Juicy Lucy

I like their burgers, beef and chicken. They have a couple of type of fries that are both fun.
Keep in mind this is not a place to go when you’re on a healthy diet! It’s a burger place with all that encompasses!

***Paul Shoemaker’s Juicy Lucy utilizes fresh and high quality ingredients (freshly baked buns, exceptional housemade pickles, butter lettuce, Kennebec potatoes), but the resulting food is overpriced and disappointing***
Paul Shoemaker’s Savory in Malibu started off as an exceptional restaurant. It showcased local ingredients in rustic but also refined and precise preparations (Shoemaker used to be a chef at Providence). Shoemaker’s ability to make fine dining casual and approachable was truly astounding. Perfectly cooked salmon was served alongside smooth and creamy carrot purée, juicy and sweet beets and nicely prepared broccolini (see image below).
Wonderful caramelized figs were paired with creamy burrata as well as cool, refreshing, juicy, and peak of season summer squash (see image below).
Savory though did start to decline. It was in a very isolated area and their business was forced to rely heavily on regulars. And maybe because of this, the menu got too casual and did not change enough. Eventually due to challenges with Savory’s building and landlord, Shoemaker was forced to close Savory.
Instead of trying to open another causal but high-​end spot in a different location, Shoemaker opted to open a burger spot named Juicy Lucy in FIGat7th’s relatively new and upscale food court (burgers were a staple at Savory). Juicy Lucy features a variety of burgers and fries including a Juicy Lucy – the cheese stuffed beef patties that started in Minnesota.
I opted for the Juicy Lucy and the quality of ingredients was very noticeable. The bun was a freshly made brioche bun (I felt it was a little too sweet). The lettuce was a fresh butter lettuce and the pickles were exceptional. The pickles were not soggy or overly briny. Instead, they had a great snap to them while also delivering that tangy pickle flavor (the kind of pickle where you can still identify the flavor of the cucumber rind). The burger also came with a garlic aioli (hardly noticeable), a thousand island dressing and caramelized onions (the onions were kind of lost in all of the thousand island dressing applied to the burger).
The burger patty itself was disappointing. It did not have a great color; it was very gray. The burger had no sear and was bland, which allowed a lot of the sweet elements to overwhelm the sandwich. While the burger patty was moist, the texture of the burger patty was disappointing – too pâté-​like and not a satisfying ground beef texture.
The burger was supposed to be stuffed with melted American and cheddar cheese, but only American cheese was used. Unfortunately, the American cheese was quite mild so the burger did not deliver a strong cheese flavor that one might expect with a Juicy Lucy.
I also had Kennebec French fries on the side. The fries were nicely prepared. They were thick fries with a warm and soft center contrasted against a crispy exterior. Unfortunately, the fries were very salty from an over application of sea salt so I really could not enjoy many of them.
Service was very pleasant and polite and the food came out quickly.
Juicy Lucy is order at the counter and the TASTE food court at FIGat7th features an upscale look with seating options both inside and outside. There are other local eateries here including a Loteria Grill as well as a fast food spot inspired by Parks BBQ.
Juicy Lucy’s burger prices are too high given the actual taste of the burger. While Juicy Lucy utilizes high quality ingredients, the burger does not deliver the type of satisfying experience to justify a price higher than other moderately priced burger options; Juicy Lucy is less expensive than more gourmet sit-​down burger restaurants like Father’s Office and Short Order. French fries prices are pretty good though given the generous portion (definitely enough for sharing).
Juicy Lucy’s ingredients are better than your typical food court fare, but its actual food is disappointing. I have really enjoyed Shoemaker’s food in the past though and while I probably would not give Juicy Lucy another shot, I do hope he opens another sit-​down restaurant in the near future and finds an audience that allows him to deliver the type of excellent high-​end but approachable cuisine he is capable of.
There are several pay parking lots near FIGat7th, but they are expensive given that this food court is located in Downtown Los Angeles.

Burger… no difference if you go to in and out. I would definitely recommend the Siracha Cheese Fries! I would never thought Siracha would be so good with cheese and fries! I only tend to eat fries with ketchup and tapatio/​chalula (best combo ever) but fries with cheese and siracha? who would have thought of that!
Other than that. Just another burger joint to me.

