"Food Wars": Grill 'Em All vs. Baby's Badass Burgers

For foodies, one of the most entertaining topics of discussion is food rivalries. Who makes the best French dip in LA?: Phillipe's or Cole's? Who has the better pastrami sandwich?: Langer's or Brent's?

Luckily for us, The Travel Channel's newest program "Food Wars" (starting March 9) will help settle the score in some of the great rivalries in the edible kingdom.

Today, "Food Wars" filmed an episode in Santa Monica, pitting Baby's Badass Burgers against Grill 'Em All--two LA food trucks serving up their versions of gourmet burgers. With the promise of beer from the OC-based Bootlegger's Brewery (TV show tapings aren't noted for being speedy endeavors), tasty burgers and a day near the beach, what was not to love?

"But this grill goes to 11..." The Grill 'Em All truck makes some signage for its cheering squad.

Heavy metal + burgers= Grill 'Em All.

After each truck was filmed individually for the show's opening, the crew filmed crowd shots as Baby's and Grill 'Em All prepared their food for the judging.

Grill 'Em All had an impressive number of supporters to cheer them and their burger on (they were smart and did some recruiting via Twitter). Although I can't say for certain, based on the judge's description of the burger, I believe their dish in the food war was the Molly Hatchet ($7.50 with seared fennel, sausage, gravy, maple drizzles).

We ordered the Waste 'Em All ($6.50 with pepperjack cheese, chiles and beer-soaked onions). I don't ordinarly love the spice of pepperjack cheese, but it played nicely off the flavor of the onions. Every bite was loaded with delicious kick. The bun, however, was a little thick for my taste, and the lean beef lacked any real juiciness.

Let me preface this by saying that I loathe, hate and abominate Baby's Badass Burgers. No, I have never eaten their food, but I am completely offended by their gimmick of scantily clad women serving burgers (presumably, to hot-blooded males who love 1) T & A and 2) red meat). They make my estrogen hurt.

Baby's didn't advertise on Twitter as Grill 'Em All did, and it showed in their low turnout of supporters. They Baby's girls ended up having to do some recruiting on and around the Santa Monica Pier.

I also think that Baby's branding strategy may have hurt them in terms of accumulating a core group of loyal followers. In my opinion, (straight) women will either be intimidated by the thin, skimpily-dressed woman serving them their burger or, like me, will be horrified. Conversely, any men who try to be nice to the girls are more likely to be perceived as skeevy rather than friendly. Because of this Catch-22 with both genders, it's hard to imagine being on a first-name basis with the staff of the Baby's truck like J and I are with our favorite food trucks.

ANYHOO, I did appreciate that they gave out free sliders both during and after the taping. Free food is definitely a way to keep people happy!

When it comes to Baby's burgers, the consensus on Yelp seems to be that their food is tasty but overpriced for the size of their dishes. With the free sliders going around, however, it was time for me to try their food for myself.

Although I was prepared to hate their burger, I was pleasantly surprised by the All American Girl ($6 for the "baby burger" and $8 for the 1/2 lb "maneater" with smoked cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and "baby's special sauce")--Baby's competition burger. The meat was juicy and tender, and the smoky, spicy special sauce added a pleasant kick. That being said...I'd still never give them my money.

A starving J took a bite before he let me take a pic.

All in all, the day was fun and exciting, but I won't be hunting down either of these trucks in the future. At above-drive-thru prices, I expect an above-drive-thru quality burger, and neither of these delivered on that front.

If you want a delicious, quick, cheap burger, head to In-N-Out and, for around $6, get an entire meal. If you want a gourmet burger, spend $2 more than you would at these trucks and nom on a burger at Golden State Cafe. The beauty of the best LA food trucks is that you don't have to lower your standards to enjoy them, and these two have some work to do if they're to rank with the best. Grill 'Em All and Baby's Badass Burgers were by no means bad...just not great.

Finally, I won't tell you who won. For that, you have to tune in to "Food Wars" on the Travel Channel!

Grill 'Em All
www.grillemalltruck.com
www.twitter.com/grillemalltruck



Baby's Badass Burgers
www.babysbadassburgers.com
www.twitter.com/babybbs