Juicy Burger: Decent Value But Not Good Enough to Return

Juicy Burger in Silver Lake seems like a place to go for a quick, cheap and above average burger. It's good value but don't think I'll be returning for various reasons.

I know that's what you get for your money, but those stools were utterly uncomfortable and made for a less than a satisfying experience. If you're on the go and just want to pop in for a bite, it may not be a big deal. But it's definitely not a place to sit down and talk over a burger and shake.



But I digress. Let's talk about the burger itself. I got the signature Juicy Burger and added Cheddar cheese and my one free dipping sauce choice for the fries (cheap) was barbecue sauce. I had to send the burger back once because it came overcooked the first time when I had asked for medium rare.

The second time around, it was cooked right, although the patty itself was so anemic that it barely made a difference. The quality of the meat was decent. I'll give them that. I could see the dude in the back forming the patties by hand so they are definitely freshly made daily. No frozen patties shenanigans a-la fast food. I also liked the red onions it came with, but wasn't crazy about the shredded iceberg lettuce drowning in Thousand Island dressing that made it not only messy to eat, but also drowned everything else with it in terms of flavor.

As for the bun, it was a fresh brioche that was in and of itself ok, but as a burger bun, way too dense, especially on top. Like it was a meal by itself. The ratio of bun to meat was like 9:1, which should be more balanced.

The California burger with guacamole and bacon looked good but was just ok, according to my Burger Club companion who, like me, ranks Houston's as her favorite burger in LA.

The fries were ok but after having a few, I could taste the oil they were fried in, and they tasted a bit stale. In fact, I couldn't finish the fries or the burger because they suddenly tasted too heavy. The barbecue sauce, however, was very good and the owner was nice enough to give me a little container to go.

But I won't be returning unless I happen to pass by this place at 2am, there's nothing else that's open nearby (although there's always Ktown), I'm starving and don't care to linger -- which, in my book, is pretty much never. I'd rather go to BCD Tofu House or Hodori in Ktown that are open 24-hours any day over this greasy spoon that may just be too greasy.