Today, September 18, is one of the best holidays: it’s National Cheeseburger Day. While I love Jesus, Christmas isn’t my favorite day. Thanksgiving comes in pretty strong and Super Bowl Sunday would be a contender, but it’s not even considered a pretend holiday. Since National Cheeseburger Day has the unofficial holiday title attached to it, I thought it would a good move to check out some burgers at the TASTE Food Hall at Figat7th in Downtown LA! While I wasn’t able to try every burger in the shopping complex, I did check out a few from fast food to casual dining to give you a trio of places to check out for yourself on the best food non-holiday.

When it comes to burgers, it’s a sure bet that most fast food joints will have a cheeseburger on the menu. Walking through the food hall, one of the stops on my burger hunt was at Five Guys. A simple gander through the menu and I placed my order. Within a few minutes my burger was delivered and I sat down to unwrap it and give it a shot.

“What is this?” I said as I looked at the burger.

“Danielle, that’s a fast food burger. You may have forgotten what they look like because once you got a real job after college you got boogie and now you don’t eat fast food as much.” I told myself.

I was right; well both sides of me were right. I was eating fast food and fast food looks the way you would expect it to. Not putting much emphasis on presentation, my burger at Five Guys looked like a bit of a mess. That aside, I was interested in finding out how the Cheese Veggie Sandwich ($4.39) would taste. The sandwich came with green peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos, grilled onions, and grilled mushrooms. You may look at the photo wondering where it all is, but believe me it’s in there–somewhere.

Taste wise, the burger is ok. As a person who loves meat, this veggie alternative wasn’t half bad. I liked that there was a great deal of mushrooms layered where the patty would be to almost trick my brain into think that it was meat. Not fooled, guys. The burger doesn’t feel heavy, yet can still be filling. Overall, while it doesn’t look appealing the taste is ok.

A nice pairing with the burger was the Oreo Milkshake ($4.49). The shake wasn’t made of only cookies and cream but chopped bacon too! The shake was thick and creamy with nice crispy bits of bacon throughout. I wouldn’t say that Five Guys is great fast food, but it’s alright. Think of it this way, if fast food restaurants were siblings and I had to scale it, Five Guys would fall above McDonald’s and under Chic-Fil A. Five Guys would be the rebellious middle child who you pray will get its act together. And if not, well just like with its burgers, here’s to hoping for the best.

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Address: 735 S Figueroa St #133, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 628-3375
Hours: Daily – 11:00am to 7:00pm
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The next burger came from The Melt. I ordered the Spicy Mission Burger ($11.45 combo). The burger had avocado, pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, pickled onions, romaine lettuce, and a spicy ketchup. By fast food standards, this was a pretty burger. Especially when comparing it to the burger from Five Guys. The Mission burger has a nice array of color from the brown to pink to green. With a few bites I could taste that the kick from the jalapenos and the spicy ketchup was the prominent flavors from the burger. It’s pretty good and a nice way to dress up your patty.

To go with the burger, I had the Cheese ‘n’ Bacon Fries ($3.95). The fries were loaded with a creamy aged cheddar, provolone, fontina, and sprinkled with crispy onions and bacon. The fries were nice and crispy and being covered with the toppings made them delicious!

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Address: 735 S Figueroa St #133, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 344-4903
Hours: Monday through Friday – 11:00am to 9:00pm, Saturday and Sunday – 11:00am to 7:00pm
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

I’ve seen the various locations of City Tavern, but have never taken a moment to stop at this DTLA spot. Looking over the menu, I knew exactly what to get. I ordered the BBQ Bacon Burger ($13.50) and this burger was stacked! On a board, out came a burger covered in an bubbling hot cheddar cheese, fried onion ring straws, lettuce, sweet and sticky BBQ sauce, and smoked mayonnaise. Simply taking a look at this burger, it’s clear that eating it would be a task that you will gladly accept. Grab it with both hands, get a solid grip, and simply dive into it. The beef is juicy, the onion rings are crispy, and the bacon is overwhelming in deliciousness. What brings it all together is the sweet and sticky BBQ sauce.

The sauce is very tangy and seriously sticky as the name implies which means you’re going to get it all over yourself. I wouldn’t suggest this as a first date dish because you’ll end up looking like a mess. But if your date is into that, then you have a keeper.

Follow Them.
Address: 735 S Figueroa St #133, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 239-5654
Hours: Sunday and Monday – 11:00am to 9:00pm, Tuesday and Wednesday – 11:00am to 10:00pm, Thursday and Friday – 11:00am to 10:30pm, Saturday – 11:00am to 10:00pm
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

National Cheeseburger Day is a fun day to really dive into all the great burgers restaurants have to offer. Whether you want a simple fast food burger without all the frills or one that comes loaded with mouthwatering toppings, the restaurants at Figat7th have something that should fall right up your alley. Don’t forget, after you devour your burger you can work off the calories shopping in their retail stores. Sounds like a win-win to me.

To check out all the other eats and stores at Figat7th, make sure you follow their every move!

Follow Them.
Address: 735 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Phone: (213) 955-7170
Hours: Monday through Friday – 11:00am to 9:00pm, Saturday and Sunday – 11:00am to 7:00pm
Social: Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.