Fair Oaks Burger
Hamburger restaurant · Altadena
2560 Fair Oaks Ave, Altadena, CA 91001
Highlights
Eclectic menu: burgers, Mexican, Chinese, Thai & more.
Eclectic menu: burgers, Mexican, Chinese, Thai & more.
"On the evening of January 7, 2025, it was business as usual until the power went out at 6:45 p.m.; thirty minutes earlier, co-owner Janet Lee says, a drive-thru customer had warned employees about a growing fire in Eaton Canyon. Standing in the parking lot and seeing the encroaching flames, which had progressed from the hillside to residential and commercial areas, Lee realized the risk of staying until the usual 8 p.m. closing: "We told our employees, let’s just leave everything. We’ll come back tomorrow. We can clean in the morning. Let’s just be safe. So we all evacuated," Lee says. The final burger of the day was flipped and served — the last customer kept the receipt — and everyone left, unaware of what would happen in the hours to come. Lee grabbed her parents, who live just up the street, and convened the family at their Valley Glen home; "Both my parents were in their pajamas. All they had was their driver’s licenses and some money they hid in the freezer," she says. Two days later, via social media, the Lees learned their parents’ home in Altadena had burned down, but the restaurant — a community staple since the 1980s — was still standing. Three weeks later, in February, the Lee family and their employees opened a temporary kitchen on the patio and resumed feeding the community through hot-food distribution events funded by World Central Kitchen; the collaboration began after community organizer Susan Park suggested doing food distributions and initially paid out of pocket, and World Central Kitchen later stepped in to cover food costs as more organizations joined. On event days a DJ set up where drive-thru customers usually wait, playing cumbia remixes of classic pop hits, and community members lined up for hot dishes like cheeseburgers, chicken teriyaki bowls, pancakes, and breakfast burritos made assembly-line style on the patio. In the parking lot, tables were covered with fresh produce provided by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, clothes from Out of the Closet, and shelf-stable items from Home of Kings and Queens, while World Food Bank community health workers assisted with disaster relief. On March 29 the parking lot hosted the Altadena Not For Sale Rally, co-organized by My Tribe Rise, drawing about 550 residents and supporters to watch local musicians, share food, and gather — Mary’s Sweets and Churros and Big Grandma’s Kitchen set up alongside Food For Health to serve the crowd, many of whom remain displaced. Although the partnership with World Central Kitchen concluded on April 5, community events have continued: the AIDS Healthcare Foundation helps cover costs like trash collection and disposal and runs the Food for Health project distributing fresh produce every Saturday; Out of the Closet will provide free clothes every other week starting April 12; Wellness Wednesday distributes shelf-stable items weekly, and a large April 17 distribution will involve FedEx, Feed the Children, Watch It Grow Inc., the World Food Bank Kitchen and Urban Farm, Aaron Cultural Community Center, and Altadena 2030 — residents are encouraged to bring shopping bags and carts to gather shelf-stable food, water, beverages, and brand-new clothes. "That’s going to be a big event for people in the community," Lee says. With help from the Hollywood Food Coalition, Lee and her sister Christy created the Feed Altadena Fund; a limited amount of free hot meals will be distributed to Altadena residents during Wednesday and Saturday events, and attendees can purchase breakfast burritos, burgers, and chicken bowls with 10 percent of profits from those sales funding meals for displaced residents. Through AHF, Lee met Boyle Heights muralist Robert Vargas (the artist behind the celebrated 150-foot Little Tokyo mural of Shohei Ohtani), and Vargas plans to paint a mural on the southern wall to represent the resilience of the Altadena community. By early May the family hopes to reopen and christen a new grill: the building itself did not burn but was left without power and sat untouched, and the presence of asbestos, lead, and other chemicals on the block has prompted them to replace all equipment and redo flooring. Because the structure didn’t burn, insurance has provided little assistance, so Lee is awaiting a loan, using money from the restaurant’s GoFundMe (currently at 13 percent of its goal), and paying for equipment out of pocket — "We’ll be in debt, but we’ll be able to open," Lee says." - Alice Wynne
"Moments of quietude are rare at this 37-year-old fast-food restaurant and community hub: even during mid-afternoon lulls the dining room rush eases only for sizzling sounds from a blistering hot wok to emanate from the kitchen and drive-thru speakers to crackle with hungry customers, while ad-free oldies play from speakers mounted in the yellow walls. Operated by sisters Janet and Christy Lee, the spot sits in a square building with a flat roof and a red-and-white striped awning on the corner of Fair Oaks Avenue and East Calaveras Street; its front patio faces a busy boulevard overlooking a pizza place, a popular liquor store, and a funeral home. The building has a layered past — after a short-lived run as a branch of White Castle (which “never caught on among Californians,” and as Janet wryly notes, “People don’t like little burgers.”) it became an outpost of Louisiana Fried Chicken before JJ and Sunny Lee bought and converted it, opening the restaurant in 1987; the elder Lees, who flipped restaurants around town, left its care to their daughters in 2007 after a decade of ownership outside the family. The menu grew organically: the restaurant initially served only Mexican food and hamburgers, but when customers asked for Chinese food the Lees expanded offerings while intentionally keeping prices low so that “everyone can have the same experience,” says Janet. The large, eclectic menu now blends classic American and Chinese dishes with the original Mexican and fast-food standbys and attracts hikers, mountain bikers, young parents, solo eaters, and workers at different times of day. Signature and popular items are described precisely: the Dodger burger is made with double beef patties, a hot link, chili, and cheese; the namesake burger sources beef from a butcher in Koreatown and is layered with avocado, bacon, cheese, and jalapeños; a veggie cheeseburger is “almost a facsimile” of its beef counterpart, made with a store-bought patty between fixings and served on a toasted bun wrapped tightly in yellow paper. Compact burritos come with rice, beans, cheese, onions, tomato, cilantro, and a choice of carne asada, chicken, or no meat; a Chinese chicken salad features crispy wontons and a tangy sauce; a popular fried zucchini side also appears as a topping (on the pastrami burger) or as the filling in a taco; and sundry items like menudo and curry show up as addendums on printer paper taped to the counter or drive-thru menu. The interior reinforces the communal vibe: wooden tables are set with napkin dispensers, soy sauce, and a medley of hot sauces, and the front counter is made of cemented bricks topped with a large wood slat where people commonly chat about community goings-on and the Los Angeles Dodgers as they wait. Longtime patrons introduce themselves to first-timers, veteran employees know customers’ names and orders, and Janet says the convivial energy is similar to the old television show Cheers; pets are welcomed too, with dogs sometimes treated to unseasoned chicken at the drive-thru and even featured on the restaurant’s Instagram. On the north side, just before the drive-thru window that proved essential early in the pandemic and facing the San Gabriel Mountains, a painted mural of a tall burger spells out the mission in colorful capital letters: "Come for the Food. Stay for the Friends." Open to the public from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, the place remains a neighborhood anchor where smells, sounds, family ownership, and a mismatched but beloved menu keep a steady flow of familiar faces coming through the doors." - Alice Wynne
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