Tommy's

Tuesday Night Crowd

There isn't a lot to say about Tommy's that hasn't been said. An LA institution, serving up sloppy chili burgers for over 70 years, I've personally been hitting Tommy's since the early 80's, when my girlfriend and I thought it was the height of cool to have a Tommy's burger and then head to the Cheesecake Factory in Beverly Hills for a piece of cheesecake and two drinks-they didn't card.

Since that time, I've never needed much of an excuse to go to the original location at Beverly and Rampart. They were fast in those days, with burgers hitting the counter before you finished ordering, the counter manned by a couple of old guys at the register, and a bunch of young Mexican guys at the grill. There were no fries-you had chips. Also, no fountain drinks-you got a can from the many coolers. The lot was crowded, and I would always stake out a spot next to the paper towel/napkin dispenser because I used 10,000 or so. I had a girlfriend who once asked why I stood there, and I said to specifically have as many napkins as  I wanted.

At the time that I started going to Tommy's, there were two others that I knew about, one on Roscoe in Van Nuys (not there anymore), and one in Fountain Valley between Warner and Magnolia. They were both good.

While attending Cerritos College, we'd often race to either the Fountain Valley or the Original location, power down two double cheeses, and then make it back to Water Polo practice. In those days I could put away some food and I was still skinny. I had a friend who would say she could eat a Tommy Burger and not make a mess, and use only one napkin. She often did, and somehow never messed her make-up, a feat I appreciate far more now than I did then.

A True American Classic!

At UCLA, we would sometimes head to the one that used to be located across from the Anheuser-Busch plant on Roscoe in Van Nuys, but sometimes after a hard night of drinking the smell from the brewery would strike me as unpleasant, so we usually ended up at the Original.

A Tommy's opened here in Ventura a few years back, and unlike many of the Tommy's in the chain, the food is consistently good. I've eaten at the ones in Ontario, Hollywood and Eagle Rock, and I wasn't impressed. In fact, when the Ventura location first opened, they were also so fast that my food hit the counter before I finished paying. They're still fast, but not that fast.

So, Tommy's Ventura is good, but there's something about standing at Beverly and Rampart, as I have for some 35 years and having a burger. It's a single, now instead of the double, only one, and now with fries and a fountain drink, but it's still good, and I think of the many friends I've dined with there over the years.

Like I alluded to up above, it used to be all men behind the counter. On this trip, it was all women. The food used to hit the counter before I was done paying, and this time I got a number and had to wait-not long, but I waited.

But I'd still eat there. It was still good.