The Oinkster

Los Angeles seems to have an odd fascination with hamburgers.  And not just any hamburger -  gourmet hamburgers.  Left and right, everyone is always asking about or participating in the (never-ending) hunt for "LA's Best Burger." { see here, here, and here }  I'm not an exception.  { see The Great Search }  But after checking out most of the well-known spots, eating enough cow to feel like one, and causing my cholesterol to spike to astronomical levels, I knew my active search was done.  That isn't to say I still enjoy trying new burgers and making my best attempts to rank them.  However, too often it's like ranking apples with oranges.

A few weeks ago, Oinkster hosted its own first annual Burger Week, a week after National Hamburger Day. In addition to their normal menu, Oinkster paid homage to McDonalds, Father's Office, Grill 'Em All, Tommy's, Umami, and showcased their own $25 Burger (which was really $9.50).  I went on the last day to get a taste of their famous "$25 Burger."  And it was good.

Oinkster $25 Burger - $9.50

The burger included dry-aged Kobe beef, porcini mushrooms drenched in Parm, cream, and sauteed shallots, arugula, cheese, and truffle aioli fried onions on a French burger bun.  While it was very tasty, I couldn't really finish it.  This isn't because I had a veggie wrap just 2 hours earlier, but the cheese/cream combo added a lot of weight to the burger, making it too dense for me.  Grease, cheese, and all that good stuff are key to a tasty burger, but by bite 10, I was kind of over it.  That said, most of my friends cleaned their plates and licked their fingers. 

Somehow, the memo for Burger Week and the $25 Oinkster Burger (aka - the reason why we were at Oinkster's in the first place) got lost in translation for one of my ("special") friends because while we all stuffed our faces with our burgers, he got this:

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich - $6.99

Now, the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich is one of Oinkster's best-sellers, along with the Oinkster Pastrami, but... maybe not the choice dish during Burger Week. (Hi AK).

Anyway, check out the Oinkster, where "happiness is a warm bun."



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cuisine: Burger shop
location: Eagle Rock

hours: M-Thu, Sun: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM; Fri-Sat: 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM 

website: { Oinkster | yelp }

attire: Casual 

parking: lot or street parking

notes: Try their homemade ketchup!