National Burger Day at Haché

Karma Burger, Fries and Alagash White

What better day than this beautiful sunny California day to head down to Haché LA in Silver Lake for a burger. Excuse me, a "Steak Haché". Whatever they call it, I call it a burger and it definitely qualifies for National Burger Day.

If you haven't been to Haché yet, it sits on Sunset Blvd. in the old Tarasco's Tacos space. It's a welcome addition to the Silver Lake neighborhood with affordable prices, a nice patio and delicious selection of beer to go with your burger. Steak is ground in-house daily to make fresh, juicy patties which are served on a brioche bun with karma sauce, cheese and the basics for only $5.95.

Mmmm...Karmmmmaaaa.... Burger

Grab a Karma Burger with some of Mick's Triple cooked fries and a burger and celebrate the best of American holidays, National Burger Day. Aside from Thanksgiving, that is. 

National Cheeseburger Day at Haché LA

Habanero Burger at Haché LA, Silver Lake

 It's amazing how much your neighborhood can change in three months. As I spent the summer in Mexico City, my barrio of Silver Lake was busy making some changes of it's own. New shops and restaurants popping up as others shutter down. One of them to close it's doors was Tarascos on Sunset Blvd. I won't lie, I won't miss it. It was replaced by a burger joint. Haché to be exact.

I was happy to hear that we have a burger place in the neighborhood. But I was also fearful it was going to be a fifteen-dollar-hipster burger. On this glorious American holiday known as National Cheeseburger Day, I found out that I was wrong.

Haché is a welcome addition to the restaurants in Silver Lake. In fact, it's just what we needed. A non-pretentious environment with affordable food (and craft beer too). Burgers come in around the $6-$7 dollar range starting with their Karma Burger. It's a burger with all the standards with a patty that's not so standard. The patties that fill the burgers at Haché are made in-house daily from ground Angus sirloin and seasoned on the outside like you would your sirloin steak.

One of the lovely workers rockin' one of my banana stickers on her hat.

They offer a few other varieties of burgers like the "Swiss Onion" with Gruyere cheese and carmelized onion. There's also the "Habanero" with a four-chile mix, garlic mayo and queso fresco. I had the Habanero and it was quite good. However it was pretty mild and I didn't really get any of that fruity habanero flavor, it was more of a jalapeño burger.

Of course there's also french fries, strawberry basil lemonade and a very friendly staff. So grab a burger and brew at Haché sit outside on the patio and enjoy friends and music.

Grub on Vegan Burgers

I'm generally not a fan of vegan restaurants, tho I love my veggies. But if you're a meat eater and ever dragged to Flore in Silver Lake, go for the BBQ Bacon Sliders. The patty is made of black beans and it is delicious. I'll be back for more.

WHERE:

FLORE VEGAN CUISINE

3818 W. SUNSET BLVD. SILVERLAKE, CA 90026

(323) 953-0611 

Come to Papa's

** UPDATE** JULY 2011 - Papa's Place has had a lot of changes on their menu recently and may becoming something called Community Burger. The food has changed, the people have changes and I no longer recommend Papa's Place as one of my favorite places to eat.

Kilbasa with Fries

One of my favorite places to eat in the Silverlake / Los Feliz neighborhood is Papa's Place. You can get a wonderfully fulfilling meal for under $10. Though it's called Papa's Place, their tag line is "Mom's Cooking" and when you eat there you can see why. The staff is always friendly as they serve up delicious food that is German-Mediterranean inspired. The food takes a little time as it always prepared fresh and made with much love.

Bratwurst with Fries

Burger with Fries

Tasty Skinny Fries

 They offer a wide selection of sausages, burgers, sandwiches, salads and side dishes. Vegetarians shouldn't be intimidated by the enormous wieners, they have plenty of vegetarian offerings.

One of my favorites, the PaPeRa bowl

A taste of Spicy Shrimp Ceviche

The sausages are always good. I tend to go for the spicy ones. One of my favorite dishes there is a PaPeRa. It's a bowl of bread cubes topped with braised beef, yogurt, browned butter and fresh herbs. It's wonderful. 

Orange-Walnut Puff Pastry

Cookies

Leave room for some treats too. Last night we were treated to an Orange-Walnut Puff Pastry, which left me wanting more of it's zesty tang all night.

The kind staff collects can tabs for medical patients.

See more photos of food from Papa's Place on Foodspotting.

Check out Papa's Place on Twitter to find out about daily specials. 

Phillipe Burger - YUM!

Illustration by Xhico

I went today to my favorite lil' restaurant in Palm Springs, Chez Philippe. I recently designed some characters (above) and some display menus for him. He added a Burger to his menu, so I had to give it a try... DEE-LISH-US! It was a great burger!

The Kobe Beef patty with thick, juicy and full of flavor. It was simply seasoned and the full flavor of the beef really came through. The toasted Brioche Roll offered a slightly crusty, yet light compliment to the hearty patty and thick melted layer of Swiss Cheese. The burger was moist and need very little condiments, so a dab of Garlic Aioli did the trick. It was traditionally finished with tomato, onion, and hearts of romaine. Though the romaine provided a nice crunch, I would have preferred Arugula to add a bit of a peppery bite.

The burger was served with Mixed Greens with a tasty house vinagrette. The French Fries were, well, French Fries. Nothing special - they could have been a bit more gourment to really compliment the burger. Skinny, crunchy fries would have been perfect!

Overall, another delicious meal at Philippe's. Bon Appetit!