Los Angeles is known for its burgers and recently, they have become "smashed" — thin, crispy patties that are the new foodie trend. Chris N Eddy’s, a pop-up that specializes in serving smashburgers in slider form, now has a new brick and mortar location in East Hollywood.
Co-owner of Chris N Eddy’s, Chris Karimian, feels his burgers stand out due to how they cook the patty.
“If you notice the dark brown, that’s the caramelization that’s happening," he said. "If you look at the light brown that’s happening in the center, that’s the juicy meat. You want to have a mix of both.”
Karimian and his partner Eddy Poghosyan spent months perfecting their topping combinations. Neither one was a professional cook when they launched the pop-up. They were just two childhood friends with a passion for their community.
They are also entrepreneurs by nature. Karimian worked for a startup in San Francisco and Poghosyan had a marketing job. But they always wanted to do something of their own and that wound up being a slider pop-up.
“It never really came into actualization until the pandemic started. We didn’t have any more excuses. We didn’t have any more reasons not to do it. We had the time and opportunity,” said Karimian.
They bought a grill on sale and started cooking in Poghosyan’s apartment parking lot until that became too much for the building to tolerate.
“His landlord in his apartment building is telling us we have to move out. It smells like onions. This isn’t a kitchen, it’s a parking lot, so we took it to the streets,” said Karimian.
This is when the concept really took off. They generated lines around the block. Even now, they look at old videos of that time in awe, because now, just months later, they are in their new brick and mortar location just blocks away from where they grew up playing basketball.
Karimian says it’s serendipitous.
“It was destiny. This is the perfect location for us,” he said.
Now, they feed former classmates and neighbors, which he never expected to happen.
“I noticed a lot of the people I went to school with in elementary school, middle school, high school, have now come back to support us at the pop-up. A lot of the time, they didn’t even know I was Chris from Chris and Eddy’s. It’s kind of a blessing to be able to reconnect with people from your childhood. It gives you back your sense of self,” said Karimian.
He says they owe it all to the community, but also to their simple yet meticulous sliders.
The burgers consist of smashed burger meat, grilled onions, cheese, their special sauce and a potato bun.
“Everything was thought through, even down to the pepper we use and the salt we use. Of course, the meat quality is good, but the sauce pairs really well with the meat, so a lot of people come for the sauce,” said Karimian.
Karimian remains tight-lipped as to the ingredients, but it’s similar to a thousand island dressing mixed with relish. The sauce seems ideal for enjoying on a slider, a food format Karimian is obsessed with.
“Burgers need to be much smaller. They are way too big. It takes too many bites to complete one. The perfect burger should be three, four bites,” said Karimian.
Why should we trust these entrepreneurial East Hollywood friends with no formal training?
“Repetition is the father of learning. If you do the same thing over and over again, you are bound to get good at it. You have to respect the craft. You can’t expect success overnight. You can’t expect to just be blessed and gifted with whatever success you are looking for, you really have to put in the time,” said Karimian.
They put in the time grilling on the streets and now in their first location. Grab a slider from Chris N Eddy’s located at 5539 W. Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles.