On to Saturday morning.  I thought 10:30 would be an appropriate time to arrive.  It was scheduled to run from 11am to 5pm and I planned to stay the whole time.  My grandma offered me breakfast but I declined and told her “I’ll be eating all day.”  I arrived at the location right at 10:30 and the line was already wrapped around the corner.  I joined in the line and waited along with the other hungry folks.  I’m glad I got there when I did because a while later, while I was still in the same spot in line, I heard that the line extended for three blocks behind me and wound through a parking lot.

The view while waiting to get in

A few minutes before 11, one of the organizers came by with a bullhorn and announced that there was a slight delay and they wouldn’t be able to start right at 11.  I later found out that the health inspector decided to show up and make some inspections.  Good timing.  I think some hungry folks were getting ready to riot, but they finally opened the gates around 11:20 and the line started to move.

Getting closer...

We could see that a long line was starting to form in front of the Ludo Bites truck.  I regret not joining it as soon as I got in, but more on that later…

Ludo's Line Forming

Finally, at 11:38, I got in!  I headed to DonChow first because the line was relatively short and I wanted something to eat while I stood in the rapidly-growing line for the Grilled Cheese Truck.

DonChow Truck

DonChow is a Mexican-Chinese fusion truck that recently filmed with Guy Fieri for Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  I ordered the Ultimate LA Taco: carne asada, bacon, and caramelized onions with mild salsa.  There’s nothing Chinese about that, but they do offer other options like Kung Pao Chicken or Chinese BBQ Pork that you can have in a taco or burrito.  I carefully removed all the large onion pieces from my taco.

Ultimate LA Taco

While I was waiting for my taco to be prepared, I snapped a shot of my next truck, the Grilled Cheese Truck.  I first heard about the Grilled Cheese Truck last October but had never had an opportunity to try it since I don’t spend much time in the actual city of LA.  I was super excited to get to try it, but so were the hundred other people in line ahead of me.

Grilled Cheese Truck

I took my Ultimate LA Taco (good stuff) and got in line for my grilled cheese.  I knew exactly what I wanted to order – the Cheesy Mac & Rib Melt.  It’s a macaroni and cheese melt with BBQ smoked pork and caramelized onions.  If I had had someone to share with, I would’ve ordered the Dessert Melt also (roasted banana spread with marshmallow and Nutella on sweet brioche), but at the time I thought it would be too much food.

My original plan was to get food from one truck and eat it while standing in line at the next truck.  I’m a slow eater, so I thought this would work for me.  Unfortunately, I spent an hour waiting in the Grilled Cheese Truck line, and that little taco didn’t last more than a few minutes.  In the meantime, I got to take pictures of food from all the other lucky people in front of me who were there with friends and split up to hit multiple trucks and try lots of different things.  These little hot dogs were from Dogzilla.  There are 2 original Dogzilla Dogs (grilled onions, avocado, bacon, teriyaki sauce, Japanese mayo, and furikake).  The lower left is a Furikake Dog (grilled onions, teriyaki sauce, japanese mayo, furikake, and nori strips).  The upper right is the Yakisoba Dog (yakisoba noodles, red ginger, and okonomi sauce).  If you’re anything like me, you have never heard of furikake until now, so I’ll include a description of it from Wikipedia: “Furikake is a dry Japanese condiment meant to be sprinkled on top of rice. It typically consists of a mixture of dried and ground fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and MSG.”

Dogzilla Dogs

Some other people came back with goodies from the Buttermilk Truck.  From left to right: Housemade Cake Donut Bites, a sample portion of the Buttermilk Brick (hash browns, egg over easy, buttermilk biscuit and chorizo gravy), and Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Pancake Bites.

Buttermilk Truck Food

The line was so long that they had to snake it back and forth in a few spots.  They really needed some Disneyland chains.

Long line for grilled cheese

Finally almost at the front, after an hour wait!

Almost to the front of the line!

I ordered, waited patiently, and got my Cheesy Mac & Rib Melt (half portion for the food fest).  I had to pick off those wormy-looking onions. 

Cheesy Mac & Rib Melt

I made my way over to Chef Ludo’s truck and followed the looping line all the way around to the end, which turned out to be really close to where it started.  It was kind of hard to tell which line was which, so sometimes people would walk by and ask which truck we were waiting for.  The Frysmith line a few feet away was also really long.  I heard a woman in that line say she didn’t even know what she was waiting for.  After waiting for about an hour, someone from the truck came out to let us know that the wait after receiving our chicken tickets would be approximately one hour.  We were welcome to wait and she assured us that they would not run out of chicken but it was the frying time that was the issue.  I continued to wait in line while some of the other people around me gave up.   I really should have gotten that Dessert Melt!

