So Long, Apple Pan
By Victor - Monday February 12th 2007 |
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Ask anyone where the best burger is to be had in LA and chances are someone’s going to say The Apple Pan, possibly out of personal taste, but just as likely out of a rote regurgitation of the popular consensus. Personally, I’ve always thought it was decent, but overrated, overpriced and inconsistent. Every other burger I’ve had there is sloppy and under cooked. Even when perfect, the flavor seems lacking and–forgive the sacrilege–on a good day, a Fatburger can come pretty close to an Apple Pan burger.
ScanningCounter Intelligence, one finds Jonathan Gold leaving the question of the food itself to the last of his four brief paragraphs on The Apple Pan–the first three of which are devoted to the restaurant history, floor plan, modus operandi and personal fond personal memories of it. This strikes me as the right 3-to-1 proportion of overall ambiance-to-food critiquing that one should bring to The Apple Pan. While his adjectives are positive, his praise of the food is somewhat restrained.
Obviously, the Apple Pan is about the experience. Always has been. But after the novelty of elbow-to-elbow jostling, sipping from a paper cone or having ketchup poured out for you wears off, you’re left with your $6.20 burger ($6.70 if you spring for cheese). Add on the requisite fries, coke, titular slice of pie and tip you’re pushing a 20 spot for what is essentially a fast food meal. And yes–thanks to Huell Howser, among other local cheerleaders–we all know how great they treat their employees, some of whom have been there decades and decades, but their prices push The Apple Pan Experience out of the range of too much of LA. Accordingly, on a typical weekend the place tends towards yuppies and Japanese tourists checking The Apple Pan off their guidebook list of sights. One gets the sense that not many of the daily commuters on the Super 7 Pico line (Rimpau to the ocean) hop off for a quick bite at The Apple Pan, which is unfortunate.
Since one of their marketing hooks is that they have not changed a thing since their opening in 1947, it follows then that a couple of well-spaced out visits are all one really needs here. I think I’m done with The Apple Pan, at least for a long while. Been there, done that and there’s too much out there to be discovered. But I went out on a strong note: the burger was one of the better ones I’ve had there.
IT IS indeed a bit more than one would like to spend on a ding dang burger. I feel similarly about Pie ‘n’ Burger in Pasadena. You end up nearly spending $15 on burger, pie, fries, extra pie, more fries. Okay maybe that’s my problem only.
This sounds really…well, fruity-foodie-lame, but one thing I love about Apple Pan is they don’t use any crappy cheese on the burgers. It’s Tillamook. And it melts nicely into your hickory burger. Not a slice of “American” cheese to be seen. The fries are always blazing hot. Grrghghghgh, hungry.
The first time I went to Father’s Office, I thought that the burger I had was the best burger on earth. Then I had it two more times and it kind of grossed me out. For some reason, and I can’t pinpoint why…. I really like the cheeseburger at Hinano in Marina Del Rey. If you’re going after a bougie foodie burger, then I think the one at Lucky Devil’s is the bomb, tho.
Hinano: Chances are you were drunk as a skunk at the time — but who could blame you, great bar.
Apple Pan: For a place that dips into “C” ratings on occasion this place is monumentally overpriced, ya nailed it.
Tillamook: God damn it I fucking love tillamook
i went to the apple pan once. it took an hour to get there (traffic) and when i got there they were out of apple pie.
The Apple Pie? Feh. Overrated is right. The burgers are okay, but it’s overpriced and it takes me around 50 minutes to get there from Silverlake. That’s strike 1 and 2. Strike 3 is those goddamn paper cups. Good example of keeping old traditions: 9 cents for coffee at Philippe’s. Bad example: paper cups.
Try Beacon in Culver City. Their burger is among the best I’ve had, and that includes excellent burgers at Apple Pan, Father’s Office and Fat Jack’s in the Valley.
weak article. i thought apple pan was closing from your title. was pissed at the end when i realized you used it to get attention.
IT’S OFFICIAL-YOU GUYS HAVE JUMPED THE SHARK.
p.s. you suck
Burgers were great both times I’ve been there. But the best is The Counter in Santa Monica.
Do you feel used Sarah?
I’m with Sarah. This is the most blatant case of false advertising since I was charged more than one dollar at Dollar Rent A Car.
Obviously, Sarah, you didn’t look closely enough at the pic. It says Quality FOREVER.
i have been going to the ap for over 20 years and while the prices have gone up i feel it continues to be consistently one of the best burger experiences in the city. i have to relent that i have now had a better burger, the bowery on sunset in hollywood. but i don’t and can’t compare them. the ap is classic and the experience always make me happy, especiallly when it’s boysenberry cream pie day. i will never say so long to the ap!
Apple Pan is a tourist trap with average burgers and very above average prices. It is not old enough or good enough to warrant the hype.
The dirty little secret is that LA doesn’t have enough great burger places.
Apple Pan is good. It’s quality. It’s overpriced, and it’s not amaaaaazing. And it’s one of the best indie burger places in LA _BY FAR_ and them’s the facts!
LA needs some better burgers.
SP u don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s not a tourist trap. It’s mostly regulars during the week, and families and couples on the weekends. It’s a very convenient spot for those of us on the westside.
It’s a good burger. It’s not expensive, either.
You imply that a burger/fries/pie/coke is a typical fast-food meal — it’s an ENORMOUS meal at the Apple Pan. If you ate all of that, you’ve got problems. I’ve NEVER had room for pie after a burger and fries there.