I’ll have an order of the double chin, with a side of muffin top, and can you supersize the love handles?
SRIRACHA CHEESE FRIES.
Did a stoner invent this madness? or did a genius? Either way, it’s goooood – in the worst possible way. It’s so simple and tastes like nachos (substitute chips for fries) with sriracha. They smother it with yellow nacho cheese and top it off with tons of jalapenos. If that didn’t make your mouth water, they also squirt a generous amount of sriracha all over that mother. Only a true fatty would dare order this. Sharing not allowed.

These burgers live up to the name «juicy» because they truly are that: JUICY. Wolfmother or The Four Horsemen burgers are always a hit and same with their aguas frescas. Delicious. Great value for what you are getting. My only complaint is the french fries. They lack flavor and seasoning but maybe the added cheese and sriracha that you can get for an extra $ 1 will help with that.

With all of the glorious «designer» burgers around Los Angeles, and even standing a few blocks from the Counter, I don’t want to come down too hard on Juicy Lucy, but they leave a bit to be desired. This is one of the counters in the 7^th/​Fig lower level food court area. The burger is just alright: yes, the cheese is cooked into the burger but the novelty isn’t quite as climatic as you might think: I find the cheese to be poorer quality, less flavorful and less abundant cooked this way. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for cheese, but this just isn’t cutting it. I don’t like the buns and the other condiments/​toppings are so forgettable. For the same price I can get something Food Porn worthy elsewhere, fairly easily.
The Sriacha fries are interesting: thick cut fries topped with a cream cheese like concoction and Sriarcha sauce. Take away: Father’s Office, Umami and The Counter have officially spoiled me.

A-​OK is about as accurate as I can get when it comes to Juicy Lucy. Came here for lunch today and the line wasn’t too bad. I had the Four Horseman with fries. Before I get to the food, I have to comment on the girl at the checkout. I wanted water and was groaning about having to pay an extra $ 2.25 for damn Smart Water. All she said was, «yeah». Come to find out, there is free water available. When I saw that, I was pretty pissed. Stop trying to sell up chick! Just tell me there’s complimentary water with small cups. I would’ve been super happy.
On to the food — not too shabby. The fries were the star for me. The burger is good but there are better options in DTLA for about the same price. The patties were a bit thin and the caramelized onions were too sweet and too much bun in comparison to the actual burger. That said, the applewood smoked bacon was nice, thick & crispy. The service was friendly and relatively quick given the time of day.
Overall, solid 3 stars. I’d return but it wouldn’t be my first choice. If you want a better burger, head to either Pete’s Café or Bunker Hill Grill & Bar. Same price point but much more flavor.

I’ve been here twice now. Once fairly close to the time it opened and once more recently. The first time, I thought the cheese that is supposed to be in the core sort of leached out as I was trying to eat it. I got the regular juicy lucy hamburger and it was good despite most of the cheese ending up on my tray.
I thought my second visit was a lot better and I definitely plan to go back. My second jaunt included a co-​worker and I tried the «Four Horsemen» hamburger and my co-​worker got the Wolfmother (although I think he had them change up/​leave off some of the normal ingredients). Mine came with bacon with gruyère cheese. As I watched them cook it, I could see them generously seasoning it. That was a plus, obviously. It looked to me like the French fries were hand cut. They were also very generously seasoned with very flavorful sea salt. Very tasty. Substantial and fried very well. I liked them a lot.
I don’t know if they are still doing it, but when I went, they had a combo that included the hamburger, French fries and a drink. They had a really good watermelon drink that I am totally getting from now on.

Had been hearing about Juicy Lucy and wanted to try her, so one day I was DTLA around noon time, OK my turn to see if all the talk was true.
:#1 In the heart of DTLA at 7^th ad Fig.#2 No free parking #3 They are only open Mon.-Fri.11am –3pm #4 DT is crowded lunch time around 11:00 — 2:00pm most good places to eat. This place is on the ground floor beneath Target at the Taste which is call that because there are about 7 other restaurants down there too. I had the Gastrovac fried chicken sand. with cabbage slaw /​pickles /​jalapeño /​sriracha aioli /​the bun was toasted this baby was so delicious perfectly cook, with side order of sea salt fries (which did not taste good) the menu has beef, turkey, veggie burgers, chicken sand., organic shakes, fries, kale salad, shaved apple salad, beet salad and all Items are $ 10.00 and under, I have to call in sick or take a
to get back here to eat.

