Hammering Away at Burgers in Orange

Hammer Burger 

Pop Up Event

Orange, CA

The times have definitely changed over the first part of this year. To say that the restaurant industry is facing some uncertain times would be an understatement. There's talk about closures, twenty-five percent capacities, and safety for employees and customers alike. Things I never thought I'd be writing about on my little restaurant blog.

I also never thought I'd be writing about pop up restaurants. To be honest, I find them to be a little too much trouble. Much like the food truck craze of the early 2010s, I find pop up events to be inconvenient. When I feel like I want to eat something, I just want to go and have it. Instant gratification is what I want. With pop-ups, I have to wait until they are serving, there are usually long lines, and there's almost always crowds present at these events.

So why am I writing about a pop-up? I changed my tune after having Heritage Barbecue a few months ago. Even though it took nearly three hours of my day to get my food, it was so worth it. It's also satisfying to get in on the ground floor before a place really takes off. That barbecue was the best I've had in OC, and I look forward to Heritage Barbecue opening in San Juan Capistrano this June. Fingers crossed.

Back to Hammer Burger. It was the perfect storm. I was off work for a week and saw on their Instagram page that they were going to be serving up burgers the following Saturday. I instantly went to get my credit card so I could reserve mine. This was on Monday. By Wednesday most of their slots had been filled and I think they were sold out the next day.

I tortured myself that whole week while I waited for Saturday to come by checking out their pictures on Instagram. I don't really know the whole story behind Hammer Burger. I know that when I ordered my burger I had to go pick it up in a residential area of Orange, near the 22 Freeway. Their barebones menu consists of a single, double, and triple cheeseburger, chips, Mexican Coke, and Topo Chico, which is a sparkling water from Mexico. That's it.

With my trusty GPS as a guide, I pulled into the dead-end residential street. I saw the easy up in the driveway, and a couple working feverishly behind the flattop smashing burgers. There was a table set up at the end of the short driveway with bags all ready to go. One had my name on it, and as quickly as it had taken me to get here, I was off with the aroma of my burger quickly filling my car. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it all the way back home to South OC, so I pulled over in a nearby industrial area to snap a few pictures and indulge.

This Double Burger ($8) came dressed very simply with two slices of American cheese, some translucent onions, house-made pickles, and Hammer sauce, which I'd describe as a light mustard sauce. Because this was a smash style burger, it was not as heavy as other double burgers. Due to the increased surface area of the patty to the heat source, the edges are crisped a bit, which is my favorite part of the smash burger experience. All aspects of this burger really worked well together. The cheese and beef patties melded together nicely, while the onions, pickles, and Hammer sauce were all mellow enough to allow the beef to be the star of the show. The bun was nice and soft while doing its job of keeping everything together. A very well put together burger.

As I inhaled my burger on the side of the road, I realized two things. One, I should have gotten two burgers, which I could have eaten very easily. Two, and more importantly, I do not need bacon or any other add-ons to enjoy a classic, well-made burger. This was a well-executed burger made from high-quality ingredients. Not to be corny, but you could taste the care that went into it. It really reminded me of the burgers from LA favorite, Burgers Never Say Die. The only distinguishing factor between the two is that these burgers only use their sauce, while Burgers Never Say Die adds ketchup and mustard. With the system that Hammer Burger has set up, it didn't take as long to get our burgers here as it did at the always busy BNSD. I guess I also learned one more thing from this burger experience. I'm now way more willing to go through the hassle of pop-ups, as long as the burgers taste this good. 

Out of five bald eagles, (because the city of Haines, Alaska is home to a Hammer Museum, and that city also has the highest concentration of bald eagles in the world), five being best to zero being worst, Hammer Burger gets 3.5 bald eagles.

For more information about Hammer Burger and when you can get yours, head to their website here: https://www.hammerburger.com/