Original Tommy's ★ 4.0
Original Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart, Los Angeles has poured chili over cheeseburgers since 1946 from a walk-up window. Open 24 hours, cash and card.
Try: Chili cheeseburger
History
Original Tommy's opened in May 1946 on the corner of Beverly and Rampart, founded by Tom Koulax, the son of Greek immigrants, with one rule: every burger gets a ladle of house chili poured directly over the patty in front of the customer. The Koulax family still operates the original shack 24 hours; the chili recipe is closely held. Tommy's spawned a chili-burger sub-genre across LA that defines the city's late-night burger tradition, distinct from the In-N-Out fast-food canon.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 600g ground beef chuck (80/20)
- 4 soft sesame hamburger buns
- 4 slices yellow American cheese
- 1 small white onion, finely chopped
- 8 dill pickle slices
- Yellow mustard
- For the chili: 500g ground beef chuck, 1 small onion finely chopped, 2 garlic cloves minced, 2 tablespoons mild chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon paprika, half teaspoon dried oregano, 1 tablespoon flour, 400ml beef stock, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, salt to taste
- Neutral oil for the pan
Method
- Make the chili first. Heat a pan, brown the 500g ground beef 6 minutes, breaking it small.
- Add chopped onion and garlic, cook 4 minutes more until soft.
- Stir in chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano and flour. Cook 1 minute.
- Add tomato paste and beef stock. Simmer 45 minutes until thick but still pourable, the consistency of loose gravy. Salt to taste.
- For the burgers, divide the 600g beef into 8 balls of 75g each. Heat a heavy flat griddle until smoking.
- Place 2 balls on the griddle per burger and smash each flat with a spatula. Salt heavily. Cook 90 seconds, flip, lay cheese on one patty, stack the second patty on top, cook 60 seconds more.
- Toast the buns face-down on the griddle.
- Build each burger: bottom bun, yellow mustard, 2 dill pickle slices, double patty with melted cheese, chopped raw onion. Place top bun on, then ladle the hot chili over the lid so it pours down the sides.
- Wrap each in greaseproof paper, eat with both hands and napkins ready.
Tip from the editors. The chili should run, not stand; if it spoons rather than pours, slacken with a splash of stock before serving.
Where to eat tommy's chiliburger
Tommy's chiliburger in Los Angeles
Cassell's Hamburgers ★ 4.3
Cassell's Hamburgers inside the Hotel Normandie in Koreatown grinds its own chuck for griddled patties, a recipe in continuous use since 1948.
Order: The third-pound cheeseburger with grilled onions, plus a vanilla malt for the side.
Tip: Cassell's grinds beef in-house every morning; the breakfast burrito is the under-rated order from the same kitchen.
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