Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Thanks to everyone for commenting. Of course, "best of's" or "favorite" lists are bound to spark some controversy, but we've all fallen victim to those search terms when seeking out a a meal.

@jimmyjojo - you are welcome. I too don't find Father's Office a revelation as many others have, but more than that I find my colleague Nick summed it up best in his review of the place. It doesn't really qualify as a burger for this kind of a list.

@ChefJeffSD - Certainly Apple Pan is a classic eatery, but it's just not the kind of quality to warrant a mention here in the top five.

@Paula Maack - So glad that you enjoyed the list. Comme Ça is certainly a treat. Make sure your visit is a lunchtime one. Last I checked there's no burger available at dinner.

@simonmarkley - I understand your sentiment, but see above for my take on it.

@WikiAdam - You did recant, but you shouldn't have. I'd certainly hold these five up to FO and Applepan any day. No need to apologize for being passionate about burgers. I certainly am.

@Nebagakid - You are not alone in your love of Umami. I'm not on the bandwagon with it being the definitive new Los Angeles burger, but it's certainly part of the conversation about the best.

@sinosoul - Well, first off. So sorry to have lost you. A few quick things about your comment:

Comme Ça uses iceberg on its burger and while I don't find that it enhances it (I prefer mine sans lettuce) certainly that isn't a limp weed. Also - I think you put some stock in Jonathan Gold, his opinion, and a mention he made of you... I think he might agree with me on this one.

Umami is certainly full of schtick, but the grind is superior and I simply disagree about the meat to bun ratio.

As for my taste for Pie N Burger and what it has to say of my travels and where I get "grilled" burgers... Two things about that: First off, Pie N Burger is griddled so it would never be classified as a "real grilled burger."

Secondly, I have indeed made it south of 105... I reviewed a burger in Redondo Beach just a couple of weeks ago. It was really good, and like Mom's in Compton, is south of the 105. Another thing a burger in Redondo has in common with burger Compton? Neither is actually in Los Angeles so they wouldn't qualify for this list.

As for the other three you mentioned. All are good, but, would occupy the bottom half of my top ten. Again, sorry to have lost you.

@iheartcheese - Thanks for having my back. I appreciate it to be sure. That said, I know I am tapped to have an opinion and that means folks are gonna get riled up when they disagree. I guess I would say: I see my role here as not simply some arbiter, but rather, someone with a practiced and thought through method for forming his opinion and (hopefully) the skills to communicate it in a way that entertains and helps folks determine if they'd like to try a particular burger.

@mangabanga - Thanks so much for the support. I know not everyone will agree with me, but I did labor over my determinations.

@iheartcheese: You're absolutely right, iheartcheese. I am totally guilty of skipping past the word "favorite," and instead inserted "best" in its place, believing this to be a definitive list of L.A.'s best burgers instead of just Damon Gambuto's personal picks. Forgive my rash response!

Just lost a LA reader. Comme Ca has limp weeds for greens, Umami's a lousy shtick with too much bun and aholes for servesr. A person who enjoys Pie N Burger has never traversed south of the 105 for a real grilled burger (Mom's, The Burger Stand, Master's, etc.) That leaves Rustic Canyon. Hey, that's great, but it doesn't rectify leaving out Bar Marmont, 25 Degrees, or Beacon, etc.

I know everyone's got their opinion of what makes a great burger, but I have to agree with some of the other comments here. You cannot write this list without including Father's Office and Apple Pan. Without them, the list is irrelevant.

Boy oh boy... I'm glad I already made my reservation for Comme Ca (based on your previous review, at that). Looks like they are about to be deluged.

Rustic Canyon sounds great and is on my list.

I do like Umami Burger, but their condiments are a bit weird, and their non-sweetened beverage options are non-existent. They have a nice grind, though. I loved their Pork Belly Burger, and miss it. A lot. They kinda lost me when they switched up their pork burger. I'll probably be back when it returns to the menu.

Meanwhile, I am looking forward to Comme CA. Thanks for the great rec's!

Well first of all I was excited to eat at Bobby Flays place so I had high expectations but that shouldn't a affect my review. I ate at the Lake Grove restaurant. I ordered a blue burger medium rare, a dark chocolate shake and onion rings. The burger was actually raw! and the bottom half of the roll was not usable because it was saturated and I was unable to pick it up. I sent the burger back and this time I got one that was well done. They can't seem to get the cooking process right. Even that bottom half of the roll was wet. The shake was nothing more than ice cream stirred up to be soft, it was too thick to drink, and surprisingly for that price ($5.00) it was pretty small. The onion ring order was also small for the price and not so great, not crunchy or that tasty, rather bland. I have to say for the value, the whole meal was definitely not worth the price and the atmosphere was very cold and uninviting. I will definitely not be visiting this place again and I will not recommend this place to anyone either. I can honestly say that burger king is better than this place. Sorry Bobby, I think you better visit this location and straighten out your good name.

Eli's comment about Star Wars shows what an imbecile he is. The only important thing she's ever done? Uh, jackass...ever hear of The Professional? Tool...

Ummmmm, when that chick made that comment about pebbles boyfriend being bam bam and being "big and strong" and "carrying her around by the hair" I melted like putty I am in love with her.

What drove me nuts was that they criticized a couple of people for not having any protein or heft to their dishes, when even Kevin's (which, by the way, looked absolutely delicious) didn't contain anything other than vegetables. No protein, no starch. I love vegetarian food, but these were all side dishes.

Were there additional constraints that got edited out or something? I feel confused and unsatisfied, like when I haven't eaten enough at lunch.

Not a big Mike Isabella fan but that he went home before Robin is insane. I am sure that Robin is a lovely person in real life but she is so far out of her element here that it's frustrating to watch.

I think one of Mike's biggest mistakes was to keep referring to his leeks as "protein". I totally understand what he was trying to do but he should have changed direction the minute he realized that his leeks were not working.

I cannot believe that only one chef used grains. .. polenta, farro, couscous, etc. would have been wonderful to see. I think they just had one sharp focus and when that changed, they all just lost it.

Really disappointed with what every one made. . .seemed like amateur hour. Except for Kevin. . except that his plate was brown on brown with dark green.

It's interesting that we're talking about this. Portman just wrote an essay for the Huffington Post in which she says this batshit crazy thing:

"I say that Foer's ethical charge against animal eating is brave because not only is it unpopular, it has also been characterized as unmanly, inconsiderate, and juvenile. But he reminds us that being a man, and a human, takes more thought than just 'This is tasty, and that's why I do it.' He posits that consideration, as promoted by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore's Dilemma, which has more to do with being polite to your tablemates than sticking to your own ideals, would be absurd if applied to any other belief (e.g., I don't believe in rape, but if it's what it takes to please my dinner hosts, then so be it)."

Until now I was getting very sick of hearing Anthony Bourdain's seemingly constant tirade against vegetarians, but basically equating meat eaters to rapists is ridiculous and I'll take Bourdain's shit talking any day.

You can read the rest here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/natalie-portman/jonathan-safran-foers-iea_b_334407.html

I was kind of shocked at the lack of protein on most of the dishes the chefs produced...just Eli's little dab of lentils, and a few garbanzo beans on Robin's plates (and not even all of them!) Over on Bravo's web site, Gail's blog says that the chefs were *encouraged* to use things like eggs, beans, grains, etc. and she was puzzled why most of them did not. It was as though the chefs were all so thrown by the challenge that they just had vegetable tunnel vision.