Father's Office

One of the best.

If you like good grub and good beer, Father's Office in Santa Monica, California is for you. I heard about this joint from a friend and I've dug it ever since. They've got probably one of the best burgers ever, The Office Burger. The fries come in two types, standard and sweet potato fries. Both served in a miniature wire shopping cart basket!

As for the beers, hell, take your pick. I prefer the reds. My friend (an expatriate of German extraction) hipped me to the darker beers. The blond ales that so many Americans swig pale in comparison to the darks and reds to me.

It can be a real bitch finding a table and the place is LOUD and I mean LOUD in terms of acoustics. On a crowded night it's hard to hear the person sitting next to you. So you gotta speak up. Hell, EVERYONE'S gotta speak up so it's like a mutual shouting competition. But the food, atmosphere, and vast brew selection more than make up for it. You'll find some remnants of the previous ownership of Father's there too, some old Trivial Pursuit games that were there when it was more of a working class joint and not home to the younger, hipper, and sometimes Hollywood industry crowd you see there now. Even a perpetual outsider and uber loner like me feels comfortable there at the FO. They had a great red beer called Kona I dug a lot, now it's gone. Ah, well, always other reds to choose from.

Father's Office is a pretty cool place and not without it's quirks. Everything you order comes to you as is. No substitutions. Oh, you can order it rare, medium, well done, etc. But you can't change what comes on it. There's no condiments either. The chef is a stickler for this. Kinda odd and many patrons take offense at it upon their first visits. But the place is always bustling so most like it that way. The place doesn't offer ketchup either. The fries and burgers come with these sides of a blue cheese like dipping sauce. It takes some getting used to all this but it's worth it if you free your mind to the whole Father's Office experience. Or FO for the hipsters. Dig it.

http://www.fathersoffice.com/html/fathersOffice.html