June 16, 2010
The Golden State Thursday Lamb Burger (LA)
My bestie Sara and I were literally driving up to The Golden State last week at around 4pm, when I got a phone call from Little Brother (LB), who lives in LA.
LB: Where you at?
Me: Just pulling up to The Golden State.
LB: Nooooo! It’s Thursday!
Me: What does that mean?
LB: They start serving their LAMB BURGER at 6pm. Can you wait till then?
Me: WTF, dude! We’re starving and already here!
LB: They only have like 20 available. Thursdays only. You CAN’T MISS IT!
Me: We’re starving, but… FINE!
LB: Have them hold three for me, I’ll be there around 7pm.
Me: I’m gonna kill you…
Even after all my bitching, I couldn’t possibly refuse this Limited Edition Lamb Burger, could I? The Golden State opened in March 2009, by my dear college friend James Starr and his biz partner Jason Bernstein. I make sure to stop by at least once whenever I’m in town.
Sara and I went to get pedicures to stave off our hunger, and we returned promptly at 6pm. We had a mini meetup here, and even Umamimart’s Chiara showed up. She had never been here (shame on her!), and we got the big window table, so this was fun.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you The Golden State’s Limited Edition Thursday Lamb Burger:
Melt gruyere, add some roasted red bell peppers, heap on fresh arugula, slather on a dill yogurt sauce on the bun (from local Rockenwagner bakery). Et voila!
Colorado lamb, chopped and spiced with cumin (???), cooked medium rare. This burger was seriously OFF THE SCALE! The meat was so fresh!
They serve the burger with a Persian cucumber Greek salad (thanks for catching this, Bestie). It’s a refreshing compliment to the burger– the feta is perfect.
Jason’s a major beer buff so they’ve got only the best of the best California beers on tap. This here is the Saison du BUFF, which is a collaboration between Dogfish Head, Victory and Stone Breweries. Brewed with (sing it with me now): parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. So fragrant. Almost minty.
A visit to The Golden State wouldn’t be complete without their Old Rasputin BEER FLOAT. Holler!
Lakers vs. Celtics on the flatscreen. Couldn’t ask for a more defining LA experience. By around 8pm, they were sold out of the lamb burger so you better get there on the early side. Next time, I’m stopping in on a Friday for fish ‘n chips special!
THE GOLDEN STATE
426 N. Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles
T: 323.782.8331
PS: I went back once more for their root beer float. They’ve got Virgil’s root beer on tap! Love this place. Great to see you Jim + Jason!
10 Comments
omg, im so honored that my hands and my profile landed me in this post! so delicious. i thought the salad was greek, no?
I love lamb. GAHHH! Why only Thursdays?!?!
Sara, thanks for catching that. I’m such a space cadet today. There is no feta in a “persian cucumber” salad, is there?
Seri, I know they only get enough meat to make about 20-30 patties. Why Thursdays, I have no clue. Let me ask the boys.
That burger was such a major f’in dreamboat!!!
Looks like they missed this lamb burger in this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/16/las-best-beef-free-burger_n_613205.html#s101032
BOOOOOO!!!!
Been meaning to try that vegan spot on the list, Pure Luck, though. Scoops is right across the street!
Holy shit! Their regular burgers are delicious, I can’t even imagine how this must taste. Will definitely be heading out there next Thursday.
Aldo! Where have you been? Welcome back!!! Yes, please visit for this lamb burger, it was incredible. Report back!
Seri, this is from Jason:
“The reason that the lambburgers are so limited and also on thursday is that we use an extremely expensive colorado lamb that we would otherwise not be able to afford. our butcher saves mon – wed trim from this expensive lamb and gives us a fresh grind on thurs. it makes about 14-18 burgers a week.”
Under 20 lamb burgers a week!!! That is the ultimate in limited edition eats.
Thanks for the info, Kayoko! I’ll just have to find a way to be in LA on a Thursday night…