Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I went last week, and whiule I was a skeptic beforehand, I'm now a believer. I think this is on the very short list for best burger in L.A (with the Kobe at Lucky Devil's being my other current favorite).

A couple of gripes:
1) As at Lucky Devil's (and Father's Office), the "pre-packaged" burgers get in the way. I frankly didn't want either the "Umami" burger OR the "SoCal" burger - but instead just a burger, medium rare, with cheese so as to be able to judge the burger on the taste of the base components, and not accessories. I felt compelled to order the SoCal burger, but next time I will request the butter lettuce, sauce, etc. to be left off. I don;t think they brought much to the table.

2) The fries, the fries, the fries. Maxcriden, your pictures indicate that at least for a little while they ventures away from the ultra-thick fries. I wish they had continued that experiment. I don't 4 or 5 "fries" that taste more like mashed potatoes with a crispy covering. This place really needs some version of traditional fries. Why is it such a problem? Not everything on the menu needs to be groundbreaking.

3) No wine and beer/corkage. I'm sorry, but the 5 dollar corkage needs to go if they're not going to have wine or beer available. If you're bringing a $40 bottle of wine to a steakhouse, which already has its own wine list, $5 corkage would seem like an excellent value, but this is a burger joint, and all I want is a glass or two of beer or wine. If I need to go across the streeet to buy a beer, I shouldn't have to pay an additional $5 to drink it. That's just ridiculous.

@Damon - where might I hit you up for such recommendations? I see no email link on the site. Thanks!

@mangabanga - I encourage a vibrant back and forth in the comments. ;)

@maxcriden - Glad you enjoyed your burger and I hope to live up to the devotion in the future. Feel free to drop me a line if you want some other LA recommendations.

Damon, are we allowed to tell other posters to shut up?

this is looks great! thanks for reporting. i gotta check it out. btw...i dunno about the place that was there before but i love korean tacos. have you tried a galbi taco? dont knock it til you try it.

Reporting back...I went on saturday night and it was so SO so incredible. My two friends really enjoyed it too - so buttery and rich, yet we all agreed that we could have had another. I got the Port/Stilton and they each had the Umami. I'll go back very soon. It was packed, but service was great. Wish we would have brought some wine like most of the other patrons. Oh, and I luv Damon's writing - back off ya'll :)

I wish I wasn't on the east coast, sounds like a great place.

@pthom: The So Cal burger was good, but not as good as the Umami burger..?

@Lorenzo,

Umami is imamu backwards. Imamu is Swahili for "spiritual leader". That should clear it up for ya.

So where does the umami come into play?

It's like calling your restaurant "Delicious Burger."

Ok, i gotta try this very very soon. I'm hearing good things about the onion rings too. Can't decide whether to go w/ the house burger or the Stilton. And how cool that the owner is on SE! Oh and someone please explain the kogi joke to themangiatoilgatto :)

I went there last night with three friends and we all agreed it was incredible. I had the SoCal burger and was completely floored from the first bite. It was really really really really good. From the first bite to the last morsel on my plate. I am not being hyperbolic. The burger is better than that Father's Office burger which is currently the populist king of gourmet burgers in Los Angeles. One friend got the SoCal and agreed, and the other got the 3xPork and insisted I try some, but I was too full.

That being said, I agree with the general feeling about the fries. They taste good, but are more steak fry-ish than burger place fries. It just goes against what I was expecting. Furthermore, while the homemade ketchup provides a good rich tomatoey flavor, I was expecting ketchup and not something as natural. However, the onion rings are nice and light and tasty (which I think are a new addition to the menu, which I took with me to boast).

Overall, considering they've been open for a month, the truly biggest grip I have is their parking lot is too small! I was still thinking about the meal up until I went to sleep and I cannot offer enough praise. Also, above, when I say what I was "expecting," I was not expecting the burger to be so good, but I was very pleasantly surprised. With the fries and ketchup, it was different and made me think about how it was different, rather than the burger which made me think about how AWESOME it was.

In a town where there are so many eating establishments that strive for mediocrity, it is always refreshing when a place attempts to be great and achieves it. I want to bath in umami (if that's possible).