One of LA’s Most Popular Burgers Expands to Silver Lake This Weekend

Big news for burger fans (read: basically all of Los Angeles), as Venice staple the Window is opening this Sunday in Silver Lake. The almost impossibly inexpensive operation — a single cheeseburger is still just $3.95 — formally opens on Sunday, December 19 at 1529 Griffith Park Boulevard. Given the popularity of the Westside original and its Venice Boardwalk offshoot, expect a line.

The new Window (stylized as Win~Dow by the company) will keep daily daytime through dinner hours when it opens next week, selling simple smash burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, and a few other offshoot options like grain bowls and salads. This new location will also offer milkshakes and dipped ice cream cones, a feature that the group hopes to add to future Window locations down the line. And while this Silver Lake location is only the latest, there are big plans by the company to jump to new neighborhoods next year and beyond.

Since first opening in 2019, The Window has become a staple on the smashburger scene, regularly ranking among the top spots to score a burger anywhere in the city. As the name implies, the original intent was to serve a concise menu of burgers and other fare from a window attached directly to the kitchen of Venice steakhouse American Beauty; the daytime-only operation quickly became popular enough to justify its own existence, steak spot or not. A location on the Venice Boardwalk followed, opening in the fall of 2020.

The Window is a collaboration between American Gonzo Food Corp., which operates Pitfire Pizza, Superba, and steakhouse American Beauty in Venice — with CEO Jeff Goodman leading the way — and Bruce Horwitz, who is behind Westside projects like Ghisallo, American Beauty, and the Tasting Kitchen. In March 2021, that ownership group was embroiled in a dispute over tip pooling at American Beauty, with some servers saying that they had been misled about their wage rate guarantees when reopening the dinnertime steak destination. There was, briefly, a protest outside the restaurant that involved several staff members; ownership denied several of the group’s allegations, and both American Beauty and the Window remain open.

The new Silver Lake location of the Window opens this Sunday at 1529 Griffith Park Boulevard, with hours from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The opening menu is below.

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