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This New Burger Joint Offers Sustainable Flavors From Austin With A SoCal Spin
The K-Town Belly Burger at Hopdoody Burger Bar (Photo by Danny Jensen/LAist)
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A hugely-popular burger joint from Austin is bringing big Texas flavors with a local flair to the South Bay.
Hopdoddy Burger Bar—an Austin favorite—just opened a location at El Segundo's new shopping center The Point, and is bringing some seriously stiff competition to the L.A. burger scene. The low-key, casual restaurant focuses on sustainably-sourced and house-made ingredients to deliver a wide selection of delicious and well-priced burgers. From humanely-raised, hormone and antibiotic-free Angus beef ground in-house to hand-cut fries and house-baked buns made from scratch, Hopdoddy goes to great lengths to serve up a quality burger. And unlike some pricier, craft efforts around town, you'll want to use both hands to sink your teeth into these burgers. And yes, there's plenty of green chili queso to satisfy any Austin-cravings you might have.
Hopdoddy's burger menu is pretty extensive with some standouts like the Texas-inspired Terlingua with chile con carne, corn fritos, cheddar and "sassy sauce" or fiery El Diablo with pepper jack, caramelized onions, habanero and serrano chiles, salsa roja, and chipotle mayo. But you'll also likely want to investigate the excellent, locally-inspired K-Town Belly Burger, which features a California grass-fed beef patty, pork belly, kimchi, gochujang and basil. There's even plenty of non-beef patties to mix it up and suit all tastes, including a Buffalo-style bison, Greek-inspired lamb, as well as chicken, turkey and a killer ahi tuna burger. Larry Perdido, a founder of Hopdoddy Burger Bar tells LAist, “I’ve always said that if it has hooves, fins, or feathers I’ll make a damn good burger out of it."
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The Ahi Tuna Burger (Photo by Danny Jensen/LAist)
And vegetarians, fear not, there is a really spot-on black bean and corn patty with avocado, goat cheese, arugula and cilantro pesto. There's also a few solid salads and great fries, including a truffled version and one served with the aforementioned queso that should not be skipped.
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La Bandita veggie burger (Photo by Danny Jensen/LAist)
The name "Hopdoddy" was created as a nod to the great combo of beers and burgers—"hop" for the beer ingredient and "doddy" from the nickname given to the native cow in Aberdeen, Scotland. And it's the beer portion of the menu where we really get to see plenty of local flavor shine, as the taps feature a rotating selection of local craft breweries from the South Bay, including El Segundo Brewing, Smog City and more. There's also a good selection of reasonably priced cocktails and wine. And you're also definitely going to want to save room for their milkshakes, which feature classic flavors as well as twists like Nutella and chocolate pretzel, red velvet cake and chocolate stout.
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Oreo and Chocolate Stout milkshakes (Photo by Danny Jensen/LAist)
The new El Segundo location is appropriately laid-back for a Texas import, with high-top booths, a wraparound bar, exposed brick and plenty of photographs from Austin City Limits concerts. There's also a patio with Southern-style, communal tables. The vibe definitely suits the South Bay well, as Perdido explains, “We’re excited to bring our signature burgers and our laid back culture to the El Segundo neighborhood.”
El Segundo may be the company's first foray into Southern California—they're already in Colorado and Arizona—but they have another location scheduled to open in Playa Vista in September and another heading to Newport Beach soon.
Hopdoddy Burger Bar is located at 830 S Sepulveda Blvd Ste 116, El Segundo, (310) 414-2337.
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