My fav restaurant in SoCal

[TaylorWolf]

wut up 10P fam... I know good percentage of us are condensed into SoCal so I wanted to share and promote my favorite restaurant chain here.

Burger Lounge

www.burgerlounge.com

The "Husky Burger" is my favorite and one of the best, healthiest, most high quality burgers I have ever had. Its a double burger with something like 1/2 lbs of GRASS FED beef, organic American cheese (regular American cheeses like Kraft Singles contains NO DAIRY or milk, are made from cheap chemically refined soybean/canola oil and are not actually cheese) lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and a delicious house-made 1000-island dressing sauce. Its almost like its a healthy version of an In-N-Out Double Double.

They also have a killer FRIED ALASKAN COD sandwich (wild-caught fish) and their CRISPY CHICKEN sandwich is just as good. Everything is fried in peanut oil which is a much healthier option than cheap vegetable/soy/canola oil.

I usually order one Husky Burger and one of either the Alaskan Cod or Crispy Chicken sandwiches. (I ate all three in one sitting just once, I eat like a grizzly bear.) I always ask for extra sauce on the side for each sandwich because the sauces are so damn good. Their salads look fire too but I have yet to try one instead of these killer sandwiches (lol). You can add any of the above meats plus bacon and avocado to any salad. Virtually everything is local, organic and stupid high quality, down to the tomato and pickles. Whenever I eat at Burger Lounge I can do the MOST INTENSE workouts 1-4 hours later and not be slowed down AT ALL!

They have many locations and in SoCal (San Diego based) and seem to be expanding constantly. My favorite locations are the one on Sunset near the strip and Santa Monica near the pier (I love to swing around on those metal rings like Tarzan after a big meal) ...and they recently opened a new location in Sherman Oaks right between my crib and 10P Burbank!

Now I would say its my favorite restaurant in all of Cali but there is this unbelievable modern Vietnamese joint right near AKA American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. They have protein-packed spring rolls the size of a Pringles can (okay slight exaggeration) that are three for $10, wicked Banh Mi and Pho. I eat there almost every day when I am visiting.

Happy eating everyone, bon appetit! And hey if this post is making you hungry for a regular-ass burger made from agribusiness corn-fed feed-lot sweatshop tortured beef... I beg you to abstain. GRASS FED BEEF is vastly superior for everyone involved, dare I say the planet. (or plane, whatever)

[NameLikeNoOther]

I think almost all beef from New Zealand and Australia is grass fed before slaughter. In Canada and the USA the feedlots use grain and other stuff to get the market 'desired' marbled effect.

[TaylorWolf]

Hell yes, virtually ALL red meat I buy is imported from NZ and Australia.

Burger Lounge beef is American so I am assuming in comes from NorCal. I've had some great grass-fed beef from the state of Georgia also, there are definitely a few legit spots in USA.

[Constant Expansion]

This makes me want to be in socal getting this burger. I came out to train when I was 14 or 15 in Torrance about 15 plus years ago. We walked up on a hamburger place called '' Hamburger Marys '' . I got a Kobe beef burger that was the most spectacular burgers I had ever chompered down on. Everyone at this place seemed a bit flamboyant and it had my uncle talking the whole meal about that and the decorations if I remember where wild inside. I think the bathroom had some real crazy like mirror tiles all over the stalls.

Finally as we are getting ready to leave we spot a t shirt they are selling that says '' Hamburger Marys Gay Wrestling Team '' .
Coming from the deep South where this type of place would be non existent it really gave us a good laugh. LA land of equal rights and delicious MARY burgers!

[Constant Expansion]

I live in Savannah, GA and we've got quite a few local grassfed cattle companies, White Oaks, Bethesda Beef and Hunter Cattle to name a few. I kind of at this point from eating so many grassfed burgers last few years have switched back to cornfed. I know its not as healthy but the cornfed is still pretty delicious.

[Arman Fathi]

I've been in Socal for a week and I gotta tell ya, I've been blown away by the mexican food. It's everywhere and it's top notch. I'll check out this Burger Lounge spot too.

