I'm so stoked for today. We're going to some of the
best burger joints in LA. The cheeseburgers
specifically in this city, forgive me if I come off a bit hyperbolic, are the best in the world ever. OK, that's high praise, because I feel like London and New York have both brought the heat
in "Food Tours" so far. Joe: OK. Yes.
Harry: I know you're an honorary Angeleno. Joe: Yeah. We're going to be
going to some old-school places that have been here for a long time, and you'll see why when
you taste the great food. We're going to a couple of upstarts that are literally killing
the game right now, and we're going to maybe
a fancy-pants place or two to see how the other half lives. Regardless, every burger
you're going to have today is a little bit different, but no doubt, absolutely delicious. I've been looking forward
to this all month. Yeah, I really appreciate
the history side of food, and I know this is kind
of where some people say the modern cheeseburger was invented. I would say that, yes. So I'm excited to taste
it from the source, the original cheeseburger. We started it here, we perfected it here, and today we're going
to some dynamite places. Harry: Let's go. I'm excited. Joe: So, this first place
I've taken you today, Pie 'n Burger. What do they sell? Joe: Personally, I think
it should be Burger 'n Pie, but this is old-school,
classic diner vibes. The current owner started coming here when he was 9 years old, eventually started working here, worked his way all the way up,
and now it is his restaurant. Everything you see here,
preserved, authentic, has been here since
whenever it was put in here. Harry: Amazing, wow. I
thought for a second you said he started working here when he was 9, and I was like, American labor
laws are all over the place. But if he started coming
here when he was 9, that makes way more sense. And yeah, wow. I'm loving the
wood paneling. Old school. One of the grills looks like
it's been here for ages. Well, I am ready to
get some cheeseburgers. You want to order? Absolutely, yeah. What are we getting? We're getting two of the
classic cheeseburgers they got here. By the
way, they're going to have the lettuce, tomato, onion,
and Thousand Island dressing. It's so good. I can't believe it. Got some fries in the mix, and I'm going to get a slice of pie. Harry: We're at Pie 'n Burger. We gotta try the pie.
We gotta try the burgers. Let's go order. I'm excited. And I'm saying this now,
please pace yourself. Harry: OK.
Joe: OK? Pace yourself. Harry: I'm slowly learning
my lesson on that front. Joe: Fantastic.
Harry: I'm getting there. Server: All right, you guys.
Joe: Thank you. Harry: Thank you so much.
Server: You're welcome. Enjoy. Harry: OK, man, look at these! Joe: I made a judgment call. I went with the raw onion over grilled, and normally I don't like
a big stacked burger, but I make an exception for this one because everything on
this is so delicious. You got obviously lettuce,
tomato, onion, raw. You can see the Thousand Island
dressing that's dripping, pickles, and the
fantastically prepared burger. I think, like, because we just
went for the single burger, right, not the double? So there's actually not
too much meat in this, in the kind of ratio perspective. But I do think that
with all of this stuff, I like the wrapping because
then you bite into it and instead of all the stuff
just flying out the bottom, it's contained. Burger ingenuity right
here with the paper. You look really excited about this, so I think we should just give it a try. Cheers, man. It's got that great crunch
thanks to the lettuce and the tomato and the onion. Harry: Yeah, I think one
thing that stands out to me is the texture. You don't often get that
much crunch from a burger, but with the onion in there, the pickles in there,
the lettuce in there, it's a crunchy burger. I had some reservations about
how this had been assembled, but now that I taste it, now
that I feel the textures, it all kind of makes sense. Joe: Fantastic, right? It's a big burger too, right? They're feeding you here. This burger has probably not evolved, but at least withstood the test of time since the '50s or '60s, however long the restaurant's been here, so you know they're doing something right. Yeah, it feels very traditional.
It feels very classic. It matches the vibe in here
of, like, slightly old-school. They've taken something and, you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yeah, and not only is theirs not broke, they have perfected it here, I think. And I wouldn't let you escape without having a slice of pie. You got room for pie? Harry: Of course I do.
