Taking a Bite of Burger Week

Indoor dining is largely back to normal in Orange County—just in time for one of the more popular promotional weeks for local restaurants.
 
The latest edition of Burger Week runs through July 17, courtesy of the Orange County Restaurant Association.

Nearly 50 restaurants throughout OC plus another dozen in Los Angeles are offering deals on specialty burgers priced at $10, $15, $20 and $25.

The reason for Burger Week is simple, and timely, says Pamela Waitt, president of the OC Restaurant Association.

“There’s so much to celebrate this summer with the reopening of restaurants to full capacity, so the timing of our annual Burger Week event couldn’t be better. This is a great time for those who have spent the year away from family and friends to make plans to come together for ‘Burgers and Bourbon’ and support their local culinary community.”

Bourbon is indeed an important component of Burger Week. Old Forester Bourbon is the presenting sponsor, and many restaurants are offering specialty cocktails featuring Old Forester to accompany the burgers.

Here’s a look at some notable offerings for the week.

Olea’s Secret Sauce

I love a good burger, and have enjoyed creative twists on the classic concept at many of the restaurants on the list. Three of those—Olea in Newport Beach, Ironwood in Laguna Hills, and Sapphire in Laguna Beach—are part of the quartet of eateries from Russ Bendel, the Business Journal Restaurateur of the Year for 2018.  

The Bendel family knows their burgers; his father is chief executive of Irvine’s Habit Burger Grill.

The younger Bendel also owns Vine in San Clemente, home of my favorite burger in OC: the Mexicali Burger. Vine is not participating this year, but don’t worry, his other restaurants’ burgers are in my OC top three.
 
I had the burger and fries at Olea last week, and asked Chef Jared Cook why his burger stands out from the crowd.

“The burger patty is 100% American wag-yu chuck, super coarse ground. I tried 30 different blends until I found the best one,” Cook said. “We add Lolla Rosa lettuce, which is red and kind of bitter, smoked onion and mushroom, Worcestershire sauce, taleggio cheese, and whole grain mustard.”

His fries are also notable—crisp on the outside, soft inside, and so addicting I polished off my generous portion after I wolfed down the burger.

“We soak the fries then fry them once, cool them, and fry them again,” Cook said.

I usually pair the Olea burger with a glass of Opolo Zinfandel, but this time mixologist Inga Tantisalidchai made me the signature cocktail created for Burger Week: Dad’s Root Beer. No, not the classic root beer soda we drank as kids.

This one has root beer and vanilla bean infused Old Forester Bourbon, amaro, sweet vermouth, a dash of simple syrup, and a charred cinnamon stick. Inga even “smoked” the cocktail for me, adding both flavor and a smoky flourish that garnered applause from fellow diners at the Olea bar.

Penalty Boxes and Pucks

Another of my favorite burgers in Orange County can be found at Selanne Steak Tavern in Laguna Beach, but Selanne (name after famed Ducks hockey player Teemu Selanne) is not on the Burger Week list. However, Selanne’s sister restaurant, The Penalty Box in Garden Grove, is on the list and they specialize in burgers.

The Penalty Box is at SteelCraft Garden Grove, where a collection of restaurants operate out of repurposed shipping containers.
 
At The Penalty Box, the burgers are known as “pucks,” and are made with the eatery’s signature blend of sirloin, short rib and wagyu beef, although any burger may be substituted with a soy-based veggie patty.
 
I tried the Burger Week menu, which is a choice of the Major Penalty (two 1/3 pound patties with Tillamook cheddar and Penalty Box sauce), the Hall of Famer (1/3 pound patty, slab bacon, red onion marmalade, house pickles, American cheese), and The Enforcer (1/3 pound patty, spicy tomato jam, chipotle aioli, American cheese, bacon, arugula, pickles).
 
They all come with The Rookie: house Yukon potato twists, sea salt, Penalty Box sauce.

I went with the Hall of Famer, which is a delicious, messy handful. Ask for extra napkins and don’t worry about the dripping sauce. The twisted potatoes—more like poutine—was a perfect accompaniment. 

Elsewhere Around Town

Tavern House Kitchen + Bar in Newport Beach also has one of my favorite burgers on the burger week menu, courtesy of longtime restaurateur David Wilhelm: the Cowboy Burger with cheddar cheese, roasted green chile, pecan wood smoked bacon, onion fritters, and chipotle-bourbon BBQ sauce.

Two other burgers are on the Tavern House Burger Week menu: the classic Tavern cheeseburger with half pound of prime Mishima wagyu beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and 1000 Isle dressing, and the fried chicken sandwich with coleslaw and sweet chile aioli.
 
I’ve had all three and the Cowboy Burger is still my favorite, but the other two are close behind. Add a side of fries to complete your meal.

Muldoon’s Irish Pub in Newport Beach—now part of the culinary empire of the Business Journal Restaurateurs of the Year for 2021 Mario Marovic and business partner Andrew Gabriel—also has a terrific burger, or should I say a list of burgers, on the Burger Week menu.

My favorite is the St. Paddy’s burger with Tillamook cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado and Thousand Island dressing, although you can’t go wrong with the Traditional burger, or the California version with barbecue sauce.

The “Grand Cru Burger? at The Winery Restaurant in Tustin is another favorite, as is the original burger at Slater’s 50/50 in Huntington Beach (the signature beef and bacon patty is fantastic).
 
I also like the burgers at SideDoor Gastropub in Corona del Mar, Helmsman Ale House in Newport Beach (another restaurant from Marovic and Gabriel), and Andrei’s in Irvine, but after perusing the Burger Week list, there are many more burgers I need to try this week.

For a complete list of participating restaurants and menus, visit BurgerWeek.com.