[JHouse]

My favorite spot in SoCal is Taqueria de Anda in Orange, on N. Tustin St. and Palm. They have awesome Al Pastor tacos on the cheap, and their burritos are killer too. Every time I return home, I stop at the joint FIRST. Damn I love that place!

[NameLikeNoOther]

I also really enjoyed all the Mexi-Cal food when I was training at HQ. I would watch which taco trucks had the most local construction workers at break and lunch, then go by those just before or after those rushes. They seemed like mostly small family run things.

[TaylorWolf]

seemed a bit flamboyant

Yupp, welcome to Cali. Land of freedom and virtually zero judgement. I love many of the states but Cali is my favorite mostly for this reason (also the brilliant minds in silicon valley and of course the entertainment industry of Hollywood). I actually lived in Georgia for 3-4 years and had the wonderful (sarcasm) experience of being thrown into county jail for a weekend for smoking a little herb before a rollerblade session. (yea I said rollerblades, I hadn't discovered martial arts yet so cut me some slack lol)

I live in Savannah, GA and we've got quite a few local grassfed cattle companies, White Oaks, Bethesda Beef and Hunter Cattle to name a few.

Yea I remember getting some wonderful relatively-affordable local grass-fed beef at the grocery stores while living in GA. Farmburger in Atlanta is my all-time favorite restaurant, another grass-fed beef joint. The fried chicken livers tho!! Also there was this amazing Greek yogurt company AtlantaFresh and I used to drop stacks of petty cash on that shit to supply the crew when I was working for the Vampire Diaries TV show (Its amazing how much money they will throw at a show once it becomes successful). I was actually finding the yogurt in Whole Foods here in SoCal for a while and I was wondering what happened to it... I am just now reading that they had to close down after Amazon purchased Whole Foods and terminated their contract. www.atlantafresh.com ...what a tragedy.

I kind of at this point from eating so many grassfed burgers last few years have switched back to cornfed. I know its not as healthy but the cornfed is still pretty delicious.

Shame on you. I have driven past feedlots by accident and they are pretty much the most horrific thing imaginable. Cows all crammed together in a tiny enclosure knee-deep in their own shit, which is a sickening grey/green color that haunts me to this day. I have never seen that ungodly color any where else in my entire life. The closest thing I can describe is something like when light glints off of the back of a housefly. I have also driven past open pastures and seen lazy bovine strait CHILLIN and enjoying life (which they do for many years, while terminating it and harvesting the meat just takes a relative blink-of-an-eye) I think the relationship with livestock is somewhat sacred; We provide a cozy and comfortable existence for the creature and protect it from predators, and in the end, in one blink of an eye, we harvest it and it gives back to us. I want to support this kind of practice and "vote with my dollar".

I've been in Socal for a week and I gotta tell ya, I've been blown away by the mexican food. It's everywhere and it's top notch. I'll check out this Burger Lounge spot too.

Shit, I been here a few years and have never known what spot is legit and what isn't. Those fat cups of spicy mango from the carts look bomb AF tho.

Burger Lounge basically follows In-n-Outs recipe but with quality ingredients. That real organic American cheese is crucial... Kraft singles and the-like are nauseating to me.

I should also include an honorable mention to poke bowls in SoCal, Poke Tiki in Tarzana is my 2nd favorite restaurant. Nothing like a massive bowl of fresh tuna protein with green onions, ginger, seaweed and all sorts of other goodies.

[TaylorWolf]

I gotta make another shout out to Burger Lounge because they got me through a savage day of training last Monday.

I ordered two Husky Burgers and some fries for lunch (saved one burger for later). After one of those massive double burgers and fries I got through class at HQ without being slowed down AT ALL. (how many of you can say this after eating a regular-ass burger??)

...sometimes after class at HQ if I am feeling extra inspired and not fully drained I will go Muscle Beach at the Santa Monica Pier and swing on those metal rings like Tarzan or Johnny Depp in a fuckin Pirates movie. I ate my second burger before some sand-sprints and ring-swings and again, was not slowed down at all.

LONG LIVE BURGER LOUNGE.

Food is fuel... quality ingredients matter.