Always got room for pie. Joe: Yo!
Harry: Ooh, thank you. They've not skimped on the ice cream. Joe: Oh, my God. They put
a little ice cream on it, à la mode, as they call it. Did you just say "a
little" ice cream on this? This specifically is boysenberry, not to be confused with poisonberry, which we will not be
eating today, hopefully. Boysenberry dropped in the
'20s by my boy Rudolph Boysen. Combination. European
raspberry, European blackberry, a loganberry from here I think, a dewberry, a Drew Barrymore. Put them all together
and invented a new berry. Harry: In the UK, we might
not have a ton of fruit pies. Like, apple pie is
fairly common in the UK, or, like, apple crumble
is probably more popular. But I do love the hot-and-cold
contrast that you get when you put ice cream
on a pie or a crumble. So, did you say, this is what? So, à la mode, when you
see "à la mode" on a menu, is that just with ice cream? Joe: Uh, yeah. Harry: All right. We gotta try this. Joe: I'm in pie mode, sorry. Harry: Gotta try a delicious boysen. Mm. Come on. USA, baby. We got berries locked down. You wish this was over on your side. These berries are getting flagged
at Heathrow as contraband. They're never letting this into
your country. Too dangerous. Harry: It would blow
British people's minds. Joe: This hits the streets,
that's it. That's it. That's delicious. I want to
get a bit more of the pastry because most of that was
just the filling there. How do you invent a berry? I guess just cross-pollinations
and things like that. What? You know, you, like, cross-pollinate. So you need bees. Yeah, or you can do it
artificially, I'm assuming. So you've got all those
berries by each other, and then you're hoping, like,
a bee goes near all of them, and then does what? It's how pollination works, right? The bee goes in for the nectar. While it's in there, all the
pollen gets caught on it. Yeah. And then it flies to another
flower, collects more nectar. But how is he doing four? Does
the bee gotta hit all four? Maybe, yeah. Did he train bees? You're acting like this is a normal thing. This doesn't make any sense. Rudolph, his name's Rudolph Boysen. He can do whatever he wants. I love it here. I am a sucker for, like, a slightly old-school historical place. Does feel like you've stepped
slightly back in time. The food, while it might be traditional, is very, very tasty. Fantastic. Can't fool the food at all. Burger, it's just about as
classic as a hamburger gets, you know, but done well. I hear that we have more spots to hit. Joe: We do. So let's hit it. Harry: Let's go. Why did we just park next to
a freeway? Where are we going? The thing about LA, for
whatever reason, we like putting really important things
right on the sidewalk, and I got something
burger-related to show you. Check this out. Behold: a plaque
commemorating the exact spot where the cheeseburger was invented. I have some notes. Harry: Sure, go on.
Joe: OK. As you've noticed, we're
kind of by the expressway. Harry: Yep.
Joe: Now, I get — [cars passing by] Now, whoever this Lionel Sternberger is, and his name's Sternberger, first dude to put cheese
on a hamburger, 1924. Exactly 100 years. Harry: I think it's great that we have the invention of the cheeseburger, we have just highways with the biggest cars you've ever seen, and we have a credit union. I think this is like America just in one tiny, condensed location. What's going on, what the, with the burger right in
the middle of the paragraph? Like, who laid this out like this? Not one graphic designer was just like, "You know, we can just move it." What happened here? Graphic design is their passion, clearly. I really like it. I love that the guy who invented the cheeseburger
had "berger" in his name. It's a piece of history. We're at the source. Do you feel closer to the hamburger or the cheeseburger than ever? I kind of do. Harry: Yeah?
Joe: Yeah. I would've liked something
a little bit like a burger, like, fountain. Yeah? Think about how famous a cheeseburger is. One of the most iconic
dishes in the world, and it gets a tiny
plaque next to a highway. Yeah, I mean, they could maybe have gone a little bit more all-out for it, but I still appreciate it. If I worked here, I'd be
touching this every morning, like this is Anfield's sign. It should be shaped
like a — ah, let's go. Let's get out of here. All right, this is Goldburger. We're located in Highland Park. They also have a location in Los Feliz. Been here several years.
