Local restaurants and pop-ups fire up the grill for SoCal Burger Week

Local restaurants and pop-ups fire up the grill for SoCal Burger Week - Share via It’s time to fire up the grill for SoCal Burger Week. From June 21 to June 28, SoCal Food & Beverage will present a burger celebration across Orange County and Los Angeles to unite burger lovers, local restaurants and food trucks. Leysla Rubino, executive director at SoCal Food & Beverage, noted the cheeseburger, the enhanced version of the original humble hamburger, was invented right here in Southern California, specifically at the Rite Spot in Pasadena, just over a century ago. “SoCal Burger Week is a celebration of who we are as a region. The cheeseburger has its roots here, and so does the spirit of innovation that keeps reinventing it,” said Rubino, in a statement. “This event is for every burger joint, food truck and pop-up that has poured their heart into crafting something worth driving across town for.” SoCal Food & Beverage, is a California nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the Southland’s local restaurants through community events. The group is responsible for other food events like Taco Week and last year’s inaugural inaugural SoCal Pizza Week. During Burger Week, participating restaurants in Orange County and Los Angeles will offer burger specials at varying price points of $5, $10, $15, $20, and $25 to encourage burger lovers to try whatever fits their budget. Guests can vote online for their favorite burger and the end of the week, Golden Burger Awards will be given for “Best Overall Burger,” “Best Smash Burger” and “Best French Fries.” Participating Orange County restaurants include Nexx Burger, Bunz Burger, Burt’s Burger, Craft Burger Co., Westwood Coast, Point Break, Krazy Kooters, El Brewjo Burgers, Finca and others. While each restaurant features multiple burgers on its menu, the eateries each offer different takes on the Southern California classic. Finca in San Juan Capistrano, for example, focuses on live fire cooking and serves dry-aged, house ground burgers. “Our burgers are dry aged in-house for a minimum of 21 days,” said David Pratt, chef-owner at Finca. “It’s 100% chuck, we don’t do a blend … we grind it in-house with a small amount of pellicle, which is the outside of the aged meat. We use a small percentage and put it back in on the fine grind, and we use that to bring up the umami flavor.” Finca’s bison burger is among the specials available for SoCal Burger Week and Pratt said their bison meat comes from Tangen Draw, a regenerative, family-owned farm in Montana. “We really do take care to source our products, proteins and vegetables to truly be farm-to-table,” said Pratt. “On our burger, the lettuce is from a regenerative farm, the tomato is from a regenerative farm, our bread is baked by Dean Kim of OC Baking. “ El Brewjo Burgers, a popular pop-up based in Orange, is also participating and is no stranger to burger competitions. Owner Cesar Cortez founded the inaugural Old Towne Burger Fest in Orange last year, to showcase the Orange County pop-up burger scene. Cortez said community culinary events give local vendors marketing exposure and a chance to shine. “I think it’s super important to highlight a lot of businesses people probably don’t hear about,” said Cortez. “Especially in this day and age when we are all consumed with so many online foodies telling us we have to check out this place or that place.” El Brewjo Burgers serves smash burgers that incorporate Mexican heritage to create cuisine Cortez calls “classic American fare with Mexican flare.” For SoCal Burger Week, El Brewjo will bring back a popular special they offered last year for Halloween. “It was called El Count Smashula, and it’s a garlic infused burger,” said Cortez. “It’s a quarter pound smash burger with lettuce, pickle and garlic aioli. The patties get cooked in a garlic butter with garlic butter reduced caramelized onion.” Cortez is also preparing for the return of his own burger event in Sept., with last year’s winners Banger Lumpia and Jolly Burger returning to defend their titles in Orange. As a first-time participant in SoCal Burger Week, Cortez said he is looking forward to joining another burger event that brings together burger vendors and burger lovers alike. “Really, at the end of the day, its about community,” said Cortez. “Orange County is so massive, so to have events like this that bring together so many people to share in their love of one thing, specifically burgers, what is better than that?” SoCal Burger Week runs June 21–28 throughout Orange County and Los Angeles. To see all participating locations visit SoCalBurgerWeek.com.