The Royale at The Oinkster, Los Angeles, CA

mmm.pastrami, the king of smoked meat sandwich goodness. Featured by the Food Network's Guy Fieri, this joint in the Eagle Rock area of L.A features it's own in house smoked pastrami, slow cooked pork, chicken and of course- burgers. The Oinkster claims to be "Los Angeles’ antidote to both, expensive gourmet meals and their cheap fast food counterparts" with most items on the menu under $10. They even offer Belgian style fries and home made mayo for dippin'.

The Oinkster

Today, I took on the Royale- a 1/3 lb. Nebraska Angus patty cheeseburger with bacon, chili & pastrami as well as dill pickles, onions, tomato, lettuce and 1000 Island dressing. I think the total weight on this sucker was nearly 3/4 of a pound and thanks to skipping breakfast, I was up for the task.

The Royale at The Oinkster

Upon the first bite you really tasted the smokiness of the pastrami and although there was a third of a pound of Nebraska hamburger in there, it was somewhat hidden by the sheer amount of pastrami, chili and bacon. The lettuce added a crisp bite and the bun held the whole mess together pretty well. I didn't really think the thousand islands dressing added anything- except perhaps, for more calories.

All in all, the Royale is pretty decent if you are looking for quantity, quality and something non-traditional when it comes to burgers. I'd love to try some other items on the menu, but will have to save that for next time.

Aburgeraday rating: 6/10

Double Cheeseburger at Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers, Los Angeles, CA

Imagine spending the whole day at a crowded theme park crawling with thousands of people on Memorial Day weekend, getting in your car at the end of the day to head to a relaxing dinner spot and typing in the wrong address in the GPS only to find yourself lost in downtown L.A- irritable, hungry and willing to try just about anything. That's how I found or should I say, stumbled upon Original Tommy's Burgers.

I knew nothing about this place before I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but as I was passing by, I knew from the nostalgic look of the building that this place had been around for a long time- and I just had to give it a try. Opened in 1946 on the northeast corner of Beverly and Rampart Avenue near downtown L.A, Tommy's Original World Famous Hamburger's now has 34 locations mostly across Southern California and 2 locations in Nevada.

Tommy's is known for putting chili on almost everything on the menu- Chili-burgers, chili-fries, chili dogs...and so on. Today I went for the Double Cheeseburger- a killer bargain at $3.30.  All Tommy's burgers come standard with tomatoes, mustard, pickles, onion, a double thick slice of cheese and chili- and lots of it. The chili is good- real good- nice and thick, meaty, and, makes the burger extremely filling. The beef patty is almost secondary- it's in there, but not the highlight.

In any case, the burgers are good and hit the spot- add Tommy's history, it's devoted following of burger fans, and the fact that it's open 24 hours and this makes Tommy's a must on every one's burger bucket list and a place that you must try before you die.

Aburgeraday rating- 8/10