father's office

even though i'm the umpteenth blogger to write about the newfather'soffice i thought i would throw my review into the mix anyway. it's a friday night and i decide i'll get there early to get a table. to my surprise there is already a line at 5:30. a dec

i always liked the original, but after our experience the other night at the culver city location, i won't be givingfather'soffice any more business. we had a large group, celebrating 3 people's birthdays. we were there for a while, and all bought food and several drinks. but when we tried to share a birthday cake that a friend brought, not only were we told we could not have any outside food, but then the manager came and threatened to kick us all out and posted a security guard at our table to make sure we didn't try to eat the cake when she left. now i know fo is all about doing it their way, but this was absurd. they don't even offer dessert on the menu! very poor handling of the situation by the manager. the cake nazi and her black-clad cake police will not be seeing another cent from me or any of the other dozen folks in my group. i recommend you find another spot for burgers and beer; someplace that includes customer service on the menu.

simplicity. i am a fan of simple things - processes, designs, operations - andfather'soffice is exactly that. simple wood panels on the walls, everyone orders at the same location (the bar), and the menu is short (in my opinion, resulting in better quality dishes). however, the menu may be too short considering the uncommon items, but i do understand the point of a gastropub. . . either way, i found my way to the burger with a side of sweet potato fries. the burger was slightly undercooked in respect to my order, but that did not detract from the taste. the burger was one of the best i have ever had (the restaurant's menu is not on the site but the burger had gruyere, bleu cheese, arugula, and caramelized onions that taste similar to bbq sauce, on a role, not a bun, which is a big plus). beer selection is not incredible, but they maintain the class by finding ones that are not commonly served. be warned (again, recognizing that it is a gastropub) that the price is a little high, but the value is subjective. everything was delicious, beverages are served in the appropriate glassware (awesome), the restaurant's aesthetics were perfect, and the staff were friendly. thumbs up.

i can never get tired of this place.

the beer selections are great, not to mention thefather'soffice burger that pairs well with any beer here. the music is cool and the bartenders have good knowledge of which beers compliments certain dishes. (i've always gotten a bartender who knows)

there are other items on the menu to order besides the burger. however the menu does change from time to time either removing a dish you might like or keeping it for a bit longer. rip fat shrimp lol

a great place to go for brews with friends. while you're at it, grab the burger. you wont be disappointed.

visit date 2/16/2014

practically every time there is a list of the best burgers in l.a./the u.s./the world/beyond,father'soffice famous the office burger makes the list.  so why haven't i tried it?  because the very famous, very strict non-modification policy...

is this the best burger in la?. it was a beautiful saturday afternoon. i arrived in the mid afternoon, thinking the worst in terms of crowd, however, i was pleasantly surprised to find that there was plenty of real estate left. i hurried up to the bar, and ordered the perfect combination:father'soffice burger and an allagash white, and retreated back to our bench outside, anticipating the juicy, goodness that was on its way.

i was about half way through my beer when it arrived. i looked longingly at this beautiful creation. a perfect french roll, the juicy, simple ground beef, the crisp arugula, the maytag bleu cheese, gruyere, and last, but definitely not least, the bacon compote and carmelized onions. this burger was as fresh as fresh can get. this burger tasted as good as it looked, and it looked pretty damn good!

after i mowed through that creation, i took a minute to reflect on my mission. was this the best burger in la? honestly? no, but i would definitely say it's a close #2. this burger by most standards was perfect. simple, juicy, flavorful, and fairly inexpensive.

i highly recommendfather'soffice. fantastic beer selection, great food, and decent seating. you just have to arrive early, or at odd times to get some real estate.

how often do you hear "___ has the best burger! you must try it!"? well, i seem to hear it all the time. in fact, i think i've tried almost every burger joint between la and ny after hearing those encouraging words. in la, you hear aboutfather'soffice a

love the burgers!!. the burgers here are freaking amazing!!! i live in new york and i can't wait to make another trip out to la and stop byfather'soffice. i haven't stopped talking about it since i left earlier this year. i also love the fact that there are so many different beers to choose from.

enjoyable sunday lunch. came tofather'soffice on a sunday and had a enjoyable time. my party of four ordered the office burger and all found it good. the meat is well cooked and the cheese, onions, and arugula complemented the patty very well. while it was a burger, it wasn't on the usual burger bun but rather some sort of great french bread. you have to go up to the bar to order your food. so if you're looking for service, this might not be your place. the bartenders were friendly, though, and were more than happy to recommend beer or food.

then the beer. they've got a nice beer selection. none of the usual budweisers, coronoa, etc. they come from across california and the country and even around the world. most of the beers are $6, a decent price, allowing for multiple glasses.

