Cuisine Scene: Burgers

Some hunger pangs can only be assuaged with a big, juicy burger. In Long Beach you have dozens of choices to satisfy this urge, whether you like your burger smashed, stacked, or vegan. Here are a few burgers to love in Long Beach.

WAVE Gourmet Smash Burgers

Some of the best burgers in town are served at this pop-up every Friday evening at Hi-Lo Liquor in Downtown Long Beach! WAVE Gourmet Burgers offers their Cali Double Cheeseburger and a plant-based version plus fries with their aioli dipping sauce from 5 to 9PM.

CRACK BURGERS

Some of the best burgers in town can be found on a golf course. Crack (6180 Bixby Village Dr) is housed inside the 9-hole Bixby Village Golf Course and offers a menu of classic smashburgers branded with the letter C. This beloved spot is famous for their bacon jam and rotating roster of sides, including Apple Pie Baked Beans and White Bean Chicken Chili. Take your order out to the back patio on a sunny day and watch the golfers taking their swings.

The Ordinarie

The mission of this fun, downtown bar/restaurant is to pay homage to the traditional American tavern, and is there anything more time-honored, more fun than a burger and beer? The Just Your Ordinarie Burger looks fairly traditional until you realize the Thousand Island dressing is house made and those are pickled jalapenos dancing on your tongue along with some sweet caramelized onions. Pair this with The Ordinarie’s (210 Promenade N.) fantastic, fat French Fries and pair it all with some great local beers from such acclaimed local brewers such as Altar Society Brewing, ISM Brewing and Ficklewood Cider.

THE WIN-DOW

A recent addition to Belmont Shore, The Win-Dow (4600 2nd St) is quickly becoming a local favorite. The simple menu offers smash burgers grilled with onions and served on a bun with American cheese, pickles, and house sauce. Impossible burgers are available, along with a grain bowl, chicken sandwich, kale salad, and of course, fries. Add a classic hand-spun shake or dipped ice cream cone to take with you as you stroll 2nd Street.

The Attic

Carved from the bones of a 1920s craftsman home, The Attic (3441 E Broadway) has built one of the largest, most loyal followings in the city by offering sophisticated takes on comfort food, perhaps none more famous than its Mac & Cheetos, a mac and cheese dish made with flaming hot Cheetos. Its Attic Burger is another prime example of sophisticated comfort, with ground beef sitting on a house made benne seed bun and topped with cheddar and American cheese as well as a tangy remoulade sauce as well as requisite onions, pickles and iceberg lettuce. Ahhhhh.

Parkers' Lighthouse

Granted, when you find yourself at one of Long Beach’s premiere seafood restaurants, a burger is not necessarily the first thing that jumps to mind. But Parkers' Lighthouse (435 Shoreline Village Dr.) serves something called its Garlic Cheese Bread Burger and it's unique and delicious enough to consider giving it a shot. It’s fairly simple–eight ounce, ground beef/brisket, tomato, house-made pickles–until they smother it with the topper: two slices of Parkers' delectable garlic cheese toast, oozing flavor all over the creation. If you still feel odd about not getting seafood, “Smash It” by adding a crab cake.

MVPS GRILL AND PATIO

You better be hungry when you go to MVP’s Grill & Patio (2742 E 4th St / 5484 E Stearns St); the burgers are huge and your side of Cajun fries will be as well. Each burger, salad, sandwich and hot dog on the menu is named for a notable athlete, and you’ll feel like a champion when you finish your meal. Try the Shaq Burger, with double meat, double cheese, double bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato and MVP’s signature Cajunaise dressing. Then go home and lie down.

SIDEBURNS

Sure, you can get a classic burger at Sideburns (941 E 4th St), but you can also get a burger with creative twists, like the Poutine Burger with fries, cheese curds, and gravy or the Smash Cristo, which is beer battered and deep fried, then drizzled with hot honey and powdered sugar. This food pairs well with the restaurant’s parent establishment, The Stache, which is a bar next door where you can order a classic cocktail and get your burger delivered at the bar.

The Crooked Duck

This beloved neighborhood bistro serves a wide swath of burgers, from bacon to black bean avocado veggie, turkey to vegan, cheddar to gorgonzola, but at some point you have to try out the Fritos Chili Cheddar Burger, which is exactly, thankfully, what it sounds like. The Crooked Duck (5096 Pacific Coast Hwy.) serves a 100% natural beef patty covered with Texas chili, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese and then, deep breath, a handful of crunchy Fritos chips. It’s crisp, it’s crunchy and every bite reveals a new explosion of flavor.

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Cuisine Scene: Barbecue

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Best Restaurants for Lunch in Downtown Long Beach

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Long Beach's Old School Diners

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About the Author

Steve Lowery

Steve Lowery is a longtime local. Over the years he has written for the Los Angeles Times, ESPN, and others. If you're looking for the hidden gems of Long Beach, Steve is your go-to.