Burger Quest :: Simmzy’s

Simmzy’s is a Dianderthal regular. I crave their pizza, their fries, their prime patio seating. It’s perfect for lunch, and even better in the evening when you can chug a beer with your meal, watching all the doggies and their two-legged friends mosey along 2^nd Street in Belmont Shore. For years, co-workers raved about the Simmzy’s Burger – how juicy one is, how well-seasoned and dreamy. I’ve come close to Simmzy’s Burger nirvana with their BBQ chicken sandwich, but always wondered if great could get any better.

My birthday, I decided, would be the day I joined the club. I’d give the Simmzy’s Burger a try. While I don’t eat beef on the regular, I can’t imagine how I denied myself for so long, with its melted cheese and garlic aioli and chow chow onions (not that I knew what those were, but that name is incredible).

And… wowzers! Amazeballs! Yippee Skippy! Matched with my pour of a cold cider, my burger gave me a birthday high like nothing before. Ooey and gooey from the thick melting cheese and hearty aioli, the toasty bun kept it all together. And those onions did quite the job, enhancing the flavors of the meat, the butter bread, the sweetly pungent sauce.

Then, of course, there were fries. I got the Mixed Bag, as I always do when at Simmzy’s, their serving of sweet potato and shoestring fries together, garlic aioli and avocado buttermilk sauce served alongside (yes, more garlic aioli).

The only thing that could have made this birthday meal any more pleasing would have been a second beer. Darn those weeknight birthdays – keeping me to a one-drink max. At least with leftovers, my burger high continued for one more yummy day.

The question, however, is – how did the Simmzy’s Burger rate on the Quest?

Official Dianderthal Burger Quest Burger List:
1. The Spicy Bird at Umami Burger
2. Hawkins House of Burgers turkey burger with everything (mayo, mustard, pickles, tomato, red onion, lettuce), cheese added
3. The Chianina Burger at Working Class Kitchen with cheese
4. PCB (Plan Check Burger) at Plan Check with americanized dashi cheese, ketchup leather, schmaltz onions, mixed pickles, crunch bun
5. Simmzy’s Burger with angus beef patty, chow chow onions, melted cheddar, garlic aioli, lettuce & sliced tomato
6. 25 Degrees Number One Burger (turkey subbed for beef) with caramelized onions, crescenza, prelibato gorgonzola, bacon, arugula, thousand island
7. Whistle Stop Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, and Whistle Stop sauce
8. Shake Shack’s ShackBurger, with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and ShackSauce
9. Burger Lounge’s Free Range Turkey Burger, served Lounge Style with organic white cheddar, grilled onion, lettuce, tomato, and house-made 1000 Island
10. Father’s Office Burger with arugula, caramelized onions, Gruyere, applewood bacon, and maytag blue cheese
11. Island’s California Flyer turkey burger (BBQ sauce, “Island Reds” – fried onion straws, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato & mayo)
12.Golden State turkey burger with provolone, lettuce, tomato, red onion, aioli, and ketchup, (added grilled onions)
13. Oh My Burger BYOMB (Build Your Oh My Burger) turkey with OMB sauce, ketchup, pepper jack, and onion rings
14. Holstein’s California Turkey Burger with sprouts, tomato, avocado, cucumber claw, pepperjack cheese, and Russian dressing
15. Yeah! Burger (Make It Your Own – turkey patty, whole wheat bun, pepper jack cheese, sriracha mayo, ketchup, grilled onions, honey mustard)
16. The Habit (Veggie burger made like a Charburger, with mayo, pickle, tomato, lettuce, caramelized onions, cucumber, and sprouts)
17. Hopdaddy Goodnight/Good Cause Burger, turkey subbed for beef with Tillamook cheddar, BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, sliced jalapeños, hickory BBQ, and sassy sauce (whatever that is)
18. The Counter (Build Your Own – turkey patty, grilled onions, cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli, ketchup)
19. Burger City Grill (The BCG, turkey patty, pickles, grilled onions)
20. The Dallas at Bobby’s Burger Palace – spice crusted ground turkey patty with coleslaw, jack cheese, BBQ sauce, and pickles

Fry Factor
1. Island’s fries with ranch dressing
1. Sweet potato fries at Umami Burger*
3. Simmzy’s Mixed Bag of shoestring and sweet potato fries with garlic aioli and avocado buttermilk sauce
4. Golden State fried sweet potato wedges with garlic aioli (and a few with curry ketchup)
5. Working Class Kitchen’s frites
6. Burger Lounge’s fries with house-made Ranch
7. Whistle Stop’s fries
8. Holstein’s sweet potato fries
9. The regular fries and the cheese fries at Shake Shack
10. 25 Degrees Half & Half (sweet potato and regular fries)
11. Hopdaddy’s Kennebec & truffle fries
12. Father’s Office sweet potato fries with blue cheese aioli
13. The Counter 50-50 fries (half regular, half sweet Ps)
14. Oh My Burger sweet potato fries
15. The Habit french fries
16. Plan Check sweet potato waffle fries and regular fries
17. Bobby’s Burger Palace sweet potato fries
18. Burger City Grill fries
19. Yeah! Burger sweet potato fries
20. Hawkins House of Burgers fries

Simmzys in Long Beach and elsewhere in Southern CA
5271 East Second Street