Good Eats

I have a confession to make. I love the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. To just drive around the country and eating food--mostly burgers--what a life! I watch it all the time and Will is well aware of this. So, he had the brilliant idea that we should visit a few of the restaurants from the show while we were in Southern California.

First we visited a place in Burbank called Brats Brothers. Apparently the Bratwurst here are so good that German natives in Burbank says it tastes like home. They are also famous for their exotic brats with meat like ostrich or alligator.

We ordered one German brat because it's classic and one Kangaroo brat because we're awesome.

Will's plate with a side of cheese spaetzle and cheese potato tots 

I had cheese spaetzel and sauerkraut with my brats

A bite of kangaroo!

A taste of Australia

These are all the mustards and ketchups they brought to us: plain ketchup, plain mustard, smoked ketchup, hot ketchup, curry ketchup, dijon mustard, whole grain mustard, horseradish mustard, honey orange mustard, and wasabi mustard. Talk about a mouthful!

Any opportunity to eat outside, I'll take it. It was the best. And the food was pretty dang good. First let's talk sides. Will's tots were okay but the spaetzel was excellent. I've loved that stuff ever since my roommate made it for us freshman year, and the addition of cheese was a smart move. But the sauerkraut was definitely the best side. Served warm with a tomato vinegar sauce, I was in heaven. I'm not usually a sauerkraut fan, but this stuff converted me.

The brats were pretty good and it was fun to try all the different sauces. Where has smoked ketchup been all my life? Orange honey mustard and wasabi mustard were also pretty good. But dijon will always be my favorite. The german brat was classic and tasty. And kangaroo? No big deal. It tasted exactly like kielbasa. Apparently my mom has been feeding me kangaroo my whole life. But, what was truly excellent was the buns. Toasted and crispy--they made the brats.

On the whole 4.5 of 5 stars. Very very good, but not mind-blowing. Next time, we get alligator.

A few days later we were in downtown LA and made a stop at the Golden State Cafe.

Will had already bit into his burger before I could get a picture

It was a pretty good burger and I really liked the bun. My sweet potato spears were particularly tasty. But, the real star was the garlic aioli dipping sauce. Stellar. That sauce is responsible for one of the stars I give this restaurant all on its own. Normally I would say 3 out of 5 because the burger was good, but overpriced for its taste. But, with that sauce, Golden State gets 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Triple D for giving me a delicious new hobby. Restaurant hopping.

Theme Song: Eat It, Weird Al