L.A. "Day 3"...K.C. BBQ Co, Canter's Deli, etc

I recently spent 8 days in L.A. in early Oct. 2008.
To (finally!) continue onwards with my reports, here's OCT 7th
(at this rate I should be done by Easter!)

The KANSAS CITY BBQ Co, North Hollywood, CA, (San Fernando Valley)

It's on Magnolia Blvd, just east of Vineland..(near Universal Studios

3 item combo, BEEF RIBS, BRISKET, and brisket BURNT ENDS


I was very pleased with my beef ribs!!! It sounds like it will be a miracle if I even find a beef rib place in Tampa/St. Pete (my upcoming trip), let alone beef ribs that are THIS good!

(smoked nicely, and real crispy and meaty) It will be my mission to find at least ONE place in Tampa/St. Pete that does beef ribs!
There's gotta be ONE, right?!? (besides Friday's only at Jay-mers)

I asked for "heavy on the beef ribs", lighter on the brisket, hence I got an extra 3rd rib...(I threw him a few bucks; money talks)
The regular brisket was decent enough, just not outstanding to me...
I did not care for the burnt ends; I think I'm going to stop ordering them, as I had them once before somewhere else, and it was the same style...small little shreds, just not what I was expecting!

PINKS HOT DOG line.. I did not indulge this time..


Next stop, CANTER'S DELI, Fairfax Ave....since 1948

IMO, this and Langers are the closest things L.A. has to a NY deli

HEY, LEETHE BARD, where are you?!?
You're almost always the 1st one to respond to my reports!!!!
And I'm about halfway done now; about the time for you to comment!!

PASTRAMI from CANTER'S DELI

I really liked their pastrami; I'm glad I gave them another chance, as I have some vague memories of not liking it too much the one time I tried it years back. They claim they cook it right in the store.
I LOVED their rye bread!! Nicely seeded, with a crunch crust!
( a lot like Harold's Deli in NJ)
I noticed that the following week they were having 60 cent sandwiches. I was going to be in Vegas by then, anyway...
(during the time I was in L.A., Phillippes French Dip had 15 cent sandwiches for their anniversary. People waited a few hours in line for them. Time is money, and I'd rather just pay normal price, and avoid those kind of crazy promotion days.

Here's the view ACROSS the STREET from Canter's (Hebrew signage, etc

Canter's is right down the street from the Farmers Market/and the newer part called The Grove.. an AMAZING place on 3rd and Fairfax!!

INSIDE Canter's..I took out some bakery items, and some pastrami for
my buddy Arnie..(who I was staying with) He enjoyed it, too...
of course, we both agreed it was still not as good as the Carnegie.


Next stop, the Century City Mall (Westfield company owned)
It's a few miles west of Beverly Hills..
I don't do SUSHI, but I took this pic for YOU, WANDERING JEW...!
I know how much you love your Sushi and Smoothies when in L.A. !

The mall moved their food court and made it extra stylish .
Compete with real plates , plus indoor and outdoor seating..
I like the new food court, but at the same time, I miss the homey older one!

They had "ELLEN" BILLBOARDS all over this mall!


STYLISH, CUTTING EDGE food court, CENTURY CITY MALL, L.A.

I got a ROAST BEEF SANDWICH from LAWRY'S CARVERY

LAWRY'S CARVERY, the casual counter version

The sandwich was hard to chew and had wierd texture..(fatty, stringy) And as those Catksill resort customers used to say "And the portion was too small!!"

Then I went to my friend Sue's house...she's a poker dealer at Hollywood Park Casino, where I used to work..
She took me to a Chinese massage place where we had a full body massage. (she used to take me to the Thai massage places, until she said they got too expensive, cause they got too mainstream and trendy

PRICE we paid: Quite a steal at $15.00 an hour!! (not a typo!!) We booked 2 hours, and got out of there for about $45.00 each, including tips.
This place is on Valley Blvd, in SAN GABRIEL

If you look closely, you can see the Chinese massager guys sitting outside waiting for customers...

Then she took me out for Chinese food after...
SAM WOO'S, San Gabriel (there are about 5 or 6 locations around L.A.)

