Charlie's Coffee Shop
6333 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90036
I am kind of addicted to restaurant shows. I know, not much of a shock considering that I write this restaurant blog. I don't even know what I like about these shows sometimes. They get me so frustrated, because the food looks so good, but the restaurants are usually located in a faraway city. That is why I was excited to see a new show hit the Travel Channel's lineup, Burgerland. It just so happened that their first episode was going to feature burgers in LA. Ironically, we were headed up that way for a Mother's Day errand, so it could not have worked out more perfectly. After our errand we headed straight to the Farmer's Market, and a burger spot that was highlighted on the show, Charlie's Coffee Shop.
I know my food cred is going to take a hit for this, but this was my very first visit to the Farmer's Market. If I had not known exactly where I wanted to eat here, I would have been totally overwhelmed by all of the options that exist here. Walking by the stalls on the way to Charlie's, I was tempted to stop and sample a bunch of things. My willpower was solid though, because I had a full list of places I wanted to eat on this trip up the 5 Freeway.
We got to Charlie's just after one on a Saturday afternoon. From other restaurants we have been to that were featured on TV, I thought this place was going to be packed. This was definitely not the case. Charlie's is located in the back of the Farmer's Market, and is a little difficult to find. Only one couple was ordering ahead of us, which I thought was odd, but there are so many choices at the Farmer's Market, and maybe not a lot of people watched Burgerland.
The menu at Charlie's seems more geared towards breakfast, but they do have about ten or so sandwiches, a few hot dogs, and of course the reason we showed up here, the burgers. Most of the items that make up this burger come from the stalls at the Farmer's Market. The meat comes from Huntington Meats, while the produce comes from the market as well. This helps ensure a very fresh burger and toppings. Ordering is done at the counter, then your name is called. It took about ten minutes for my burger to make its way to my table, and this is how it turned out.
We of course had a full day of eating in front of us, so it would just be a Double Cheeseburger ($9.85) split between Katie and I. This burger had all the traditional toppings you have come to expect on a burger; lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, and ketchup, all on a whole wheat bun. This was a real meaty burger. The meat they use on this burger is made up of ground chuck that is 10 percent fat. This makes for a very lean burger, but it still had some juiciness to it. The cheese adhered to the meat nicely, and of course, since the produce was from the Farmer's Market, it was very fresh. I am not too big of a fan of wheat buns, but this one did not get too much in the way. A very solid burger.
The burger at Charlie's Coffee Shop was good, but nothing that wowed me. The burger was well put together and made with the freshest ingredients, but it needed some sort of kick to it. Don't get me wrong, if this was the only thing we ate here, I would not go home unhappy. Unfairly or not, since this place was featured on TV, I was expecting to be blown away by this burger, which I was not. My first food adventure at the LA Farmer's Market can be called successful. I was very overwhelmed with all of the food options available, and can not wait to come back again and try more real soon.
Out of five milk bottles, (because the site of the Farmer's Market at Third and Fairfax used to be a dairy farm until 1905), five being best to zero being worst, Charlie's Coffee Shop gets 3 milk bottles.
Charlie's Coffee Shop does not have a web site, but you can find information about them on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Charlies-Coffee-Shop-Farmers-Market/215830435110062
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