106 E. Olympic BoulevardHow funny is it that I just ate at a Hardee’s in Niles a couple of weeks ago and here I am doing a similar blog post after my trip to L.A. To most people, that’s not funny…..but I’ve honestly never been to a Carl’s Jr. and there was one close to my hotel, so why the heck not?
Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are both owned by CKE Restaurants and they look really, really similar. Their logos are similar as are there menus. CKE kept the Hardee’s branding in the east and Carl’s Jr. branding in the west….which is why I’ve never been to a Carl’s Jr.
I’m sure there are a couple Carl’s Jr. in downtown LA, but the one closest to me was the one on the corner of Olympic and South Main on the bottom floor of a parking garage.
The restaurant takes up a pretty big space wrapped around the corner. There are entrances on both the Olympic and Main Street sides, but the Olympic Boulevard entrance is the one that brings you in to the order counter.
The restaurant’s set up is pretty obvious. Just inside the doors is a large order counter. If you are from the east and missed the sign when you walked in, you would think you’re in a Hardee’s. There a few slight menu differences but other than that, everything is the same.
There is a pretty large dining room just around the corner on the Main Street side of the building. There were a lot of construction workers eating lunch while we were there. We had a little work we needed to do back at the hotel so we both grabbed our meals to go then headed back to our rooms to eat while we worked.
One of the “slight” menu differences I mentioned earlier actually determined what I got. I typically get the Monster Thickburger when I’m lucky enough to find a Hardee’s, but I didn’t see that on Carl Jr’s menu. Instead, I got the Double Bacon Western Thickburger. The sandwich is two charbroiled patties, bacon, cheese, BBQ sauce and a fried onion ring. I don’t like onions, so I pulled the onion ring off before eating it. The sandwich is what I expect from a Hardee’s. It’s a smokey, greasy fast food burger. Other than being a little better for me at just over 1000 calories instead of the Monster Thickburger’s 3000, the burger tasted just like I was hoping for.
I’ve of course made my sandwich a meal with a large Coke and a large order of fries. The fries are thin cut, skin-on fries with just a little bit of salt. I actually ate more of these on the way back to the hotel. They were piping hot right out of the fryer.
Like I said with my blog on Hardee’s last week. It is what it is and I like what is on the rare occasion I get it. It’s fast food…sure…but it’s fast food I don’t get often and invokes some nostalgia, so it’s always a sure bet that I’m going to enjoy it whether you call it Hardee’s or Carl’s Jr.