As Baah Ben and Twinwillow both know, I don't do justice to authentic Chinese food.
So, I ended up just having KUNG PAO CHICKEN !
(I'm sure you were not expecting much more from me, though!)
My friend had some sort of WHITE SOUP!...
I'm sure you guys know what it is better than I would

If there was any consolation, I really enjoyed that Kung Pao Chicken, much more than I expected!

ooops sorry Ellen....here i am...great report.....I would have waited on that Pinks line just to see how they compare to our Jersey dogs....bet they're over rated!!!!!!!...oh and thanks for your report...great as usual!!!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

ooops sorry Ellen....here i am...great report.....I would have waited on that Pinks line just to see how they compare to our Jersey dogs....bet they're over rated!

There you are, Lee, right on schedule! You are amazing!!!
Many people have mixed feeling about Pink's, but count me in as one who really LIKES Pinks Hot Dogs...(they use the Hoffy brand)

However, one can still get the same Pink's hot dog at a cart at the Hollywood Park Casino, (where I used to work)...only 3 miles from LAX
(and no line for the hot dog, either!)

Don't two women own Pink's? Boy, even Rutt's Hutt doesn't have a line like that $$$$$. Are the dogs that good? I know they have all sorts of toppings. Ellen, do you know if that's an all beef dog? Natural casing? I'm wondering what hot dog it most compares to back East?

I wonder if John Fox has ever had a Pink's dog?

Great pictures as usual. Where's Randy Newman? Pastrami looked ok

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

Ellen, do you know if that's an all beef dog?

Where's Randy Newman?

YES, Pink's does use all beef hot dogs.
That's the only question I'm able to answer, however.
John Fox and others, need you to pinch hit now!

Re: Randy Newman....as in the "I Love L.A." song?!? I love that song!

Ellen, glad you finally got to Cantor's. Seeing your report from there brought back cool memories from 40 years ago. That neighborhood was "Jewish" back then as well.
Re: Pinks. Believe me, you didn't miss anything except bragging rights. Re: Sam Woo BBQ. There's a Sam Wo on Mott Street in NYC. Probably not related.
Really glad you had a fun trip to Los Angeles. It's one of my favorite cities. For many, many reasons. Not least is that my folks are buried in Hollywood.

quote:

Originally posted by Twinwillow

Ellen, glad you finally got to Cantor's.
Re: Pinks. Believe me, you didn't miss anything except bragging rights.

It had been a long while since I'd been to Canter's, so I figured it was time to give them another chance...(glad I did! It was very good for "California pastrami"!)

Re: PINKS.... actually, I've been there a good amount of times before.. I should've worded my Trip Report sentence to reflect that, by saying :
"I did'nt indulge this time, cause I'd been there enough times before"

BAAH BEN, you asked what PINKS dog tastes like. IMO, it tastes like a Sabrett's....

I like Pinks. Living in the area I've been there many, many times.

I don't know how to compare the tastes of hot dogs but I know what I like and don't like. (Don't like Shofer's -- too salty)

Pink's is not outstanding. It's just good and consistant. With Tail 'o the Pup gone there isn't a good place to get a hot dog in LA.

With all of their topping choices it makes it interesting. I keep it simple though. One with mustard and onions and the other with mustard chili and onions. Always great.


Ellen, did you get any soup at Canter's? The last time I was there remains a joke with me and my mother.

You want carrots in your soup? That will be a dollar.

You want chicken in your chicken soup? $2.00

Everything was extra.

Hi Ellen!

It looks like you had more food fun in L.A. Congrats on finding some good BBQ beef ribs! That is a pretty slick looking mall food court. I wish that I'd have had time to explore more asian foods out there.

If you don't mind, I am posting a picture of a Pink's dog for Baah Ben:



Baah Ben: It is an all-beef, natural-casing Hoffy-brand hot dog. I found them mild, but by no means a "bologna" dog. They are said to be specially made for Pink's. They have been selling their chili dog for a loooong time, and the dog, chili, onions and roll seem to come together well.

I haven't been to Pinks, but have spoken with people from New Jersey who are familiar with our hot dogs who have been there. Their dog is an all beef natural casing frank that I believe is heated in water (boiled or steamed), though I could be wrong about that. It is Hoffy brand which was described to me by several people. Opinions ranged from average, run of the mill to mediocre. Remember, this is coming from people who grew up eating hot dogs in Jersey. I also heard overrated a lot. My guess is that it is an average dog from a place that gets a lot of publicity because of its location in LA and the fact that it's near the movie studios and a lot of actors eat there. I can't really have a definitive opinion of this dog until I taste one for myself.

