[dropcap size=big]B[/dropcap]ack when blogging was a thing, I saw a friend’s entry about Hawkins House of Burgers in Watts. “THE LEANING TOWER OF WATTS” the post read and pictured was a behemoth of a burger with bacon, several thick burger patties, pastrami, onion rings, hot links, and eggs, all held together with wooden skewers. I was astounded, it felt like a spectacle, like a landmark. Shit, for all I knew it was the actual Leaning Tower of Pisa, but better, because I could eat this one.
The burgers at Hawkins have so much intention, you can taste the love, hard work, and perhaps most importantly the generosity that goes into each burger. As ex-LA Times critic Patricia Escárcega put it: “The massive portions are not only for novelty, although there’s a whiff of that. They reflect a commitment to plenitude and value.” Beautifully said.
I figured that I would work my way up to the Leaning Tower but I didn’t get past the cheeseburger (to this day, I still haven’t tried the tower). Beyond the tasty burgers, they represented a destination for a kid from Southeast L.A. who was tired of burgers from Tam’s. These days I don’t see Hawkins just a great burger joint, I see them as a service to their community.
So what does Hawkins have to do with the recently opened brick and mortar Hotbox Burgers in South L.A.? Nothing directly, but the first bite of their cheeseburger took me back to the day I first tried Hawkins.