It’s a Win-Win if You Eat This Burger in Glendale

 For the Win

1200 South Brand Blvd. #3

Glendale, CA 91204

It was family time again up in Burbank. This time, the occasion was a college graduation party for Amanda, Katie's cousin's daughter. She graduated from USC with a degree in Music Industry and a minor in Sports Management. She's bright, focussed, and a lovely girl, and I'm not just saying this to suck up because there might be some complimentary concert/sports tickets in my future. 

As is our custom when spending the night in Burbank, we always try to sneak in a place to eat on our way up and back home. For the Win has been on my list of places to try forever, so it was not even a question that we'd be visiting here on this trip to try their very much-hyped smash burger. I have yet to read a smash burger best-of list that does not mention their burgers at all. I was pretty excited. 

For the Win was born out of the pandemic. Papilles Bistro was an award-winning bistro, but when lockdown orders came down, the owners pivoted from French food to smash burgers and chicken sandwiches. After many months of tinkering, they created a smash burger with crispy edges but still juicy in the middle, an excellent sauce to compliment the beef and cheese, and the perfect soft potato bun to hold everything together. The chicken sandwich was also a labor of love, and it took a lot of time to get it right. 

Their customers must love their burgers and chicken sandwiches because they have nine locations operating, along with two cloud kitchens in Echo Park and West LA. Unfortunately, they have no OC locations, but the closest one is in Whittier. Their menu is simple to navigate. They offer single, double, or triple burgers, with or without cheese and chicken sandwiches. Sides include fries, sweet potato fries, brussels sprouts, and loaded fries, which are topped with grilled onions, cheese, and fry sauce. Shakes are also available in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry flavors. Their online menu differs from the menu in-store, as you can not order a chicken sandwich online, and the shakes are available online but not on their current menu at this location. Confusing. 

We arrived at For the Win's Glendale spot just after 1pm on a Saturday. They are located in a small shopping plaza, with only 15 or so parking spots, so it might be challenging to find parking during peak meal times here. There's little in the way of a dining room here, too. They had two small tables outside and a tiny counter space inside, fitting four patrons snuggly. Even with a steady stream of people coming through the door, it only took us ten minutes to receive our food. Here's how everything turned out for us. 

For the Win is mainly known for their burgers, so of course, I'm going to start off with their Fried Chicken Sandwich ($12). This sandwich was dressed simply with pickles and mayo on a pillowy soft potato bun. I'm usually partial to chicken sandwiches made of a single piece instead of pieces, as they are generally easier to eat, but this one stayed together well. The chicken was juicy, but I wished for a little more crunch to their breading, which was nicely seasoned. They could have had a heavier hand when the mayo was applied. It's a good chicken sandwich, but it's not crave-worthy.  

What is crave-worthy are the burgers at For the Win. From my first bite, I was enthralled with this burger. I knew I would be eating at our upcoming family party in the coming hours, and it took all my willpower not to order another burger right away. I ordered the Double Cheeseburger ($12.50 plus $1.95) for bacon). The burgers here come with pickles, fry sauce, and grilled onions. Tomato, lettuce, bacon, and jalapenos are an upcharge of fifty cents to $1.95. The double patty option hit my sweet spot, as it had an outstanding balance of meat, cheese, bacon, and bun. The potato bun is soft and pliable and keeps its structural integrity for the short time it took me to inhale this burger. The beef patty had crispy edges, and the center was juicy in the center, which is not always the case when ordering smash burgers. The cheese was gooey, and even though I'm not the world's biggest fan of pickles on burgers, they worked here to add a little tang to each bite. My one knock on this burger was that it needed some extra sauce, but I'll order more the next time I'm here. This burger is definitely worth the trip. 

For some odd reason, I was not feeling like fries, so we went with Brussels Sprouts ($6) as our side item. This was a very generous serving size, but I quickly got bored with these. They were fried crisp and seasoned with a little too much salt. I would have liked a sweet sauce to help break up the salt and natural bitterness of the sprouts. Not my favorite side, but for people who want a slightly healthier option than fries, this might be more to your liking. 

Okay, I did have some minor misses with the sprouts and the chicken sandwich, but that burger is definitely in the running for one of the best smash burgers I have had to date. It was so good that since we visited, I'm trying to find reasons to come back up to have that burger again. This location of For the Win is not the most convenient to eat at, as there's limited seating, and it's more conducive to takeout orders, but these smash burgers are worth the hassle. I'm looking forward to the day that they enter the OC market. I'll be the first in line. 

