Whether you like your burger slathered with cheese or topped with a shishito pepper, made from beef or soy beans or mushrooms, Burger Week is almost upon us, in all its mouth-watering, Instagrammable glory. The seven-day event kicks off July 12 with 55 restaurants in Orange County and another 35 eateries in Los Angeles to celebrate America’s favorite sandwich — and help struggling restaurants.

“In this period of time, people are looking for comfort food and something normal,” said Pamela Waitt, president of the Orange County Restaurant Association and event founder. “If you can get a great burger, it’s a fun thing to do, and it supports local restaurants.”

Battered by COVID-inspired stay-at-home orders, then civil rights protests, and the continued threat of renewed shutdowns as the pandemic worsens, revenues for the California restaurant industry are down 41 percent in July, compared with a year earlier, according to the grassroots restaurant support group Rally For Restaurants. In Los Angeles, revenues are down by 45 percent.

“To help with the restaurant recovery, we’re just trying to drive business,” Waitt said.

Burger week began in 2019 with about 50 Orange County restaurants, but it is expanding to Los Angeles this year. Modeled after Restaurant Week, Burger Week creates a prix fixe menu that bundles together burgers, sides, and drinks for $10, $15, $20, or $25, depending on the offering. Customers place their order directly with the restaurant, either taking it to go or dining outdoors, if available.  

Chris Register had the misfortune of opening his Plants and Animals low-carb keto burger shop in Eagle Rock on March 23. “We know nothing but the pandemic as a restaurant,” he said. Business “could certainly be better.”

So when he saw something about Burger Week online, he signed up to offer a pair of $20 specials: a house burger served on an almond-flour bun with an organic beef patty, bacon jam, cheese, butter lettuce, and an optional egg, and a fried chicken sandwich coated in pork rinds served with homemade pickles and spicy aioli. Both are served with root fries made from carrots and parsnips, a kale or broccoli salad, and dessert.

“I’m just hoping for more people to come in the door who maybe wouldn’t have noticed us otherwise,” Register said. “To me, this is throwing every opportunity at the wall.

Armando De La Torre, who’s owned George’s Burger Stand in Boyle Heights since last year, describes his walk-up restaurant as “staying afloat” during the COVID crisis. As one of the only restaurants that was allowed to stay open in the area, he’s attracted more customers, but they are buying less, he said. He’s participating in Burger Week because KFI radio personality, Fork Report podcaster and Burger Week partner Neil Saavedra, is a fan of the restaurant and invited him.

For Burger Week, George’s is offering three $15 specials: a chili cheeseburger, a buffalo chicken sandwich topped with homemade roquefort dressing, and a pastrami burger with homemade dijonnaise and grilled onion on a sesame bun. Whatever the burger, it’s served with french fries, chili cheese fries, or onion rings that are dipped in batter only after they’re ordered.

Few places are more synonymous with the humble burger than Southern California. McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in San Bernardino in 1948 — the same year In-N-Out Burger was founded in Baldwin Park. More than 70 years later, the options seem endless, bound only by the limits of a chef’s imagination. 

Today, you can find burgers crafted from wagyu beef, bison, seafood, mushrooms, chicken, Beyond Meat, and Impossible Burger. French fries are no longer merely strings of potato but tater tots or sweet potato waffle cuts. And washing it all down? Craft sodas, local wine, and vegan shakes made from nut milks. If you can think of it, chances are it’s available during Burger Week.

“People have seen their burgers evolve the same way they’ve watched their ice cream or pizza evolve,” Waitt said. “These are all independent restaurants with real chefs making fresh food. There’s a lot of hole-in-the-wall places that do that, but these burgers are for real food lovers.”

Daria and Alex Ocean have operated Wave Gourmet Burgers in Huntington Beach for the past year. Originally from St. Petersburg, Russia, where they owned a popular craft burger restaurant, they now collaborate with Orange County wine bars to pair super-thin smash burgers with generous pours of Cabernet and Sauv Blanc, which is what they’re doing for Burger Week.

They’re offering three menus for $20, including a Baja burger made with a pair of beef patties topped with homemade guacamole, cheese, and tomatoes, as well as a vegetarian option using Beyond Meat. Both are served with truffle parmesan fries and wine from the Main Street Wine Company on an outdoor patio.

“Burger week is very special this year because it’s a huge support for restaurants,” said Daria Ocean, who sees the event as serving another purpose. “I’m excited when people with opposing views suddenly realize that they have at least one thing in common: love for burgers.”

Adam Weiss is the founder of Honeybee Burger in Los Feliz, a 100 percent vegan restaurant that’s “on a mission to not just protect animals but our planet, one burger at a time,” he said.

For Burger Week, his shop is offering a classic cheeseburger with Beyond Meat or Impossible Burger, “frots” (a mix of french fries and tots), and coconut milk-based shakes in Oreo and orange creamsicle. That combination would normally cost at least $21 if ordered separately, but Weiss is charging $15 during Burger Week.

“It’s all about getting new customers to see us, and that’s a win,” said Weiss, who is hoping to open two new locations. “Anything that draws attention right now to a group of any restaurants is great.”