Burger Week at The Oinkster: Day Four

Henry Cram and Justin Cram work for KCET and love burgers. This is their story.

We arrived at The Oinkster for the fourth night of Burger Week for the Grill 'Em All Takeover -- Grill 'Em All being the heavy-metal-themed-burger-truck-turned-restaurant known for their bold culinary creations. The first burger I ever had from them was the Dee Snyder, a burger with peanut butter, bacon and sriracha. Their takeover burger last year was called the ULTIMEATUM and is one of the more memorable burger experiences we have ever had. The idea behind the takeover is that Grill 'Em All creates a burger right in The Oinkster's kitchen. Because The Oinkster's full menu is still available during Burger Week, the kitchen was especially busy last night.

Grill 'Em All's Weedeater

The Weedeater, named for sludge-metal band Weedeater, consisted of a healthy-sized beef patty, jalapeño bacon, garlic aioli, cheddar cheese, The Oinkster's housemade pulled pork, Mosh Pit BBQ Sauce, Funyuns, and a brioche bun. The brioche bun's delicate crust fractured as I grasped the burger. Cheddar oozed over every morsel of meat.

The patty was med-rare and its juices mixed with the garlic aioli, which was delicious. A generous heap of The Oinkster's own pulled pork mixed with Mosh Pit BBQ Sauce sat like a toupee atop the burger's head.

Funyuns, which are ring-shaped puffed-corn chips with onion flavoring, are no substitute for onion rings, but imparted a nice crunch. I overheard someone say that they are the staple food supply of preteen girls. The jalapeño bacon was -- wait a second-- how much bacon have we eaten so far?

How much food have we actually eaten?

Here's the breakdown:

Counting only The Oinkster's Burger Week burgers
Monday, Oink-o-nator
2 beef patties
2 cheese slices
6 strips of bacon
Kaiser roll
ketchup
mayo

Tuesday, Niño Grande
2 beef patties
2 cheese slices
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
big boy sauce (ketchup and relish)
sesame bun (cut in thirds)

Wednesday, "Burgerlord of the Rings"
1 beef patty
½ cup arugula
pineapple slice (bread crusted)
1/3 cup grilled onions
cream cheese (truffle gorgonzola)
chipotle ketchup
1 strip bacon (in bits)
bagel

Thursday, The Weed Eater
1 beef patty
2/3 cup pulled pork
3 strips bacon
BBQ sauce
garlic aoli
Funyuns
1 cheese slice

Here's what it looks like all laid out:

This has been a delicious week so far and now we are over the hump. Only three days left to enjoy Burger Week. Much fun to come!

Bonus: Last year's takeover burger, the ULTIMEATUM, was based on a burger from an episode of the Cartoon Network series, The Regular Show, about a blue jay and a raccoon who work as groundskeepers at a park. The episode that inspired the burger is maybe not worth watching all the way through, but the bit about Himalayan ketchup should be enough to tickle anyone who was present for that particular Grill 'Em All takeover.

Words by Henry, photos by Justin.

Day One of Burger Week: The Oink-O-Nator
Day Two: Niño Grande
Day Three: Burgerlord of the Rings

The Oinkster
2005 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock, CA 90041
323-255-6465