Umami Burger

Wow, quality has really gone down.
Boyfriend and I came for dinner during Night on Broadway last year and we both LOVED our burgers and drinks.
This time, came again for our Night on Broadway dinner and were thoroughly disappointed. Burgers were not good. I KNOW! Not flavorful and amazing like we remembered at all. I got a side salad and it was only lettuce. Warm lettuce.
Cocktails were disappointing in flavor. The prices are way too high for such poor taste.
On the bright side, service was great. Very attentive. Not going back, though.

My girlfriend and I have visited the umami in Irvine, Anaheim, and LA arts district but our experience at Umami on Broadway has been one of our favorites. Our server Sam was super friendly and gave us really great service. Want to come back! Definitely recommend the truffle burger and truffle fries for any first timers.

Sam is the homie! Good vibes and even better food!!! I had the wings and they were beyond delicious. Definitely plan to come again.

Sam was our server! He was the best!
We waited for our table for a while considering it was a Saturday night but it’s great you get to get a beer at the bar while you wait. Great environment. Definitely coming back. Food is decent.

So… I am basing my review on their service, not so much their food!
I had a mtg at the Orpheum which let out early and you really don’t want to be waiting outside for your ride outside (not the best neighborhood at night, sorry!)
So I rolled into the restaurant & 2 waiters were sitting at a table…
I was greeted with, «Can I help you?» I answered, «You’re still open, can I eat?»
Granted that I’m in a wheelchair, was dressed in jeans, tshirt and jacket, don’t judge a book by it’s cover!
I ordered the seared ahi salad and truffle fries. The waited asked me, «Are you sure you want truffle fries?» I was just thinking to myself, just roll out of here, it’s not worth dealing with people who have no disability sensativity.
So, on to the food:
Seared ahi salad is a must order… The tuna just melted in your mouth… it wasn’t over seared, just right with a light crust of pepper & sesame seeds.
The truffle fries were blah. They were douced with some kind of cheese topping… a lil overboard for my taste…
And in the middle of my meal, not even 5 minutes into ordering… the check arrives? Really? Did you think I would eat & bounce???
So my rating is 3 stars for the food & 0 stars for the service… Sorry, everyone is human (whether they are in a wheelchair or not) and deserves to be treated with dignity, respect and the same service that you would treat an «able bodied» person…

I live right across the street so this place is really convenient when I want a burger. I’m an not a fan of their sides the fries instantly get cold. I used to get the shrimp burger but was so disappointed to find out they no longer make it. Can’t go wrong the manly and truffle but that shrimp burger omg! Bring it back please man!

Parking: horrible! You have to drive around the block a couple of times in order to find a street parking. Paid six dollars for one hour and a half. They have a parking lot cross the street which I paid $ 11.
Location: They offered indoor and outdoor seating, awesome! And the restaurant it’s pretty big with two rooms. This place is good if it’s only a party of two or big groups. Also, this place is good if you not only want to drink more than a hand crafted beer, they also have a full bar. This day in particular the service was a little slow. The restaurant wasn’t even crowded, bummer. However, the quality of taste in the food really made up for it.
Prices: are somewhat high

Was crowded when we arrived but they sat us as promptly as possible. Try the USO dessert (recommended by Sam) as it was phenomenal. Great service and really friendly staff. If it’s your first time or 20^th there is always something new to try.
Can you say 8 burger tasting!?! Bring 4 people total :)

I’m late to the party, what can I say. I very recently had my first Umami experience.
I came for a large get together/​event and had a great time. Kirstie, our server, was attentive and helpful. She was incredibly responsive to any of our requests or concerns, and for that I think she deserves some recognition. She managed our party with the help of some other staff — Mikey and Joe (or was it Josh?).
We started with the truffled beet salad that came with a tasty truffle dressing tying together wild arugula, smoked almonds (delish!), and beets. The crunchy almonds added great flavor and texture to the otherwise moist salad and overall gave the salad a bit more complexity. I’m not one to dig into beets, but the truffle dressing added some sweetness and tang that made the beets more appetizing. I asked for the ricotta and goat cheese to be placed on the side, so I’m sure the actual salad as it was meant to be is probably slightly different than what I experienced.
I know it’s blasphemous that I did not have a beef patty in my burger for my first meal at Umami! I’d been a carnivore for several weeks and took it easy that night with the black bean burger. However, just to be clear, this vegetarian option did not lack a punch in flavor. The chipotle black bean patty packed some heat with what I suspect are chunks of jalapeño or chiles. The patty is crispy and somewhat flaky on the outside while chewy on the inside, making for an interesting contrast. Atop the patty are pickled carrots, which went extremely well with the black bean patty. My only qualm was that I didn’t detect any guacamole in my burger.
All in all a wonderful night for the get together. Thanks, Umami!

Just ok but nothing special doesn’t stand out amongst other Umami Burgers and leans towards the mediocre when compared to other DTLA options. In the old Umamicatecen spot, which in my opinion while a bit more conceptually adventurous & seemed to have better service as well.
If you’ve never tried an Umami Burger, the chain is worth try, try the OG «Umami Burger», they also make a pretty good seared tuna burger and def order the pickle plate. Overall it’s definitely an interesting concept and a decent burger, but if you don’t live near this location it’s not a destination I would seek out.

Decided to come here for a quick lunch with one of my buddies. We ordered the tempura onion rings and truffle cheese fries to start. I have to save the fries were my favorite but the onion rings definitely don’t fall far behind. As for burgers, I chose the sunny side up cooked medium well. The burger had plenty of flavor and was cooked just right. No complaints on service either, forgot his name but he was very helpful and informative on everything. Other than that, I’ll probably come back once I can eat whatever I want again lol. Thanks Umami!

