Hansen: TK Burgers provides needed sauce by the beach
Do you want your burger regular or goofy?
If you want a regular one, wait until winter when Pacific City opens. If you want it goofy, go to TK Burgers.
In a dramatic juxtaposition of new and old, the long-awaited Pacific City mixed-used development is coming into view in Huntington Beach. But right next door to the 11-acre site at First Street and Pacific Coast Highway sits the funky, diminutive TK Burgers.
The two could not be more different.
Still under construction but set to open in November, Pacific City already has a vibe. It’s imposing, angular and painstakingly designed with warm earth tones, perfectly distressed wood and coordinated, decorative marble.
TK Burgers, by contrast, has real distressed wood and a sandy, slightly dirty floor, but that’s part of the charm. TK Burgers attracts loyal beachgoers because it does one thing well: It’s humble.
It knows its place. It’s loyal to its roots. And for just over $5, you can get a drippy burger and fries.
Teens especially flock to the place — probably because they can afford it — dashing over from the beach. On hot days, they tiptoe across PCH on the white street lines because they inexplicably don’t wear flip-flops.
Once they get to TK, they pause on the outside patio because the floor is made of cool white tile.
It’s not imported Italian travertine, but it does the job.
Pacific City, to its credit, is much better than what’s been at the location seemingly forever: nothing. Nothing but failed attempts at development.
It’s somewhat of an awkward site, just far enough from Main Street to make people think twice about walking.
The Hyatt Regency is nearby, but that’s always been its own thing.
Pacific City will try to imitate the resort feel with its own hotel but will also include a more ambitious retail mix.
In addition to an upscale gym and offices, the project will have more than 500 luxury apartment homes and nearly 200,000 square feet of open-air retail, restaurant and entertainment space, according to the builders. Tenants so far include a handful of restaurants such as Lemonade, Bear Flag Fish Company, Simmzy’s, Ola and Ways & Means Oysters.
Originally set to open this summer, the project has been pushed back until at least November. The retail portion is being developed by DJM Capital Partners. The hotel is being built by R.D. Olson, the apartments by UDR.
Regardless of the opening date, the changes can already be felt. What was once a fenced-off eyesore is now a master-planned complex with the sheen of forced serendipity, hoping to combine Mediterranean romance with California cool.
Doubtless, it will provide more jobs and give people greater options for shopping, dining and living. But critics say it is yet another new, gleaming structure in the lost land of beach bungalows, sand and Sex Wax.
With this large tract now filling in like a suburban outdoor mall, the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce can claim the last piece of its tourist postcard puzzle, but at what cost?
Everything from Goldenwest Street to Beach Boulevard will be one giant wall of soft adobe red, the color of choice for modern — and expensive — Southern California beach living.
Meanwhile at TK Burgers, there is no adobe red, but there is bright turquoise. The restaurant stands out like a sore thumb, a quirky roadside stand with stickers everywhere and skateboards piled in the corner.
There’s no overpriced poke or crushed kale and quinoa salad. But there is Primo beer and real surf photos covering the walls — and ceiling.
It’s not the kind of place that buys fake beach decorations and tries too hard. It’s not a poser. In surf parlance, there’s a word for it.
What’s clear is the chockablock assault of retail that now clogs the heart of Huntington Beach. Regrettably, nothing is particularly memorable. With few exceptions, it’s become a standard lineup of brand names. If one chain goes under, another takes its place.
Is that bad? Maybe not. Lots of tourists like the comfort of predictability.
Fortunately, there are still some goofy-footed shops to keep things interesting — shops that require you to walk barefoot on white lines while trying to eat fries with “secret sauce” dripping down your arm.
DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.