is literally 100 feet away from where I used to buy comic books when I was a kid. Nestled in the heart of downtown Fullerton, corner of Harbor and Amerige, parking turned out to be easy, even though it was the middle of the lunch hour on a weekday. If only Chattanooga parking was this easy!
I told the guy behind the counter what I was looking for…best burger in the OC…and he turned me onto the Smokey…hey, that’s appropriate from a Tennessee Volunteers fan! Did half and half fries and onion rings and some iced tea, then kicked back to write this and wait for the burger to show. It was about $19 for everything, so at the upper end of what I’m willing to do for this, but to be fair, a bit of that was the fries and rings.
As I waited, I realized the Orange County government office across the street is in what used to be one of my favorite used books stores. Lots has changed around here.
The burger was medium, or maybe a little less, grilled slightly crunchy on the outside and very tasty. It had smoked bacon, fried onion strings, Wisconsin cheese, arugula, oven-roasted tomatoes and chipotle aioli on it. Slightly froufrou, but essentially still a solid burger experience on a freshly made bun. Fries and onion rings were great, but pay special attention to the homemade mustard and ketchup, both of which contain “secret” ingredients. I believe the ketchup used ginger or something else totally not normal, but very tasty. The mustard looks like regular yellow French’s, but tastes like it has a healthy helping of horseradish added.
In the end…very good and worth the trip to Downtown Fullerton for (it was actually the closest of my burger locations to where I was staying)…not quite ready to say “Best” though. Bonus points for being just around the corner from one of the first cigar shops I ever frequented…it was Red Cloud at the time, though now it’s known as the Eight Eighty-Eight Lounge. Still great sticks, but their prices are steep.
So…to sum up…excellent burger but a little pricey and not quite so good I would name it “best ever” for myself. Fries were much better than average and rings were some of the best I can remember. If you’re spending any time in north Orange County, put Burger Parlor on your list.
