Recently, a Facebook burger competition (very scientific) crowned 26 Beach in Venice as the best burger in LA. Now you may be asking yourself, “What the hell is 26 Beach?” and you are not alone, because even I had no idea what the place was until contest began. Somehow this unknown burger contender topped my personal favorite, Umami Burger. I couldn’t let this stand, well at least not without trying it myself, so off I went to 26 Beach to see what sort of witchery pushed their burger to the top of the heap.

When I arrived I found out that they were not a one-burger place. 26 Beach had a bunch of good-looking burgers (ranging from 14 to 19 smackeroos). The burger that had actually won the competition was one of those 19-dollar burgers. It was called the Chef Katsu’s Original California Roll Burger. That’s quite a name and quite a burger unfit for this unvegan. This Angus burger is topped with snow crab salad, avocado, ginger, nori, shoyu-wasabi-aioli, baby mixed greens and tomato. First off, I don’t love me some sushi, so eating sushi on a burger would be no good for my taste buds. Second off, that is just too many toppings. Sure, I love me some bacon and egg on a burger here and there, but those are flat and manageable, not some unholy menagerie of beef and sushi.

Quickly dismissing this burger, I moved on to greener pastures. It was truly difficult to choose from their great options, but I finally settled on their Prosciutto Burger. This 19-dollar monster was topped with prosciutto di parma, triple creme cheese, fig compote, baby mix, heirloom tomatoes and mayo. I ordered mine without the fancy baby mix and heirloom tomatoes. It came with a side of fries to make me feel a little better about dropping nearly 20 bucks on one burger.

After a bit of a wait, all of our burgers arrived. I glanced at those who ordered the “Best Burger in LA” and knew I had made the right choice. These burgers weren’t some amateur little fast food burgers. These were massive beef patties that almost made me forget the small fortune I had dropped on mine. I dug in a met with a nice variety of flavors. The bun was fluffy and buttery and the burger itself was cooked perfectly with a nice, thick grind. The cheese was gooey and tasty, but when combined with the prosciutto it kind of overwhelmed my taste buds with salt.

Something was needed to cut through the salt, something was missing. Oh yes, the fig compote. After a few bites, I found where the fig compote was hiding and this brought a great balance to the burger. Unfortunately, the compote wasn’t spread throughout the burger and with each bite, I hoped that there would be fig involved to bring balance to my mouth. Sadly, it wasn’t always there.

The Prosciutto Burger at 26 Beach was definitely a great burger. Unfortunately, lack of balance kept it from being one of the best burgers I have ever had. I’m definitely up for another visit to 26 Beach to try some of their other interesting burgers, but their prices are probably going to keep me away for some time.

As a break from watching horse racing and football at the Caesar’s Palace Casino in Las Vegas, we walked right next to the sports book and into the Mesa Grill. The place is pretty well-known for being Bobby Flay’s restaurant and I guess Bobby Flay is some sort of a big deal because of his Iron Chef work and such, but I still get him confused with Michael Flatley of Riverdance fame. Confusion or no, I had heard great things about the Mesa Burger and zoned in on that when I got my menu.

I was actually a little disappointed by the list of toppings. Horseradish mustard sounded like a bad vegetable concoction, while grilled Vidalia onions made it sound even worse. The redeeming quality of the burger was the double cheddar cheese, so I still ordered the burger with the cheese on it. I told the waiter that I was ordering my burger strangely and he replied that it wasn’t strange at all. This friendliness in an anti-unvegan world showed me that even unvegans are welcomed with open arms in Las Vegas. I ordered the burger cooked medium and he told me they served a very liberal medium, meaning my burger would be quite pink. This was just fine by me.

As we waited for our meals, we were treated to a pretty stellar bread basket. This thing was loaded with blueberry coffee cake, jalapeno muffins and some crazy sorts of scones. All tasted awesome and our waiter joked to us about the occasions when a parent accidentally gives their child a jalapeno muffin. Hilarity ensues, at least for everyone that isn’t the child or neglectful parent.

When the food arrived, I looked upon my burger in disappointment. Although the menu had made no mention of additional toppings on the burger, I saw that it had some sort of purplish lettuce on it and a big fat slice of tomato. I remedied the situation, while cursing Bobby Flay for creating such a monstrosity. Finally, the plain cheeseburger was ready for tasting. I bit in and my re-creation tasted pretty good. The meat was juicy and not too pink. The cheddar was oozing over the top of the burger and the bun, although quite large, didn’t distract from the good burger flavor.