I do know that they make the common claim that their dog is specially made for them. This is FALSE. As it is over 90% of the time. About 5 years ago I spoke with someone who opened a hot dog restaurant in Texas. He wanted a quality beef dog. He sampled beef dogs from all over. He finally sttled on one from N.J., although he wouldn't tell me which. He did tell me many of the brands that he sampled and what he thought of them. His second choice was Dietz and Watson beef franks from Philly. He tried Hoffy and thought they were bland. He was also told by someone from the company that he would be using the same recipe franks that were used by Pink's. So much for their claim that the dogs are specially made for them. Someone else from California familiar with the company told me that Hoffy's has just one recipe, though several sizes.

I can't get over the many people in the hot dog business who blatantly lie about their dogs being made specially for them. I know that they do it so that the customer thinks that they are getting a unique dog, but it's dishonest and I don't like it.

Geez Ellen, you're like a dog chasing it's tail. At this rate you will never catch up on all of your trip reports unless you take a vacation from taking trips.

Ellen - I cannot believe you had Chinese food! That soup looks like it might be velvet chicken corn soup? Next time try one of those little red peppers....Just kidding. Good pictures!

John - We never told customers our hot dogs (Sabrette 6 to 1's - natural casing) were made for us, but we did tell them they came in from "out of town." And, we never revealed the brand. You'd be surprised how many customers asked.

When the delivery would come off the refrigerated 18 wheeler from NJ, I'd have two of my employees move fast as hell to get them down the ramp into the basement hoping nobody would see. And when we discarded the packing boxes, I always had the guys black out the name and meat packing plant. Talk about senseless paranoia.

For some strange reason, I thought sosmeone else would start shipping them in, too. But "frankly" they were so expensive in relationship to the selling price at that time (67 cents to a sales price of $1.88 plus tax)that few would bother. I also got requests to buy them in bulk. But, I did not do that. To those who did not want to pay $2 for a hot dog in the late 80's - early 90's, they'd remind us they could get 3 for a dollar at Sheetz.

When I saw the special on Pink's (that's where I saw the two women)I didn't see any hot dogs sitting on a griddle a la Nathan's. MiamiDon - Franks for the picture. Looks like a pretty good dog.

Silver Star, a local meat company in Pittsburgh made the Original's hot dog and they came into our place to try to sell us the "same" hot dog. I don't ever recall hearing that the Original's were made especially for them, but they surely could have said it if they'd wanted to..They sold a lot of hot dogs for a very long time. In hindsight, we probably should have used Silver Star's, too. Would have walked away with a bit more money in our pockets when we sold the place.

Do you think Papaya King says their hot dogs are specially made for them? At one time, I believe that was the same hot dog we used (Marathon Industries) except their's were 10 to a pound. Looks like Pink's might be 8 to a pound? Looks like a pretty good dog.

quote:

Originally posted by mar52
Ellen, did you get any soup at Canter's?
You want carrots in your soup? That will be a dollar.
You want chicken in your chicken soup? $2.00
Everything was extra.

That's pretty tacky! Espescially for soup...
I love a good matzoh ball soup, or split pea soup (no ham)
but I was so busy thinking "pastrami", that I neglected to order soup

Hey, MIAMI DON , I can always count on you for adding a little color to my Trip Reports! Now you've got me in the mood for a good hot dog!

BAAH BEN: It was'nt MY idea to go for the Chinese food; however my friend is Asian (Thai), and she's not really a burger/hot dog kind of girl... although back in 1992, when we worked at the Bicycle Club Casino out there, she did experience her first burger ever hanging with me.. she had just moved here from Thailand a few years previous

quote:

Originally posted by John A

At this rate you will never catch up on all of your trip reports unless you take a vacation from taking trips.

I hear you, John! Cause I've still got 5 more days of L.A. to do, plus 8 days of Vegas! (and mostly it's "one day at a time" reporting)

Plus, I'll be going to Tampa next month for even more "material"

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

MiamiDon - Franks for the picture. Looks like a pretty good dog.

Yeah, FRANKS for the picture, Miami Don! You just coined a new term, Baah Ben! Franks! franks again!
(just like I coined the "meat up" phrase!!!)

