8 Oz. Burger Bar

If you’re trying to drop a few pounds then you’re better off not starting a blog about restaurants. This was my first mistake, but when I ate at places like Cut, Foundry, and Phillipe, I was in a world of hurt. At that point, I was on a mission to top that New York steak, crispy-skinned salmon and French dip sandwich those places featured. While I sought these out, my waistline took a hit, or rather, my psyche took a hit while my waistline expanded. My weight has always been a sore spot and if you want to throw me into a diva hissy fit tell me I look like gained a few. My plan as I entered 8 Oz. Burger Bar was to order a take out box right away. I was going to nibble my lunch, dagnappit, and eat the rest at midnight while I watched the special edition of the Coen Bros “Blood Simple.” But something happened on the way to that plan: their grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with braised short ribs. Holy smoke, how does one nibble on this? Impossible. This is one great sandwich and if you can manage only a couple of bites then you are my new life coach: you are a person of strict composure and life-affirming self discipline (and you are also probably a liar). I like food like this, simple but flawless, something that looks like you could make this in your kitchen on the fly yet, in fact, you could never quite duplicate. It’s similar in this way to the Casa Bianca pizza pie and the huarache at Azteca: uncomplicated but astonishingly good. I ordered the potato skins with truffle shavings on the side and the server complimented me on my order. They are very good and again seemingly simple to prepare. Good, unpretentious, excellent food. But the vibe of 8 Oz? Hated it! Guys, can we tamp down the hipster ethos of your westside eateries? We know you want to be cool but don’t try so hard to sell it. Dial it down by bringing it up: the black and white décor needs more color, the menus more informative, the servers given more interesting attire than just black on white. And you could chase away the hipsters by bringing in live music or an internet jukebox. Right now, the place is a bit too Jon Stewart, too cool for the room, when it needs more Drew Carey, let’s party. If it were just this restaurant, then it would be no big deal, but LA Mill, Akasha, and others suffer from the same boring problems. Can’t we all just eat and have some fun?