late night chiliburgers

original tommy's, laurel canyon blvd & burbank blvd, los angeles

Ah, Tommy's chiliburgers and Cactus Cooler, two great tastes that taste great together. After getting home from a party on a Saturday night, what could be better than enjoying some sloppy fast food and a good old VHS tape? Unfortunately, shortly after these photos were taken, the VHS was consumed by the tape player and we never learned if they found Spock or not. Dang.

chili cheeseburger

tommy's original world famous, beverly blvd and rampart blvd, los angeles

When I covered the rivalry between In-N-Out and Fatburger, I ignored another one of Southern California's famous burger joints- Tommy's Original. If you've never been to Tommy's before, the concept is simple- chili on everything. Lots and lots of greasy, greasy chili. There are no beans in the chili either; this is all beef chili we are talking about. And if you want to give your stomach a more severe pounding, peppers are offered on the side. As you can see from the picture above, the last time I went to Tommy's I opted for this route. This was a few months ago- my brother was in town visiting me before he departed for a foreign land, and he wanted to grab some Tommy's before he left. We set out for the Beverly location, which is the original location, and lined up with the lunch crowd to order some grub. Its a very popular spot- I believe that there are two separate kitchens to order from, and the line was fairly long for both (although it moved quickly). Once you've obtained your chili-topped goodness, you have to mosey up to one of the counters lining the sides of the parking lot and eat standing up. Pretty old school! I don't eat Tommy's too often, but when I want some greasy fast food its definitely one of my top choices.