Although my preference is a nice garlicky all beef dog, (like the Empire brand at the Ben's Best Deli in Rego Park, NY)
I still find that the Pink's Hoffy brand has enough beefy flavor for me. I did not find them too mild...
If anyone is looking for an EXTRA MILD dog, the one at STINKY DOGS in Daytona was the most mildest I've ever had in my life!!
(too mild for my own personal tastes, anyway)
(although I loved their chili , which I had on the side)

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

quote:

Originally posted by John A

At this rate you will never catch up on all of your trip reports unless you take a vacation from taking trips.

I hear you, John! Cause I've still got 5 more days of L.A. to do, plus 8 days of Vegas! (and mostly it's "one day at a time" reporting)

Plus, I'll be going to Tampa next month for even more "material"

Maybe you should start one endless thread, "Travels with Ellen".

quote:

Originally posted by MiamiDon

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641

quote:

Originally posted by John A

At this rate you will never catch up on all of your trip reports unless you take a vacation from taking trips.

I hear you, John! Cause I've still got 5 more days of L.A. to do, plus 8 days of Vegas! (and mostly it's "one day at a time" reporting)

Plus, I'll be going to Tampa next month for even more "material"

Maybe you should start one endless thread, "Travels with Ellen".

Now that's an idea. RF Admin should consider conducting a poll along those lines.

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

Ellen - I cannot believe you had Chinese food! That soup looks like it might be velvet chicken corn soup? Next time try one of those little red peppers....Just kidding. Good pictures!

John - We never told customers our hot dogs (Sabrette 6 to 1's - natural casing) were made for us, but we did tell them they came in from "out of town." And, we never revealed the brand. You'd be surprised how many customers asked.

When the delivery would come off the refrigerated 18 wheeler from NJ, I'd have two of my employees move fast as hell to get them down the ramp into the basement hoping nobody would see. And when we discarded the packing boxes, I always had the guys black out the name and meat packing plant. Talk about senseless paranoia.

For some strange reason, I thought sosmeone else would start shipping them in, too. But "frankly" they were so expensive in relationship to the selling price at that time (67 cents to a sales price of $1.88 plus tax)that few would bother. I also got requests to buy them in bulk. But, I did not do that. To those who did not want to pay $2 for a hot dog in the late 80's - early 90's, they'd remind us they could get 3 for a dollar at Sheetz.

When I saw the special on Pink's (that's where I saw the two women)I didn't see any hot dogs sitting on a griddle a la Nathan's. MiamiDon - Franks for the picture. Looks like a pretty good dog.

Silver Star, a local meat company in Pittsburgh made the Original's hot dog and they came into our place to try to sell us the "same" hot dog. I don't ever recall hearing that the Original's were made especially for them, but they surely could have said it if they'd wanted to..They sold a lot of hot dogs for a very long time. In hindsight, we probably should have used Silver Star's, too. Would have walked away with a bit more money in our pockets when we sold the place.

Do you think Papaya King says their hot dogs are specially made for them? At one time, I believe that was the same hot dog we used (Marathon Industries) except their's were 10 to a pound. Looks like Pink's might be 8 to a pound? Looks like a pretty good dog.

Baah Ben,

I fully understand someone who owns a hot dog establishment refusing to divulge the brand used. To most people it does not matter. To some like me, it does. And I do remember you telling me in the past about how the owners of the Original wandered into your place curious about your dogs. I'm sure your Sabrett dog was superior to the Siver Star brand. It's a tough decision as a business owner to use a cheaper dog and have a higher profit margin, or a more expensive dog, charge more for it, and hope your customers appreciate the difference. If you used Silver Star, you would have not stood out. From what I remember, you sold your store at a profit, the people who bought from you began using Sabrett, switched to the less expensive Silver Star, and eventually went out of business.

I appreciate the hard work and tough decisions that restaurant owners have to make. I approach the subject as a consumer and hot dog lover. I want to know what I'm eating. It never hurts to ask, so I do. Some people tell me, some don't. I respect those who want it a secret and I understand why. I've mentioned it before and won't get into too much detail here, but there is a butcher in N.J., that makes exceptional hot dogs. He sells to about 50 different establishments including delis, other butchers, and stores. The franks are unlabelled. People, including myself, have travelled far to get these dogs. If everyone knew who made these dogs and all the places they were available, they probably would seek out a place closer to where they live to get them and the particular place they bought them from would lose their business.

