August 29, 2017

HOME REVIEW BY LEXIE DEEB

What better way to beat the August heat and dissect the Game of Thrones finale and the VMA’s than by gathering with the sync community to judge burgers. Shoutout to Brayden for letting this wanna-be foodie get to exercise her Yelp review muscles – it’s a true honor!

The ambiance at HOME Silverlake was very nice and open due to their large patio space. This location has less rustic charm than the Los Feliz location. Where else can you dine in, on, or near a real live tree? Also, I was a little bummed to find there was not a fountain lined with miniature dinosaur statues. Only me? Okay fine, I did come for the burgers too.

This was a largely attended BEU, and the folks at HOME so kindly reserved the entire outdoor space for us. It never felt too crowded and the string lights were a nice addition. The curated menu offered a wide variety of burgers, including a vegan option. The wait time was reasonable given the crowd.

On to the main event – the actual burger. A major highlight for me was the presentation of the burger. I ordered the ‘LA Classic’ which tonight transformed into a double as opposed to the original single patty. Topped with their HOME sauce (thousand island), lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese on a brioche bun, the classic is served with a baby pickle, aka cornichon (for those of you on your pickle game), on top. The bun was glistening, the burger stood up straight, and the cheese was oozing. Due to the double patty, it was very difficult to eat. Not to mention the overbearing bun. I love my fair share of bread, but this ‘brioche-baby got back,’ and a little too much at that. A few bites in, I had to switch to eating with a fork and knife, and the burger started to impress me less and less. I went with the most basic of flavor options and found the burger itself was just okay. Others around me ordered the Crispy Onion Burger, the Breakfast Burger (which comes with no top bun), and the BBQ Burger. All of them looked very impressive, but the taste didn’t seem to blow anyone away.

The standard side item with any HOME-burger is fries or salad, but you have the option to upgrade to their waffle fries, sweet potato fries, or garlic skinny fries. I opted for the waffle fries – a bit on the crunchy side, but still delicious.

The overall value of the meal was fair. A substantial double patty cheeseburger with waffle fries for roughly $16 seemed reasonable. Can’t complain about them extending their happy hour to apply to the patio all night. The service was great and the waiters were very prompt and even separated our checks, which is always a win when dining in LA!

The only thing missing was a curated playlist with themes of home…

Out of 65 people in attendance, here’s how Home fared:

Appearance: 8.125

Patty: 7.75

Taste: 7.475

Creativity: 6.575

Bun: 6.85

Toppings: 7.4

Value/Price: 6.95

Service: 8.125

TOTAL: 7.4062

Additional Comments:

Shannon Murphy: Yum!

Talia Rubino: SAVAGE! I went with the turkey burger because it had pepper jack and avocado. Also the waffle fries were on point! Everyone talked about Game of Thrones.

Leah Bublis: Everyone at my table ships the Jon/Dany relationship. Conversation topics were A+.

Jessica Ruoti: Missed opportunity to have a Game of Thrones comment card. #topical #finale

Brayden: I didn’t wanna alienate anyone who wasn’t into Game of Thrones so I didn’t make it happen!! Sorrrrry. Mediterranean burger was alright, but the fries were some of the best I’ve ever had, A+.

Jason Lee: Sorry I didn’t eat a burger.

Sherwood: The patty was good quality, but slightly overcooked. The cheese was perfectly melted, though the bottom bun completely fell apart. Brioche buns are the worst thing to ever happen to hamburgers.

Paul Rocha: Probably my second or tied for first best burger of the year. There truly is no place like Home! =) Especially when they have burger patties for the pups!!!

Ryan Carroll: The waffle fries could’ve been crispier, BUT still tasty. Overall, quite good.

Sarah Scarlata: I have 2 words: WAFFLE FRIES!

Mara Schwartz Kuge: My burger had a wet bottom bun so it gets points off.

Liz Rogers: Hmm…not my favorite. My burger (and bun) was super dry – not much flavor…and their service was very slow and unaccommodating.

Natasha Albert: The vegan burger tasted like what you would expect it to taste like…and you wouldn’t be wrong to not order it.

Kristen Agee: Waffle fries were the best part! Crispy goodness!

Taylor Olsen: I had the vegan burger (in case that makes me not count).

Katie Wohlers: Waffle fries!

Anonymous: The burger was…sloppy fun?

Casey Newlin: My favorite BEU burger yet! Also where’s the fries category?? These fries were delish.

Alex Waters: My burger was delicious…BBQ sauce was good! French fries were crispy but not salty. Still looking for that fries category.

Jaden LaRue: Burgers, yay!

Lexie Deeb: “Home, home on the range”…where everyone has a lot of thoughts on the burgers.

Mike Caroleo: Home delicious home.

Jonathan Haskell: Brayden & Rebecca succeeded at a fantastic 1st BEU!!

Robert Francis: They done let me omit the mushrooms and I loved it

binks: Peter Wade and I were BEYOND EXCITED by the visual vibe. Then we got 4 bites in, realized this didn’t need to be 2 patties and then it dawned on us that this patty wasn’t well seasoned. A shitload of pepper later we were semi-onboard, ish. Sort of. A little bit.

Lauren Karim: This was so fun!

Vitaly Shenderovsky: Solid burger, great toppings. The person next to me is writing a huge essay so I just wanted to fill this space.

Patrick Clancy: It’s like Bumble. You swipe right, but not upset if it’s never returned.

Peter Wade: Custom menu is A+++. Started off great but faded fast. Uneven cook, too fink for medium. Got the double, should have been a single. Do I have indigestion?

Alison Rosenfeld: I would come back just for the fries! But unfortunately they banned me for yelling for more napkins