This place, fantastic. I could gush all day about
how much I love the food here. One thing that I think we
should note for this place, the burgers, 100% grass-fed beef. OK, nice. I will say that's
a weird thing to brag about because in the UK that's standard. I'm pretty sure all of
our beef is grass-fed. But in the US, you know, I know your standards
are a little bit lower, so I'm glad they're at
least matching the UK beef. So, our beef is, what,
mostly grain- and corn-fed? I guess. Like, food
pellets, random other stuff. But yeah, if they have the
option to do grass-fed, then I'm glad they're doing it. OK, well they're doing grass-fed here. Great stuff. So, here they do LA-style smashburgers. Those are the thin patties, man. The guy really gets in there. He has this stamp thing
to really make them thin that makes the edges nice and crispy. This might be my favorite
smashburger in all of LA, possibly the entire world.
That's right, I said it. We haven't even finished
the video yet, Joe. You've got to keep an open mind. Is LA, like, becoming the
spiritual home of the smashburger? I feel like that's much
more the style over here. They really are popping off here. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but smashburgers in LA, very popular. I feel like the ones
that we had in New York tended to be a bit
thicker, like diner style. But on average, if you
order a burger out here, is it going to be smashed? I wouldn't say on average,
but the smashburgers here, they're always, they're so thin, paper — you could write a note
on these smashburgers. Back in 2018, when Allen was
just doing this as a pop-up, this won best burger in
LA by LA Food & Wine. OK, so it's got some pedigree. Yeah. That's a great word. British buddy over here got pedigree. I mean, I could talk about
how great the burger is here all day, but why don't
you taste it and find out? Going to get us two of the burgers, the double-patty version, I think a curly fries, and some drinks. Harry: Sounds great.
Joe: Sound good? Harry: Absolutely. Joe: All right, stay right here. All right. Harry: Let's go. Joe: Thank you so very
much. That looks fantastic. Harry: These are beautiful! Joe: What'd I tell you about that paper? Look at that. Look at that.
Harry: That's paper-thin! Joe: I know. I feel
like I could fold it up and just throw it like an airplane. Harry: Looks like a cheesesteak. Joe: Also they have a house
aioli and mustard mixed together to make their own kind
of Dijonnaise, I guess. I like that, mustard on a burger. Underrated, I would say. Joe: Oh, absolutely.
Harry: Great condiment. I mean, I'm ready to go. Do you want to take a bite and then talk? I think we should get
it while it's hot, man. Joe: OK.
Harry: Oh, man. Joe: Just by the virtue of smashing it, it has such a profound
effect on the flavor. Harry: Mm-hmm. Joe: I think it's because
it's crispier edges, and with the cheese and
the sauce and the onions, it's just a different
combination of elements. Mm-hmm. When you smash it
that thin, these crispy bits around the side are almost caramelized. Yeah. There's a sort of almost
sweetness to them, which is incredible. It's a simple burger. Joe: Yeah. You can see in there, contrast to the other one we went to, it's just the meat, cheese, onions, and obviously some pickles
kind of stuck in there. Like, it really is just, you're
mainlining meat and cheese. Harry: Mm-hmm. Mm. Man. Joe: This sauce, this aioli
mustard they're making here, I mean, that's the secret weapon. I don't know if they sell that. Actually, don't sell it. Harry: No.
Joe: No, no, no, no, no. Keep that under lock and key. Harry: Yeah. It's so juicy.
How'd they get it so juicy? I thought to get it that
juicy, you'd have to kind of keep the patty kind of thicker, but the amount of juice that's coming off these thin
smash patties is incredible. Joe: And the bun is
holding it all down, right? Not falling apart. Still
pillowy, still fluffy. It's a fantastic burger. Harry: Yeah. You can tell
they've really thought about every component of this burger and how it's going to work together. Well assembled and really delicious. Joe: Awesome, right? Harry: Mm-hmm. Mm. Man. Also, the price is nice out
here, at all these places. This burger, they have a combo here. One of these burgers, fries,
and a drink for $16, I think. Harry: Yeah.
