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It’s a week that’s actually two weeks meant to celebrate all things bun, patty and any topping you could possibly imagine. That’s right, Le Burger Week kicks off today.
The Free Press has covered Le Burger Week in a few different ways in years past, from profiles of participating eateries to burger crawls by Free Press staff. This year, Eva decided to weigh in on the bounty of the pop culture references among the list of 183 burger entries.
While some relish (ha!) the arrival of Le Burger Week every year, others feel it doesn’t cut the mustard (ha ha!), deeming it over-hyped and overly busy, with burgers that are excessively fancy or fussy and overpriced. I’d consider myself on the fence — I enjoy the creativity and have tasted some darn fine burgers as a result, but I’ve not splurged on said sandwiches for a couple of years now. Maybe it’s not too late for me to ketchup (ha ha ha!) with this year’s burger trends…
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Anyway, Le Burger Week got me thinking about my recent week of holidays in Los Angeles with the fam, and my just-mediocre burger experiences in California. One of them was our very first stop after deplaning, getting our bags and rental car: In-N-Out Burger. (Of course, there’s an In-N-Out a stone’s throw from LAX; the planes landing on a nearby runway shook the place every 45 seconds or so.) I had hyped up the joint after trying (and loving) it in San Francisco some years back, and my 14-year-old son was eager to give it a go.
The classic In-N-Out combo. The salt packets seemed incredibly unnecessary. (Ben Sigurdson / Winnipeg Free Press)
We walked in around 11:30 a.m. — a bit early for burgers, but our stomachs were still on Central Time. And, of course, the place was already slammed.
For those not familiar with In-N-Out, it’s like Tim Hortons in the sense that it’s always busy and the drive-thru lineups cause actual traffic issues. But unlike Tim’s and many other fast-food joints, the menu is minimal: burgers, fries and shakes.
Maybe we should have ordered from In-N-Out’s legendary (and not-so-secret) secret menu, because the burgers we scarfed down were… average. (Their skinny fries, however, were crisp and delicious.) In fact, of the two burgers I had on the trip, In-N-Out was my second-favourite.
The Krusty Burger’s brief menu. I washed my Krusty Burger down with an IPA from Moe’s Tavern — after taxes, exchange and tip, the beer alone was over $20. (Frances Sigurdson photo )
That doesn’t sound so bad until you learn the better of the two burgers I had on the trip was at the Krusty Burger at Universal Studios. If In-N-Out was busy, the Simpsons-themed eatery was practically mobbed. You’d never have guessed that just two days earlier the entire state had been hunkered down as a (somewhat underwhelming) tropical storm made landfall (during which there was a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, which I didn’t even feel while napping on the couch).
While the Krusty Burger certainly wasn’t a game-changing burger, it managed to out-do the In-N-Out burger at its own very simple game, albeit at a significantly higher price point. After a morning of dizzying theme-park rides, it hit the spot.
Bald, middle-aged kid meets candy store. (Julia Ryckman photo)
It should be noted that most of our meals in L.A., whether at an eatery or made ourselves at our AirBnB, were great. Even the margherita pizza I had at the Meyers Manx Cafe at the (highly recommended!) Petersen Automotive Museum, of all places, was excellent.
E.T. phone home… at the very weird Madame Tussauds Hollywood. (Frances Sigurdson photo)
Anyway, maybe I need to cleanse my burger-scarfing palate with an ornate creation smothered in wacky toppings and in a Barbie-themed pink bun. Or maybe I should just stick to salad.
What say you: Le Burger Week yea or nay?
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