Out of five streetcars (because this restaurant is on Brand Boulevard, named after Leslie Brand, a city leader in the early 1900s who was instrumental in getting streetcars to Glendale), five being best and zero being worst, For the Win gets four streetcars. 

For more information about For the Win, head to their website by clicking here: https://forthewinla.com/#

Billy's Deli an Oasis in a Deli Wasteland? - CLOSED

Billy's Deli

216 North Orange St.

Glendale, CA 91203

Southern California is not normally known for their delis. It can be like searching for a needle in a haystack, when trying to find a great deli in LA. Okay, maybe I should make that like trying to find someone in LA that has not had plastic surgery. That seems better, and a little more impossible! Either way, it is even worse in OC, where it is almost a deli wasteland. So when I heard that Katie's Dad wanted us to meet up with the family at Billy's Deli in Glendale, I was a little apprehensive that it would be good. Let's see if my fears would materialize.

Billy's has been slinging sandwiches around since 1948. An achievement most restaurants will never get close to seeing. The ownership has changed. The original Billy, who was not even a Billy at all, is a long time Glendale resident, Frank Whitten.  In the late 60's to early 70's, Frank's son, Lee created the famous wall that has become an iconic part of the storefront here. The wall features individual molds of salami, cheeses, and casks of wines for decorations.

Not only does Billy's feature a sit down restaurant, but half of the place is a delicatessen and bakery. The deli is known for slicing their famous meats, while the bakery side bakes bread for sandwiches, and I am also told they whips up some impressive brownies. The whole restaurant exudes nostalgia, and not just because of the big pictures on the wall depicting Glendale in bygone days. Enough of the old days, lets come back to today and look at the food.

No bread basket is served here, it is a deli remember? After being seated you are brought a bowl of pickles. I really enjoyed these. They had a great crunch, and the flavor was very crisp and clean. A word of warning before you gobble all of these down. The first bowl is free, and the next will cost you fifty cents. Well worth it though.

Katie has had a soft spot in her heart for Matzo Ball Soup since she had it in New York. She claims this was about as good as anything she had on our East Coast trip. This cup of soup featured tender pieces of chicken,  vegetables, and of course a big matzo ball plopped right in the center of the cup. The matzo ball was comforting. and rich in flavor. Katie claims this soup is medicine for the soul. I could argue that, but if it cuts down on medical bills I am all for it.

With your sandwich selection you get to choose a side salad. Choices are all pretty representative of a deli, potato, macaroni, Cole slaw, carrot salad, and pasta salad. As you can probably tell from the picture above, I selected the Potato Salad. This potato salad had a nice mellow flavor, but was much more creamy than other potato salads I have had. There were no big hunks of potato to be found here. I liked this potato salad, but Katie's Uncle Tim was not too fond of this chunk free potato salad. So the potato salad debate will live on, chunks or not!

Katie did not want to look far down the menu, so she ordered the Number 1 Three Decker Sandwich. They really piled on the turkey, pastrami, and Swiss on this sandwich. Katie liked this very much. She felt the turkey was a little on the dry side, but the pastrami was right out of New York City.  The rye bread held the contents of this sandwich well. There was so much meat on this sandwich that Katie had to take some of it off, just so she could get her mouth around this. She got the macaroni salad to go along with this, and felt it was pretty good.

Lynn went to the sea for her pick, the Tuna Salad Sandwich. This tuna came on rye bread, which she was really keen on. The tuna portion of this sandwich really satisfied her appetite. Just looking at this it looked like a lot of lettuce, and a little bit of tuna. She claims that it was not the best tuna she has had, but she would not throw this tuna back, (little fish humor for ya!).

Uncle Tim went real old school when he selected Triple Decker Sandwich Number Three for lunch. This sandwich contained liverwurst, salami, Swiss cheese, and dressing. This is what he gets every time he comes here, his old standby. He likes the flavor combination of this, and it never disappoints him.

I did not get a real good shot of Aunt Mel's French Dip Sandwich. She called the meat, "fall apart tender", but she was not crazy about the au jus here. She added pickles to the sandwich for texture. Melody did state that she would get this again. The fries were cooked to her liking, and made even better with ranch dressing. How can anything not be good with ranch?

Dennis, the pure traditionalist amongst us, got a simple Pastrami Sandwich. He really enjoys the consistency here. The sandwich tastes the same as it did 25 years ago. The pastrami was lean and stacked high. Just the way he likes it.

