling with foot and vehicle traffic.  
 
We were quickly seated and handed a couple of shoddily photocopied order sheets,which oddly made no mention of the name of the restaurant on them. The formerly sizable and descriptive The Burger Kitchen menu had been stripped down to a couple of items and a fistful of sides and toppings. We ordered a couple of the 8-ounce beef burgers with American cheese and a couple of sides. Our burgers arrived in about 15 minutes. We did find it especially charming that the manager's girlfriend ran out to her car to get Fat Bruce Lee some Splenda for his iced tea.  


The Burger Breakdown...


The Beef: The burger beef was a combination of 45%, wet-aged Short Rib and 55% Chuck. The fat content was 22%. It was unfortunate that the beef was aggressively over-salted. I was forced to dig into the middle of the patty to determine the flavors. What I discovered was a very competent and tasty burger. The blend delivered a medium note of beef. There was a mild taste of iron. Missing were funk and blood. The beef was juicy and with just enough fat to remind me that it was bad for me...in a good way. The grind was medium. Overall, the beef was better than average, but the seasoning overwhelmed the beef to the point where determining the actual flavors was an academic exercise.


The Seasoning: There is no point in belaboring this.  Curiously, when I brought this up with The Burger Kitchen's manager, he simply thanked me for my input. And so it goes.

The Sear: The crusty sear from the flat-top was no more. What we got instead was a competent sear from a properly hot gas grill. The sear was satisfying and semi-crisp.


The Preparation: The burgers were competently cooked to the requested Medium. The beef was ground in-house, and it was formed into the 8-ounce patties during shift prep. Care was clearly taken not to over-manipulate the beef when creating the burger patties. The bite was firm but tender enough not to be considered chewy.


The Cheese: The Burger Kitchen offered up a nice range of cheese choices (each for an additional $.50): Blue, Goat, Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Swiss, and American. I selected the American cheese. It was perfectly melted, and it provided a desirable creaminess to the bite. The seasoning masked any flavor contributions, which the cheese could have made.

The Bun: The brioche at Burger Kitchen came from Napoleon Bakery AKA Melrose Bakery. The brioche was neutral and surprisingly firm and chewy. This was not unpleasant, but it was very un-brioche-like. The bun was toasted to a satisfying crispness, which lent a nice texture to the bite.


The Meat To Bun Ratio: This was fine.


The Toppings: The shredded Iceberg lettuce was just ok, but it was a little on the wilted side. The tomato slice was hearty and refreshingly ripe.


The Sides: Both the fries and the fried pickle chips were cooked in oil, which was at least a day past its prime. As a result, the fried items tasted a little rancid and more than a little burnt. The pickle chips oozed an unpleasant puddle of oil onto the plate. The fries had a good color, but they were a little on the gummy side. The fries were seasoned with sea salt.


The Value: Had the burger not been salted to death, the value at The Burger Kitchen would have been fine. $7.50 was not a crazy price for a cheeseburger.  Considering the over-seasoning and the burnt-tasting fries, I was not a fan of the value on this visit.


I had watched the episodes of Kitchen Nightmares, which featured The Burger Kitchen, so I understood the unenviable position that Daniel Saffron, owner and manager, found himself in. Sympathy aside, the burger was merely OK, and it was not the sort of thing that I would return for.


Burger Review : The new Burger Kitchen featured a scaled back menu in terms of selection. The burgers and fries both came up lacking in terms of preparation.


Rating...3 Bites

The Burger Kitchen -- Los Angeles.CA

 CLOSED

8048 W 3rd St
Los Angeles , CA 90048

323-944-0503

Website Note that their site has not been updated for some time, and the menu has changed quite a bit.

 

It had been about 9 months since our last visit to The Burger Kitchen, and I had promised owner, Alan Saffron, a fresh look since they had addressed the issues, which I had brought up during my previous visit. This time I brought in Fat Bruce Lee (back on a diet), so that we could sample a couple of burgers from the extensive menu. 

On this visit, we had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Saffron at length, and it was a pleasure to get an insider's view of the menu, the kitchen, and the ideas behind the food. I know that some food reviewers prefer not to engage with the establishment, but I found it refreshing.

For a burger joint, the menu was deep. Alan Saffron was a bit (lot) of a meat geek, and he created a range of custom and exotic blends in addition to the Standard, Steak, and The Natural blends.  There were no less than 6 exotic blends on the new menu.  I had to hand it to Mr. Saffron--his stated mission was to serve the best burger ever, and the guy has not given up or ceased innovating. After Jonathon Gold suggested that he switch from Pat La Frieda beef (NYC) to Harvey Guss beef (Los Angeles), Mr. Saffron abandoned his La Frieda fetish and made the switch to the Harvey Guss dry-aged product.  During this visit to The Burger Kitchen, Mr. Saffron shared with us his latest innovation, and it was fantastic--more to come in this review about that.  It didn't stop there, though.