Joe: For a full meal. Harry: Yeah, that's
honestly really good value. That's a big portion, filling food, really, really tasty. I know New York's expensive. Everyone says New York's expensive. In my mind, I thought LA
would kind of be the same, but so far I've been pleasantly surprised. I guess maybe it depends
slightly on where in LA you are. Yeah, I think Rodeo
Drive this would be $70, but you'd get it when you'd buy, like, a Prada jacket or something. Yeah, stop off at Erewhon
for your groceries and then grab a burger on the way home. Yeah, this at Erewhon
would be, like, $115. It'd be impossible for every place we go to have specifically
the same type of burger. Already, you can see how this differs from the last place we were at. For me, today is all about just
showcasing some of the best, and although it isn't direct comparisons, you're getting kind of a
feel of all the different types of burgers you
can get out here in LA. Harry: Yeah. I think even toppings aside, like lettuce, tomato, onion, whatever, even just the way that
people are cooking the meat and the cheese and the
bread is wildly different. So it's hard to do a direct
comparison, like you say, but so far I've been
impressed by what we've had, and I'm intrigued to see where else they can take
the humble cheeseburger. How is this compared to
our London burger exploits? This is really good. I think in terms of smashburgers, that's much more of a
recent addition to London. They've only made their way over to us in the last couple of years, I think. And they are really catching on, but we're still getting there. This, I would say one of
the best smashburgers, if not the best smashburger I've ever had. Joe: Nice.
Harry: Mm-hmm. Yeah. So, suffice to say, we
would have no problem finishing this meal. No, I really want to. I'm having to physically restrain myself. But we have more burgers
to eat, and you need room. I know, I know. I'm trying to learn my
lesson from the past. Joe: All right, come on, let's go. Harry: So, I feel like so
far most of my time in LA has been spent in cars. Is that representative of the experience? I think so. Now, the city does get a bit of a bad rap
about being car-centric. It is more car-centric than not. There's a train here. There's plenty of buses. I find that the city has so
many great neighborhoods, but getting from one neighborhood
to the other is hard. But once you get into a good neighborhood, you're doing lots of walking. Sure. To be fair, like, London's
got great public transport, but even there, getting
from one part of town to another can be really annoying. I mean there's way worse
American cities, like Houston, where it's like, you gotta
drive to go everywhere. There's traffic pockets that are tough closer to the western part of the city, like in Hollywood and those areas. If you look at how the city's laid out, it's like, there's these huge mountains that you gotta go over to go
to Burbank, where you guys are. There's, like, one or
two expressways, so yeah, of course those are
going to be jammed, but, I don't know. It's not so bad. OK, dude, Oinkster, right? Good enough for Guy Fieri.
See the thing over there? Harry: I did, yeah. If it's good enough for him,
it's good enough for me. Joe: I was about to say. All right, this place, the
reason why I take you here is all the awesome burgers they have. They have a burger here
that has pastrami on it. Remember the pastrami
episode we did from New York? How could I forget the
pastrami from New York? This place flies through
pastrami. All right? They sell, from what I read online, 1,500 pounds of pastrami a week. Also, they got this, I'm
going to pronounce this wrong, ube shake. Ube?
Harry: Mm-hmm. Yeah, they have, it's one
of the specialties here. Fantastic. Some of the menu items, like
the ube shake, is kind of a nod to the owner's Filipino heritage. Harry: Oh, cool.
Joe: Yeah. I like the name. With a name
like The Oinkster, you know they're going to be pretty
serious about their meats. Joe: Absolutely. So, definitely want to
do the pastrami burger. Going to get another just
regular cheeseburger. Get, like, a baseline. And they do have a vegetarian burger that is sourced from
Burgerlords down the street. So I thought, try one of
those, see what you think. Cool, sounds great. All right, you hungry? I've got, still got some
room in the tank, yeah. The pacing-myself plan, kind of working.
