Original Tommy’s World Famous Hamburgers in Los Angeles
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Disclaimer: I am not a professional restaurant critic, nor has this restaurant offered me any incentive to write this post. My opinions are my own and are based on my personal experience only.
Los Angeles is home to millions of people and is a mega-popular travel destination. Each year, millions of people flock to LA to eat delicious food, hang out at the beach, tour celebrity homes, see the filming locations of their favorite movies, and more.
In fact, if you look at Google, many of those visitors (and newly minted locals) often search for the best burgers in LA. When you do, there are many restaurants that come up but there’s one that tends to get thrown around quite often, and that’s Original Tommy’s World Famous Hamburgers.
My wife and I, plus a couple of our closest friends, recently made the drive out to Tommy’s original-original location, while in town for the Green Day Saviors Tour, to try it out for ourselves and in a nutshell, we were not disappointed. Below, I’ll discuss how to get there, the parking situation, show photos of the food, and more.
Quick Stats
Location: Los Angeles, California
Address: 2575 Beverley Blvd.
Hours: 24/7, 365
Type of Food: Burgers, fries, hot dogs, chili, tamales, and a variety of breakfast sandwiches
Cost: $5 - $15 per person, depending what you order
Seating: None. It’s all outdoors and standing/counter-style eating areas only
Alcohol: Not served
Website/Full Menu: www.originaltommys.com
My Visit(s): September 2024
Original Tommy’s Parking and Locations
Original Tommy’s may have had humbled beginnings, but it has since spawned into a burger empire with, at the time of this post’s publishing, nearly thirty locations throughout Southern California and three in the Las Vegas, Nevada, area. You can view the full list of locations here.
While they do a great job at maintaining quality throughout the chain, if you’re anything like me, you agree that it’s always best to visit the original location of any popular eatery, as they have historical significance behind them and the food is generally that much better.
In order to visit Tommy’s original-original location, you’ll need to make your way to the corner of Rampart and Beverley Blvd’s in Los Angeles, which opened back in 1948. There’s technically two restaurants in one here, with the small hut placed right on the corner, and another order station across the parking lot.
Speaking of parking, you have two options at this location. First, there is a small lot between the two service areas. It can maybe handle a dozen vehicles or so and due to the popularity of Tommy’s, it tends to fill quickly. However, I did notice that spots opened up quite frequently, so you could always circle around if needed.
Your second option for parking is their back up lot across Rampart Blvd. This one is larger, capable of holding about twice the amount of vehicles as the on-site option. You can’t miss it, as there’s an “Original Tommy’s” sign and an old statue of a man riding a dolphin next to its entrance. I tried to find the backstory of the statue, but haven’t had much luck.
Original Tommy’s Los Angeles Food, Menu and Prices
You can order your food at either of the two counters, as each one has the exact same menu. If they don’t have what you’re ordering, there’s a chance that they’ll instruct you to take your receipt to the other side to collect your oder there. This happened to me when I ordered a soft serve cone.
Tommy’s is known for their delicious cheeseburgers, but they’re famous for their chili, which often gets topped onto the burgers, fries, hot dogs, and even tamales. Despite this, I didn’t get chili on my burger, as I’m a ‘plain and dry’ cheeseburger type of guy.
However, I did have a change of heart and went back to order a side of their chili-cheese fries and man, I’m glad I did. All four of us agreed that their chili is top notch. The next time I’m at Tommy’s (and there will be another visit), I’ll likely pull the trigger and get chili on my burger.
Initially, I ordered a ‘plain and dry’ double-classic cheeseburger with a side of regular fries (no drink). The burger cost me $7.25 and the side of fries was an additional $4.50. As stated above, I later went back and ordered a side of their chili-cheese fries as well ($7.05).
The burger patties are seasoned well and are smash-style, with a generous amount of cheese included. The buns are also thrown on the griddle, giving them a slight, satisfying crunch. Each bite felt like the burger was melting in my mouth. The patties were cooked perfectly, seemingly to a medium to medium-well doneness.
The fries (normal) were about as basic as they come, but were salted well and had a nice crisp to them. However, the chili-cheese version of the fries is the clear winner of the two. You would think the fries would be soggy being buried underneath all that chili, but they managed to maintain their crisp well.
As far as seating goes, in short, there isn’t any. There are no indoor areas open to diners either, it’s just the outdoor area and there are no tables or chairs. However they do have plenty of stand-up counter space where you can enjoy your burger. Tommy’s Beverley location is truly an old school burger joint in every sense.
If you’re asking me who serves the best burger in Los Angeles, I’d be hard-pressed to send you anywhere but the original locations of “Original Tommy’s”. The burgers are flavorful and generous in size, and their chili is truly something to experience. You won’t regret it.
PSALM 91
