I was standing at the hostess desk asking the waitress, Jen, if I could have a table for two. Looking around at the very small dining area, I had a feeling that would take a while. With an expression that blended optimism and skepticism, she told me that the wait would be about 20 minutes. Some restaurants say “20 minutes” and it’s a literal 1,200 seconds or something pretty close to that. While others say “20 minutes” and they really mean when a new episode of MASH comes out. I was hoping for the former in this case.

I was at Big D’s Burgers in Whittier with my friend Kammy for dinner. We hadn’t seen each other in a while so this would be our night to catch up. Since we had 20 minutes to kill before being seated, we did a good amount of catching up over the waiting area. As the minutes passed slowly and I pretended that my feet weren’t getting tired from standing, I was starting to get a little impatient. I really wanted to eat here, but I began to contemplate eating someplace else. It was in that very moment that Jen somehow read my mind and brought us complimentary Strawberry Lemonade ($3 for 20oz) to ease the annoyance. I used to work in customer service and I admire when businesses offer products in place of an inconvenience. Plus, I am such a sucker whenever people are unexpectedly considerate or generous that this gesture was heart-warming. So much that it completely alleviated my agitated mood. The perfectly sweetened lemonade was infused with strawberries that were picked up in the straw with each sip. The drink wasn’t overpowered with the fruit, but the straw was a tad skinny so some of it got stuck. My solution: a wider straw would make it easier to drink it when the strawberries make their way through the straw.

The reason we started to feel the sting of the long wait was because the restaurant is small. Probably fists about 15 tables at most, which means we didn’t sit until someone left. Thankfully Jen was very accommodating. After a table cleared, Jen moved it away from the front door so Kammy and I wouldn’t freeze to death. Once we sat down, we ordered! I got the Big D Burger ($10). The medium rare burger was stuffed with 12 ounces of beef and served with a Louisiana hot link, crispy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, fresh red onions, a crunchy dill pickle, and dressed with mayo and mustard. To say the burger is huge would be an accurate description; it required a good grip with my medium-sized lady hands. Each bite was full of so many different ingredients, but my favorite was the pairing of the hot link and the beef. The flavors of the two succulent meats combined to make a hot and spicy and tender meat. Add to that the oozing cheese and the onions only amped up the tastiness. I think I got about ¾ into the burger before I had to call it quits.

I tried my best to finish it all, but I wanted to take in some of the Regular Fries ($4) that we ordered. At this point, I could have done without the fries because I was quickly running out of gut space. Even though I liked how hot and crispy they were, I couldn’t get past 8 or 9 of them. Yeah I counted them. I stopped there because I had something more important to enjoy.

The main attraction, and the treasure chest to this adventure was the Cap’n Crunch Milkshake ($11). The vanilla milkshake was covered and filled with plenty of Cap’n Crunch cereal, frosting, sprinkles, crystallized sugar, and three vanilla muffins. What I loved more than the drink was the presentation. Cereal was stuck to the rim of the mason jar and it was paired with a ‘mini-me” milkshake. The drink was smooth, thick, creamy, sweet, and packed with so much cereal that you could take a spoon to it when you were done. When you go to this restaurant (yep, I said when) you have to get a milkshake. Regardless of how full you are, you must get it or you will regret it!

After each sip of the milkshake, with each bite of a fry, and every bite of the burger the twenty minute wait from before was all quickly forgotten. What I was enjoyed was absolutely worth the wait, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I did it again.

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Address: 10722 Beverly Blvd, Whittier, CA 90601
Phone: (562) 202-5231
Hours: Saturday through Thursday – 11:00am to 9:00pm and Friday – 11:00am to 10:00pm
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