83Smash
Score
Score
Smash Score✅ Certified Smash
Named best burger in California by Chowhound. Three-time LA competition champion, including the 2019 LA Times Food Bowl. The only LA burger spot exclusively using grass-fed, grass-finished Wagyu beef.
Representative photography. Actual appearance may vary.
HiHo Cheeseburger launched in Ojai in 2015 with a single-minded premise: build a better cheeseburger by starting with better beef. Co-founders Jerry Greenberg, Matt Levin, Ajay Sahgal, and Lowell Sharron - connected to the SUGARFISH restaurant family - moved the flagship to Santa Monica in 2017 and haven't looked back. A decade in, HiHo has grown to six Southern California locations and accumulated a mantel's worth of hardware: back-to-back LA Magazine Burger Bracket titles, the 2019 LA Times Food Bowl People's Choice award, and Chowhound's designation as the best burger in California.
The HiHo Double ($10.45) is built around a single uncommon commitment: 100% grass-fed, grass-finished Wagyu beef from First Light Farms in New Zealand - a collective of 85 farmers dedicated to regenerative ranching. The mustard-grilled technique presses the patty flat on the griddle with mustard applied during the cook, creating a sear that BurgerCrewLA called 'impressive since the patties are thinner.' Slow-cooked caramelized onions, house-made pickles, American cheese, and ketchup complete the build. At this price, every critic asks the same question: 'How do you make it wagyu at this price?'
HiHo's burger is mustard-grilled on a flat-top rather than a bare-patty smash. The score reflects its smash-adjacent technique, documented burger acclaim, and unusually strong ingredient sourcing.
The meat isn't just meat, it's double (or triple) mustard-grilled wagyu patties. It's the right amounts of greasy, messy, and 'Oh, that wasn't too greasy or messy, I could maybe get another one right now.'
Tender, perfectly seared beef that almost melts on the tongue.
How do you make it wagyu at this price?! Messy in a juicy way - the onion jam came through with a nice sweetness to counter the meat and cheese.
The burgers at HiHo aren't groundbreaking in flavor, but they're practically groundbreaking when it comes to sourcing.
The burger was juicy and amazing in flavor. I could tell that it was top-notch quality meat right there.
This might be the best friggin' burger that I've ever had. The meat was juicy and cooked at the perfect temperature.
We would never have predicted the number of burger places that exist now - and we're still here.