Grill 'Em All vs. Baby's Badass Burgers

If you watch Travel Channel and are a fan of the show Food Wars, then you might have seen these 2 trucks in the LA Food Truck episode.

I've had Grill 'Em All before when they were at the Hurley office in Costa Mesa 2 months ago, and I finally got to try out Baby's Badass Burgers over the weekend at Cartchella in Costa Mesa

First: Grill 'Em All
Grill 'Em All are really famous truck right now, especially because they won Food Network's The Great Food Truck Race. They specialize in specialty burgers with special twists including their Behemoth burger, which uses 2 grilled cheese sandwiches as the burger buns.

This guy was so excited for Grill 'Em All that he wanted to pee in his pants!

They made a venture out to OC for a Hurley event, and it's really rare that they come down here. They are usually up in LA and just spent a week going around NYC serving up food, so it's really a treat when they come down here. Mind you this was right before it was announced that they won the show, and the lines were still really long! I can't imagine how the lines are now, especially after hearing stories about how their truck was delayed by the health inspector for almost 2 hours last time they were down here in Fullerton.
Tony and I got to the event before the truck even opened, and the line was astronomical. We knew this was one of the only times they'd be down here, so we waited it out for about 1 1/2 hours. I ordered a Molly Hatchet burger with their beer soaked onions added while Tony got a Blue Cheer burger and 2 orders of fries with their garlic aioli.

 Waiting for the burgers to be done! Was it worth the wait?

What does this picture tell you? YES IT WAS!!!

The burgers were cooked to medium, which is how I like my burgers! All of the ingredients sound weird together, but surprisingly work very well together and is a party in your mouth. The fries could have been a bit more special, but I'm sure they did it on purpose to showcase their dipping sauces more. The prices are quite fair for such quality ingredients and burgers (I can't remember them off the top of my head), and definitely worth the wait for this winning food truck.

Second: Baby's Badass Burgers
Baby's won the LA Food Truck episode of Food Wars, so they are also winners in their own rights. They were the first burger truck in LA, and one of the Grill 'Em All chefs actually used to work for them before going off to start his own truck! They specialize in burgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches done classically in the best way possible.

I believe this was actually one of the first times that Baby's has served up food in OC. They were at a low-key foodie event called Cartchella with small lines and plenty of live reggae music. It was nice being able to get food truck food at such a calm environment since most of the food truck parties I go to (even my weekly ones!) always get pretty hectic. They had a special going on their Original Beauty, their signature burger, in a maneater size (1/2 lb) with fries and a drink for only $10! With part of the proceeds going to a local elementary school! I felt like I was stealing from them but I won't pass up a deal this good.

I was actually a little disappointed in the burger! The burger was cooked well done, so no pink in the middle at all. I also felt like the patty was under seasoned and the sauce made the burger too soggy. It wasn't bad, it was actually pretty decent but not what I was expecting. On the other hand, their pig tail (curly) fries were AMAZING! They were seasoned and fried beautifully and I was sad that the order of them was so small. :(

My verdict? Grill 'Em All has won my heart, but Baby's is great in their own right. If you're a classic person you should go for Baby's, and if you're a more adventurous person you should go for Grill 'Em All.