Not impressed at all. Figured I would switch it up a little and try something different at the food court I frequent, so I went to Juicy Lucy. I tried the veggie burger and it was a bunch of quinoa barely bound together and stuck on a bun. (I had it without the avocado on top b/​c I am allergic). Before I even bit in, it started crumbling apart, and when I took a bite, I basically had a plate full of quinoa grains and chunks. There really wasn’t much more to it.
I understand it is a carnivore’s haven and I am not their target demographic probably, but in a town that is so veggie friendly, they should really step it up, even for the few vegetarians that may go there. There are just too many other options (including right next door).

Come on down for a hot and juicy mouth explosion of cheese. The wife had a hot squirt of cheddar burn the inside of her mouth and I laughed (cuz I’m a bastard) and then I took a bite and got a big goop of cheese on my shirt (cuz I’m an idiot) and cuz instant karma might be real.
JUICY LUCY
Sadly, just ok… fresh ingredients but something about the meat just seemed underseasoned. The hot cheese squirting out of the patty is a neat novelty but it does not make up for an $ 8 burger to taste just ok.
SRIRACHA CHEESE FRIES
Well cooked fries, melty cheese goop and sriracha for a nice kick. Not bad at all, not great, but pretty good.
There’s a bad joke here somewhere about a squirting juicy lucy… but I won’t make it…
cuz I’m a classy son of a bitch.

They have changed some things up! The turkey burger is now very nicely seasoned, it was really good. And also it’s now the same price as the juicy Lucy, hurrah for that! I applaud them for pricing a turkey burger the same as a beef burger, that’s unusual, and thank you from us non-​beef eaters.
Plus it’s only $ 2 to make it a combo — fries and a drink. Lots of their delicious fries! So for $ 10 you can get a great, very filling lunch, a great deal in dtla.

Cheese in a burger? Ingenious! My first bite was full of creamy, burger goodness. It made me ask myself, «Why don’t all burgers have cheese in it?’ And then with the second bite, I quickly realized that my previously euphoric experience was a one-​time, one-​bite kinda deal. Somehow all the cheese had disappeared, drained up, or simply had melted into my first bite because I was then left with a dry patty with a slight hole in the middle.
Enough with the narrative. Just so you know I ordered the original juicy lucy. I wanted to stick to the basics and enjoy the cheese. Unfortunately the gooey-​ness disappeared in one bite and the cheese was sort of bland. In addition, I felt like the remoulade (which was really lemon-​y) and thousand island was a bit of an overkill (creamy and creamy), particularly on an only partially toasted bun. I didn’t try the sriracha cheese fries but my coworker said they were nothing memorable. Plus, the cheese was closer to sour cream (and I saw it come out of a whipped cream bottle) and didn’t look appetizing.
Save yourself the $ 8-​$ 10 for a burger (+$ 2 for fries and drink during lunch) and I would recommend trying somewhere else for lunch.

Oh how I really wanted to just love this place! I tried so hard!
It’s located in the heart of downtown next to City Target and if you should be with someone who isn’t feeling a burger that’s ok since there’s so many other options in the food court.
I ordered a turkey/​brie burger. I was really excited about the sriracha cheese fries and grabbed a stack of forks so I could share them with co-​workers. I mean it’s FRIES, topped with CHEESE and then SRIRACHA! They were way too salty, so it kind of put a damper on the experience.
My meal came with a free agua fresca though, so there’s that. Feh.

