Today on Jeremie Eats Irresponsibly, we take a drive to Key Burger in Pacoima, California; Known for the home of Ritchie Valens, the Hansen Dam, and where they beat Rodney King.
Key Burger is known by locals to have a really delicious burger. A local even told me that Key Burger was in his top 3 burgers in the San Fernando Valley. As he walked away with his order, he spouted out, "IT'S BURGER TIME!" After looking at the menu, it definitely was.
After perusing the menu, I decided on the "Colaso" Burger - A Chili Cheese Burger with diced onions, pickles, mustard, tomato, bacon, and pastrami on a grilled Sesame Bun. Will the burger outshine the misspelling of COLOSSO? Well let me tell you. The burger patty was grilled really well. You can definitely taste the char. It was tender with just the right amount of bite and seasoned well. The chili is average. The flavor is fine. The texture is like a Weinerschnitzel chili but less watery/saucy and a better flavor. I find Weinerschnitzel chili to be kind of sweet and very salty, as if it was made by Chef Boyardi. I don't typically enjoy pickles but, the tartness of the pickles and mustard really helped mellow out the saltiness of it all. Unfortunately, the amount of pastrami and bacon was lacking. Unlike the photos on their social media, my burger only had maybe two small pieces of pastrami and I basically could not taste the bacon in the mess of it all.
This wouldn't be Jeremie Eats Irresponsibly if I didn't order something else. I also got the chili cheese fries and added diced raw onions. Uncovering the soggy paper tray revealed a hefty portion of fries and chili, covered in melted cheese and diced onions. The flavor was pretty good overall. Same chili obviously. They prep their onions well. They don't have an overly sharp bite to it. Im thinking they soak their onions for a bit. The downfall of the chili cheese fries was the doneness of the fries. They use thin fries like you'd get at McDonalds but there was no crispiness to be had. Just soft bites. Looking at the fries underneath the chili, the fries were pale in color. Definitely not fried well. Fries need to be crispy golden brown in chili cheese fries to help with variance in texture. It was all just a soggy mess. I HAVE TEETH. LET ME CRUNCH.
In the end, Key Burger could have unlocked burger greatness in the San Fernando Valley. They have a really tasty grilled burger and bun. The foundation for greatness! But due to their poor attention to the fine details in preparation, I rate Key Burger..... A 6.5 out of 10. read more