Hoping That Volcano Burger is a Real Hotspot

Volcano Burgers

3652 Cerritos Ave.

Los Alamitos, CA 90720

A lot of pressure was put on me a few weeks back. My niece was performing at a cheerleading competition in Long Beach, and I was assigned to come up with a place for the whole family, plus others to eat after the festivities. Of course, being the seasoned food blogger that I am, I went online and found a place that I hoped would satisfy both young and old, Volcano Burgers.

Burgers are becoming the new pizza. It used to be that almost every neighborhood has its favorite pizza places. Now almost every neighborhood can lay claim to what they consider a really good burger spot. Being a burger guy, this makes me very happy. After sitting through numerous cheerleading routines, all of which seemed to contain the song, "Call Me Maybe", we had worked up quite an appetite.

In Los Alamitos, everyone's favorite burger destination is Volcano Burger. This well-established burger joint has been serving up burgers for this community for over forty years. They have prime real estate by being situated right across from Los Alamitos High School. I can imagine this small restaurant is a zoo on weekdays when school is in session. On this particular Sunday, we got here just after one, and the last of the lunch rush was still chowing down on their burgers. Ordering is done at the counter, and then orders are picked up at the side window. Seating is all outside but under a covered roof. Let's see how this burger stands stacks up.

Starting us off are the Fries ($2.89) and the Onion Rings ($3.89). Both of these came out of the kitchen pretty hot. The fries were very sturdy, and when paired with the thicker than normal ranch dressing, they really hit the spot. The onion rings were not as heavily breaded as I thought they would be, but they still achieved average status. The real side item to get was up next.

The Chili Cheese Fries ($3.89) were so good, they definitely deserve two pictures here. These chili cheese fries were not only good, but they are in the upper echelon of chili cheese fries. Served in a tin to-go container, they got the perfect amount of each component here. The chili is superb. Great consistency, with more spice than I was expecting. Most burger places just add a pedestrian chili to their fries, but that was not the case here. The chili coated the fries well, and the cheese and fries came together to create a great combination. If you do not get the chili cheese fries here, you have no one to blame but yourself.

The burgers above are the pretty basic-looking Volcano Burger ($2.79). This is the base model for the burgers here. They come with thousand island dressing, onion, lettuce, and tomato, on a sesame seed bun. Nothing too revolutionary about this burger. The patty was a little on the thin side, but it was larger around than I thought it would be. Apparently, you have the option of having either shredded lettuce or leaf lettuce on your burger here.

Katie loves avocado, so it was no surprise that she wanted to try the Avocado Burger with Cheese ($4.19). This burger definitely had its fair share of avocado. The creaminess of the avocado went well with this burger. Katie would have liked a little more thousand island dressing on this burger but found it to be a solid burger.

It is probably no shock to anyone that knows me, but my burger was the Bacon Burger with Cheese ($3.99). They were not shy with the bacon on this one. Bacon was included in every bite of this burger, and it was good thick swine. This burger was bigger than it appears in the picture above, but I definitely had no trouble polishing this burger off. The bun did an admirable job staying together with all of the items piled in here. I liked this burger but found it to be just like others I have had in similar types of restaurants.

Almost everyone seemed very pleased with my recommendation for lunch. Volcano Burger was a good choice to bring the kids to, and the grown-ups enjoyed it as well. The burgers were good, but nothing that will make you forgo your neighborhood favorite burger spot. The real reason to come here is the chili cheese fries. Probably one of the best we have written about on this blog. Worth the trip the next time you are in the area. Prices here were very good for the amount of food you get. Nothing on the menu comes close to the ten-dollar mark, with no burger being over $4.50. Not a bad pick for lunch, and to top it all off, the Yorba Linda Chargers won this cheerleading competition and are now headed off to Florida to compete for a national title. Get those earplugs ready for when they play "Call Me Maybe", for the 83rd time in a row!

Out of five parrot heads, (because Jimmy Buffet released an album in 1979, called "Volcano", and no it did not include his famous hit Cheeseburger in Paradise), five being best to zero being worst, Volcano Burger gets 3 parrot heads.

Volcano Burger does not have a website, but you can find reviews and information about them here: http://www.yelp.com/biz/volcano-burgers-los-alamitos#query:volcano%20burger