A Juicy Lucy popped up in Downtown (7^th and Fig) in the new Taste food court. A coworker recommended it to me knowing I love burgers.
BURGER: I ordered the Juicy Lucy (the original) medium rare per the recommendation of the cashier. I don’t know if you know but Juicy Lucy is known for cheese-​stuffed patties! Genius! The burger costs $ 9 and comes with a beef patty stuffed with cheese, lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, pickles, thousand island, and remoulade (which i had to look up… its aioli or mayo-​based sauce). Keep in mind… this is categorized as a gourmet burger so it is a little pricey considering how small it is. But that is something I do not mind since I shouldn’t be eating huge burgers for lunch anyway.
I really, really enjoyed this burger. I loved the melted cheese in my patty. Bun was great… soft but didn’t fall apart on me. The kicker is this the caramelized onion… its on the sweet side (at first I thought it was some sort of chutney)… anyway it gave the burger that extra something that I loved.
I see that a lot of people gave this place two stars… I actually find this burger very underrated! I think it deserves at least 3/3.5 out of 5 stars on the burger alone (AT LEAST). Also, with regard to location (Downtown Los Angeles) in my opinion this is the best burger in downtown or at least the financial district.
I do have to say that my coworker tried the Veggie Burger… the patty was purple… and it wasn’t too tasty. She didn’t finish it.
SIDES: If you want fries, you have to order them on the side ($ 2 – 3 extra). We got the regular sea salted fries and the srircha cheese fries. Go with regular fries. The cheese on the fries is a white cheese wiz-​type of cheese that came from this metal can. It tasted fine but I just wasn’t too crazy about the process, texture and presentation.
Another winner: the pineapple fresca! Freaking delicious. You must get this.
TIP: If you are going here for lunch Monday-​Friday, I would suggest going at 11:30am before the lunch rush… or else you will be finding yourself waiting a good while to pay and for your food since this place is actually very popular at lunch.
SERVICE: Friendly cashier. Helpful. No complaints.
OVERALL: I will be coming back here, fo sho.

A good burger is very similar to good sex…
Firstly, it should be visually appealing. I don’t know about your personal choices, but if the look of a guy doesn’t do it for me, I’m certainly not going to allow him anywhere near by body… same goes for a burger, it has to look like something I want to consume, or I’ll just order a salad.
Secondly, it has to have a smell that makes my mouth water. Nothing beats the scent of a hot man’s skin… nothing except the smell of a well cooked burger that is.
Thirdly, it can’t be too much drama to get to the main event. I don’t want to have to jump through hoops to get me some goodness. If we are talking about men, I want striaght forward, uncomplicated and nothing that’s gonna cost me too much in either emotional distress or medical bills. For a burger, I want simple ingredients, I want to know what I“m eating and I don’t want to pay a ridiculous amount of money to get it.
Fourthly, it has to be messy. That’s right. Messy. If sex is all sterile and clean, it ain’t good. I want sweat and tears and… well, other appealing bodily fluids to be involved. If my sheets don’t look like they were hit in a hurricane, you done didn’t do your job, son. As far as for burgers, if, when I bite into it, there isn’t some sort of juicy, fatty goodness left behind on the tray, that burger is a ‘meh’ burger.
And lastly, it has to be good, in fact, it has to be fucking great. I should be amazing from the first bite, or kis, to the post coital bliss filled with afterglow and heavy breathing. An experience that not only is enjoyable during the act, but leaves me sated, contented and, sometimes, just sometimes, exhausted. Most importantly, when I say it has to be good, it means I have to, immediately afterwards, be already looking forward to the next time I get to experience the amazingness I only just finished.
That being said, though I can’t speak for the talents this Lucy lady has in the boudior, I can say with certainty, that the bitch can make a good burger. And the fact that she can give it to me with fries and a large Agua Fresca (with free refills) for a measley $ 10.90 means that, as far as eating her juicy burgers go, I will be seeing her on the regular. The foxy minx.

6 people went to 7^th & Fig food court to buy food for 7 people.
Girl #1 said no burger and she went to Indus indian food. She was happy with her lunch.
Girl #2 planned to buy food for her and another person. She said heck no when she saw the price for Juicy Lucy. She went to Indus indian also and enjoyed her lunch.
Girl #3 bought Juicy Lucy and said her lunch was almost $ 20 for burger, fries and drink. Overpriced and undercooked burger. She sent her burger back to the kitchen so they could cook it longer. She got her burger back and didn’t finish the burger.
Girl #4 got the daily special for $ 12.50 and sent her burger back because it was undercooked also. She got a free pineapple aqua fresca. She liked her drink.
Girl #5 got $ 12.00 four horsemen burger. She liked the thick bacon. She was expecting a tastier meat and bun for the price. It’s supposed to be better than typical burger, no?
Guy#1 got turkey burger and Coke. He loved his lunch. This guy likes anything except spicy stuff.
2 stars! Juicy Lucy just lost 6 potential regular customers. Most of them liked the sweet potato fries though. Too expensive for downtown lunch crowd.
Juicy Lucy is not yummylicious!

