Vaka Burger
1705 Flight Way
Tustin, CA 92782
Nothing gets me quite as pumped as a new burger spot coming to OC. Okay, maybe a week off from work, but you get what I'm saying here: I love burgers. Especially if that burger concept was popular elsewhere before they came to OC. That's the case with Vaka Burger, which came across my radar when I saw a review about their glorious burgers when they were serving them to the hungry people of Whittier.
Brad A. Johnson, who also loves a good burger, wrote in the Orange County Register that the burgers here could be the best he has ever tasted. He has also named Vaka Burger one of the top ten places for cheap eats in OC. This is high praise, but I have been burned a few times by some of his recommendations, so I had to check out Vaka Burger for myself.
If you haven't heard, there's a new food hall in Tustin. Located near the corner of Barranca and Red Hill, Mess Hall is situated right next to three soon-to-be-inhabited office buildings. The two times I've been here, the food hall was filled with plenty of people exploring the nine stalls. I can only imagine that Mess Hall will get even busier once these office buildings are filled with hungry workers.
Vaka Burger started out as a popular food truck back in 2013. Two years later, they set up shop in a Boyle Heights liquor store, where they grew to cult status. After a disagreement with the liquor store owners, they opened a spot in Whittier, where their iconic rise continued. That location closed as they returned to another liquor store in Boyle Heights. Then, lucky for all of us in OC, they took one of the stalls at Mess Hall, and hopefully, they will be here for a long while.
As I mentioned earlier, I have visited Mess Hall two times now, both trips at about 11:30, to avoid the lunchtime rush, which I highly advise. Vaka is easily the most popular of all the food purveyors, which also include Slapfish, Big Parm, Sandwich Society, a Greek spot, a chicken sandwich stand called Fowl Play, Fonda Moderna, Saigon Kitchen, a coffee and tea spot, and a full bar. I've tried other food stalls but will probably review them later. For now, I was all about Vaka Burger.
The Vaka Burger menu features nine burgers, two sandwiches, sides, a salad, and wings. Prices range between $10 to $13 for their burgers, which come ala carte. Sides will set you back $3 to $7. Now that you've got the lay of the land here let's share our thoughts on this much-hyped burger spot.
Starting things off on visit number one was my dad's pick, the Blu Burger ($13). This burger was right up his alley. It came with soft blue cheese, mushrooms coated in a balsamic glaze, butter lettuce, and garlic aioli. My dad was in love with this burger. He called this one of the better burgers he has had in OC. He loved how the blue cheese was present but did not overpower the rich 6 ounces of grass-fed beef. The burger patty was the show's star, and the condiments and toppings complimented it awesomely. Definitely a great start to our visit.
I panicked when it was my turn to order at Vaka Burger. I showed up to Mess Hall knowing what I would order and then switched it up at the last moment. This El Porky Burger ($13) made me do an about-face when I saw that the menu said it contains two proteins; a hamburger patty and pork belly medallions. I was sold. Also added were sliced provolone cheese, caramelized onions, and a good barbecue sauce. It's definitely a knife-and-fork burger, although I did try it with my hands at first. I think the barbecue sauce kind of overpowered everything here. It was hard to understand how good the pork and beef were on this. The bread is worth spotlighting here. Even with this being a messy burger, the bun maintained its structural integrity while staying soft and pliable. A great accomplishment to whoever provides their buns at Vaka Burger.
My niece Lillie, like most kids, is pretty basic regarding the food they like to eat. She got the Lencho Jr Burger ($5) from the kid's section of the menu. This cheeseburger featured sharp cheddar cheese, and she 86'd the ketchup that usually comes with this. Even though there were no condiments on this, it showcased their burgers' quality. The beef is ground nicely, comes out juicy, and is very high quality. I thought the sharp cheddar was an odd choice for a kid's burger, but I had no complaints from very picky Lillie, who usually leaves half of her food uneaten, but that was not the case here at Vaka Burger.
Lillie's kid's meal came with fries, which were nice and thin but unremarkable to me. Even though the menu states they are twice-fried, they were your basic fast-food fries. The lone blemish on our first trip to Vaka Burger was the Dirty Fries ($6) I had ordered. They use the same fries as Lillie's meal but top them with feta cheese, Russian dressing, caramelized onions, and garlic aioli to finish them off. These came out lukewarm at best and were not helped out by an overabundance of feta cheese, which overwhelmed me here. I would never have known if the menu had not alerted me that Russian dressing and garlic aioli were included here. Again, this was my only disappointment with visit number one.
Visit number two started out with these Maui Rings ($6). These were the reasons that two trips to Vaka were needed. We had these on our first visit, but my pictures of them were unusable. It's not a shame since it gave me a second chance to have these awesome rings. They are huge and give you plenty to share with anyone you choose to bring here. The outer portion has a nice crunchy beer batter, which breaks away easily from the large onion underneath when bitten into. I liked the smaller ones better, as they were even extra crunchy. They gave me both housemade ketchup and garlic aioli for dipping sauces, which were good. I wish they had ranch dressing, which I imagine would be even better with these above-average rings.
I went a little more subdued on this visit to Vaka with the Truff Burger ($13). This burger featured arugula, sharp white cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, truffle oil, and garlic aioli. I really liked this burger. The truffle was very present, the cheese melted over the patty perfectly, and I could taste the garlic aioli. There was a little too much arugula, but it did help to cut the richness of this burger. Are you a truffle lover? Then this one is for you.
Even though we had no kids on this trip, I had to order the Lechon Jr ($5). I figured for five dollars, plus you get fries, it's a pretty good deal worth having. This time, they gave me sharp white cheddar instead of the yellow one they had put on the earlier kid's burger. Maybe they were out of the yellow. This was a very good burger, nonetheless. As you can see from the picture above, there was plenty of cheese on this, the ketchup added a nice and pleasant flavor, and the beef was again first-rate and cooked to a delicious medium. Definitely the best bargain at this food hall.
Vaka Burger did not disappoint. It's easy to see why this is the most popular of all the food stalls here at Mess Hall. The burgers are in the upper echelon of the ones I have had in OC. I'll include them in my mythical Mount Hamburgermore of OC Burgers, which now includes G Burger, Burger Parlor, Hopdoddy, and Vaka Burger. The burgers are excellent, but I wish they were a little more flexible when it comes to customization when building your perfect burger. Reading their Yelp reviews, that's one of the things that people complain about the most, while the other is price. Which is really silly when you think about it. I went to Wendy's today for lunch, got a large-sized combo, and spent $12 for a far inferior burger and fries there. I'd gladly pay the extra $8 for the quality of the burger and onion rings at Vaka when I'm near the Tustin area. No issues with the service on either of these two visits. Glad the hype was warranted, and I hope Vaka Burger has a very long tenure in OC.
Out of five outriggers (because the term Vaka describes the multihull seafaring vessels popular in the South Pacific), five being best to zero being worst, Vaka Burger gets 3.5 outriggers.
For more information about Vaka Burger, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.vakaburgers.com/
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