Having recently been to Mom’s Burgers down in Compton and having such a positive experience, I was craving another delicious “hood” burger. A quick look into my Yelp bookmarks led me to decide on Fred’s Downhome Burgers located in the Park Mesa Heights district of Los Angeles. After a trip down La Brea and a left on Slauson, I soon found myself at Fred’s. Hopping out of the car, I was met with an unassuming little building housing the burger shack. The short line of people that were ahead of me went quickly, but the wait for the burger took about 15-20 minutes.
After a brief look at the menu, I decided to go with the Royal Burger, a monstrous meat-eaters paradise. The mega-burger only clocked in at $8.25, yet packed two eight-ounce patties, fried egg, bacon, chili, pastrami and cheese all under its colossal buns. The service was great and when my burger did finally arrive, it was so big that it was popping the box open. One bite in and I immediately knew that I made a great decision coming here. The meat packed so much flavor and had just enough juice. Every component complemented each other perfectly, with each adding a unique element to the burger. The bacon brought a little crunch, while the not-too-sloppy chili brought some extra juice. The pastrami packed some flavor into the mixture and the fried egg was the perfect item to combat all the meatiness. Also, for the size this burger held together great.
If you are one who is fearful of a neighborhood that might be considered unsafe though, I would not recommend Fred’s. Personally, I love getting a feel for all kinds of areas and never felt in danger myself, but the neighborhood definitely had a pulse, between the borderline domestic dispute taking place on an apartment balcony across the street and the guys hustling bootleg DVD’s and perfumes.
As a Los Angeles burger connoisseur, I would put Fred’s in my list of top burgers in the city. The trip between the freeways is well worth the trip and one that you will not regret. Simply put, a burger this big and this good should not be this price. (But I am sure glad it is!)
Price: 10
Food: 9.5
Atmosphere: 3
Overall: 9.5
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