I heard about a juicy lucy burger on one of the shows on food network or travel channel, but I didn’t know of a place in LA that actually made them until now, so I was pretty excited to check it out.
Juicy Lucy was difficult to find because I didn’t know that it was on the 7^th and Fig Food Court called Taste.
Food:
1) Juicy Lucy — mediocre. too difficult to eat, and your hands will get burned from the oozing cheese. The bacon was the best part of the burger. Over $ 14 for a burger alone from a food court is absurd. It’s definitely not worth the price. I love the concept of oozing cheese from a patty, but it was poorly executed.
2) Sriracha Cheese Fries were delicious and my favorite part of the meal, but I’m not planning on returning here for it because it’s too much of a hassle to deal with parking, etc… for just the fries.
Drink:
Pineapple Agua Fresca was soo goood! I was worried that it might be too sweet, but one of the staff members assured me that it wouldn’t be.
Juicy with avocado, bacon + Sriracha Fries + Pineapple agua fresca = about $ 22
Parking:
Make sure you park on the 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd floor because if you don’t you’ll get charged $ 17 for about an hour stay at this location.

Had the special burger which was blue cheese mixed in the meat, topped with pork belly, arugula, and caramelized onions. The meat was juicy though the blue cheese seemed to ooze all the way out onto the bottom which made the bun really soggy vs. having the cheese more thoroughly mixed into the middle of the meat. Pork belly was a nice and fatty addition to the top. The sea salt fries were good. My friend had the sriracha cheese fries — these were quite spicy and the cheese reminded me of cheese wiz. I prefer this place instead of The Counter, but prefer Umami Burger over this place. Also, the special burger runs $ 12 + $ 3 for the fries puts you at $ 16 before anything to drink — so I definitely wouldn’t come here as my daily grind at those rates but you are paying for more of a «gourmet» burger.
They will validate your parking — it came out to $ 2.50 for 2 hour parking in the structure there.

This is some serious eats. If you’ve never had a «juicy lucy», it’s a cheeseburger where the cheese is cooked INSIDE the meat patty rather than on top, meaning the heat from the meat cooking on the grill MELTS the cheese into all the nooks and crannies of the meat, resulting in OOZEY CHEEZY heaven. If you heart meat + cheese as I do, this is a must.
Went for the grand opening on January 8^th, 2013 and I was so impressed with how smooth the operations went. Made friends with the patrons in line and generally had a great time waiting for my burger. How often can you say that?! The guy behind me was at their soft opening the night before and loved it so much he came back today for lunch, and was bringing his daughter for dinner!
It’s located in the back corner of the new and swankified «Taste» food court in the totally revamped Fig@7^th plaza (home of dtla’s city target). Just walk in and look for the huge line coming from the area with a red cow face on the wall.
What I loved was Chef Paul Shoemaker’s pride — in his food, in his restaurant, and in our local area. He cooks the buns on site everyday so they are fresh, and lists out where he sources his meats and greens from on the wall, engraved. The avocado is mashed like guacamole and served up in huge spoonfuls atop burgers (for $ 2 extra), the pork belly is thick and served crispy, etc. On opening day, he was there working the line and making burgers in the back, busy but all smiles and very friendly. Chef even has a Chef’s special burger sourced from whatever he finds inspiration from in the markets — on day 1, it was a Salmon burger and a Pork Belly Burger.
Onto the food:
–The fries taste like your standard fare boardwalk fries. real cut potatoes, not over salted. Chef uses sea salt to boost up the flavor.
–Cheese and sriracha fries — imagine the fries above covered in ooey melted cheese and then zig-​zagged with sriracha. They were tasty but not my favorites ever.
–The Juicy Lucy — the main event of the restaurant and of my working lunch. The burger was pink and warm inside, delicious. When I cut into it, the cheese oozed out immediately into a soppy delicious puddle around my burger. The lettuce was crisp and fresh, the pickles real spears that had been cut. Everything tasted on point, and just as it should. And while the prices are a bit high ($ 10 for the standard Juicy Lucy) it’s a giant of a burger.
They also have a nice assortment of aguas frescas and shakes, tho the sizes of the shakes looked a little tiny (same height as the burgers?).
I’m thankful to see this and all the other new restaurants in Taste as well as on 7^th street added to DTLA’s rising food scene, making it a place we want to eat, play, and live in! can’t wait to be back!