This annual trip to Southern California has become something of a staple in my Leaf Enthusiast writings. I do a few days, or a week, in my old stomping grounds. I have real work to do while I’m out here, but I spend a lot of time hanging out with friends, smoking cigars and visiting places from my younger days. But I really want to do something different every year. This year I had divine inspiration while sitting on the couch a week before the trip…Travel Channel was running a “Best Burgers” show and featured one that is in SoCal…though an hour from where I am staying. Unless something drastic happens, I’m not planning to drive up to the San Fernando Valley to visit Outlaw Grill, but I can imagine taking a tour of some of the best burgers Orange County has to offer…hmm..maybe call that “bovine inspiration.”
I researched it some and found two good lists to start from…OC Weekly and the OC Register have both published “best burger” lists already. Then I started talking to friends about their recommendations and found that several of their choices were already on the lists. So I went with the preponderance of recommendations, in addition to throwing in some that just sound too good to pass up, and I came up with a list of 6 places to visit in the next 6 days.
The 800-pound Arrow In The Room
I have extensively praised In-N-Out in the past…and I stick by every word. I know there are adherents of 5 Guys (tried it, it’s good, but not as good as In-N-Out) and acolytes of Whataburger (never been there, so I can’t really pass judgement). Suffice to say that In-N-Out has the best “fast food burger” I’ve ever had. Specifically the 4×4, which I had on Sunday just after landing in SoCal. 4 patties, 4 pieces of cheese, dressing, lettuce, tomato…very good fries that I just didn’t have the room for. I probably should have just done the Double Double.
That turns out to be the first of “the rules.” I’m not looking for the best fast food burger in OC. There are some worthy contenders, to be sure, but that’s just not where this quest is going. I’m liberally defining “fast food” as chain eateries that you are all familiar with (or they are trying to make you familiar with). If an eater with a single location has very fast service, I’m going to allow it.
There will be no $20 hamburgers here. Burgers don’t need to be pretentious to be gourmet and great. While I’m avoiding cheap fast food, I’m also avoiding the upper end of beef that would include Kobe beef and other expensive ways to game the system.
No “trendy California” crap. Yes, this is California…no, I’m not even going to consider veggie or turkey “burgers” or anything like that. It has to be beef-based. There might be something other than typical hamburger beef in it (one in particular I’m planning to visit sounds quite exotic), but it has to start with that basic building block.
This Is Still a Cigar Blog
While I’m intent on searching for something new and fantastic for my gut, I’m not going to ignore the palate…so there will be some commentary on getting together with the guys and what we smoked.
Last night I had a Velvet Rat, part of Drew Estate’s Liga Privada Unico series. It was pretty amazing…still the best Unico I’ve had…can’t wait for more to become available.
I had a good time hanging with Keith and Vern. Everyone else turned out to be busy yesterday, but most are planning to make it tomorrow evening when we gather at Taps.
I’m going to try to update this Quest through the week, but I do have “work” that I came out here for and that has to take some priority. The focus of this series is necessarily a little narrow, but hopefully enough of our readers will get something from it to make it worth while…either some place to eat when you bring the family to Disneyland, or some inspiration for your own grilling experimentations.
While I’ve taken to calling this the “Quest for the Best Burger in OC,” I might just as well call it “Have A Cow 2016” as I think I may devour the better part of one in the next week. Let’s dig in…
