Fatburger: The Top Contender?

Michael Ornelas (0:00)

Is Fatburger the best burger chain to come out of Southern California? An LA institution so iconic, it's been wrapped about by Tupac, Fatburger started as a stand with only three stools almost 80 years ago by a hardworking woman who reportedly put in 18 hour days to get the restaurant started. Is it still worth the hype all these decades later? The onion rings were delicious and perfectly battered, but The Wall of Fame for eating burgers gave me an inferiority complex.

Miranda Coker (0:31)

Their workers followed all of our customization rules to a T, but boy, did they send us to Soft City on their special burgers.

Michael Ornelas (0:39)

The music selection was rock so soft, I'd sleep in a bed of it, but they served me a single wet tomato slice in a paper bag that was dissolving before my very eyes. This week on the show, I'll stack my double beef patties of knowledge between your buns of curiosity so that you too may know everything I've learned about Fatburger. Then we'll give it a full review covering everything that was good, not good and just there about it before seeing if it advances on in the Septemburger Tournament. This is the Fine Dining Podcast.

Miranda Coker (2:39)

The Fatburger Kids Meal is to get to pick a side of a cutie, a little fries or just a loose tomato in a bag.

Michael Ornelas (2:46)

Hello, and welcome to the Fine Dining Podcast, the quest to compare all restaurants to chilies. I'm your host, Michael Ornelas, and this is the podcast where we dive deep into the history of your favorite restaurants and then thoroughly review them by comparing them to chilies.

This week, we're covering the final participant in this year's September Tournament, the number one seed, Fatburger. We'll determine a winner in their match against McDonald's to see if they advance to the semi-finals and finals episode next week. And joining me to judge this, Kellie Staple, is a tremendously talented performer, a bit of a goofball, and they're the human equivalent of listening to a song you haven't heard in literally 15 years, and yet somehow you still nail the rap verse. It's Miranda Coker.

Miranda Coker (3:28)

Yay. Nice. Thank you for having me. How's it going? It's going good.

Michael Ornelas (3:32)

This was the culmination of three different Septemberger recordings in one week for me. So I had my seventh, eighth, and ninth burgers of the week.

I'm so over burgers.

Miranda Coker (3:48)

That makes total sense. And these were like hefty burgers also.

Michael Ornelas (3:52)

They were not. Yeah. At least when I did McDonald's, it was like, hey, these are kind of nothing. They're tiny.

Miranda Coker (3:58)

Yeah. Nothing burger as the kids say.

Michael Ornelas (4:01)

The burgers hit more than I expected them to being so burgored out this week. Do you have a history with Fatburger?

Miranda Coker (4:10)

I think just my history with Fatburger is I grew up very close to the location we went to. So I remember going to a lot and then I do a lot of comedy around another Fatburger location.

Michael Ornelas (4:24)

Yeah. And I do comedy at that same spot. And it's always tempting. You smell it in the parking lot. And then it's just not the most enticing Fatburger location.

But in a pinch, it does get the job done.

Miranda Coker (4:40)

Oh, yeah.

Michael Ornelas (4:40)

My history with Fatburger is that I've always preferred it for the original LA chains over In-N-Out. And a lot of people have found that sacrilegious.

But they're both LA staples. It's a different product.

Miranda Coker (4:56)

Yeah.

Michael Ornelas (4:57)

In-N-Out is great value. It's pretty affordable for a small but very good burger.

Fatburger offers the heft that I want.

Miranda Coker (5:09)

Yeah, I think I'm not the biggest heft per... Like, I don't mind a hefty burger, but I'm like... I think I like the In-N-Out burger a little bit better because it's not as hefty.

Michael Ornelas (5:18)

Yeah.

Miranda Coker (5:19)

But I think in the grand scheme of things, of looking at the menu, looking at the quality of other items, I do agree that Fatburger is better than In-N-Out in terms of overall.

Michael Ornelas (5:31)

I've never hated myself after eating an In-N-Out burger, and that's not true for Fatburger. So there is something to that.

Miranda Coker (5:41)

Yeah. Also, Fatburger, both In-N-Out and Fatburger have not made me feel gross after having it. There are other chain burgers that have made me feel gross after having them.

Michael Ornelas (5:50)

Yeah, yeah. Looking at you, Carl's Jr. Looking at you, Five Guys. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's just too many guys. It's always going to be gross when you get that many guys in the room.