Joe: We're figuring this out. Yeah, it's only taken
us, like, four seasons. Yeah, no. We're figuring it out. Harry: I can see a soda
machine over there. Are free refills still a thing in America? Because that's not a
thing we do in the UK. Yeah, it's always been a thing. I didn't know it wasn't a thing
until I left this country. That's quite nice. Joe: So you guys don't have that? No, we do not. If you get another cup of
soda, you're paying for it. Do you ever find yourself
getting to the end, be like, "Ah, I should have gotten a large"? I usually just play it
safe and order the large. Joe: Gotcha.
Harry: There's a couple of exceptions. Nando's lets
you refill your own drink. Wow, very nice. That's why Nando's is doing so well. Harry: Thank you.
Joe: Oh, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So, this is a Grimace shake. Did you have the Grimace shake? Harry: I did, yeah.
Joe: I never had it. So why don't you taste it
and tell me how close it is? Harry: OK, I will. It's so good. No way Grimace
shake tasted this good. No, yeah, this is way better. The Grimace shake was, like, the most artificial berry flavor you've ever tasted in your life. There we go, thank you. Server: The cheeseburger. Joe: Thank you. Harry: That's a crazy-looking burger. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. All
right, so we got the Royale. This is the one I was
talking about with pastrami, and also got us a regular, a cheeseburger. I mean, look at the size of it, right? Forgot to mention this
burger also has chili on it. Harry: Yep. You conveniently withheld
that information. Joe: Oops, and bacon. I have what I will say is an
above-average-sized mouth, and I don't think I can
get nearly all of this — Come on, I think you can do it. Come on. In one bite. I'm going to try. Oh, my God. Joe: This is, like,
how ridiculous is this? This is so great. The pastrami is incredible here, but with the bacon and the
chili, this is so incredible. Well, ridiculous is the
word that comes to mind. This is absurd! They've
been, like, generous with — oh, my God, look at the
juice just pouring off that. Joe: Yeah. You better believe it. Geez. Meat waterfall. Joe: Mm. Harry: They've been generous
with all of the toppings. So not only is there a
bunch of stuff in here, but all of it is in quite a healthy dose. Like, look at the pastrami! There's, like, a solid
inch of pastrami in there. I do think that while I've
enjoyed the individual components of this burger, I think this
is slightly too much for me. And it's just like, there's a lot going on with all the different flavors. Some of them are working together. I think the pastrami
and the burger is good. I think the addition
of the chili has maybe taken that slightly over the edge for me. OK, I could see that. Would you agree? No, but I could see why
you would think that. That's fair. I also just think, like,
particularly with the chili, when it's an ingredient
that's that wet and sloppy, quite difficult to eat without it just completely falling apart. And also, the pastrami is pretty juicy. It is, yeah. Very tasty. Again, everything in there is tasty. Just maybe scale it back slightly. I think we should try
the regular cheeseburger. Joe: Yeah. It's slightly more approachable. I can actually probably fit
all of this in my mouth, so. I'm going to take the pickles out. You've got to get with the
pickles at some point, man. This actually — This is so big. Harry: I'd say in terms of
the structure and assembly and ingredients, this
pretty closely represents the Pie 'n Burger one. Joe: Yeah, pretty close, yeah. Basically this is their version of that, with the Thousand Island,
the onions, lettuce, tomato. Joe: Mm. Dude. Right? Harry: Mm-hmm. It's fine to do a burger that's, like, a little bit out there,
a little bit crazy. But I think to earn the right to do that, you have to be able to do the basics well. Fantastically put, yeah. And they definitely are
doing the basics well. That's really, really tasty. Yeah. Man. Oh, man. Time to that wash that down with one of these bad boys. Mm. Happy birthday, Grimace. Stop it. I'm going to town on this
shake. This is so good, right? Harry: It is really good.
