Short Order stands apart from the norm

Let’s be honest:

Yes, Short Order is another burger joint in a town already overflowing with great — often astounding — burgers.

There’s no need to discuss the other great bun-meat-bun combos in Los Angeles, as a quick Google search will leave you dizzy with Chowhound and Yelp arguments over which burger runs this town.

And the bickering seems impossible to settle: After all, the burger is a beautifully simple concoction, but one that can be toyed with a billion different delicious ways.

Short Order, the brainchild of local food goddesses Nancy Silverton and the late Amy Pressman, only adds another angle to the discussion.

Nestled into the west corner of the Original Farmer’s Market on Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, it doesn’t attract much attention — you’d likely miss it during a shopping trip at the Grove.

Find it, though, and the restaurant will win over your heart and belly.

Exhibit A: the eponymous Short Order burger. It comes casually wrapped in paper, looking rather nondescript — no huge stacks of bacon, no odd garnishes. It looks, in fact, rather ordinary.

But take a bite and it’s like getting slapped in the face: the grass-fed beef bristles with juice, a smear of mustard-laced mayo adds a rich, spicy edge and the cheese…

…Is that really Morbier, the notoriously aromatic semi-soft French cheese? Yes it is, and it works magnificently here, helped by a quick blast of heat that melts it seductively and tempers the cheese’s assertive fragrance.

It’s a bold choice, motivated by a clever knowledge of how to balance strong flavors. Cheddar? American? Please — those are mundane in comparison. The addition of sautéed shittakes and portabello mushrooms almost seems gratuitous at this point, but they work perfectly to supercharge the burger’s savoriness.

Short Order’s menu is eclectic, but the options are simple and well-executed. Nancy’s Backyard Burger is a fresh take on the usual flavors of a burger with guacamole, mellow avocado and sweet tomato playing off the salty-smoky goodness of thick artisan bacon. And the non-beef options are equally alluring: A pork burger, for instance, is dressed up with sauteed broccoli rabe and stracchino, a velvety young Italian cheese.

Whatever you get, make sure to pick up a side of Short Order spuds, fried chunks of potato with delectably brittle crusts and fluffy insides. Then take it to the next level with earthy truffle salt and the dipping sauce — a concoction of sour cream, chives and bacon that makes the spuds taste like the baked potato of your dreams.

But where the food excels, the service falters. It’s a fault of design — Short Order features an upstairs dining room complete with a posh, glossy-marble-topped bar, but it’s too small to accommodate the crowds with waits routinely exceeding an hour.

The charming downstairs patio features full service as well, but bizarrely only offers a pared-down menu that lacks the non-beef burger options and open-faced “rafts.” The patio also serves as a mingling area for those picking up take-out orders, which makes a bit of a mess of the waiters, who often appear lost.

It’s the kind of service that is amusing in its awkwardness — it’s warm and capable when you can find someone to pay attention to you, but it’s no easy feat.

One night, after a few too many minutes of waiting, a waiter cocked his head and wandered over.

“So … do you folks want some drinks … or something?” he asked with a smile, mussing his blond hair.

And more than once, a waiter ambled over to the table with a brown paper bag bulging with food.

“Did you place a takeout order?” they would politely inquire. No,
not quite.

But when the food finally arrives, the sins are easily forgotten. How could they not be?  Take a sip of Short Order’s maddeningly tasty custard shakes and try to be upset — you can’t. Note the little details, such as the hipster Ball mason jars they use as glassware or the little pots of lemon thyme that serve as table decoration.

It’s clear Pressman and Silverton cared about making this a comfortable place to eat delicious, simple food without sacrificing quality. In many ways, Short Order achieves these goals.

It’s a bit of a shame, then, that the waitstaff must jostle with logistics. But considering the track record of its owners, Short Order will and must iron out these wrinkles — there are simply too many good burger options in this city to survive otherwise.

But with each bite, you somehow forget the bad: the clumsy service, the other burgers you could be eating, the 35 minutes you waited in the late November chill.

In the end, it all goes back to the food.