Two hours later I was still patiently waiting.  In my opinion, they could have done a much better job selling the chicken tickets.  It’s obvious that they were taking their sweet time selling the tickets to try to pace the line a bit.  It wasn’t like other lines where there were different things you could order.  You give them $5, they give you a numbered ticket (or, if you’re the guy in front of me, you give them $50 and they give you 10 tickets), and you come back later to collect your chicken.  What they should have done was sell as many tickets as they would be able to cook for and tell people to come back in waves according to their ticket numbers.  One group comes back in 30 minutes, the next in an hour, 90 minutes, 2 hours, and so on, instead of making us waste all of our time standing in that line.  That way we could go and try a few other trucks while waiting for the chicken to fry.  I’m pretty sure that was the point of having all of the trucks in one place…

Two hours later... almost to the front of the Ludo Bites line.

Chef Ludo came out of the truck and posed for some pictures.  I didn’t feel like getting my own so I just took one of him with some random guy.  For those who don’t know who he is, Ludo Lefebvre is one of the top 50 chefs in the world.  He’s been on Iron Chef and  will be on season 2 of Top Chef Masters.  (I heard he does quite well.)  http://www.ludolefebvre.com/about/

Chef Ludo posing with some random guy

I finally got my chicken ticket after two and a half hours of waiting in line.  I enjoyed a few seconds of freedom (seriously, it felt really nice) and then immediately got in line for the Komodo truck right next door.  I didn’t want to wander too far away from the chicken even though I knew it would be at least an hour before my chicken would be ready.

Komodo Truck

At first I was only going to get one taco, but I was pretty hungry after such a long wait and they sounded really good, so I got two.  The Komodo Signature taco is top sirloin with homemade guacamole and cotija cheese.  The Fish ‘N’ Grapes taco is deep fried buttery cod tossed with fresh grape salad and pickled onions (picked off!)  They were both very good and definitely one of the best things I ate that day.  I would love to go find that truck again.

Komodo Signature Taco and Fish 'N' Grapes Taco

I took my tray of tacos and chicken ticket and got in line at the Sweets Truck.

Sweets Truck

They had pudding shooters, mini cupcakes, cake pops, and other assorted sweet treats.

Sweets on the Sweets Truck

I selected a yummy Banana Pudding Shooter with crushed ‘Nilla wafers.  By this time, my hands were full of food so I went and found a table to sit at.

Banana Pudding Shooter

I sat and enjoyed my Komodo tacos.  A woman came over to the table and asked if she and her friend could sit down.  She put her bag down on the table so I didn’t see what they were eating.  I worked on eating my tacos while they discussed where to go next.  She asked me what I had tried, so I told her what I had eaten and how much time I had spent waiting for my chicken ticket.

Komodo Signature Taco

She then moved her bag aside and offered me an extra, untouched tray of hot fried chicken from Ludo.  She and her friend had other trucks to try anyway and had bought their tickets off of someone who couldn’t wait for the chicken because he had to leave.  I thanked her profusely and hurried to finish my taco.  I wasn’t prepared to have chicken yet!

Ludo Bites!!!!!

The chicken was still very hot and juicy and the rosemary flavor was wonderful.  My only complaint was that I had a few bites of undercooked batter which made me think they were rushing to serve as many people as possible.  I didn’t get sick though, so all was well.  I wandered back towards the truck with my chicken and found a skeptical buyer for my ticket.  If he only understood what a bargain he was getting by only having to pay $5 and not waste three hours waiting… assuming he was able to get his chicken.  He should have had to wait less than 30 minutes from that point.

Inside a Ludo Bite

With my hands full of chicken, I went off to explore the rest of the trucks I hadn’t seen yet.  By that time, it was almost 4:30 and the organizers had gone around announcing that they would be shutting down right at 5:00 and no food would be served after that.  I didn’t want to get into any long lines just to receive nothing and be disappointed, so I just took pictures of some of the trucks.  Also, some trucks were out of what I wanted anyway, like the Louks mini Greek donut balls with Nutella topping.

Buttermilk Truck

Fishlips Sushi Truck

Gastrobus

Louks Greek Gourmet Truck

Flying Pig Truck

Phamish Vietnamese Truck

SliceTruck (pizza)

Kabob 'N' Roll Truck (Mediterranean)

Tastymeat Truck (Turkish)

India Jones Truck

Uncle Lau's Island BBQ Truck

I was still munching on my chicken, but I decided to get into one last line at Uncle Lau’s.  It wasn’t very long at all.  They had two choices left for sliders: BBQ Beef or Pulled Pork (the ribs were sold out).  I got to the front of the line and couldn’t decide so I handed in my $3 and let them decide for me.  I got a Pulled Pork Slider and brought most of it home with me.  I took a seat on some stairs and finished off my chicken, found another seat near the entrance and ate my pudding shooter, and left with my slider.

