Apple Pan

Posted by Edmund in Fast Food, Los Angeles, Restaurants | 0 comments

Classic Burger Diner.
$6.50 for a burger. With fries, pie, and drink, expect to pay $15-$20.
10801 Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.

I was out on a Saturday night with a good friend of mine, Jeff, looking for some excitement in Los Angeles. Before hitting up the clubs and bars, though, we really needed to fuel up with a classic LA dish—and what better than a burger? Jeff’s quite the burger freak, so I decided to take advantage of his insatiable love of burgers and drive all the way to Pico Blvd. to try out the Apple Pan, the old-school burger diner of Los Angeles.

If you want to talk classic, Apple Pan would be it. It’s been around for decades, and it still uses the same exact recipes that it used back when it was still young. In fact, it still only has two burger choices, which is quite odd in this land of constant change and variety. The Steakburger is a recipe from 1927, while the Hickoryburger comes from 1945. The pies are even older—the apple pie is even made according to a family recipe from 1881. Now that’s history! If people are still eating it, you know it has to be pretty good.

Even more classic than the burgers, though, is the joint itself. It’s still a small diner, with seating arranged in a U-shaped counter around the grill area, and there are a maximum of about 30 seats. That’s right—30 seats, and that’s it. If you think you’re coming for a quick burger, think again. With so much demand for this place, you’ll be waiting on the sides for a bit, just waiting for that burger. It was around 8 pm when Jeff and I got there, and we had to wait for a good 20-30 minutes. And remember, that’s just for fast food.

But the wait is indeed worth it. It might not be the fanciest, the coolest, or the best-tasting burger in Los Angeles, but the apple pan has such a fantastic quality, timeless, and fresh burger and pies that it’s easily one of the best LA burger experiences you can have. It was the perfect start to a great evening.

What I had:

1. Hickoryburger (Hickory sauce, mayo, pickles, lettuce, and natural Tillamook cheddar): This was an excellent burger. It’s the Inn n’ Out style, simple, fresh burger, with just a few fresh veggies, cheese, and special sauce. But this one is really different in terms of both the quality and the sauce. First of all, it tastes fresher and more satisfying than any of those other home-style burgers, without the feeling of greasiness at the end. That’s partly because of the sauce, too, which is on the sweeter side and balances out the normal fatty taste of the burger. The Hickory sauce is quite the creation, too. It’s like bbq sauce, but with a really nice tanginess to it, so that there’s a nice tingling of the back of the mouth when you’re eating. It combines the freshness of a well-cooked, home-style burger, with an unusual tangy-sweet sauce to come up with a classic, yet unique taste and flavor. 3.5/5.0. Give it a 4.0+ if you like your burgers really simple and plain (I don’t).
2. French Fries: These are just very simple French Fries, handcut and prepared freshly with a good amount of salt. They are not wedge fries, but they do still have some thickness to them, so that you get the mushy potato taste. They weren’t anything of special note, though they were rather fresh and crispy, without any sogginess to them. 2.0/5.0
3. Apple Pie a la mode: This is about the most American apple pie I’ve ever eaten in my life. Just a simple apple pie, without a special presentation or an extra flavor. I got it with some vanilla, which wasn’t much to get thrilled about. It’s probably just normal store-bought ice cream, but it’s perfect with the pie, which is near perfect on its own. Unlike other apple pies, it doesn’t feel like you’re fighting this one. The pie is so flaky that you can just cut into it and get a nice chunk in your mouth. The crust is thin, doughy, and with little or no sweetness of its own, letting the apples really shine. And the apples really do deliver. Not too sweet, with just the right gooey texture and tangy sweetness. 4.0+/5.0.
4. Pecan Pie: Just as good as the apple pie. Unlike most pecan pies, this one seems drier than others (in a very good way), as it’s not the gooey kind where the pecans are in a heavy syrup that’s just oozing all over the pie. Rather than make a glop of sugar, the Apple Pan opts to make its pecan pie with a heavier, nuttier flavor and balances the sweetness. While you do still get a lot of sweetness, you actually taste the pecans very nicely, and because it’s not a syrup (more like a glaze on top of nuts), you get the nice crunch of the pecans, too. Very nicely balanced, so that it’s not cloying. 4.0+/5.0