i would gladly come back here.

not for adults over 35. seriously. my sister and i found ourselves swarmed by young drunken 20-something professionals who were extremely loud. all that was offered on the menu were drinks and trying to order food was next to impossible. the atmosphere is more that of a sexual meat market for young adults who haven't yet gone through a rodeo or two. needless to say, we left and found a more mature place down the street to enjoy our dinner. we will neither go back tofather'sin the future nor will we recommend it to anyone we know.

seeing as though we never got to eat atfather'soffice in santa monica, we tried again for dinner in culver city. (are you learning all the names of la's suburbs?)father'soffice is a upscale pub that doesn't offer table serv

overrated & over-hyped: f.o. delivers sub-standard food & terrible service. after hearing rave reviews aboutfather'soffice, i finally had a chance to try the place for myself. i expected a fairly minimal approach to the food & service, assuming there would be a restricted menu that focused on fewer, higher-quality options.

while the menu is indeed small, the quality is just not there.

now, to be clear, i'm a fairly easy audience. i have only rarely given a negative review.... of anything. but the experience atfather'soffice was so bad that i signed-up with urbanspoon only with the hope of sparing someone else from the bad experience my party & i had there.

there was nothing disastrous about the food; it was on par with any burger you'd find at a small restaurant -- it's simply that it wasn't what we considered to be a "good" burger (and nowhere near the "great" burger we expected from past reviews). of course, the fact that they only serve the burger their way offended some of us; but i would have been ok with that if their choice of burger was somehow superior to the standard idea of a burger... or was even tasty in its own right. instead, you get a very "so-so" burger and a sinking feeling that you've been suckered into trying this lackluster restaurant.

beyond the meager quality of food, the service was absolutely horrible. the staff is annoying & inconsiderate and met any of our questions with snobbish indifference. i get that f.o. wants to do everything their way, but the staff has no concern for communicating why that is; they just answer "we don't do that here" as if they are upset that you could possibly want something more than the average food & beer they serve.

the one place where the staff seem concerned was with their fries. we were told "if anything is wrong with the fries, if they're too cold or not crisp enough, let me know & we'll make them right." wow. concern for only their fries. that's... a shockingly poor standard for food service.

but, from what i had heard before, i thought that this could have just been an off-night for f.o. so i triedfather'soffice again - twice. (i was really hoping to find a great place for a burger & beer.) sadly, both occasions resulted in similar disappointment. on the 2nd visit, the bartender seemed to have had enough with seeing such unhappy patrons and just said "i know, i know... it's not how i'd do it either..."

by the way, the beer there is fine. nothing amazing; but a good overall selection. i think that, when f.o. began, it was rare to offer such a selection of draft beer. now, not so much. but, at least they don't screw it up -- just don't ask for any type of mixed beer (such as a snackbite which is lager & cider), they will not mix beers.

all of this being said, the place was packed on 2 of the 3 visits. so, i'm sure that f.o. could care less that their customers are happy -- as long as enough people are out there repeating the idea thatfather'soffice is great, then there are enough people in this city to supply them with new customers. from everything i've heard since visiting, there are few people that see reason to go back again.

father is a control freak. there's nothing special about the (apparently) famous "father's office burger". i found it dry and almost flavorless. don't try to alter any of the ingredients -- it's not allowed. the policy is posted in writing above the bar. come on, even burger king lets you "have it your way". notfather'soffice. for example, the burger comes with bleu cheese, which makes me gag. i was told that if i didn't like bleu cheese, i should order something other than the burger.

i'm generally willing to try anything once, so i took my chances and ordered the f.o. burger "as is", because i was eager to experience what others were calling "the best burger in l.a." my review of the burger is analogous to my review offather'soffice in general. over hyped, over rated, and ultimately bland and unmemorable.

i was there for lunch, so i ordered an iced tea with my burger. they don't have iced tea. i asked for ketchup for my fries. they don't have ketchup. i'm thinking, "come on, even burger king has iced tea and ketchup." notfather'soffice.

father's office is exactly like burger king in certain ways. you have to order at the counter, where you're given a small plastic placard with a number on it. you find a seat somewhere, and wait for the server/busboy to deliver the food. when the place is crowded -- as it often is -- i imagine your food probably gets toured around the entire space before you and your small plastic number are finally located by the server.

father's office exudes the snooty attitude of a trendy gourmet restaurant, with customer service on par with burger king. the difference is, you pay a lot more and you have to have it "their way".

i finally made it tofather'soffice. ok i went to the culver city one (fo ii), but hopefully it's a good representation of the sm one also (the cc location has free parking though!). i went on a wednesday night and it was surprisingly crowded for a wedne