FatBurger is a chain of restaurants in the
SoCal area. I discovered them while summering in LA; IMHO, they have the best damn chain burgers in
Cali, and are
the nazz for a late-night calorie hit. They also have the interesting property of being a complete
DMZ, strange in LA, the city of structural
racial tensions. I arrived at a
FatBurger once at around 2am, and rubbing shoulders inside (and in conversation amidst group hilarity and
high-fives) were:
- A pair of couples from a formal whose limo waited outside
- Several yuppies whose BMWs and Mercedeses were parked outside
- A few homeboys whose ultratinted and jacked up BMWs were parked outside
- a couple of Latino homeboys whose lowrider (nice one, too) was parked outside
- three college kids whose Nissan was parked outside
It's not amazing that all should get along; it's a good thing! However, in my entire summer in LA, I saw not a single other instance of more than two ethnic groups that didn't know each other involved in conversation. That entire town needs an enema. I compare LA to NYC by saying that NYC's problems are mainly economic, while LA's are structural...ergo, if you had enough money you could fix New York's, but LA's divisions are intractable.
Back on topic, I also found my favorite burger joint (not a chain). On the corner of, I believe, Pico and Fairfax is Mo' Better Meatty Meat Burger (sic) - who not only have great burgers, but damn decent turkeyburgers.
My favorite LA burger location, however, is the In & Out Burger on Lincoln Blvd. that sits under the end of two of the main LAX runways. You can sit outside, eat your burger and watch jetliners float overhead at around 100-200 feet. Now that's entertainment.