Cassell's Hamburgers
IndustryRestaurants
GenreFast food restaurant
Founded1948; 76 years ago (1948), in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
FounderAl Cassell
Headquarters3600 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020 Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States

Cassell's Hamburgers is a Los Angeles landmark lunch counter founded in 1948 by Al Cassell. The shop is famous for its homemade fresh beef and mayonnaise, and its menu includes a classic shake and wort to the original which shows the classic breakfast style of the past 50 years.[1] The restaurant's guidelines follow the original principles of founder Al Cassell, including an emphasis on continuity of high quality.[2] The burger's food ingredients are sourced from premium beef which be insists on using Al Cassell's famous original crossfire broiler.[3] All burgers are ground with the original grinder and partied with the original press. At present, Cassell's Hamburgers has four branches, three within downtown Los Angeles and the airport, and one located in Indian Wells, CA.[3] In 2017, David Chang said he would put Cassell’s Hamburgers on the world’s 50 Best.[4] As of 2019, Cassell's Hamburgers is open daily from 8 am until 11 pm with late night hours until 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays.

History edit

Early Beginnings and Concept edit

Cassell’s Hamburgers was located in Koreatown of Los Angeles. Cassell’s burger in the early version was a kind of small buns which made with the beef from the United States Department of agriculture.[5] One feature is that customers can make burgers according to their own tastes. Cassell’s Hamburgers shop started in 1948 and has a history of 50 years.[1] Al Cassell was known for his strict demands on the quality of hamburgers.[3] Besides hamburgers, Cassell's homemade lemon juice and mayonnaise were also noticed at that time, and potato salad was regarded as the star product. One interesting thing is that Cassell’s Hamburgers wasn't begun serving French fries until the mid-1980s. Unlike other burger shops, another rule of the Cassell’s Hamburgers shop attraction was that customers have the free choice to select other products, including cottage cheese. Cassell's Hamburgers shop did not just sell hamburgers, many people even choose egg salad sandwiches or tuna salad sandwiches.

Expansion edit

Cassell's Hamburgers has been operating for 52 years, it first opened in 1948 on the corner of sixth street and Belmondo.[3] Food critics discovered the place and covered it.[3] In the 1980s, Al Cassell moved his hamburger shop to another building to continue to develop because of expansion demand. Soon after, one of the Al Cassell's relatives opened a branch in crescent heights and at the shopping center in Wilshire, where sales were similarly brisk. As the burger shop constantly grew in size, a new branch opened on Ventura Road in Encino.[5] However, in the 1990s, Mr. Cassell was forced to retire for health reasons and sold his shop to a Korean family.[3] After the burger shop was resold, the new owner of Cassell's Hamburgers shop continued with the old menu and added the additional salmon burgers and chicken breasts.[6] Even though the owner of this hamburger shop has changed, the second owner with his shop was still strict about managing product quality.

The new Cassell's Hamburgers shop was reopened at Koreatown’s Hotel Normandie, which is helmed by the chef Christian Page (formerly of Short Order). Mr. Page had developed it to be a bigger trend of restaurants doing throwbacks to classic delis and diners that have become common both in L.A.[6] The updated version of Cassell's, originally established in 1948, is now a few blocks away from its original location down on 6th Street.[5] (The last of the Cassell's locations closed in 2012.) The new burger restaurant was adopted the modern elements, but in order to create a '50s Dining Atmosphere', Mr. Page imported signage and menus from old places to decorate the restaurant. While the design and location of the new restaurant had changed, the menu had not changed much.[1] In an honor of the restaurant's first owner, Al Cassell, the new restaurant kept the original menu, though the prices have made some adjustments since the development of age. A 1/3 pound premium beef burger costs $10.99 and a 2/3 pound burger costs $15.99.[2] At the same time, veggie burgers were also available for the consumer who need them. For now, Mr. Page and his team are planning to add breakfast services to the Cassell's Hamburgers restaurant.

Locations edit

Cassell's Hamburgers has four locations, three of which are located in Los Angeles, California. The fourth is in Indian Wells, California.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Cassell's Hamburgers". Cassell's Hamburgers. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  2. ^ "American Meat". Los Angeles Times. 1992-05-21. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Elliott, Farley (2015-04-17). "Inside Cassell's Hamburgers' Complete Rebirth in Koreatown". Eater LA. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  4. ^ Kang, Matthew (2017-06-19). "David Chang would put Cassell's Hamburgers on the World's 50 Best". Eater LA. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  5. ^ a b c Harris, Jenn. "Cassell's Hamburgers reopens at Hotel Normandie in Koreatown". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  6. ^ a b Kang, Matthew (2014-12-18). "Cassell's, A Rebirth of Old School Burgers in Koreatown's Hotel Normandie". Eater LA. Retrieved 2019-03-29.

External links edit

Category:Restaurants Category:Fast food Category:Fast-food chain founders Category:Fast-food restaurants Category:Fast-food Mexican restaurants Category:Hamburgers (food) Category:Restaurants in Los Angeles Category:Fast-food hamburger restaurants Category:Fast-food poultry restaurants Category:Indian fast food Category:Defunct fast-food chains in the United States Category:Fast-food chains of the United States