I'm trying to think of things to compare the flavor of ube
to, but it's really tough. I think there's obviously some
other stuff, like there's, like, vanilla in here, but the ube itself is giving quite an earthy, rich flavor. OK. The day's starting to hit me. That was really sudden.
I feel like you just — Yeah, yeah. I suddenly hit a wall, but I will power through it. So, Burgerlords, you can see right here, has a really great plant-based
burger that I love. And since they sell it here, I thought, we're not visiting Burgerlords, but we can try this patty here
just to see what you think. I think it's really great.
I really love Burgerlords. I go there a lot even
though I am not, clearly, a plant-based eater. But I like it a lot, and it's here, so thought you would try
it and see what you think. Absolutely, man. I'm open-minded. I like the collaboration between
the burger chains as well. I'm seeing a lot of,
like, pulses in there. A lot of what? Like, pulses. Pulses? Yeah. You don't have that?
Like, beans and pulses, grains and pulses.
Like, lentils and stuff. Oh. Harry: Mm. How good is that? Mm. Mm. I love it. I think it's so good. So flavorful, right? Mm-hmm. That's really
good. They haven't, like, gone full kind of fake meat. Joe: Right, correct.
Harry: It's more like they've just taken a bunch
of other delicious things and kind of crammed them all together. It's a really, really tasty mix. I'm getting quite a lot
of mushroom from that. Some lentils, some onions, some peppers. Joe: I love how you can get both of these under the same roof. Harry: Absolutely. Yeah, I think it's good that it's a space that, like you say, can cater to people who love meat and people who might not love meat or just want to reduce the
amount of meat they want to eat but don't want to compromise on flavor. Yeah, still want something to taste good. Come to The Oinkster. Well, good news. We've got one more place to go, and we're going to head there right now. After that, we are done. Mm-hmm. All right, one more.
Let's rally, and let's go. Harry: OK, we can do one more. Joe: All right, let's go. Harry: So, whereabouts are we now, Joe? Joe: OK, this is Father's Office
in the Downtown Los Angeles area of Los Angeles, California. Now, the distinction is there's three. There's another one in Culver City and I believe another one in Santa Monica. They have a fantastic
burger I want you to try. That's why we're here. And also they got a beer selection. Harry: I knew you had an ulterior motive for bringing us here, man. We've eaten lots of burgers.
I think we've earned a beer. I think we've earned a beer. And it's late enough to where my drinking isn't
uncomfortable for my coworkers. Yes. I mean, I could have started at 11. I could have cracked one
open at Pie 'n Burger. But society is all like, "You gotta wait till you're
not working anymore." I'd speak on behalf of
the rest of the crew when I say we appreciate your restraint. Yeah, where's my plaque? "On this spot, Joe Avella
restrained from getting drunk in the middle of the day." We'll get you a plaque next time. It's a plaque of me going
like this from a beer, like, "Mm, no," and it's right
in the middle of the type. We'll get you a plaque on a freeway next to a Wells Fargo or something. I like the vibe around downtown. It feels much more like a city. I feel like the other ones, we've been more in the sort
of neighborhood, I guess, areas of LA, whereas this one, yeah, we're kind of in the midst of things here. Actually, Father's Office
is one of the first drinking establishments
to completely ban smoking. They did it way before the
ordinance, like in 1991, and shout-out to them. Yeah, I'm not a smoker,
so I appreciate that. Joe: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Were you able to go into
pubs, as you call them, when you could still smoke inside of them? When I was little. I
wasn't of drinking age, but I used to occasionally go
into a pub with my parents. I smoked, and even I was
like, "We have to stop this. This is a nightmare." Yeah. So, we're getting the burger here. The Office Burger is one of
the signature menu items. This thing is supposed to be incredible. I personally have not had it yet, but I've heard nothing but great things. It was named the best burger in America by both the "Today" show
and Esquire magazine. In America? Not just in LA? Joe: Right.
