EAT Have you ever wondered what a lamb burger would taste like? How about a kobe beef burger? Wonder no more. Larchmont Grill presents Gourmet Burger Night where one can all of those, plus a salmon burger. Not into meat or fish? No problem, they also offer a house-made veggie gourmet burger. 5:30 - 10 pm // Larchmont Grill // 5657 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles // Prices Vary THEATER Shakespeare Festival/LA brings Shakespeare's greatest......

The Los Angeles area's growing stock of eco-friendly businesses increased Saturday with the grand opening of O!burger in West Hollywood. The organic burger joint uses only certified organic ingredients in their grass fed beef burgers, free range turkey burgers, hot dogs, salads, French fries and shakes. Previously -- Preview: Fast Food Organic Burger Joint Opens in WeHo......

Photo of a Five Guys Burger by mrmatt via Flickr Nancy Luna of the OC Register's fantastic food blog, Fast Food Maven (it's more than just fast food), took a field trip out of Orange County to the East Coast last year and while there, visited Five Guys Burgers to taste test the talked-about nosh that many compare to In-N-Out. However, her findings led her to say that they are actually more comparable to......

In Pasadena, Orean claims to be the first vegetarian fast-food drive-thru (fast it is not). And beginning Saturday, a new restaurant in West Hollywood will be taking claim to being Los Angeles’ first fast food burger house using only certified organic ingredients. O!burger will offer grass fed beef, free range turkey, hot dogs, salads, French fries and shakes. And yes, they have veggie burgers made from their own recipe based on spinach and corn. And......

Photo of a burger from The Counter by Malinger/LAist There's two bits of good news and one part bad. First, the good: The Counter, of Santa Monica make-your-own-burger fame, is opening a location in Studio City at Laurel Canyon and Ventura Blvd. It was supposed to open this past Winter, but due to stringent health code standards and rumored pressure from future competitors making it harder for them to start business, the opening of......

It seems that Los Angeles either loves or hates Father's Office. Among the reasons why to dislike Sang Yoon's operation: you cannot choose or replace food items. What you get is what you get. No ketchup! If you don't like that, then the recommendation is to not go there. Yoon will not lose sleep. However, if you want choice in how your food is made or adapted, then you go to The Counter in Santa......

Molly's Charbroiled Burger, a rickety burger shack on Vine between Selma and Hollywood, is one of those funny little places that is both totally ordinary and totally L.A. -- run by Koreans, with a Mexican line cook, who serve up good old American burgers, fries, hot dogs, burritos, and, um, bulgogi plates. Students at the neighboring film and recording schools swear by the breakfast burritos -- cozy bundles of egg, french-fry hash browns, bacon,......

I am thankful for… Thanksgiving - even though I think it’s a stupid holiday, and I pretty much hate all the food associated with it - for giving me the opportunity to spend the day with family that I love and actually enjoy being around. I am thankful every day that I am able to make a living being creative and doing something I love. (Except for when I’m on strike) I am thankful......

Astro Family Restaurant is a venerable Los Angeles institution located a hop, skip, and a jump from the beautiful shores of Silver Lake. Astro has graced the glamorous corner Glendale Blvd. and Fletcher Dr. since 1974. Silver Lake has been through many changes over the last thirty years. It went from a neighborhood known for being dingy and overrun with gangs to a neighborhood that is trendy and is overrun with hipsters. Through all......

Three years ago I moved to LA after spending six years in Boston, a city where the 24 hour convenience store is practically your only option for late night eats. My first weekend here, I took advantage of the fact that I could sit down and be served real food after 2 A.M.. Where did I go to enjoy my first late night meal in LA? None other than the LA late night institution......

While most Angelenos will urge their visitors to try a meal at In N' Out (the best to capture that classic sunshiney L.A. drive-through burger experience), they often forget about the other local fast-food burger phenomenon: Fatburger. Both establishments boast excellent burgers and a fool-proof menu, but there are some major (and delicious) differences that make it almost impossible to decide which is better (kind of like the Pink's versus Skooby's debate -- but......

Another sunny Southern California weekend is upon us, which means all over this fair city and its outermost reaches people are planning on gathering around the great American grill to marry meat and flame. Sure enough, a caravan of your closest friends and cohorts appear on your doorstep with cases of beer and plastic wrapped bundles of weiners and buns in the spirit of the BBQ. Sometimes things get a little imaginative, and some......

How much do you love burgers? Maybe you know all the secret menu items available at In-n-Out, or maybe you're a regular fixture at Father's Office. Who's got the best burger and just what elements make a burger the best is an oft-debated topic here on LAist and elsewhere. Are the determining factors the toppings? Kind of meat? Affordability? History? Size? The variables are multifold, I know. I like burgers. I'm no crazy burger......

- Do you think Jamie Oliver is cute? We do. We also think he's a great cook. Check out this clip featuring his Lamb Curry Song. Curry looks great, the singing? Not so much. - EaterLA has worked itself into a frenzy over two new celeb chef restaurants: here's their first peeks into Craft LA and Osteria Mozza. So far Craft is winning the war of the reservation line. - Jonathan Gold loves The......

You know David Beckham arrived today at LAX, but this is one of the many things that happened behind the scenes. And an interesting one at that. The motive behind this video is American Beef, so welcome to America you Brit! A&W Restaurants recently launched its Moove to American campaign to support 100% U.S. beef. Thirty all American cows traveled by barge to the icon of America -- the Statue of Liberty -- to......