The Burger Kitchen recently brought in Carlos Abayta from 25 Degrees to oversee the kitchen. Also, they are sourcing all of the pastries from David Blaine, and they are considering having him bake the buns rather than sourcing the brioches from Ca' d'Oro bakery in Santa Monica. The Harvey Guss beef was sourced from Harvey Guss Meats and the other beef was sourced from Huntington Meats, just like at The Golden State, and the beef was delivered freshly ground. 

We ordered a handful of cheeseburgers. Fat Bruce Lee and I decided to go 50/50 on The Natural ($19) and a Standard cheeseburger with White Cheddar ($11). Our burgers arrived in about 10 minutes.

The Burger Breakdown...

The Beef: 

• The Standard burger patty was  8 ounces of a coarsely ground, custom blend of roughly half Short Rib and half Chuck. This was outstandingly juicy, beefy, and tasted strongly of blood.  In fact, this burger led with the blood/iron flavor, and that note carried evenly through the first half of the bite. There was no funk from aging in the Standard blend.  This beef was quite good, and the coarse grind and cautious handling allowed the beef to retain its juices.
• The Natural burger patty was 8 ounces of a coarsely ground, custom blend of Rib-eye, Tri-tip, Brisket, and ..........well, Allan wouldn't divulge all of his secrets. This was the Harvey Guss, dry-aged product, and it was noticeably superior to the Standard blend but not significantly. This bite had a far more steak-like feel to it, and the aging really came through. It was lacking the blood from the Standard blend.  Still it was quite good, but the $19 price point was a little higher than I was comfortable with. This, too, was a very juicy burger.

The Seasoning: In both cases, the seasoning was applied to gently. The exterior and interior were both lightly seasoned, but the beef was fresh enough and flavorful enough to warrant a heavier hand in this case.   

The Sear: The sear was quite competent in both cases. The Burger Kitchen uses both the griddle and the grill to apply the sear. That was damn smart. The griddle applied an even sear, and then the grill deepened it and forced out the moisture to give it crunch. This was especially evident in the next version of the burger, which they were planning to start serving. The sear on that was EPIC.  Finally, the sear provided just the right amount of carbon from the hint of char.

The Preparation: They really got it at The Burger Kitchen. They used freshly ground cuts of quality beef, and they didn't abuse it. The hand-formed patties were thick and gently handled. The grind was satisfyingly coarse, and the cooking method was inventive, smart, and highly effective. The blackened griddle looked about as hot as a reactor meltdown...like it was supposed to be.  They nailed the cooking temperature requests.

The Cheese: Both burgers arrived with White Cheddar. This was just fine. The Cheddar was salty; it melted properly; it provided just enough bounce to make its presence known in the bite while competing with the firm beef for attention. I would love to see them offer an American cheese option at some point.

The Bun: The Ca' d'Oro brioche looked like a monster, but it was tender, moist, sweet and just resilient enough to handle the heft and the juice without adding undue denseness to the bite. The sole complaint was that the brioche was brushed with oil, and this made for a greasy feel in the hand and on the lips. There was enough fat in the burgers that this was not a welcome addition to the dish. It will be interesting to see what sort of buns David Blaine comes up with in the future to pair with the patties at The Burger Kitchen.

The Meat To Bun Ratio:  Perfect.

The Fries and Rings: While $3.50 was a little steep for fries or rings, the par-cooked sweet potato and standard fries were crisp and delicious with just enough seasoning. The rings were cooked in a slightly sweet fish and chips-style batter, and these were terrific, as well.

The Value: 11 bucks for an 8-ounce burger of very high quality....not bad at all.

An Amazing Sear on the Mesquite Burger

The New Burger: At the end of the meal, Alan Saffron brought out his latest burger creation. I had mentioned to him that the beef in his burgers would benefit from some added punch from additional spices. What he came out with was a 1/2 pound patty of The Natural Blend, but this time it came out with a sear that was nearly unbelievable. Also, he infused the beef with a gentle touch of mesquite. That did the trick. The mesquite suffused the bite with a mellowness that completely changed the burger. That burger was the clear winner. ****This patty is now served every day at The Burger Kitchen**** The sear was remarkably thick and crunchy without being burned.

The Burger Kitchen continues to evolve and steadily improve. We look forward to seeing them achieve their goal of serving the best burger in LA.

