One thing that will make the transition from Pasadena to Phoenix doable is the fact that La Grande Orange and its family of restaurants originated there. There’s no Luggage Room yet, but hopefully some day…

Nonetheless, there is a spot called Chelsea’s Kitchen that I hoped would please me and ease me. The menu even sported the same font and design as the aforementioned restaurants, almost as though to get me excited about Chelsea’s Kitchen.

The restaurant could best be described as a combination of American and Mexican, so I found myself a burger that represented that perfect middle ground where Mexican and American converge: the Green Chile Cheeseburger. Although the menu simply said it was topped with green chiles and cheddar, I inquired as to whether other vegetables would be present. The answer was a firm yes and I immediately requested to not have them and to get the burger medium rare.

Both of my requests were obliged, and although there seemed to be an excessive amount of green chile, it was something I could handle. What I couldn’t handle, though, was the burger itself. I can’t say for certain what the issue was, but there was simply something mushy about the innards of the burger. It wasn’t because they hadn’t been cooked right, so I’m going to chalk it up to the grind of the beef or the ratio of the meat to fat. Regardless of what it was, something was just off. But what wasn’t off were the delicious fries. So, there’s that.

Or perhaps what was truly off was my expectations, which are admittedly not high in general, but certainly high when it comes to La Grande Orange restaurants. I mean, their other two restaurants were non-stop great. In any case, there are plenty of burgers to be had and sadly Chelsea’s Kitchen did not appear to be one of them to be had again.

Right next to perhaps my favorite restaurant in Pasadena (The Luggage Room) and owned by the same people is a spot called La Grande Orange. The menu is very American, French and Mexican, being filled with sandwiches, tacos and, most importantly, a Prime Rib French dip (you know, the most French food of all).

Yet, before we could eat anything else, we began with the Deviled Eggs. We went with the option bacon because you would have to be stupid not to and they came out looking like a beauty. Or, more precisely, six beauties. There’s really not much more than can be said for these deviled eggs except that they just perfectly executed. Nothing flashy, but if you’re going with a classic it should be done like this.

As for the Prime Rib French Dip, it was just about the sexiest sandwich you’ve ever seen. The prime rib was so perfectly medium rare and on one delicious baguette that had learned a thing or two about how to be crunchy, moist and fluffy at the same time. The au jus added a nice element of moisture, fat and salt to round the whole thing out. The fries weren’t too shabby either.

La Grande Orange knows exactly what a French Dip (and Devilied Eggs for that matter) should be. Nothing groundbreaking here in terms of creativity, but perfect execution seems to be the norm.