Like most people, I have gone through my vegetarian phases, my vegan phases and the worst of all - my low-carb phase. So my cooking is pretty versatile. I have a lot of vegan friends who love barbecues, and it only takes a few minor changes to make them more comfortable. Even if you are super-carnivorous, you can still host a barbecue that will make your vegan friends happy. First of all, you want......

Throw-The-Kitchen-Sink-In-It Pizza: with Vodka Sauce, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Garlic, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Basil, Parmesan, Caramelized Onions, and Olives We've gotta admit, Mozza was great, but Lord knows we can't eat like red-headed Italian kings every day. In fact, even ordering pizza every night tends to add up: $20 per pizza per day for two people over one week? That's over $140, even if you eat the leftovers for breakfast! It's enough to make us want to...I......

There are very few companies putting out consistently funnier ads than Jack in the Box. Their latest is a jab at the Angus burger trend that was adopted by Burger King and Carl's Jr., and has recently been picked up by McDonald's. Instead of following the leader, Jack in the Box decided to promote their Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day campaign, hyping their breakfast-served-all-day advantage, and then they tried their......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

Pete’s Café is truly an enigma in the downtown dining scene, which seems to birth a new establishment every 30 to 40 seconds these days. While living in the Little Tokyo Lofts during 2005, I was introduced to this funky little restaurant nestled into the corner of 4th Street and Main by super-neighbor and self-appointed Mayor of Downtown Los Angeles, Shawn Mitchell. Since then, I have eaten more Hellman Burgers, drank more Stella, and......

It opened in 1947 at the southeast corner of Ventura Blvd. and Dixie Canyon in Sherman Oaks by a man named Tony. Tony is now grandpa and the grandson runs the business. Not only does this liquor and general store have a great old time feeling inside, it has that old Midwestern charm. The building's expressionless corner facade says nothing about the inside, but once within, you will find an array of wines on......

Some of these restaurants made their debut this year, and some are perennial faves. Some are wallet-breakers, and some are low-budget. So we didn't make it there this year...maybe this can be our restaurant resolution list for 2-0-0-7. (I can, however, say I have eaten at any given listed location if anyone wants to volunteer to take me there for my 30th birthday, which so conveniently happens to take place just before 2006 comes......

Because drinking and driving is beyond passé: This week, local bartenders strutted their best Tom Cruise-in-Cocktail skills, but without any "proof" in their puddings. It was the annual Mocktail contest held at Universal CityWalk, where ten expert mixologists threw their best non-alcoholic mixes into...well, the mix at the annual "Battle of the Bartenders". The event was designed to promote awareness of the dangers of DUIs. Your turn to be the designated driver? Try one......

Despite the fact that McDonald's has tried to palm off salads, wraps, grilled chicken, and other healthier options to its hamburger-based mainstay, Angus burgers have made their way onto the menu at a half-dozen area Mickey D's. And we're just not talking one Angus burger that can be found in several McDonald's restaurant, like one found in South Pasadena, but three different burgers: Regular, Mushroom & Cheese, and Deluxe. Clearly feeling the heat from......

Tucked back in a corner at Whitsett and Moorpark is a small restaurant with a few tables and a diner bar with swivel seats. The fluorescent lights and cafeteria-style tables with attached benches say nothing about the food served here. For 21 years, Leonor's has stood here serving vegetarian and Mexican food. From faux chicken empanadas and Bolivian sandwiches to soy cheese pizzas and burgers. No complimentary chips and salsa are given, but there......

On Friday, the world lost one of its culinary giants: Esther Snyder, 86, matriarch of In-N-Out. Back in 1948, she and husband Harry founded their first – and California’s first – drive-thru hamburger stand in Baldwin Park, off the 10 freeway. The Snyders expanded their operations slowly to Arizona and Nevada, and we’re happy they did. How much longer would that long drive back from Vegas on Sundays be without stopping at the In-N-Out......

LAist's "20 Under 30" interview series with interesting Angelenos under 30 continues with Leah Dieterich, a 25-year-old who lives in West LA. You might have seen her at galleries, or run across a video she's made, or heard her playing drums in her apartment's bedroom. You might bumped into her buying coffee (she tells us she buys a lot of coffee). But it's a big city, so maybe you don't know her. Yet we're sure......

As people continue to pour out into LA streets to protest immigration "reform," the pundits awaken. The LA Times notices that Spanish-language DJ Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo was a major force behind Saturday's rally; Salon thinks the activists may say "hola" to the Democratic party; the Daily Breeze wants us to slow down, please. LAUSD will be in lock-down to prevent further student walkouts today. Chief Bratton suggests that the cold rain will also encourage......

The other day we were driving along the freeway when we noticed a bumper sticker that read "Meat is Burger" and it got us to thinking about the state of the burger in LA, once again. And because we're prone to taking little trips on trains of thoughts, we remembered reading somewhere about an Oprah show airing last month that was all about the country's best burgers. We found that her guest had been......

Meet Chevon Hicks, graphic designer, animator, DJ and the mastermind behind the notoriously naughty online game promoting New Line's latest film, Running Scared. Chevon is the owner and creative director of Heavenspot Graphic Design, which also created the animated Land of Burgers sequence in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, as well as the game featured on the film's website. Chevon and his team are currently working on a website and 3D game for......