Blue Ribbon for Brea's Best Burgers?

Brea's Best Burgers

707 South Brea Boulevard

Brea, CA 92821

This review is long overdue. I am reminded to try the food at Brea's Best Burgers almost every month. It's one of my most ardent readers of this blog that has been trying to get me to go to this restaurant for a few years. This anonymous blog reader heavily touts the double avocado bacon cheeseburger and the onion rings from this little restaurant off Brea Blvd. Yes, we have been staying closer to home recently, but with my dad having his hip replaced at St. Jude down the street from here, it seemed like a perfect time to try this place.

I'd been here before, but that was long before I started this blog and needed help remembering it. Brea's Best has been family-owned since 1980. The menu here reminds me of one of those places you see in almost every city. For Los Alamitos it's Volcano Burger, in Laguna Niguel it's Ted's Burgers, the Yorba Linda version would be Duke's, and in Orange they have Troy's Drive In. These places all claim to have the best breakfast burritos, many burgers and sandwiches, and many other menu items. So, with Brea's Best being in business for 35 years, I had high hopes for this restaurant, but then we were met with this sign on the door when we arrived.

Major letdown. We were informed by the sign that they could not make any burgers, other than turkey burgers, veggie burgers, or patty melts, due to exhaust fan problems. We contemplated leaving, but we had come all this way, and not sure when we would be back up this way, I begrudgingly went inside. It also struck me as odd that they could make a patty melt but not any other burgers, but I've never worked in a restaurant and have no idea how these things are done.

Ordering is done at the counter, and then you take a seat in what appears to be an added-on dining room. This detached dining space was relatively comfortable, even though it had only ten tables. We ate near 7 p.m. and had no problem finding a seat, but I've heard that this place gets packed around lunchtime, so be on alert. Our number was called, and this is what hit our table.

I knew Katie would not be inconvenienced by the "no burger" sign on the door. I assumed correctly when she got this Turkey Club Sandwich ($6.20) for dinner. Joining the sliced turkey on this pretty good-sized sandwich was tomato, plenty of lettuce, avocado, sliced cheese, and crispy bacon. She and I were impressed at how fresh their produce and turkey were. We weren't expecting that. She really enjoyed this sandwich a lot more than she thought she would when walking in here.

Since I could not get a burger at Brea's Best Burgers, I had to settle for the closest thing that night, a Patty Melt ($4.15). I was disappointed with this bland patty melt. First, the patty was so thin and under-seasoned. It tasted like nothing, and the cheese did not add anything here. The rye bread was too toasted, so it took a lot of work to bite through the bread. The best part of this sandwich was the grilled onions, which added something here.

I looked online for their most popular side items before we arrived, and many people loved their Fried Zucchini ($3.75). First, the positives about these. I liked that they were the exact size of french fries and that they gave you your money's worth. There was no way that Katie and I could come close to finishing these. Unfortunately, they were served lukewarm and definitely needed to be salted to add flavor to them. The breading was crispy, but other than that, it was bland. Should have tried the onion rings instead.

We didn't need it, but I also wanted to try the Chili Cheese Fries ($4.25) while we were here. I love chili cheese fries, which is the best thing I ate here during this trip. The chili could have had a little more kick to it, as it was very mild, but these fries were topped with lots of cheese and some really strong onions on top. I haven't had pungent onions like that for quite a long time. The fries stayed semi-crunchy under the weight of it all. An exemplary version of chili cheese fries, but I'd ask for easy onions next time I was here.

So, after my first visit here, I felt I had to give them at least one more shot to try the famous Double Avocado Bacon Cheeseburger ($6.35). I can definitely see why people enjoy this burger. The bacon was nice and crisp and really prominent. There was plenty of fresh avocado on this, and the double patty added a meatiness to the burger that I didn't get with the patty melt I had on my first visit. Maybe a little too much lettuce, but it's still a good burger. It reminded me of the burgers at Farmer Boys.

I'm glad I returned to Brea's Best again to try one of their burgers. That burger helped me understand why people are so passionate about this restaurant. It's not the best burger you'll have, not even in my top 10, but it's a good, solid burger and better than anything you can get at one of the big fast-food restaurants. In fact, this place appealed to me because the prices were more than fair for the amount of food you get. Two people could easily split one of their side items and still not even finish it. Is this destination dining? No, but if you're in the area and don't want fast food but still want a burger, this is the place for you. Glad we finally got around to trying our favorite commenters' favorite burger joint.

Out of five dwarfs (because the very first woman to portray Snow White at Disneyland, back in 1955, once lived in Brea), five being best to zero being worst, Brea's Best Burgers gets 3 dwarfs.

For more information about Brea's Best Burgers, head to their website by clicking here: https://breasbestburgers.com/