Harry: Damn. And Esquire magazine. Remember magazines? I do, yeah. Those
physical newspaper things. We used to print out the internet, and you had to carry it with you, yeah. What a dumb idea. According to Yelp, it's
the best burger in LA. OK, so it's got the voice of the people backing this one, as
well as Esquire magazine. That's right. Esquire, print publication. Of course. We're covering all the bases here. That's a lot of praise. High expectations. Joe: Yeah. Dry-aged
beef, caramelized onions. I know you're a big onionhead. Harry: I am. Joe: Gruyère cheese,
applewood-smoked bacon, and arugula, and this one's on a soft roll. Harry: OK, interesting.
Joe: Sound good? Harry: Sort of a slightly fancier burger, maybe, than we've had so far today? Get a load of your
surroundings, my guy. Fancier. But you know what, the price isn't so bad. Harry: 21 bucks. So, not cheap. Harry: No. But upscale place. Yeah, I mean, I'll have to
wait and see, obviously, make my own call. But $21 for a burger of that pedigree, using the word pedigree again, I'm excited, and, yeah, I
don't think it's too bad. I think we should order. Joe: OK.
Harry: I also think we should take advantage of
their very wide beer selection. Joe: Yeah, what do you want to get? Harry: Some kind of lager, I think. OK, so we'll do two lagers
and two burgers. All right. Harry: Sounds great.
Joe: Brb. Server: Famous first.
Joe: Yes, please. Harry: Thank you very much. Server: And extra napkins. Enjoy. Joe: Fantastic. Thank you so very much. Harry: Few notes here.
Not your standard burger. Joe: Yeah, I guess not. Harry: Not your everyday burger. It's more almost like a sort of hero roll. Joe: Yeah, it's shaped like a sandwich. Harry: Like, long sandwich bun. Toppings, different to some
the other ones we've had today. Joe: Definitely. Harry: They've not skimped on the arugula, or rocket, as we call it. You guys call it rocket. We do call it rocket. And I've been told by
another British person it's because it's kind of spicy. I don't know if that's the case. Yeah, arugula is spicy
to you guys, isn't it? Our poor British palates
can't handle a leaf. Yeah. I love the look of the beef. They also, they asked us
how we wanted it cooked. Joe: Yeah.
Harry: First time today. First and only, yeah. Which is much more of
a steakhouse-y thing, and, I don't know, for
me that just signifies attention to detail. I was going to say the same thing. Attention to quality. Harry: They're paying attention. Dude, this is so good. Harry: Mm-hmm.
Joe: Oh, wow. Oh, my God, I been eating burgers all day. I think I'm going to finish this. Mm-hmm. Joe: Maytag, which is a
type of blue cheese, right? Also with the Gruyère. The
cheese blend is incredible. I know you did point out
there's a lot of arugula, but I would argue to say I
don't think there's enough. The arugula paired with
this? Fantastic, dude. This burger is incredible!
Are you kidding me? Harry: This beef is sensational. Joe: Now, I want to point out
this burger was the only one we had today that was
cooked over an open flame. And I am noticing that difference. I do like a flattop, obviously, you know, I'm all about that. But it really brings out the flavor, the fact that this was cooked on a grill. Harry: You can see the grill marks on it. I do love the sort of textural contrast and flavor contrast you
get from the grill marks. The slightly charred bits. But they also, I think we
said medium rare, right? That is perfectly medium rare. That's a perfect medium rare. If it wasn't for the show,
I would've gone rare, just because I like living dangerously. I'd say this has by far the
most complicated flavors of any burger that we've had today. This thing's on another level. Yeah. They've taken the
concept of a hamburger or a cheeseburger and
they really have, I think, elevated each element. Yeah, I don't know. I wouldn't
want to change the formula. Joe: It's funny, she mentioned
that you're not allowed to. Another thing that this
place is famous for is no substitutions.