I would say to either disclose the brand or state that you want it to remain unknown. Don't lie to me and say the dogs are made special for you when they aren't or say that you get them from out of state when you don't. Baah Ben, I wouldn't consider what you did senseless paranoia at all. You were in a location where your dogs weren't available or common, you served something no one else had that stood out. If a competitor found out what you used, he could serve the same dogs and advertise the fact. It could have hurt your business.

I didn't intend to make a lengthy post here, so please indulge me. Close to 2 years ago, a place opened in Newburgh, N.Y. serving exceptional hot dogs and hamburgers. Some of us from Roadfood went, enjoyed the dogs, and asked where they were from. The owners only said that they were from a Provision Company in Connecticut. They seemed to enjoy reading our posts in which we speculated on the brand. I went up there looking to see if I could recognize the brand, since I've sampled more than a few hot dogs from CT. After the long trip, I had to use the restroom. This was before I had even ordered. I went through a door, down a hallway, into a room I thoght led to the bathroom. It was a kitchen area where I found packages of the dogs that were used at this restaurant. They were clearly labeled and weren't from CT. When I tasted them, it reinforced what I saw with my own eyes. I would have went crazy if I didn't actually see the packages because my taste would have told me what the dog was, only it wasn't a Conn. dog. I didn't tell the owners that I saw the packages. When asked what I thought the dogs were, I told them. They couldn't believe it and told me they would never use those dogs. On a subsequent vist, one of the owners brought up the subject again (I would have left it alone). Again I told him the brand he used and he denied it. I was willing to bet him a lot of money, but he wisely refused.

Papaya King definitely calims that their hot dogs are made specially for them by Marathon (Sabrett) and even include an extra ingredient. Again, this is FALSE! I've went into detail on Roadfood in the past concerning this. Let me try and give you the short version. Years ago I bought a 5lb package of Papaya King dogs with their own label. I contacted several Sabrett distributors asking if I could buy these same dogs. I was told that I could and for half of what I paid. I was told that Papaya King, and Gray's Papaya use the same 10 to a lb natural casing dogs. Katz's uses a slightly larger dog, but the same recipe. I didn't know whether to believe it or not. Then I spoke to 2 people who are absolutely in a position to know, including a big shot at Marathon who thought that I was opening my own place (because I stated that I wanted info on buying dogs similar to Papaya King's). I was told that Sabrett makes 2 recipes. All beef and beef/pork. The beef/pork dog is used at the Hot Grill, Windmill, and Callahan's before they closed. It's too labor intensive to make a special recipe for each customer and Sabrett refuses to do it. This guy went into detail and said Papaya King makes their claims, but they use the regular 10 to a lb with NO extra ingredient. You can get either recipe dog with or without casing and in varying sizes. But everyone who uses, buys, or serves an all beef Sabrett is getting the EXACT SAME RECIPE DOG!

I've posted about this here and on other sites. Someone whose sister is a reporter at Fox News contacted me and asked if I would be willing to reveal this information for a piece that they would be doing. I agreed, but they wound up not doing the piece for fear of a lawsuit from Papaya King. A few years later Ed Levine of the New York Times contacted me for information about New York Hot Dogs. I gave him all the information for an article he wrote. He mentioned that all of the New York places that claim their dogs are made for them are using Sabrett. But he did believe Papaya King's claim that they have a special ingredient added. It was a good article that I'll find a link for.

Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/25/dining/25dogs.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=%22Ed+Levine%22&st=nyt

John - you're the best! You speak from the heart when it comes to your love of hot dogs. I always enjoy reading your comments..the more the better! And thanks for remembering my story. Ok, I'll hijack this post just a bit more. Perhaps others are interested..maybe not.

Before I opened the restaurant, I spent a good 6 months getting it together. The menu, recipes converted to quantity production, pricing, blueprints, the kitchen plans, etc. I went to Marathon and Thumans plants. Got lots of samples. Both were very acciomodating. I had to make a huge decision..bring a NJ deep fried hot dog to Pittsburgh (Thuman's) or a griddle dog. I'd spent so much time at the Dirty O studying their operation. They had a all beef natural casing dog. So I had Marathon's nat casing all beef dog, a beef and pork griddle variety from Thumans and their deep fried dog.