Slightly overrated, but still very good imo!
I came here on a Friday for lunch. We started with the house pickle plate, thin fries, tempura onion rings, and cheesy tater tots. I thoroughly enjoyed all the sides! I do prefer the truffle fries over the thin fries though. The cheesy tater tots were really good! I believe it’s an off-​menu dish, but I highly recommend it.
For my entrée, I had the truffle burger (added egg, lettuce & tomato) medium rare, and although I would’ve liked it more bloody, it was still good! The beef was very fresh, and the egg was cooked very nicely.
For dessert, I had the deep fried oatmeal cookie. This was seriously the best part of the meal!!! I normally don’t like oatmeal cookies, but oh my goodness, this was heavenly! It’s topped with ice cream and basically everything about this dish is perfection.
Overall, good meal that left me super full and satisfied! Service was wonderful too!

There is a competitive market for upscale Burger joints, and Umami does a good job in keeping up with the crowd. They have a variety of great burgers — Original Umami Burger, Truffle burger (my favorite), and Manly burger which I have enjoyed.
I think that their sides are also quite good. They have my second favorite sweet potato fries (Bachi Burger has my fav) but they do have great Tempura Onion Rings! Their Regular/​Umami fries are also great with their variety of dipping sauces.
Highly recommend! Just wish parking was easier and that you didn’t have to pay $ 3 – 5 for the nearby lots.

I know there is a lot of great reviews about this place already but here is my mine.
This is where I had my FIRST Umami Burger. Freaking AMAZING!
See quick and fast:)

I love this little spot in downtown! Surprisingly huge despite being surrounded by small stores. I love how Umami is open pretty late even on a Sunday to accommodate me and my friend after being on our feet all day for the VMAs.
We were immediately seated as soon as we arrived. We wanted to face the TVs so we requested our table to be moved, and they made it happen!
Upon ordering, they had given us their famous sauces which truly is the heart and lifeblood of umami burger. My personal favorite was the jalapeño ranch dressing. It complemented the fries, the onion rings and the umami sauce on the sunny side burger.
Overall, my experience was of quality and up to par with all other umami burgers!

Burger craving satisfied! Arrived around 1230 on a Monday right before the lunch rush. Friendly server. In fact, Kirstie nailed it. Love how polite and thorough she is.
Disappointed that I couldn’t substitute the sweet potato fries for thin cut fries in the maple bacon fries so I just ordered the side of fries with the Manly burger which comes with cheese, bacon lardons, onion ring, ketchup, and mustard spread. It was astonishing. Juicy, flavorful, and has a really good texture thanks to the onion ring in the center and the toasted bun. Fries were a salty goodness as you would expect.
Overall really happy with my experience here.
Like all places downtown, parking can be a nightmare. There are bike racks nearby though.
There is also a full bar here with 2 (32 inch?) tv’s so might be good for happy hour or catching the game after work.

I have this tradition. Every year on my birthday I literally ask for only two things. Sex, and lunch by myself. Well, last year I had the priviledge of spending my birthday week, at The Eastern. I spent it with not only the most amazing group of people, but a woman that words continue to escape me.
I had heard and read many things about Umami Burger. So, it seemed odd that I walked into a nearly empty restaurant, especially at lunch time. Simple order for a simple man. Jack and Coke. Truffle fries. Umami Burger.
Holy hell. Service «with a smile», and that was just the beginning. I’m gonna go ahead and cut this short…
The food was so damn good here, that I ate here again, four hours later, for dinner. Also, where the heck did you find young people that are so good at service? This is rare. Very rare.
Secret: There are times that I wish I was in L.A. so that I could have lunch at Umami. If you tell anyone that I’ll make your life hell.
You’re welcome.

Have to say that this was a good burger spot. We were sat right away and our server was a young blonde that was nice and attentive.
Went with the Truffle Burger (Medium Rare) and my friend had the Manly. Both were excellent but The Manly had way more flavor.
Sweet Potato Fries with Maple and Bacon were so damn good, tasted more like dessert. The onion rings were okay, have had better but still good enough.
They serve you a few dipping sauces, one that was spicy stood out, spread it on everything, goes well.
Indoor and outdoor seating, place is clean and I will be back to try other burgers.

I’ve heard so many good things about Umami but I’m really picky about good burgers so I was skeptical. Turns out, this place is quite possibly the best burger chain out there. The burger was very very good.
I had the The Umani burger. The original ketchup, the Parmesan crisp worked in concert to harken back to my original cheeseburger eating days at McDonalds. The bun was tasty and held together really well. Burger was slightly overcooked but the meat tastes exceptionally good.
Even the fries vaguely reminded me of McDonalds. Similar in taste but with a higher quality. The condiments are amazing for dipping purposes — try mixing them all together.
Very impressed with the quality and taste of the food here. I’m not sure how this place has below four stars other than the service. I can see how much they struggle with volume and my waiter was very apathetic. (Yet I actually liked that)
There was a hair in my burger but you know I can’t deny a place a deserved rating. One of the best.

The ambiance at this restaurant resembles a warehouse and is rather boring, but the burger is excellent. The demeanor of the waiter was relaxed, but on point.
I had the original Umami burger with the shiitake mushrooms, which was expertly crafted. In particular,
I liked that the beef patty was flavorful and substantial, and the burger bun had a touch of sweetness. The texture was on point too. The bottom bun held up all the juices and retained its shape. The outer edges were crisped, and went along well with the Parmesan crisp inside.
I ate my burger with a small side of fries, which were average. The catsup and other accompanying sauces were good though and I generally don’t even like sauce. I mixed them to eat the thin fries, which definitely benefited from the sauce taste-​wise.
I had heard rave reviews of Umami multiple times, and was satisfied with my trip.