HiHo Cheeseburger — Restaurant in Culver City

I first tried HiHo a few years ago at the Santa Monica location. I think it may have been part of an off the menu deal, or some other promo and I really liked the cheeseburger.

I had it again sometime that same year at that same location. I think I ordered the HiHo double, but I can't be 100% sure about that.

Flash forward to last night:

The Big Marty * which is a HiHo double (wagyu beef, cheese, ketchup, onion jam, lettuce, house made pickles, mustard grilled) but drop the ketchup + Marty sauce (their version of thousand island). I ordered this without lettuce and without onion jam.

Unfortunately, it fell short of the two previous times at a different location. They forgot to take off the lettuce (although the receipt had it listed correctly, as did my order taped to my burger's to go box). But it also tasted bland. The pickles were surprisingly lacking in vinegar and the burger was lacking in salt or pepper. The Marty sauce didn't add much flavor either. On a positive note, I'm sure the beef was good quality, and it was cooked nicely- there was still a fair amount of pink in there :) I don't like well done meat- I eat med rare for the most part so I like it red, but with burgers pink is great.

Fries: * My first few fries were extra salty but fresh and crispy on the outside. The rest were luke warm and not soggy per se, but not as fresh as the first few.

Banana cream pie: * This was okay. The bananas were good. There was a lot of cream on top, but I felt like it wasn't a traditional banana cream pie. It was like a crust, sweet bananas and then whipped cream on top- rather than a banana cream filling with bananas in it.

Cheesecake: ** The texture was good, but the flavor was bland. It was like they used light cream cheese or maybe added other light cheeses to it instead of a dense rich cream cheese.

Key lime pie: ** I might be a bit harsh here because I love key lime pie, but that key lime was too sour; it tasted like the limes they juiced for this were bad. I thought maybe that's why they have an inch of whipped cream across the top, but even that couldn't make me eat it.

Overall, I'd say this was a bit of a let down. I don't know if this is a location specific issue, or if they just had an off night, or maybe my tastes just don't match theirs, but I was seriously surprised since I really liked the two I had in Santa Monica years ago.

I do commend their waitstaff. They were friendly, knowledgeable, and funny. They even got my order done prior to the quoted time.

I got this to go so I can't comment on the ambiance of eating there, but the outside patio...

Really bad experience. Everyone inconsiderate from the cashier to the manager. It was freezing in the restaurant with all doors open and no heat. I closed one of the doors, then an employee opened it again. I went up to him and told him I was really cold, even in my jacket and scarf, and asked if there was a reason to keep it open. He said management required it, and then just said "that's the rules," when I questioned further and literally walked away while I was still talking! I was baffled by his rudeness but decided to wait for my food. Another family sat down near me with two young kids. They were also freezing. The wife gave her little boy her jacket. Then her husband went and closed the door again. The door was then promptly reopened by a different staff member. By this time I'd been waiting perhaps twenty minutes for my burger, which arrived and was tiny. I tasted a fry and it was inedible. Tasted of old oil, burnt and rancid. Nauseating. I approached the man reopening the door who turned out to be the young manager and said once again how cold everyone dining inside was, and can we please close the door. He said it had to stay open to serve others outside. I pointed out that the patio was entirely empty. He still adamantly refused. He also said the fries were "twice fried," as if them being burnt and covered in grease was some fancy technique lol. I asked for a full refund on my meal, left, and went to Shake Shack down the street where it was nice and warm, and the employees were all very sweet...

HiHo is one of my favorite burger chains in Los Angeles. I’m a huge fan of mustard grilled burgers and love that they do that here by default. They also have delicious chicken and their fries are seriously addicting. I would rank their fries up there with anyone. I have been to a few other locations, but this was my first time at the MDR one. Parking is easy because it’s attached to a shopping center with the first two hours free with validation. Inside is pretty large, enough to dine in, eat outside while you can see the boats and water, or get it to go. In terms of service the employees were polite, but our items did take quite a while to finish for two burgers and two fries. I will say the service time can be a bit slow, but I think the wait is worth it because of how good the food is.

For this visit, I ordered the Triple Cheeseburger, and a side of fries. It’s was large amount of food, but enough that a single person could finish it if they’re hungry. As mentioned, the fries are some of my favorite in town and I believe part of their secret is that they are twice fried, but honestly, they are seriously amazing. We also tried the Hot Honey Chicken and thought it was really good. It was extremely crispy, almost like a fried fish, but in the best kind of way. It was crunchy and sweet at the same time and just had really great flavors.

I would definitely recommend and will be back many times in the future because this is definitely one of my favorite...