>> Front Yard Burger | Eat the World Los Angeles

Monday 29 August 2022

Front Yard Burger

Central Avenue facade

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ UNITED STATES (Oklahoma)
 ๐Ÿ…ฟ️ Parking in the plaza is plentiful.
๐Ÿฅค No Alcohol.

When talking about regional foods in the United States, Oklahoma might be pretty far down on a list of what many people recognize, seek out, and crave. But the Oklahoma onion burger has a place in the heart of anyone who has ever enjoyed one at Sid's Diner in El Reno or another Sooner State franchise that they call their favorite. Long before the smash burger craze came to Los Angeles, Oklahoma has been enjoying this style in their own way for almost 100 years.

Out of nowhere an Oklahoma-style onion burger suddenly has a place on an everyday Los Angeles menu thanks to a new shop in Glendale that opened in mid-March. While you will not find a venison patty here like sometimes found in Oklahoma, the burger itself is a joy to eat and very good value.

An order in their takeout box

Whether you dine in the restaurant, use its outdoor area, or get takeout, your meal will arrive like it does above, a hefty black styrofoam case concealing the treasure within. The main sellers at Front Yard seem to be the two burger combos that include fries and a drink and fit perfectly into these. Unfortunately the combos cannot be altered with different burgers together, so on a first visit this was not the choice.

If you go the a la carte route, a side of fries ($3.50) are still a worthy order, definitely not cut from fresh potatoes but really nice and dusted with spice. A weird house mayo comes along too, but this is better pushed to the side than used for dipping to be honest.

Two burgers with a side of fries

The Oklahoma-style smash burger ($5.99, below) itself comes standard with a melted slice of American cheese (of course) and a heap of onions that have been grilled until they glaze over and become slightly sweet. The onions and cheese almost become one entity when it is served, so definitely do not plan to remove either.

At Front Yard, the burger also comes with pickles. Each Oklahoman would further dress it as desired with mustard or whatever else seems appropriate. It should be remembered that this was always a humble food born as the Great Depression approached and restaurants were looking for ways to stretch their product as far as it would go.

Oklahoma smash cheeseburger

Certainly not anymore, but in Oklahoma you may have even found in the past that the sandwich was more onion than burger. That would probably not work in Los Angeles in 2022, so here it has a perfect balance between patty and onion, and definitely no bacon mixed in like the burger popup you may have tried at your local brewery.

When you order you will hear some pretty distinct Armenian accents, and this makes a new menu item much more tempting. The basturma sujukh cheeseburger ($7.49, below) is just what it sounds like, with a cheeseburger topped with both of these items, a slice of each next to each other.

Basturma sujukh cheeseburger

This cheeseburger has some more "standard" burger toppings stuffed inside, with lettuce and tomato joining the pickles. Weirdly it also comes with ketchup, which next time should be declined as the sweetness of that condiment combines very poorly with the dried Armenian meats.

There may not be enough families in Southern California still identifying as descendants of Oklahoma to create a rush to Glendale like in the Great Depression when they came west for work, burger lovers should make their way to Front Yard to sample this honest, working-class burger. With all the fancy smash burger pop-ups and storefronts around, it is good to see and sample the one that may have started it all despite rarely being mentioned in the history.

๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ

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