Pulled Pork Slider

Overall, I enjoyed the day.  If I had to do it over again, I would have arrived a little earlier and gone straight to the Ludo Bites line upon arrival.  I would definitely recommend taking on an event like this as a team.  It’s much easier to try more things when you have more bodies to wait in lines.  I don’t regret passing on the VIP option as I don’t think it was worth $30 just to have restrooms and an exclusive truck.  The VIPs had to wait in the regular lines just like the rest of us.  I made it to 5 out of 10 of my “definitely” list, which wasn’t too bad considering some of the wait times.  I’ll just have to hunt down the rest of the trucks wherever they are in LA, whenever I get a chance to go.

Now I am not saying that the burger at Father’s Office was an epic culinary achievement that took years for the creator to make… but it tastes like it. I have not had every burger on earth (I’m getting there) and I do not know if I ever will… but even if I don’t eat every burger on earth, I’m okay with that because of the simple fact that I have had the perfect burger… The Office Burger.

I get to the door and show the man my ID (sorry this place ain’t for you youngin’) and I got directly to the bar to order.  ” Hello barkeep! I will have the Office Burger with no onions, fries and a Diet Coke” to which his reply was “We do not do substitutions of any kind on the burger and we don’t have coke”. Well… dammit. That’s just great, I mean… carmelized onions are OK but they aren’t my favorite thing on earth, but I was really sad about the Diet Coke part. I tell him just to give me the burger and whatever diet drink hes got and I go find my seat and test my soda(Boylan’s). Well… yeah the soda was pretty great, but I was thinking to myself ” well if I can’t make any substitutions this better be the best damn burger ever”

The burger comes dressed in the arugula and caramelized onions and the fries are the very thin shoe string variety served with a garlic aioli. I go for the fries first… mmm crunchy, well seasoned… not bad. Now with the aioli, wow thats good, you could put that stuff on a tire and it would taste good.

Then I go for the burger. It comes cut in half which I wasn’t quite sure I liked but it did let me know that the burger was perfectly cooked, nice and pink throughout. After one bite I know that I am forever doomed to stomach induced trips to LA (I hate LA) to get this burger. It is just perfect.

The bread stands up well to the juices of the meat while adding a nice crunch at first bite followed by a super soft bread. The arugula and onions place off each other perfectly with the greens having a bit of a biting pepper taste, while the onions have a sweet taste with and almost creamy syrupy texture. Add to that a nice melted Gruyre and bleu cheese.. ugh.. heaven. The burger itself would be amazing without anything on top of it… but it definitely makes it better.

The meat has a nice deep char on the outsides but around the middle around the edge it looks barely browned, so it really looks like they sear it off quickly and then put it on the bun. It seasoned nicely with salt, but it lets the back up ingredients do its part too. I really cannot say enough about this burger so I will just stop otherwise I will be here all-night.

In closing this burger is one of the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life. Santa Barbara has a LONG LONG LONG way to go. Nothing I have had here compares to this… it would be like if Mike Tyson fought an infant. And that is saying a lot because I do like some of the burgers in SB (CBJ),  but this is just in another league.

I’m not sure why I had to go to work today, since it is National Cheeseburger Day.  I celebrated by going to the Burger Bus with Kelley.  I had a CB&J with pepper jack cheese and olallieberry jalapeño jelly.  And bacon!  They’ve added the option of adding lettuce, tomato, and pickles (no pickles for me) for just 50 cents more.

CB&J + BLT

How did you celebrate?

It has been difficult… I started last Tuesday and tomorrow after work will be my official victory party. It really has not been as bad as I thought it was going to be. I almost thought that I would wither away to nothingness and become a weak useless mass… but alas I did not. And I did try some things that I normally would have made with meat.

I made some homemade Zucchini and Spinach Lasagna which turned out alright… after getting angry that I ran out of sauce… but whatever. I think that Cathy and our friend Jen liked it…  at least I hope they did and weren’t just lying to me.
I also made some of the best Cheese and Jalapeno Enchiladas ever. I made the sauce from scratch, which I have done before, but this time it turned out really well. It had a deep and rich chili flavor without being to hot or overpowering. I enjoyed it very much and am looking forward to making it with meat next time.
I think one thing that I can take away from this non-meat portion of my life is that anyone can survive without meat. If I can go a week without eating meat… then ANYONE can… I eat way too much meat.

Anyways… here are the results.

The simple Luger Burger from the best steakhouse in NY (24 yrs and counting) won with 44% of the vote, showing that simplicity and good ingredients can go a long way.

The Dork (my personal favorite) came in second with 39% of the vote. I think a few people were unsure what kind of patty would be born from the marriage or duck and pork.

The pricey $5000 Fleurburger was third with only 17% of the vote. I guess you all don’t have the super expensive taste like I do.

And finally… no one wanted to try the DB Burger… and I don’t really blame them. All of those ingredients are amazing separate, but I cannot put my head around what they would be like together. And that scares me.

