Countless times I have driven through West Hollywood and passed Astro Burger. In just about all of these situations, I have muttered to myself or to anyone in my car that I just need to try that place. Finally, after one of my rare drinking nights in West Hollywood, I had a golden opportunity to see what was inside Astro Burger.
In Greek, astro means stars, and if you consider Los Angeles to be the city of stars, the clientele of Astro Burger will not disappoint. No, there weren’t any stars there, but this place was as LA as it gets. In one booth there was a lady playing solitaire and talking to herself and every other person inside just reeked of LA. But enough about that, I was not there for people.
A glance at the menu behind their counter revealed a burger with my name on it: Bacon Avocado Cheeseburger. The price of more than six bucks was a little overwhelming, but I am always willing to pay a premium for a premium burger. I ordered mine without lettuce, tomato or onions, but let them keep the thousand island dressing on. About five minutes later, my number was called and I was ready to eat.
The burger was quite pretty, except for the incredibly thin patty. I have no problem with thin patties, because lord knows I love me some real sliders, but for the price I was expecting something a bit thicker. Nonetheless, I bit in and entered old-fashioned burger bliss. The burger, although cooked all the way through, was nice and juicy. This was definitely helped by the thousand island dressing, which was actually some of the best thousand island I’ve had on a burger. The avocado added some great girth and was perfectly ripe and slightly creamy. The bacon, as always, brought the whole burger together. It was fried to a crisp without burn, added extra meat to the mix since the burger was lacking, and generally bacon-ed up the whole thing. Finally, the sesame seed bun did its job of keeping the burger together while taking a backseat to the more important ingredients.
I love me a good gourmet burger, but I still love an old-fashioned burger from a place like Astro Burger. The only trouble was that I felt like I was almost paying a gourmet burger price. I’m guessing this was related to the location, but for six bucks I have to say I’m kind of expecting a double burger. For the location, it is a great old-fashioned burger for cheaper than you’ll find most food in the area. So for that, Astro Burger is worth a visit for anyone craving late-night food in West Hollywood.