I had about 25 friends in Pittsburgh taste all of them. I deep fried and griddled. Then, I brought the same taste test to the offices of my landlord, who gave me the $150,000. He'd lived in Pittsburgh all his life and I valued his opinion. He was a real rough guy; a produce guy. But, he knew that city and what people liked to eat. He told me to get girls with big breasts to serve at the counter. My wife went bullsh_t. Anyway, we did a taste testing for him and his entire office staff and waited for their opinions. They chose the Marathon...they loved that hot dog. The deep fried hot dog was just too risky.

Incidently, the first order of 1000 lbs arrived in Pittsburgh(COD)and they were all in cyrovac packages (Thumans does the same) and were supposed to have a refrigerated shelf life of 6 weeks. After around a month, we'd open packages and the dogs had green shiny spots..Not all of them, but enough. Marathon agreed to replace them..It happened again. They said ok, but no more. So, we started to freeze them. That's the story behind why we chose Marathon and not Thuman's.

Bonus points for a trip report that includes a 2 hour full body massage!!!

My Nanny called any/every relaxing experience, a schvitz. A manicure, massage, as well as trip to the schvitz, itself.

My favorite schvitz happens in your area. Atlantic City!! I will be going to Caesars, for a few nice relaxing days, in December. A trip to the Qua Baths & Spa, should do the trick!!

John Fox and, Baah Ben, Very interesting posts by you both. John, I found your post especially interesting and very informative. I learned something here tonight. Thank you, both.

Ellen, I love Lawry's. However, I never knew they had a fast food restaurant, in a food court. Only in LA!

Laughing at Schvitz. Schvitzing certainly isn't relaxing unless you're in a sauna.

You apparently forgot to post the picture of your Thai friend in a bikini. I looked and looked, but can't seem to find it anywhere.

LOL TTM

quote:

Originally posted by mar52

Laughing at Schvitz. Schvitzing certainly isn't relaxing unless you're in a sauna.

Yeah, I thought it meant "to sweat."

quote:

Originally posted by ellen4641


I don't do SUSHI, but I took this pic for YOU, WANDERING JEW...!
I know how much you love your Sushi and Smoothies when in L.A. !

Why thank you...

It seems based on your photos you went to a very different part of LA than I did...When I was there I spent most of my time in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, Westwood and Ventura Blvd (Sherman Oaks/Studio City) these areas were proliferated with Sushi Bars, Smoothie Shops, Juice Bars, Taco Stands and Vegetarian Joints, all of which I consider to be authentice genuine LA Roadfood. I took one photo of a burger joint (I think it was Fatburger and I didn't eat there) and honestly it was the only burger joint I saw on the entire trip

quote:

Originally posted by The Travelin Man

You apparently forgot to post the picture of your Thai friend in a bikini. I looked and looked, but can't seem to find it anywhere.

Actually, Sue WILL be appearing in my NEXT L.A. Report! Day 4 & 5.
Stay tuned! And our other friend, Jennifer, a cute Japanese gal is with us! Readership may really go up now for my upcoming L.A. report!
(I hung out them a few days later at Sue's house for a BBQ.)
Wish I could say I had a BIKINI shot of her, cause she does a have real cute figure, you'll see! (Don't know how she stays so thin! Guess she does'nt do those buffalo wings and messy burgers like I do!)

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew
It seems based on your photos you went to a very different part of LA than I did...When I was there I spent most of my time in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, Westwood and Ventura Blvd (Sherman Oaks/Studio City) I took one photo of a burger joint it was the only burger joint I saw on the entire trip

I drove all over the place in the L.A. area, (8 days in L.A.!) including all those areas you mentioned (those are among my favorites, as well!)

Went to the Counter Burger in Santa Monica (it's the original), and that's coming up in my Day 6 Report. I conquered "Fresh and meaty Burgers" in Inglewood in my Day 1 report.

I cruised by lots of other burger places; plenty of Steve's Burgers, Jim's Burgers, Ynot Burgers in Torrance, (as in "why not"), Louis Burgers in Venice, Mel-O Burger, Master Burger, Habit Burger on Ventura Blvd in Encino, etc, etc.