In case you hadn’t heard, burger-mania has struck Los Angeles — specifically, fancy gourmet burgers. It started years ago with The Father’s Office. Then came The Counter and 8 oz. Burger (RIP) and Umami. Now the city is littered with gussied up, high quality concepts. From Stout to 25 Degrees, these burger joints are everywhere, and I’m honestly okay with it. More options for us (although, perhaps it’s time to rein it in — I once had a burger at Go-Burger in Hollywood that featured a “Black Angus Beef Patty, Caramelized Onions, Bacon & GO Burger Sauce between Two Slender Rye & Gruyere Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.” It represented both a high point and a low point in my burger history).
Anyway, throwing their ring into this beefy circus is Burger Lounge, a small, regional chain that actually stated way back in 2007 in San Diego. Its first Los Angeles location opened up a few months ago on the famed Sunset Strip with an emphasis on healthy, sustainable ingredients. Sounds noble. The restaurant recently invited me in for a media-comped meal where I sampled many of the goods. Does Burger Lounge prove to be a worthy addition to the crowded burger marketplace? Pics after the jump…
Located just west of La Cienega in a strip mall, Burger Lounge boasts a large, swanky patio. Plus, more importantly, free parking. A rarity for these parts. Reality fans can also delight in dining under Sunset Tan, one-time focus of its own reality show on E!.
Diners place orders at the very mod-meets-Mel’s counter.
After placing an order, the restaurant gives customers a number, which they are to place in little rocketship devices on the table. These things immediately alert servers to your location. No more waiters wandering around cluelessly in search of numbers. How very high-tech. THE FUTURE IS HERE! PROMETHEUS!!!!!!
In a random fit of whimsy, I opt for an orange soda. It’s been years since I’ve had anything like this, but Sunkist this was not. The sodas at Burger Lounge are all “housemade, Fair Trade, cane-sweetened,” and the difference is actually noticeable. My orange soda was darn near perfect. Not syrupy sweet in the least. A shocking revelation!
More of the well-designed decor.
Someone ordered the chocolate milkshake. It’s made with Dreyer’s Ice Cream, which is not really a selling-point to me, but dammit if it wasn’t totally delicious. Shockingly so. It was the ORANGE SODA OF CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKES.
Purdy.
Oh hai! The food is here.
For the record, this place def knows how to make an onion ring. I went to a burger place last night (rhymes with shmenty five shmegrees) and the Burger Lounge rings kicked their ass.
“The Grass-Fed Beef Burger. It’s their standard option. Beef, cheese, iceberg lettuce, and special sauce. I enjoyed the burger, and I appreciated that it wasn’t excessively oily.
A perfectly lovely salad featuring a wide variety of ingredients, most notably corn. After eating this, everyone at the table firmly believed that corn on the cob should be added to the menu. We’ll see…
OOH time for an inside tip. This is “The Classic,” which is available off the “Private” (a.k.a. secret) menu. It’s just a 100% grass-fed beef patty with pickles, onions, ketchup, mustard, and cheese. Simple and classic (obvs). I sort of liked it more than the standard burger.
Well, that was fun.
Burger Lounge may not revolutionize the world of burgers, but it’s a solid option on the ridiculous Sunset Strip. And did I say free parking? And that it’s open until 3 AM on the weekends? Definitely a worthy choice for late night eats after drinks.
Burger Lounge
8539 West Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.289.9250
Burgerlounge.com
while i’ll probably never have a burger lounge burger, i have to say that next to salted caramel ice-cream and truffled (or lobster. . .OR BOTH) mac & cheese, i think burgers might be the most overrated food fad going. having said that, the pricing doesn’t seem ludicrous and the portion sizes are definitely modest-looking.
I love a good burger but would have a hard time forgiving their misuse of an apostrophe in the sign you snapped a picture of: “food has it’s sexual side”. Seriously? What is happening to this country?
Dress it up…put it in an expensive building…..call it something else…bottom line is it’s still a hamburger and we’ve all been eating them since Fonze and his friends were popular. Just an example of genius marketing trying to make nothing new into something hip.
Years ago, here in NJ, White Castle burgers were called “sliders” because they gave you the runs……so when I see them served under that name I have a hard time finding that appealing and always laugh at the Housewives with their fancy dinners having slider appetizers. Which obviously VIcki has been eating too many of looking at her skin.
I’ve eaten at the Burger Lounge here in San Diego a few times. It’s pretty good, and my husband refers to them as “Clean” Burgers since they aren’t all greasy. I’m a fan.