Norm's Hamburger — Restaurant in Burbank

Norm's isn't much to look at. Don't let looks fool you. I've passed by this place for years. "What a dive." Boy was I wrong. My daughter and I stopped here today for lunch. It was after peak lunch hour, around 1:30PM. It was crowded and there a line (good sign). The place was clean, no trash or greasy floors, sparky stuff was properly sparkly(good sign). There was a A rating in the window (good sign). My daughter and I got in line and noticed there was laughter coming from the kitchen(interesting). The cashier served two patrons and knew them by name(cool). While ordering our food I noticed that kitchen and prep areas looked clean(nice). The cooks were fast, efficient and smiling(nice). My daughter ordered the avocado, bacon, cheeseburger with fries and onion rings. I ordered a gyro and onion rings. We took our drinks and sat outside expecting to be called. Our food was brought to the table by a nice, polite young lady with a pleasant smile who bid us, "Enjoy your meal."(big surprise) The Food. First, there's a lot of it. Second, it's very good. The onion rings do not come from a bag. They are made fresh, from scratch. The meat in my gyro was grilled beautifully with nice crispy edges. The veggies were cold, crunchy and fresh. The cucumber dressing was either homemade or high end jar brand like Marie's. My daughter is a huge fan of a competing burger joint on Glenoaks and Magnolia. Same type of operation. She says her burger beats theirs hands down. It was well cooked, bacon was crispy, avocado perfect and veggies fresh and cool. Fries were hot, not too salty and the onion rings have already been mentioned. Normally I'd stop here. The young lady who brought our food came out later and asked us, "Is everything all right?" What burger joint does that? Five Guys. Islands sure. Not sure about Fuddrucker's... but a little Mom n Pop burger joint? This place is special. I'm going back. I want to go to a joint that knows what I order and says, "Hi Jack." Smiles and looks happy to have to have my business. I think it deserves 5☆'s. Sure it's older and a little divey and worn at the edges. IT'S CLEAN. The staff is not only friendly, they laugh. The customers laugh. They know their customer's names. They smile. They're very polite. They could give in n out lessons. They're fast but through. The food is delicious and you get everything you pay for. The prices are better than mainstream burger franchises. You can sit inside or outside. I felt good giving them my patronage. I want to give my return business. I want to take...

They have a drive through, so I figured I would cruise through. There was only one car in front of me but it took about 25 minutes to get my food. There's no speaker so you can't order until you're at the one window, and then you wait for your food to be cooked, and they guy in front of me was there a long time with a similar delay. We have better technology, and every other drive through uses it. Also, when I finally got to the window, they just ignored me and nobody came for about 5 minutes.

They have an online ordering link and call ahead ordering, which would probably be better, but the online menu link didn't work. I just tried to click it over and over, but nothing happened.

The avocado bacon burger I ordered was very good. The fries had no salt on them so I salted them myself when I got home and then they were fine. I upsized to the medium drink and the drink I got was tiny and finished before I was done with my food. So maybe go for the large.

It said the combo was 9.80, but my bill was 1370. I guess it's pretty pricey to upgrade to a still-small medium drink. You probably want to go for the large.

I probably would have come back again for the burger or to try the burritos, but probably not worth a...

This is a popular breakfast and lunch neighborhood fast food joint that I've been pretty impressed with. The breakfast burritos and burgers are popular and fairly priced....I reccomend the bacon/avocado burger. They make the best bacon I've ever had on their always-sizzling flat top grill. it's thick cut and always cooked perfectly, but no-frills. I personally like the club sandwich and love getting my daughter the teriyaki bowl. They have unique and delicious hashbrowns. I like the scrambled egg if mixed into the burtito, but I'm not the biggest fan of them by themselves. As with any grilltop cooked scrambled eggs, they come out overcooked IMO. I was underwhelmed with the chef salad, but that's my bad for attempting a healthier option at a burger joint. I recommend calling ahead, even for the drive through, as everything is made fresh. Also, despite the huge sign that says "breakfast, lunch and dinner," they are not...