And when was the last time you had banana cream pie at In N Out? It’s a diner, dude, not a chain staffed by teenagers. Even then, it’s no more than Fatburger.
But Hector is rude. And Gordon is a fucking freakshow.
Just went to THE “Apple Pan” because of Huell Houser, and now I can say I went and will not go back. The prices are TOO much and the service maybe unique but I didn’t like the service. The waiter was extremely rushed and short with us, the fries were put down and fell off the plate onto the counter, the burgers were hit on the counter like it was a pack of ciggaretes with out even serving a paper plate under them ,the pies were sitting in the window and on the pie racks behind the swinging doors for what looks like hours with NO covering on them, pretty dried out by the looks of it, and I question the sanitation since the floors were pretty dirty and the waiters stainless counter was congested and the cleaning crew was standing on the stainless counters in the baking area where they prep food! with there dirty filthy shoes on trying to clean the side of the Bakers Pride oven…YUUUCK!!!
If you want great burgers at reasonable prices with a great wait staff and Great sanitation go to “Hof’s Hut” in the Long Beach area!!!!!
Joey, I noticed you posted your comment on 7/31/07. Well almost 3 years later, I had the EXACT same experience and problems with The Apple Pan. It was my very First, and my very Last time there for the EXACT same things you wrote about: Rushed, unfriendly, no plate, cheap paper cups, dirty and way overpriced.
Cheap…that is what the people complaining about the prices are…It is called inflation. Here is an idea, get a better paying job and you’ll not miss the cash you put out. Or maybe you should have tried to study a bit harder so you would not miss the six bucks for a burger. How much does it cost for a burger at Jack in the Box? About a dollar or two less than at Apple Pan.
As for Joey, who obviously never worked in a restaurant, what do you think goes on in the kitchens of those restaurants where you cannot see the back of the house? If you want a antiseptic restaurant experience why not go the a hospital for food?
The burgers, fries and pies at Apple Pan are very good. Going to the Apple Pan is not just about the food, it is about the experience. The Apple Pan is a slice of Americana. The last vestige of an America that has faded and what have we been left with? Chili’s, IHOP, McDonald’s, Baja Fresh and Black Angus.
Apple Pan, yes, is more expensive then In N Out and the other FAST FOOD restaurants, but that is because it is a DINER! I never feel as full off a hamburger anywhere else. The fries are insanely fresh as well as the burgers. The staff is AMAZING and if you “don’t understand” the service, well then I really just feel sorry for you. I have lived many places across not only california but america and have yet to find a classic burger joint I love more. If, I, a waitress can afford the burgers once a week then I’m assuming most others can too. If the quality is wasted on you, then please be my guest, go to BURGER KING
My God guys get a grip! This is just a dirty little diner with lousy burgers and unsanitary conditions. I can’t believe soo many people love to get ripped off and possibly get food poisening. The board of health should be advised as to the possible out break of
Eschereshia Coli or Stafflococcus Aureous.
that’s funny…real original…
I hear people complaining about a lot.
The fact of the matter is, Apple Pan is not a tourist spot, it isn’t gourmet, it isn’t some new-age establishment with immaculate floors, and the servers don’t fellate you when you come in.
When did everyone become such a pansy.
The A-B-C rating system started in 1990, how ever did people eat before then! Idiots.
The prices are high because they pay their staff well, but you pay the SAME at Fat Burger who pay their staff minimum wage, and the taste doesn’t compare. at all. It may not be the best burger in LA, but it certainly deserves more credit than it is receiving here.
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Great, there’s one less person I have to stalk while waiting for a stool.
So sorry the Pan hasn’t disregarded inflation to keep things affordable for you, but it’s still the best traditional burger (i.e. no foie gras, shortribs or brioche) in L.A. (and possibly the USA and thus the world.)
agreed!
First time I ever had a burger at the apple pan I was 9 month old and my parents say I gummed my first burger there!
I’m 55 years old this month and I have gone to the Apple Pan my whole life! I’ve traveled the world and lived in other countries and other states in America and have never found of better burger in my entire life than the Apple Pan!!!!!!!
That’s not the best part of it !The memories of course over all those years. The excitement of the people you see in there, the ambiance And really a certain type of camaraderie when you’re standing patiently waiting for an hour maybe even an hour and a half wait to sit down and then maybe not to sitting next to the person you came with and not caring at all because you know you have ringside seats at the hottest resturant show in town and your waiter is the ringmaster. The men that work at the Apple Pan they make benny hana’s cooks look like they just left high school!
for me it’s all about the hickory sauce, you can’t find it anywhere and I have tried through all my searches!
And everyone complaining about the prices that’s insane I mean they can get millions and millions of dollars for the property so complaining about the price seems ridiculous because they are the winners no matter what as well as who really wants to give up the pieces california history and it’s been there since the mid fortiez with the original owners and family still there
There is nothing else like it and the people at the Apple Pan know it, they do not let you take any side of hickory sauce from the premises!!!!! I do really enjoy the place still have exactly everything the same from when I gummed my first hickory burger there at 9 months old!
Next time you’re in the apple pan you might see my little gray haired mom in there she’s 90 years of age enjoying her hickory burger and fries! So thank you apple pan in the you live long and florish or another 50 plus years!!!!!!