While Short Order has been on our to-eat list, the main impetus for our visit was to check out their DineLA menu. After a few sleepless nights, a more laid-back dinner was much more appealing to me. It’s hard to converse with a sommelier while feeling like a zombie. So, Short Order. It was decided. We sat in the retro schoolroom-esque chairs and paper placemat menus were set before us. No mention of DineLA was made. When our server returned, I casually asked if there were any specials for the evening, hoping perhaps she had forgotten to give us the pre-fixe menus. Alas, no dice. Instead we were told of a menu item that began as a special and was promoted to the daily menu due to its popularity. Not really what I was fishing for. Boo. Whatever.
We got over it and ordered dinner. After having avoided eating meat for the better part of a decade, I found myself craving red meat while I was pregnant. I broke down and had meatballs about a year ago at Little Dom’s in Los Feliz. Through the end of my pregnancy, and now a tiny bit while breastfeeding, I find myself craving a hamburger now and again. Last night was one of those ‘now’ moments. We placed our order. Rams went with the Pretzel Pups, and I crossed over to the dark side. Ida’s Old School Burger, medium rare. Yep. I did it. And, man, was it worth it.
Perched on a perfectly toasted brioche bun sat my grass-fed burger, topped with cheddar, tomatoes, grilled onion and pickles. It’s a refreshingly straight forward approach to the burger, especially in this era of the build-you-own gourmet burger joints. This cheeseburger was by far the absolute best I’ve ever tasted. Without question. Without a doubt. It was perfect. I may just start calling myself a cheeseburg-atarian. You know, a vegetarian who eats cheeseburgers. Totally normal, right? Right?
My favorite part of the night, aside from my boozy milkshake that is, was our departure. Just as he flirted on our way in, Rhys continued to flirt his way out, batting his long lashes as we passed by the female servers toward the parking lot. They giggled and smiled back. And as we left, I heard one say to another, “I’ve never had a boyfriend who was that excited to see me.” Oh, sweet Rhysie. You’re such a lover.
Short Order can be found at Farmer’s Market at 3rd and Fairfax in Los Angeles