Burger Review : The Burger Kitchen served up high quality burger with the goal of serving up higher quality burgers as they mature.

Rating...4 Bites

Burger Kitchen -- Los Angeles, CA

 CLOSED

8048 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Neighborhood: Mid-City West

(323) 944-0503

Another day out with Happy Meal--this time the  California Science Center.  A bigger hit than LACMA.

After 4 hours, we were hungry, and we made the journey to a newish spot, Burger Kitchen, to bust some cheeseburgers.

If I were a stickler for service, I would have flamed this joint without a second thought, and it would have looked something like this:

• Walking up, we were greeted with the sight of one of the servers dumping beverages from a vacated table at the base of one of the trees that lines the street.  Straw and all were poured out, and there was a nice collection of straws, so this appeared to be common practice....gross.
• Service was scattered and disorganized, especially considering that we were the  6th table, and there were three front-of-house staffers.
• Burger Kitchen announced the fact that they have Pat LaFrieda beef at every opportunity--menu boards, menus, website,  etc., but we did not discover that they were out until AFTER we attempted to order it.   WEAK. Note: Don't make people wait 10 minutes to discover the fact that the ONE thing that is your claim to greatness is not available.
• The single portion of fries was massive--too much for an adult and a child, but the waitress did not bother to mention that when I ordered two with our burgers.  I took home about two pounds of fries.
• We were never asked if we wanted a beverage other than water.
• Our water glasses went dry with no offer of a refill.
• They placed WET skewers in the burgers to keep them assembled during the trip from the kitchen.  They claim that this was to avoid splinters, but plucking a clammy stick from a burger...c'mon--they were cold and wet, and that couldn't have been up to health code.  A wet stick in rare beef........blech.
• The plates and tables--not properly cleaned.  Sticky residue on the table, and crusty stuff on the bottom of the plate was encountered when shifting the plate.
• The ketchup that came with the fries was way too spicy to serve to a child.  I had to ask for suitable ketchup.
• The dessert that I ordered for Happy Meal did not arrive as described....they took it off of the bill, but a chocolate ice cream sandwich is wildly unlike a pile of vanilla ice cream on a single cookie with chocolate syrup. They were out of cookies, and chocolate ice cream, and communication skills.
• I had to get up and track down a spoon, since a fork is not an effective way to consume what was intended to be an ice cream sandwich.
• Finally, the waitress only bothered to check in with us only as I was chewing the last bite of burger...  Comedy.
• When I did mention to the manger/owner? of the joint that the tomatoes were mealy and clearly unripe, he was surprised and immediately suggested that I could have have them replaced.  I suggested that they simply not have been served in the first place.

OK, you get the point--the service was disorganized.  How about that burger?  Funny thing...This burger flirted with excellence in spite of  the fumbling staff and some quality control/back-of-house issues.

The Burger Breakdown... 

• The rib, chuck, and sirloin blend was coarsely ground and perfectly prepared. Sadly, it was peppered with connective tissue, and was a little too greasy.  Easily remedied, and the flavor was there.
• The brioche, had it not been a little stale, would have been just fine, and it was toasted properly.
• The tomatoes were mealy--not a big deal, they were window dressing but still........it was shite form.
• The patty was griddled to perfect sear, and it was impeccably seasoned.
• The Sommersetshire Cheddar provided a splendid, creamy, sharp, and salty counterpoint to the aged blend.  It really made the burger.
• The Meat : Bun ratio was damn close to perfect.
• The portion of beef was relatively huge.  The Golden State could take a page out of this book.

Given a year to settle in and work out the service and quality kinks, Burger Kitchen this may evolve into a top-notch burger establishment.  I mean, it better, since burgers constituted 90% of the menu items.  I do not plan to spend money/time there again until the nonsense gets resolved in terms of service.

Burger Review : Excellent in terms of flavor, but one needs great patience to look past the blemishes . If they are able to grow past some serious service issues and a couple of quality kinks, Burger Kitchen may be worthy of a second review.

Rating...4 Bites  really 3 1/2 Bites, because of the staleness of the bun and the connective tissue in the beef.

In fairness, Burger Kitchen did get back to us via Yelp. Daniel at Burger Kitchen indicated that they took our comments to heart, and that they have made improvements in the following areas:

The skewers are now dry.
The have organized the dining area into sections, and they now assign servers to those sections.
They have created a better ordering plan to insure that ingredients are on hand.
They have a new inventory and portion control system.
I will re-review, since the burger fundamentals of sear, seasoning, grind, blend, etc. were all in place.