When in LA…Where the Sun Sets: They Make Burgers Like They Use To

The Drink: Coca-Cola
The Dish: Steak Burger and Fries
The Place: The Apple Pan
The Location: 10801 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles 90064
For Local Fans of: In-and-Out, The Counter, Red Robin

You immediately feel like you are in a fishbowl the moment your waiter places the check down on the counter. You know every eyeball from the hungry souls leaning against the walls are on you. It doesn’t matter that you still have some some of your burger and fries left. See seating at the Apple Pan is limited, there are only 30 counter seats in a rectangle shape. No booths. No tables and no hostess to tale your name, give you an estimated wait time and keep order of whom came before whom. At Apple Pan, from the moment you walk in the door there is a large amount of eye balling the people around you to see who has been there and how many seats they will need. You make mental note of this, or you’ll lose your turn once there is a spot available.

This is how things have been here for decades here since it opened its doors in 1947. No frills is an understatement for Apple Pan. The building is placed around the rises of new Century City architecture and inside the joint has, besides for a plaid wallpaper print around the kitchen, blank white walls all around. As far as the menu goes, it’s pretty simple. Two types of burgers the Hickory burger and the Steak burger. Then a couple sandwich choices with baked ham, tuna salad or swiss cheese and of course fries on the side. Even the prices reflect a time now gone. When was the last time you paid $1.25 for a soda or $5.00 for a burger?

If you want a complete meal or just there to quench a sweet tooth craving, there is a list of pies including; apple, pecan and cream pie all of which can be garnished with some vanilla ice cream.

I’m there by myself on a Sunday evening, so it’s easy for me to jump into a single empty bar seat once one opens. A server wearing a white paper hat quickly places a menu in front of me and is quick to return for my order. Trying to decide between which of the two is more of “the thing to order” I go with the Steak Burger, fries and a coke-hard to get anymore classic then that.

Keeping with tradition the coke is brought out and served in a disposable paper cone cup filled with ice and in a steel holder. I barely have time to soak in the surroundings of the spot before my food is brought out. The fries are in a small tray and the burger is put down just in a wrapper. The waiter asks if I want ketchup and upon my request he picks up a small plate and splotches some on it. Everything is set, its time to eat.

The burger overall has a sweet taste to it and the relish a nice touch. There is a heavy layer of lettuce on the burger, its crunchy and fresh to the bit. The fries and the coke, a perfect combo. This here is the taste of nostalgia. The taste familiarity to those that never left the sun kissed coast of southern California. Who have called the City of Angels home their whole life-this is what a burger should always taste like. To me, we’ve reached the point where all burgers taste more of less simply amazing and because of that taste the same. So what makes Apple Pan unique is that its main ingredient is one that can’t be replicated, it is a little taste of nostalgia in a big world of changing culinary times. And because of this, worth the awkward wait for a seat the next time you find yourself on a tour of a the past in the present day Los Angeles.