25°

Ever since I saw an article in Los Angeles Magazine about the burgers at 25°, my husband and I have been wanting to eat there.  Saturday night, we finally did.  I'm really surprised it's taken us this long!

We were out seeing a play and hadn't eaten dinner yet.  It was about 10:30pm, and we knew 25° would be open since they're open 24/7.  We cruised down Sunset Blvd watching all the scantily clad clubbers waiting outside various L.A. hot spots hoping the bouncer would give them the thumbs up.

25° is located inside the historic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel.  We drove around to the back of the hotel for valet parking.  The hotel was hopping. There was a party going on in the Historic Lobby.  We walked up the stairs, past the lobby and to the front of the hotel.  There's an entrance to 25° on Hollywood Blvd, and there's another entrance just inside the hotel's front entrance.

 


The restaurant was smaller than I expected.  It's basically one long room.  There's a long booth on one side and the bar on the other side.  When we arrived, there were 2 seats available at the bar, and there was also a 2-person table right next to the entrance.  We opted for the table.  

The vibe was fun.  The lighting is dim, and the decor is all red and black.  The black chandeliers were especially cool.  It felt very Hollywood, but in a good way.  

We looked over the menu.  They have a wide variety of drinks available, and for food, they specialize in burgers.  There's an extensive "Craft Your Own" burger section, but my husband and I decided to each try one of their signature burgers.  The make-your-own idea was a little overwhelming at the moment.  We ordered our burgers and an order of the "Mix Any 2 Sides."  We chose to mix onion rings and sweet potato fries.

The sides came out in just a few minutes.  I was surprised at the large serving size.  It was definitely enough to share, probably too much.  The sweet potato fries were especially delicious, just the right amount of salt and grease.  A couple regular fries got mixed in; they tasted like fries, good but nothing special.  The onion rings were good.  They were kind of like what you'd get at a fair.  They were a little too greasy for me though.  I don't eat a lot of greasy food, so my grease tolerance is pretty low.

Our burgers were delivered just a few minutes after the sides.  I ordered the Number One Burger which was topped with caramelized onions, crescenza, prelibato gorgonzola, bacon, arugula, and thousand island.  I requested it without the thousand island.  The burger was huge!  I like that it came wrapped in paper.  That made it easy to pick up and take a bite.  I ordered it cooked "medium," and it was definitely cooked to order.  It was really thick and juicy, but it wasn't anything special.  After 5 or 6 bites, I still hadn't tasted the bacon or onion.  I pulled off the bun and saw that they were piled in the center of the burger.  I spread them out a little and took another bite.  The bacon was really good, but isn't bacon always really good?  It was a good burger but not great.  

My husband ordered the Number Three Burger which was topped with mezzo secco jack, green chili, chipotle and avocado.  He also ordered his burger "medium."  It was cooked really well, and had a slightly spicy kick to it from all the toppings.  I liked his burger better than mine, but it still wasn't the best burger.  My favorite burgers are at Islands.

My husband also ordered a Chocolate Malt.  I think this was the first time I'd ever tasted a malt.  It was like a very chocolaty milkshake, and it was a decent size serving.

In summary, the burgers are good, but I've had better.  The sweet potato fries were my favorite part of the meal.  The atmosphere is cool, the staff is friendly, the service is fast, and the servings are big.  We'll probably stop here again sometime when we see a movie at the El Capitan or something; although, I'll probably try the grilled veggie sandwich or just get sweet potato fries.

They validate your parking, but parking still costs $6.  It'd be $10 without validation.  Especially if you're a tourist, it's probably worth it to do the valet.  You never know who you're going to see parking their car or walking into the hotel.  While we were waiting for our car, I'm pretty sure we saw Hayden Panetierre walk into the hotel, and my husband was practically drooling over a car that pulled up with suicide doors.  We love any excuse to go to the Hollywood Roosevelt.  If I were planning an event or a company party or something, I would absolutely have it there.  25° is a fun, affordable excuse to stop by.





Oh, I almost forgot to mention that it really did turn out to be way too much food.  We were both really hungry when we arrived, and we only managed to eat half a burger each.  My husband can be a big eater, especially when he's really hungry, so the fact that he didn't finish his burger says a lot.  Without the malt, he probably would've downed the burger though.  He finished our leftover burgers today.  They reheated well in the microwave.  Gotta love leftovers! 

Happy eating!