The DB Burger:Served at DB Bistro Moderne in NY. This place serves French-American cuisine. To make this burger they braise a beef short rib and stuff the meat into the burger along with a size-able helping of Foie Gras. For those of you who don’t know or haven’t tried it… Foie Gras is Duck/Goose liver. I won’t go into the horrible process of how they make it so delicious, but I will go into why its delicious. It acts a lot like butter, it is fatty, melts in your mouth and is just deliciously rich. You should try it.

The Dork:Lunchbox Laboratory is a place that I really… really want to go to. In Seattle Washington this burger place offers up a huge selection of different meats, sauces and toppings to create your own burger with. The most appealing looks to be a 1/2lb patty made from Pork (fatty) and Duck(fatty) to create an unholy unity of fattiness. It appears to be so juicy that you have to wear a snorkel when you eat it so you don’t drown in goodness(fattiness). Top that off with Maple Bacon(fatty) and Zillion Island Dressing ( not sure what it is but if I had to guess I would guess Fatty) on a locally made bun.

Fleurburger 5000: Only an insane french chef would take a Kobe Beef Burger containing Foie Gras then top it with his own special sauce made of Truffles and serve it with Black Truffles on a Toasted Truffle Brioche Bun. Only in Las Vegas could he get away with charging $5000 dollars for it. Yes that’s right. Fleur De Lys Restaurant serves this creation, thought up by crazy french chef Hubert Keller (Top Chef Masters). It comes with a $988 bottle of wine, the nice stemware and a certificate saying that you ordered and ate a $5000 burger. (Bolded due to ridiculousness.)

Luger Burger: Peter Luger’s Steakhouse has won the award for best steakhouse in New York  for 24 years in a row I believe. They use the best beef they can get their hands on and they’ve been cooking since 1887. This all adds up to  what looks like a superb burger. Prime, aged beef. Cheese. Maybe some bacon?

I was sad to say that mustard was defeated in this round of best condiment… but only because it isn’t best suited to do its thing on a burger.

Ketchup won with 27% of the votes with mustard so close behind at 23%.

Tied for third place was Mayo and nothing(my vote) with a strong showing of 18% each.

Rounding it out all the other choices (other, BBQ and Teriyaki) each tied for the last spot.

I guess Ketchup is king afterall. Who’da thunk it?

We ordered and took a seat to wait for the food. And we waited. It seemed like the kind of place that would be fast… and it wasn’t packed. Then I noticed that we were there at closing so I felt bad and decided to make it to go. When I went up there I saw why we were waiting so long, some lady was really really hungry and ordered about 10-15 burgers. GOOD SIGN! I don’t mind waiting if the food is going to be good. We get the food and SPEED home, on the way I sample both the fries and shake. Fries always seem to travel poorly so I wanted to make sure to try them while hot and fresh. They were good, standard fries. Nice crispy, not too big, not too small. When we got home they and died a bit so I was glad to have tried them before hand.

So when I saw them making my Chubbie Burger (Double Cheeseburger) I noticed that the meat that they used looked very nice and definitely looked like a fresh-never frozen product. This translated into the taste of the burger which has nice flavor and texture. They cook them a bit much for me, and they aren’t quite as “juicy” as In-N-Out’s burgers so they seem a tad dry. The combination of cheese and burger is very similar to In-N-Out, they have both perfected that melted cheese state. In fact, I would say that since Chubbie’s burgers are a bit thicker than In-N-Out that they have a better overall texture and feel to In-N-Out. My biggest complaint about the burger is that they have this great fresh patty, but they don’t season it properly. Good meat can and does stand up by itself, but salt is a flavor enhancer when used correctly, it brings out what a food can be, and this was definitely lacking.

When I was told that there was a great Santa Barbara hole in the wall where I could find burger bliss I was excited. So excited in fact I don’t really know why I put it off so long. Probably because the allure of In-N-Out is so strong. Resistance is futile. But I’m glad that I made up my mind to finally go try Chubbie’s. I’ll be back again since it was a quality burger that rivals that of almost any fast food place out there. ALMOST any fast food place.

What balances out the salt and fat in the burger the best? Vote for your choice (if you choose other, make sure to type your choice into the adjacent box.)

These results are a little surprising to me…

I was pretty sure that Cheddar was the obvious front runner for this week and it was with 52% of the vote!

What surprised me were the other rankings… Jack took second place with 22% while American (my third favorite cheese) came in right behind it with 19%.

Swiss got a little love with 4%… as did the Otherchoice (but you didn’t type in what the OTHER cheese was… that’s why there was a box there.)

No cheese/Al-Qaeda Members were in at 0% while Blue Cheese came in at 0% too!! Blue cheese is my second favorite cheese on a burger and its great… why no love for the stinky cheese?