So you can't change it. You can't put anything else in there. You can't add a little this and that. No ranch, right? Not doing it. And they get a little spicy
with you too if you ask. Like, if you look at the bad reviews this place has gotten,
it's everyone being like, "Ugh, I wanted them to put this on instead of that, and
the guy yelled at me." Like, good, you should
get yelled at. Right? Eat the thing the experts made. Just knock it off. Right? They're the experts.
Let them handle it. Thank you. I put my trust in them, and
they've delivered in this case. Joe: They have delivered, absolutely. And I think it's interesting because the other burger
places we've gone to today, they definitely have an
emphasis on the efficiency of, like, get your food and go. You know? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but definitely places that
kind of had this, like, you got it. Enjoy your meal and go. This feels more of a considered burger. And also this environment of, you know, they got a full bar
over there, so hang out, have a drink, have a burger, have a couple more drinks,
couple more burgers. Spend your whole evening here. You're going to spend
the whole evening here, so what's the rush? I think this kind of almost
pushes the boundaries of what a burger can be. Because obviously I think at its core, a burger is a bun on either
side, meat in the middle, and then you can kind of build from there. But even, like, the bun they've
kind of slightly changed, the meat almost tastes and
feels more like a steak in the way it's kind of cooked to order. The quality's really great. The rocket on there is very unusual. I'm not sure I've had rocket
on a burger before. Arugula. Arugula. Caramelized onions I've
definitely had and I love, but, like, the cheese blend as well. I personally, I do just
love American cheese. I still think that's kind of, like, the benchmark cheese for a burger. There are times when I've had burgers with other cheeses on them before, and I think it hasn't worked. I think with this one,
it definitely works. It's like, clearly thought has gone into balancing the flavors. Joe: Yeah. Well, we've had four fantastic
cheeseburgers today, but we have to decide on our favorite. I'll just run it through real quick. We started with Pie 'n
Burger, classic institution. Been there for a long time. That burger has been how
it's been for decades. They've perfected the formula. It's big, juicy, fantastic meat. We loved the sauce, the
veggies on the burger, so good. After that, we made a
stop over at Goldburger. They're doing smashburgers. Maybe the best smashburger in the city. I would say it is. If
not, definitely top three. But almost like a 180.
Just the meat, the cheese, some onions, nice and slim. We went to town on that burger.
Remember how good that was? Harry: Mm-hmm. After that, Oinkster. I mean, pastrami and meat and cheese and chili and bacon, come on. And also their standard
cheeseburger, incredible. A little bit closer to the
Pie 'n Burger-type burger, where it just was a lot of
veggies and real thick one. But, I mean, so good, right? And of course, Father's Office. We just gushed about it for 10 minutes. Don't gotta recap. But if you had to pick only
one as your favorite, Harold, which would be your favorite
burger in Los Angeles? Well, Joseph, coming into this, before we got here, Goldburger for me was clear. Wow, OK. Harry: I think that was
probably the best smashburger I've ever had. And I think if anyone was coming to LA and wanted a good
old-fashioned LA smashburger, I think that is where I would send them. Goldburger's the spot, I agree. However, I think Father's
Office might have swooped in at the last second and
taken the No. 1 spot, just because I don't think I've had anything like this before. It's so tasty. Every element is so finely
crafted, finely balanced. It all works together so
well, and, yeah, I think it might not be a
traditional cheeseburger, but, damn, is it a tasty cheeseburger. It's a fantastic burger, and I'm going to go
ahead and agree with you. This is the best burger we've
had today. It's fantastic. Goldburger was winning for me, but this thing's incredible. And it just barely beat it out. But just a little bit
more of an attention to the cook of the meat,
the cheese and onion, toppings, just so good. Yeah. I know it's a higher price point, but I definitely think it's worth it. Yeah, I think the value of all of these has actually impressed me quite a lot. Like, I thought LA would
be way more expensive. Actually, these have all been, I think, pretty reasonable for the quality and the flavor that you're getting. Yeah, would happily recommend
all of them to anyone, but this is probably the No. 1 for me. Fantastic. All right, well. Harry: Cheers, man.
Joe: Cheers, man. Till the next episode.
