Just when it seemed as if the smash burger craze had peaked, along comes Heavy Handed to set it sizzling again. For the Studio City branch of Heavy Handed (the original is on Main Street in Santa Monica) is a wonder to behold — a madcap space in what used to be Mister O’s, with a mural on the frontage by DJ Neff that fascinates and captivates, even as you hunger for your burger and fries.
There’s also an open patio that looks out on the seemingly nonstop traffic on Ventura Boulevard — a virtual light sculpture at night.
Where the original is just a stand in a narrow alleyway, this Heavy Handed sibling lays it on thick — just like its burgers. Going to the new Heavy Handed is an occasion, a funhouse built around ground beef, pickles, sauce, onions and cheese.
It’s a great burger, a sandwich for a new decade, to soothe our souls come what may by the end of this year. Heavy Handed is surrounded by sushi bars that seem so yesteryear, so retro. A California Roll has to struggle to keep up with a triple-decker. With a chocolate dipped swirl cone. And any of five beers on draft (Burger Eyes from Highland Park Brewery), and 28 canned brews; is there really a beer named In the Wake of Desolation from a brewery called There Does Not Exist?
If you’re of the burger persuasion, you’re aware that the smash burger has been the cooking style of the moment. Which is a bit odd because I’ve been smashing burgers on my Weber for as long as I can remember. I’d take a package of ground beef, form the beef, spice it, put it on the grill — and give it a smoosh. I didn’t think of that as a smash burger. It was just … how you cooked burgers. Like spatchcocking a turkey, it created more cooking surface, allowing the meat to grill faster and more evenly.
Apparently, what I did instinctively was considered a major culinary innovation some 75 years ago, when an employee at the Dairy Cheer Restaurant in Ashland, Kentucky, got the idea of smashing his burgers with a #10 can of beans. The Cheer’s owner, one Bill Culbertson, saw this as a marketing ploy. And the smash burger was born.
These days, smash burgers are everywhere that burgers are served — though they haven’t appeared at In-N-Out, which resists trends with impressive tenacity. They’re not at Mickey D’s either, but give them time.
The success of Heavy Handed may well inspire a whole new generation of smash burger houses. Joints with names like Smash Burger and Smash House Burger began the trend. Heavy Handed takes a heavy hand to it, and gives it a whole new flavor.
There are more options, by far, on the beer menu than on the food side of things. The burgers are made of ground short rib — an excellent choice, nice and moist — served as a single, a double or a triple-decker, topped with caramelized onions (and lots of it), with a mess of gooey American cheese (which melts so well!), crunchy pickle slices made in-house, and a variant on thousand island dressing called Heavy Sauce — Heavy Handed’s secret-sauce equivalent. It makes an already juicy burger that much juicier.
All this is jammed inside a bun with a flavor that’s bland enough not to take away from the burger and stuff. You can also get the burgers as combos, served with fries and a soft drink. And why not? For the perfect accompaniment to any burger, smashed or otherwise, is a heap of fries — served here in a bag or a plastic basket. You want them topped with sauce and onions and pickles, you can “Make ’Em Heavy.”
If you want, you can get extra sauce, extra pickles, hot chiles, extra cheese — or in a lettuce wrap, which guarantees soggy lettuce. Stick to the bun; it’s how a burger is supposed to be eaten.
If the need is upon you, get a cup or cone of soft-serve ice cream — chocolate, vanilla or swirl — dipped in chocolate or not. Or with Funfetti, cookies & cream, or chocolate pretzels. Funfetti and craft draft? I guess. You can always diet on sushi later.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
