This is for those not on the West Coast

OK, I admit it, we ate at In-N-Out Burger three times while we were in LA! Three times in four days, two of those times in the same day. It was glutenous, it was over indulgent, it was oh so good!

The best thing about In-N-Out Burger is the menu. It is so simple. They only do burgers, fries, and shakes but they do them really, really well.

Cheeseburgers, Hamburgers, Fries, Shakes, and my favorite, the Double Double, double cheese, double patties.

If you are from the West Coast, I don't have to tell you. If you aren't and haven't been, make sure you order your first In-N-Out Burger animal style. Those who know, know.

Roscoe's in the House!

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles

We went to the one in Long Beach but there are several throughout the LA area.

Atmosphere: Casual, Family

Menu: Soul Food

Kid Friendly: Absolutely

Lou and I just got back from L.A. visiting his brother's family. While we were there, we had the pleasure of returning to Roscoe's. Roscoe's specialty? The name says it all... Chicken and Waffles! Roscoe's has been serving up soul food since 1976 when it were founded by Herb Hudson, a Harlem native who relocated to the west coast. All it took was a few Motown celebrities visiting his restaurant to get the word of mouth going and the rest is history.

In recent years other establishments have tried to benefit off of Roscoe's good reputation, so be warned. If the sign says Rosscoe's with two ss', you aren't getting the original!

Since I first heard of Chicken and Waffles years ago in NYC, I wondered who thought to put them together in the first place? It is definitely not for the light eater. This is as hearty as it gets, so I tried to do a little research. What I found is there are a few theories out there, but no one really knows where this combo originated. What is known though are there are cookbooks in the 1880's where the recipe seems to first appear, and there are also references to a similar recipe in old Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.

Whatever the origin, in the last 100 years chicken and waffles has been embraced by the African American community as one of their staples in soul food. As one article I read put it, if you eat the chicken and then the waffle, you are eating a chicken and then a waffle. You've got to combine the two to have it be true chicken and waffles.

Roscoe's has a variety of meals on their menu which involve A LOT of food and fun names like The Stubby, The Oscar, and Lord Oscar. Most meals include chicken, two waffles, eggs, grits and a biscuit. Like I said A LOT of food. On our recent trip to Roscoe's, I wanted to taste as much as possible, but not necessarily eat as much as possible, so I immediately began negotiating with Lou on what we should order. Remember, my blog's name IS Burke's BUFFET. I like to try it all! He called me out though, knowing what I was up to. In the end, Chris, my brother-in-law pointed out I could order most items ala carte, so this is what I ended up with: 2 eggs scrambled, one waffle, and a fried breast of chicken. Lou got two fried chicken legs, a waffle, chicken sausage patties, and cheesy eggs!

The waffles are about 8 inch round and come with a giant pat of whipped butter and warm syrup on the side. One waffle is more than enough for the average person. I got regular scrambled eggs, not much to write home about there, but Lou's cheesy eggs, as he would say were "the truth" ( we think this is his new favorite slang) The cheesy eggs usually come with onions, but we ordered them without and they were creamy cheesy goodness.

Our fried chicken was just as good. It was moist, and the crunchy skin flavorful. My five year old nephew Karis, who was dead asleep when we got there, woke right up when his drumsticks arrived. I am sure Lou was thinking of stealing one, but thought better of it and ordered his own.

The service at Roscoe's is always welcoming. Wait staff remembered Chris even though with 3 boys, he rarely gets to visit these days.

My only regret with this place is I don't have a bigger stomach.

Pink's

Pink's

Corner of La Brea and Melrose Ave, Los Angeles

Menu: Hotdogs, Hamburgers and Fries with very creative toppings
Kid Friendly: Yes but might want to have them wait at the table while you stand in line to order if the line is long
Atmosphere: laid back, on the side of the rode, casual.
Price: Extremely reasonable for the amount of food.


Lou and I were in California the first week of September. We stopped in Hollywood the last three days of our trip and had the chance to visit, the World Famous Pink's! Pink's has been a Hollywood Landmark since 1939 and is owned by the Pink Family. Paul and Betty Pink were the original founders. Pink's started as a hot dog cart, but today is a walk up building with inside and outside seating. They boast to be the hotdog of the stars! I guess this would be for the meat eating stars. Pink's is currently celebrating it's 70th anniversary. Starting Nov. 7th at 7 pm every night, they have been serving their famous chilis cheese dogs for 70 cents for 70 minutes. Each night, a different celebrity will be there during the 70 minutes and 100% of proceeds will go to that celebrity's choice charity.

Here is our Pink's story:

The line at Pink's when we arrived was a 3 row deep queue winding through the metal barriers an amusement park would have for a ride.

The first thing I noticed was how slowly the line was moving. At first I attributed it to East Coast girl, me, in West Coast laid back environment, Pink's, but the more I stood there, the more I realized how completely inefficient this place is run. One person takes one order, fulfills it and rings you out. There are signs saying this is because each order gets the individual attention it deserves. I would believe that if, the people behind the counter looked remotely interested in what they were doing.

Judging from the pictures of "The Pink's" on the website, none of the people working were related to the family. I felt like I was looking at a crew who had been working a 12 hour shift and had 5 hours to go. This was the most unmotivated, emotionless, slow moving group of people I have ever seen.

This lead me to the conclusion, the hotdogs must be amazing! People surely aren't coming here for the service. I didn't see one person behind the counter act remotely engaging towards any customers during our visit.

When our turn to order came, I decided to go with what I like. I am a coney island hotdog lover and once ate 11, yes 11, hotdogs in college with chili, onions, and mustard on them, so I ordered the chili dog. Lou, the purest, went for a plain dog. This was an interesting choice considering the choices Pink's has on it's menu. Things like:

The Pastrami Burrito: A tortilla wrapped around 2 hotdogs, grilled pastrami, swiss cheese, chili and onions

Pastrami Reuben dog-all the traditional Reuben toppings on a hotdog

The Guacamole dog- a traditional hotdog smothered in guacamole

This is only a small sampling of the menu, the choices are endless, with some hotdogs created by celebrities, like Rosie O'Donnell and Martha Stewart.

So as I mentioned, Lou ordered the plain dog, he said it was because, if you are going to boast as having the best dogs, your dog should be fantastic without all that extra stuff.

Look how content he looks! It's because of that cream soda he is grasping.

Once we ordered our food, we were really excited to see the choice of beverages Pink's had. I got the strawberry Crush, they also had cream soda, grape Crush, orange Crush, and many other fun drinks.

We sat on the back patio. It was nice to be outside, nothing too fancy, but perfect for this place.
For being so busy, Pink's was really clean. The tables were clean and there was no garbage on the floor or outside.

The picture below is my hotdog and drink right before the ultimate taste test. It looked tasty enough, and was a good size, but in the end, Pink's did not live up to the hype. I am sure there will be many people who disagree, especially anyone who has visited the stand at 3 am after several cocktails, but Lou isn't one of them, and, remember, he got the plain dog.

Lou's take? The dogs were regular old hotdogs, nothing special So could it be the creative toppings which makes Pink's so popular? To be honest, my chili dog wasn't anything special either. The chili was bland, the bun was average, and what can you really do to make onions and yellow mustard a cut above the rest?

In the end, I am glad I can say I went to the World Famous Pink's but I can't agree that it is the best hotdog I have ever had.