1320 2nd Street Suite B
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Katie and I were breaking free. She took a vacation day on a Friday, I had been off all week. We were flying the coop. Getting out of dodge. Breaking free of the shackles of our normal routine. For the first time in what seemed like forever, we were taking some time for ourselves.
I had booked a hotel by the beach in Ventura, so it was natural that we'd stop somewhere in LA to get lunch on the way up. When we are going to be eating in LA, my go-to guide is always Eater LA, and more specifically, their map section. I was definitely feeling like a great burger, so I used the 19 Essential Los Angeles Burgers Map to narrow my search. I had a handful of places to choose from that were close in proximity to the 405 Freeway. I decided we'd give Hiho Cheeseburger a try.
Hiho is situated on 2nd Street, right next door to their sister restaurant Uovo on one side, a casual pasta place, and Mediterranian favorite, Cava on the other. From what I can gather Hiho Cheeseburger started out in Ojai some time ago, and then that location closed. They moved farther south to Santa Monica in 2017, then opened another location in Mid-Wilshire late last year.
In that time they have garnered tons of awards. They were deemed the winner in LA Magazine's Burger Bracket in 2018 and again the next year, they were a people's choice winner in the LA Times, named an essential burger by Eater LA, and they own a four and a half star rating on Yelp, with close to 900 reviews. Pretty impressive stuff for a spot that's been open for just three years.
What makes Hiho special? They're the only restaurant that exclusively uses 100% grass-fed wagyu from New Zealand for their burgers. They add only salt and pepper to it and let the beef, cheese, and ketchup speak for itself. They hand-cut their potatoes for their fries. Buns are baked daily with locally milled flour and zero preservatives. Lastly, their pies are made from scratch every day. This all must be working as they have had great success in such a short time.
We arrived here at just after 1pm on an overcast Friday in late October. Ordering was done inside the restaurant in an orderly fashion. The menu at Hiho is pretty easy to navigate. They have three burgers to choose from, fries, a caesar salad, a kid's grilled cheese, and a trio of desserts. After ordering, we were given a pager as we went to get a table outside. Not sure if they are still doing outdoor dining here, but they were back in October, and it allowed for some great people watching as we awaited our food. After about ten minutes our food was ready. Let's see if this truly is one of the better burgers in LA.
I'll share my meal first. I went with the Triple Hiho Cheeseburger ($10.95). This half-pound burger came mustard grilled and dressed with two slices of cheese, ketchup, lettuce, onion jam, and pickles. After my first bite, I knew this was a very special burger. The bun was fresh and had a nice crunch along its outer ring due to a short amount of time on the flattop. The beef patties were juicy and rich, but not greasy. Obviously a high-quality beef. The cheese was melted perfectly over the beef. They could have been a little more heavy-handed when it came to applying the condiments, but maybe that helped to showcase the beef and cheese.
The hand-cut, twice-fried French Fries ($3.95) are not overshadowed by the burger. These fires were addictive. A great crunch to them because of being twice-fried, while being soft and pillowy on the inside. Every one a practically perfect french fry. Other restaurants should study what they do here and copy it.
Yes, I know. It's not the most appetizing thing you have ever looked at, but there's a good reason why Katie got this Lettuce Wrapped Hiho Double Cheeseburger ($7.95). She's been on a program to help reverse her type 2 diabetes. After just a few short months, I'm happy to say she is doing great and taking only a quarter of the insulin that she was in July. I'm really proud of her and am in awe of her willpower, especially when my burger and fries were so stellar. Even though she had no bun, she was completely satisfied with her experience at Hiho Cheeseburger. She claimed that her burger was extremely juicy and that the onion jam was a great compliment to the beef and cheese.
I had heard good things about the pies at Hiho Cheeseburger, and with my banana cravings growing by the day, I had to finish up my meal with a slice of their Banana Cream Pie ($7.00). This well-crafted pie was full of sliced bananas with a fluffy layer of cream topping it. This is not an overly sweet pie. It relies on the natural sweetness of the bananas to sweeten up each bite. I admit I was not overly in love with this slice, as I like my desserts to be a bit more sugary. This did have a good crust though, which was not soggy in the least.
Hiho Cheeseburger definitely has its place alongside the great burgers of LA. It seems that anytime you make a statement like this, people always wonder if a place is better than In-N-Out, which seems to be the gold standard for almost everyone in LA, (not in my opinion, but that's a post for another day). Even though burgers have different price points, options, and varying quality of sides, what should really matter is how a burger tastes. After my first bite of my burger here, I knew this was in the upper echelon of burgers I've had in Southern California. Add in the hard to stop at just one french fries, and this is a place I would definitely visit again and again. Hiho Cheeseburger proved that Eater LA knows what they are talking about, and it was an excellent place to get some nourishment for the rest of our drive up the coast.
Out of five baskets of cherries, (because the name of this restaurant brought to mind the board game Hi-Ho Cherry-O, which had players try to collect cherries in their baskets, yes, a simpler time), five being best to zero being worst, Hiho Cheeseburger gets 4 baskets of cherries.
For more information on Hiho Cheeseburger, head to their website here: https://www.hiho.la/
