Culver City Burger Quest: The Grill 'Em All Truck

Welcome to the second installment of the Culver City Burger Quest.  The goal: to meet and eat the best burgers Culver City has to offer.  Previously, I reviewed the east coast interloper . This time, the target is an Los Angeles original with a cult following: the Grill 'Em All food trucks.

Alright, alright, I’ll admit, the roving Grill 'Em All truck is not technically a Culver City burger joint. However, they regularly send a truck into our fair city and frankly, they make a darn good burger.  And I find their truck attitude awesome. 

Once you see a Grill 'Em All truck, provided you grew up in the 80s, you have an instant connection to who they are.  Their trucks (they have two!), plastered in burger-related homage to the graphics of late 70s and early 80s heavy metal bands, warn you: Are you ready to rock? A burger? 

Grill 'Em All was started by friends (and according to their website, band mates) Chef Ryan Harkins and Matthew Chernus.  If you watched the first season of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race,” these guys were the big winners, edging out another Los Angeles food truck cult favorite.  In their parlance, once you “crush” one of their creations, you will join the converted masses.

When you walk up to their truck, rock playing in the background, you are confronted with a menu filled with chuckles and fear.  They have burgers with names like Hannah Montana—which is made with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle and ketchup—and the Dee Snider peanut butter, jelly, bacon and Sriracha (no, seriously) burger. The Grill 'Em All guys take their serious burger making with a heavy dose of fun.  Also on that menu is the Behemoth. which is a burger dressed with cheddar, bacon, beer-soaked onions, pickles and BBQ sauce ... and they were just getting started.  The Behemoth also replaces their fresh-daily burger buns with grilled cheese sandwiches.  Once, just once, I pulled my chair up to try a Behemoth.  Instead of rocking and rolling all night, I slept all afternoon and ate salad for a solid week.  I have tried a few of their other burgers, my favorite being the Blue Cheer with blue cheese, a cranberry gastrique and Munchos (yeah, the potato chip snack). Actually, I add bacon, because, everything is better with bacon.  

So, on to our ratings...

Meat: Now this is a burger! No offense to the thin-burgers of our fast food nation—these thick, juicy meat patties are lovingly prepared, perfectly seasoned and deftly cooked. Every time. No doubt, this meat is a 5. 

Bun: With meat that good and thick, they found buns, made fresh daily, to stand up to it.  Is there anything worse during a burger session than to have the juice turn the bun into a mushy mess? This is not a problem at Grill 'Em All.  This bun is darn good. An easy 4.

Options: For a rock truck, their options are pretty high brow: aioli of garlic or malt vinegar, chipotle ketchup (my fav), BBQ sauce, bleu cheese, truffle oil and whatever is on special. I haven’t tried the tator tots filled with cheddar and jack cheese, but my friend growling at me when I reached into her basket of “h-100’s” convinced me these were probably great tasting.  While not broad, the quality of options are phenomenal.  5.

Fries: Yes, yes, yes. These are some tasty fries. Belgian style pomme frites are double dipped and perfectly done with a crispy outside, soft steamy center with a great potato flavor. My favorite pairing is with that chipotle ketchup. YUM. However, not everyone is into Belgian style fries, so make it a strong 4.

With a high rating, these dudes clearly bring a great burger to the competition.  They come to Culver City enough to have earned a spot in The Quest.  Jump in your t-top Camaro, toss a Metallica tape in the deck and run these guys down.  You'll be happy you did. Learn more about the Grill 'Em All Truck by clicking here.

Want to nominate a burger for the Culver City Burger Quest? Drop a note in the comments!