There was no doubt that I was going to go big here. What you see above is the Triple Reuben. This sandwich featured the hat trick of meats, turkey, pastrami, and corned beef, along with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut. Needless to say this sandwich was very filling. Out of the three meats, my favorite was the corned beef. Great flavor and cooked the right way. The turkey is not that processed stuff you get at other deli's, it is the real thing. The pastrami was some of the leanest I have had, and it was sliced nice and thin. I got a side of Russian dressing for a little flavor boost with this and it was the right call. Great all around sandwich.

After eating at Billy's I can see why it is a local legend. The sandwiches are what a deli should be. The meats are cooked the right way and stacked high on rye bread. The prices might be a little on the high side, but the quality of them makes up for it. Sandwiches run from $7 to my $14 Triple Reuben. We received good service while we were here. We got to the deli at noon on a Sunday, and there was definitely a steady stream of patrons sampling the delicious sandwiches here. The decor is not going to wow you. It is less about the frills, and more about the down and dirty deli experience. In the abyss of average to below average deli's in Southern California, Billy's is a welcome diversion.

Out of five jewels, (because the city of Glendale has the nickname the Jewel City for some reason), five being best to zero being worst, Billy's Deli gets 3.5 jewels.

For more information on Billy's Deli, click here: http://www.billysdeli.com/

Dancing All the Way to Mambo's Cafe

Mambo's Cafe

1701 Victory Blvd.

Glendale, CA 91201

I have been Cuban crazy lately! We have been on a personal quest to find a Cuban sandwich that was as good as the ones we had in Miami, at the Playa Cafe. I know this is a tall task, but it will be a delicious one to undertake. Luckily we were headed up to Burbank for a family party, and they're just happened to be this Cuban restaurant, Mambo's Cafe.

Mambo's Cafe has been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We have had some good luck with places that have been on this show, and Guy Fieri has lead us astray in some instances as well. It was a good sign that as we got to the restaurant at 3pm on a Saturday it was packed in this tiny joint. This place might have been a gas station in another age, but now it has a black and white checkered floor, with large celebrity pictures hanging on the wall. We were sat at a tiny table for two, ordered our food, and this is how it all came out.

We were started off with this breadbasket. It is always a little refreshing when a restaurant tries to change things up from a normal breadbasket. This was the case here. The bread was kind of like a french bread style, but the sauce was a kind of a cross between a spaghetti sauce and a salsa. There was no heat with this sauce, but a heavy tomato flavor. A very interesting start to the meal.

We might as well start with the reason we came here, the Media Noche Sandwich. This sandwich combined roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles. Both Katie and I thought this sandwich was delicious. This cousin to the Cuban Sandwich differs by having sweeter bread. The result is a well-balanced sandwich that features the saltiness of the meats, the tanginess of the pickles and mustard, and the sweetness of the bread. This is probably the closest medianoche sandwich to the one we had in Miami. Our only complaint about this sandwich would be that some of the bites of the pork were a little on the dry side, but those were far and few between. Very good sandwich.

We were going to be eating again in a couple hours, but I had to get what Guy Fieri ate here the Roasted Pork. The pork here had a great flavor, but like the sandwich, some of the bites were a little dry. I liked mixing the onions with the pork to boost the flavor up another notch. The star of this show was the black beans and rice. Some people enjoy these separated, but mixing them together really was the way to go here. I am usually not too big a fan of plantains, but the Maduro's here were not overly sweet and were cooked well.

We were sitting very close to the couple next to us, (this is a small place remember), so we struck up a conversation with Derek and Jenn. They were gracious enough to let me take pictures of their food. Jenn ordered the Mambo Combo Platter which included, Papas Rellenas, Spanish Chorizo, Empanadillas, Croquetas, and Tostones. She even shared one of her tostones with us, which is fried plantain. Very good, and different from the way I have eaten plantains before. I will have to try these the next time I am at a Cuban restaurant. Jenn also had the Sangria above, which looked very refreshing.

Derek opted to get the Cuban Sandwich. This sandwich had all of the same ingredients as the Media Noche but was put on Cuban bread. This sandwich looked good, and it must have been filling, because Derek had a hard time finishing it.

I really liked Mambo Cafe, but I can not say that I am in love with it. The food was pretty strong here but lacked the wow factor. Media Noche was the best thing we ate here. The prices were great for the amount of food you get. The sandwiches were all under $9, and the lunch entrees were hovering around the $10 mark. Very reasonable. The service was good during our visit here. The restaurant exudes a comfortable, friendly feel to it. If we were back in the area, we would definitely stop by for the Media Noche.

Out of five disco balls, (because the mambo is a famous dance style that originated in Cuba), five being best to zero being worst, Mambo's Cafe gets 3 disco balls.  

For more information on Mambo's Cafe, click here: http://mambosla.com/