The fries were a great addition to the burger. Perfectly crisped with just enough Cajun spice. I guess I was just a bit disappointed that after all the work to get the burger correct, my Mesa Burger became a glorified cheeseburger. It would have been nice to have more burger options and I suppose I have been spoiled by Umami Burger. The Mesa Burger was good, but the price (although I wasn’t paying, thanks girlfriend’s parents!) of 16 bucks could have added up to a better unvegan burger.

The newest edition of Umami Burger opened up a couple weeks ago in Los Feliz and I got there as soon as I could to see if they could continue producing those same amazing burgers. The last time I went to Umami on La Brea, it was still BYOB and had yet to develop a burger built for unvegans. Even the so-called “Manly Burger” had onions, but they were still nice enough to make burgers for my unvegan specifications. Umami Ni, as I like to call the new Umami Burger (ni meaning two in Japanese), was a grown up version of the original.

Not only does Umami Ni serve beer and wine, they even have a bar called Salaryman (another Japanese homage) where they serve Asian beers for comfortable prices. Arriving at 9:00, I expected to be seated quickly, but the place still had a waiting time, so I headed over to experience Salaryman. The place seems to really only exist for people waiting on their tables. I wouldn’t really consider the bar itself a destination, but it is a nice place to wait. Before I had time to finish my beer, my table was ready.

I checked out the menu and was amazed to find that they had finally crafted a burger for unvegans, the Truffle Burger. This veggie-free dream simply has Italian truffle cheese and a truffle glaze. With my mouth watering, I ordered my burger.

After a relatively long wait, a runner brought my burger, but to the surprise of my co-eaters none of their burgers showed. The burger looked amazing, but I waited a minute for the other burgers to arrive before digging in. A minute passed and our waiter came to tell us there had been a mistake. The burgers would be coming soon, but I should eat mine. Confused, but now free of being rude by eating my meal first, I started eating. It was everything I hoped for and more. I can say without a doubt that this is the best burger I have ever had. I don’t know what it is about truffles, but they seem to make everything taste better. I am now adding them to my list of things that make everything taste better, which includes cheese, garlic and bacon.

And what’s more? With the arrival of the rest of the burgers at the table, they brought me out a second burger, which I cut up for the rest of the table to try. It was nice to see a restaurant like that recognize even a little mistake and make up for it in spades. Now if only they could start making sides that match the burgers in tastiness. I tried both their sweet potato and regular potato fries, and neither were worthy companions to the Truffle Burger. They weren’t bad by any means, it is just that the standard is so high.

Umami Ni and its Truffle Burger has spoiled me for burgers and I now long for my next opportunity to devour some of their perfectly prepared burgers.

Following my Father’s Office experience, I set out for one of LA’s newest burger hotspots, Umami Burger.

I was a late addition to my group of friends, and the wait staff was extremely accommodating in letting me pull up an extra chair in such a small restaurant and order last. I took a quick gander at the menu and saw that all the burgers involved some sort of vegetative substance. I asked the waiter if I could just get a burger with American Cheese and their “spread” and she told me it was no problem (Basically the SoCal Burger without veggies). I was amazed, after having my no-substitutions experience at Father’s Office. Now, before you judge me for getting American Cheese, I have to tell you that Umami Burger makes their own American Cheese and it’s not supposed to be anything like the Kraft kind you get at the local Ralph’s. (read about it here)

Unbeknownst to me, the place was BYOB, but luckily a friend of mine had brought some Miller Lites and I was able to partake in the drinking. While we waited, we had the french fries, sweet potato chips and onion rings as an appetizer. I avoided the rings, but found the potato-based foods to be great. The servings were on the smaller side, but they also weren’t terribly expensive. Also, Umami apparently makes the ketchup that goes with the fries and rings.

My burger finally came, and it was just as I ordered. In-between the buns were a wonderful display of meat, cheese and spread. I honestly couldn’t say what the spread is composed of, but it really went great with the burger. The buns, being light and buttery, made great bookends to a great burger.

My only complaint was that it was over too soon. For a $9 burger, I should have left the place without any desire for another bite to eat.