I'd Gladly Pay You Thursday, For A Hamburger Today

I love burgers! Ever since I was a little kid, I have been a fan. Mom used to use some sort of special meat (okay, maybe it was just the stuff that was on sale) but her burgers were amazing! Usually this would be the Friday Meal (then Dad and I would head off to watch the Football Game at the Lions Bowl – armed with Mom’s canister of hot chocolate w/cinnamon that she made for us).

But I digress. Since I’ve moved to L.A., I have always kept my eyes and stomach open for the best tasting burger. For awhile there, it was something as simple as Hamburger Hamlet, but recently, I got the feeling that there was something else. Something more.

I tried The Apple Pan a few years ago and although the burger was good, it wasn’t memorable.

Enter, The Counter. I had heard about this place on some “Your L.A.” show and it looked pretty damn good. I mentioned it to Gay Friend Lance and he said, “oh yeah, Oprah and her dikey friend Gayle had it a few years ago.” So at this point, I KNEW it was legit, since the “now 200 lb Oprah” was pimping it out. Then again, she pimped out “The Secret” and was all about that for awhile.

I picked up Tim(bo) Abramson,
typed in the address into the Navi and we were off.

This place is completely hidden and not too far from the old House of Love. It was a random Sunday night and the place was packed. A good sign so far. We got inside and asked how long the wait would be for two. They said that it would be about 30 – 40 minutes, but we could take a seat at the counter if we wanted. I thought this was both perfect (and ironic – considering the name of the place).

The way this place works is you choose everything from the bun type to the toppings.

I went with Chili, Fried Egg and Sprouts (had to get the healthy in there, right?). I forget what Timbo’s was but he left so much of it, we can examine that later. We accompanied our order with a combo sweet potato/French fries order and shakes. Gut buster!

I had to "go plate" with this meal or else the trip would have been all for not. I channeled my inner Kobayashi and went for it. In lieu of dipping it in water, I used the magic troika of digestion aid: ice water, a shake and just the oil from the chili! Here is the result:

Timbo, wasn't as good. As you can see, he was struggling and only finished 1/2 of his burger (these were also the smallest burgers you can get at this place). I question if his shake was 1/3 Vanilla, 1/3 Chocolate and 1/3 weaksauce!

If I were to give this place an overall letter rating, it would be a “B” (but a solid one). The food isn’t really that great, but the gimmick is what gets you. It’s cool to put in your own order, but when you think about it, you are doing the job of the waiter (normally they stand with the pad and mark off your options as you tell them). But since I’m all about gimmicks, I bumped up the grade a little bit.

If you are in for a fun experience, then give The Counter a try, otherwise, just stick to Father’s Office!