Burger Time

Post Jamie Oliver, Patra’s Earns Mixed Reviews for Its Burger

You say you want a revolution?
You say you want a revolution? Photo: Lord Jim via Flickr

It’s a good thing LAUSD banned chocolate milk and chicken nuggets, because Jamie Oliver didn’t pull much of a coup over at Patra’s #2 in Glassell Park. First of all, has anyone ever eaten at this joint or was Jamie just shooed away from Apple Pan and Pie ‘n Burger so many times that he took what he could get? Today Damon Gambuto of A Hamburger Today scopes out the spot to see if it has anything to crow about its burger. Survey says?

Sorry, Jamie! Sorry, dude who resisted Jamie! The burgers don’t get a huge endorsement from the town’s go-to expert, who notices that he’s the only one ordering off of the Jamie Oliver menu in the first place.

Of Patra’s original, pre-Oliver burger, Gambuto pulls no punches. “Unfortunately the problem with this burger is hiding in plain sight: The patty on the Patra’s burger is a wafer thin, preformed round of blandness. It is fresh (not frozen), but beyond that there isn’t much to recommend about it. It lacked any flavor to stand up to the rest of the toppings and bun. Certainly it was acceptable as fast food as all of the toppings and bun were in order, but it didn’t seem like it would too difficult for Oliver to outclass this guy.”

And outclass him the Briton does. When it comes to Jamie’s burger, a quarter pound of grass-fed Angus with a “special spread” of beans and potato (which makes you fat, Jamie) sandwiched between two whole wheat buns, Gambuto writes, “Oliver’s Revolution Burger doesn’t offer much satisfaction if you are looking for the classic burger flavor profile, but that doesn’t mean it was bad. In fact, it was very good….The addition of the beans as a flavor component was a distraction that, while not bad for a sandwich, felt out of place on a burger. I couldn’t help but think that it would have been much better without it.”

Fortunately, the reviewer strikes upon a happy medium that raises both ingredients and burger classicism to the appropriate levels. You can get Patra’s classic crappy burger with the Angus patty, which quickly becomes Gambuto’s favorite bite of the day. Traditional flavors with better product, maybe Jamie has something to learn from owner Dino Perris as Perris does from Oliver after all.

Los Angeles: The Skinny on Patra’s Healthy Makeover [AHT/SE]

Post Jamie Oliver, Patra’s Earns Mixed Reviews for Its Burger