Results tagged “thecounter”

       

The Counter, known for letting customers customize their own burgers anyway they want, finally made its arrival yesterday in Studio City (Ventura Blvd. near Laurel Canyon). The long-awaited restaurant adds to the commercial district's gamut of quality eateries to choose from, including the nearby Artisan Cheese Gallery, Arb Pizza, Vegan Plate and Laurel Tavern.

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 The Counter.

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 the Valley location has been pushed back to this Autumn.

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...

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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 GQ mag writer Alan Richman, who traveled 23,750 miles and consumed more than 150,000 calories on his mission to create a carnivorous compendium called "The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die." Coming in at number 15 is Santa Monica's The Counter's Build-Your-Own burger, which we found to be pretty good back in July. Richman's other local pick was his number six selection, Houston's California Burger. Not bad for one city to have two picks on a pretty short national list. But this got us thinking about the sort of dual world of burgers: the cheap and dirty kind, and the more highbrow variety. We checked out AOL's Cityguide's Best Burgers, and noticed it was split half bargain burgers and half gourmet; In-n-Out reigns supreme according to them. Over at Citysearch they're eager to pass on the scoop about the high-end buns and patties with their listing of "5 to Try." In the past couple of weeks, too, coverage in the LA Times has been burger centric; we've got a rave about the places you can go for Primo Patties, and a review of the just opened 25 Degrees restaurant in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where it's all about the big ticket burger.

The Counter was pleasantly full--no wait, but just full enough to remind us that this was a spot folks flock to. We were seated right away, and presented with the ordering clipboards. The choices were plentiful, and it was fun to try to construct our own concoction, though we admit we like to be on the safe side, so we stuck with the ol' pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce, relish, mayo and cheese setup on our 1/3 pounder on a whole wheat bun. Our dining companion got a little craftier, and checked off fried egg and avocado. We ordered the 50/50: A basket of fries and fried onion straws. While we waited we noticed the folks to our right had ordered sweet potato fries, but we hadn't seen them on the menu. Turns out there's a sign up front declaring them as the special, and we wished we'd had our attention directed to that, although our fries were tasty, and the onion straws superb, with their bits of rosemary clinging to their crispy edges. They served the basket with two dipping sauces, ranch and BBQ, and though there was ketchup in a squeeze bottle on the table, there was nowhere or nothing to squeeze it on! We made do. We waited quite some time, actually--long enough to finish our fried goodies well before our burgers appeared, and this was a major turn-off. But we were here for the burgers, which did, finally, arrive...

The July issue of Los Angeles magazine was wedged in our mailbox last night, with the cover story hailing their picks for the city's best cheap eats. They list 25 spots where you can dine for under $25, only a few of which, for a variety of reasons, were previously known to us. This is great, on the one hand, because this gives us a set of new choices to cull from when looking to try something new. On the other hand, we can't necessarily second any of their motions or vehemently shake our heads in disagreement, either. We can, however, take note of the abundance of Asian restaurants they list, including a couple of Thai spots, like North Hollywood's Bua Siam, with the intriguing wild boar curry on the menu, some Vietnamese options, such as the curious KP's Vietnamese-American Deli, where all-American sandwich fare has a distinct Asian flare, as well as some Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, and Japanese spots. What's great about a list of budget conscious eateries is that you can take your tastebuds on an adventure without feeling the crunch in your wallet; if you've always wanted to try Nepali cuisine, LA mag suggests West LA's Katmandu Kitchen, where you can sample yak or their spinach lamb dish, and not spend a fortune. Their list has just a couple of American restaurants, and those they list seem to specialize in greasier fare, like the famed hot dogs at Encino's The Stand, burgers at Santa Monica's The Counter, and fried chicken at Culver City's Honey's Kettle. We're going to see if we can hit some of these spots soon, and we'll be sure to give you our feedback. And since we're talking food bargains, put your two cents in on any of their picks--if you saved some dough on the bill, you can afford to share!