The Burger Court

When native Angelenos get together to discuss burgers, as sooner or later they all do, somebody will inevitably bring up Russell’s Famous Hamburgers, which serves the same purpose in Long Beach as Apple Pan does on the Westside and Pie n’ Burger in Pasadena, and which is regularly touted as the best hamburger restaurant around. In a recent Zagat guide, Russell’s was rated not only the best burger joint in the Southland but also the best value of any local restaurant.

And the original Russell’s, a vintage lunch-counter in a ‘40s-era shopping strip in Long Beach’s Bixby Knolls neighborhood, is a fine place, with swiveling wooden stools and a national-park-style wooden lean-to over the open grill, a few hanging plants left over from the ‘70s and friendly waitresses who refill your coffee quicker than you can drink it. A framed review on the wall, from an early-’50s restaurant guide, stresses the quality of the pies and avers: “The wallpaper is a delight to the eye.” Where some other locations of Russell’s, especially Pasadena, suffer from faux-Olde Tyme surroundings and indifferent service--the pre-eminent duty of a burger-restaurant waiter is to get food to the table while it is still crisp and hot--the original is almost charming.

While it has neither Apple Pan’s panache nor Cassell’s integrity, Russell’s understands the hamburger. It understands that the sum of the parts can outweigh the whole even when the buns could be better and the beef patties have the slightly liverish taste common to chain burgers. It understands that a sugary sauce can have its place. The baroquely garnished McDonald’s burger, a Southland creation, got its start somewhere, and it was probably in genteel, ‘40s-era, hamburger lunchrooms such as this.

Russell’s burgers first present themselves as paper-jacketed oddities--too tall to get your mouth around unless your name happens to be Mr. Ed; colored vividly as a soft-sculpted Oldenburg--and then as pungent, drippy monsters, the dry-cleaner’s friend. (Do not despair; there is always the pre-moistened towelette.) Crispness comes in several layers here: the lightly toasted bun, just starting to sog; the slightly underripe tomato slice; the thickly sliced red onion; the wad of fresh iceberg lettuce; the pickle chips whose rubberiness suddenly gives way with a crunch. The cheese, an ordinary packaged American slice, melts properly into the meat, becoming more additional richness for the sweet dressing than a separately discernible ingredient. No two bites are alike.

As certain television film critics talk about movie-movies, the kind you wash down with a cherry Coke and a box of GummiTreats and forget about immediately thereafter, what Russell’s serves is a burger-burger: nothing more, nothing less. A burger.

Russell’s also serves sandwiches, a decent chicken pot pie and a generally dreadful, soggy handmade quiche of the day--avoid the broccoli-cheese. They are more or less besides the point. Russell’s chili is Los Angeles style--i.e., like the thickened orange stuff you get at Tommy’s, though less spicy--and adds little to the experience.

With the hamburger, you specify hash-browns--order them well done--which are brown and crisp and just savory with grease, hand-grated, much more interesting than Russell’s mushy French fries (which the original location does not, in any case, serve) or the pasta salad, or the eggy potato salad.

As do many of the Southland’s famous sit-down hamburger restaurants, Russell’s has a minor sub-specialty in pies: rich sour-cream/raisin concoctions topped with half a yard of light meringue; oversweet, double-crusted berry pies; eggy coconut custard and gooey pecan. No matter how the waitress may implore you, do not have your pie heated--it goes straight into the microwave and the crust turns into rubber. The vanilla ice cream is yolky and rich.

Russell’s Famous Hamburgers

4306 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, (310) 427-6869. (Also in Lakewood, Naples, Pasadena, Mission Viejo, Torrance and Seal Beach.) Open daily 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Discover, MasterCard, Visa. Parking in rear. Takeout. No alcohol. Dinner for two, food only, $8-$14.