Westwood Burgers and Falafel...or should that be Westwood Falafel and Burgers

1945 1/2 Westwood Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310)475-4070
Mon-Sat 11AM-9PM

This may be one of my stranger posts. Don't let this deter you. Westwood Burger has been one of those locations that can't seem to survive and therefore changes owners and menus every couple years. My wife used to work directly in front of them for Monster.com in 2001 and ate there at least a couple times each week, and we had gone back to see if we'd be able to include it as a part of last week's "Tribute to the LA Burger Stand". Now, if my memory serves me correctly, Westwood Burger has morphed 3 times since she worked there. The new owner has had his version open for about a year now and though it's called Westwood Burgers and Falafel, I would highly push to call it Westwood Falafel and Burger.

We ordered up a lamb pita, a couple of cones of falafel (we started with one, which lead to another), and of course a burger. The lamb pita was pretty rocking with good sized chunks of tender juicy lamb of surprisingly high quality in a very fresh pita. The lettuce and tomato were equally as fresh. The overall eating experience was, to say the least, more than pleasant.

As stated just words ago we got a couple of cones of falafel. We originally ordered just one cone, ate those, and realized "Wow...these are pretty good...pretty darn good" (not to mention the killer sauces they served with them) . With that, we bought a second cone and devoured those as well. They weren't overly hardened and bland the way many many falafel are in LA. These things kicked serious butt, and heck, with their barely crisped exterior and flavorful well textured interior, they could possibly just sell these and do quite well for themselves.

How can you come to a place that says burger in the title and not get a burger? The burger, while done well and tasted pretty solid, didn't have much to it. Yeah, it was fresh, but the meat flavors didn't jump out at you. Don't get me wrong, it was still a good burger, just not up to the standards we held for last week's burger stands. And that's ok, because where they really shine is in their Mediterranean dishes.

Parking is street parking but there's also a parking lot connected to it that they give validation for, so you're completely covered no matter how you want to do it. The owner, who by the way is a totally sweet guy, was really enthusiastic about everyone who came in, and really, why shouldn't he be? He seems to be doing what he loves, making people great food that reflects his culture. I love LA.

Free Refills: No
Entree Price Range:$2.75 (those amazing falafels), $4 (those tasty pitas), to $8 (plate combos)