September 20, 2025 • 22 mins
For The Win, a Los Angeles chainlet of smash burger joints that launched during the height of the pandemic, has opened its first San Diego location in Pacific Beach. It’s quickly becoming a favorite among both locals and burger aficionados. These burgers are phenomenal! Take a listen.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get to food, shall we. I'm very excited. We've
been trying to get these folks on the show for
some time now and talk. Are you ready? I know
Tayla is just she's had, Like she said, I only
had one hot dog today, so she doesn't care about
anything else going on today except for these gentlemen coming in.
(00:21):
You got for the win smash burgers. There are chainlet
in the sense that they've grown, and God bless them, man,
I love seeing that grown to many locations across the
south Land here and there's at least three near me.
That makes it easy for me to get them as well.
But you can check them out at their website for
(00:42):
the win LA dot com, for the win la dot com.
And the gentlemen are with us today as we are
going to talk about smashing burgers and making them yummy
and delicious. Santos and Ronald yeahs and how do you
pronounce the last name? Gentlemen went syllable?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh yeah, we kind of gotta say, oh, God like,
oh yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I like that. It's yeah, it's yeah, yeah exactly. Uh
look at you guys. So, uh, what started the quest
for the Ultimate smash Burger? With you, gentlemen.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
So I started doing it. During COVID, I had a French,
a French bistro over on Franklin and Argyle. I'm not
sure if you're familiar. It was called PAPIs Bistro. Oh yeah,
little tiny, thirty seed French restaurant. So during the last
I opened in twenty eleven with a with a chef,
(01:44):
and then went through a couple more chefs, and then
in twenty eighteen I became the chef and it was
it was fun. You know, we gotta we got a
Michelle and bib Gourmand. We're doing like, uh, you know,
very classic French bistro dishes. I was changing, changing the
menu very often, going to the farmers market and all that.
And then of course, uh you know, we got shut
(02:08):
down because of COVID, and so yeah in twenty twenty
in March. And then so I was I had been
working on doing the smash burger concept. I was I
figured like, oh, you know, we're only doing a dinner service.
I'm going to start selling burgers during lunch. So I
was doing a lot of research, like I eat burg
I used to eat burgers all the time, like you know,
(02:30):
not every day.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
But you know what I mean, right, like you just
set that in. I used to, I not anymore.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He's got this tradition literally on Christmas with him and
my cousin, Well they'll go and get McDonald's and also combined.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
It, well we'll get McDonald's and Popeys and all just like.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Make your own. Yah, yeah exactly. So I mean he
loves fast weo, he loves burgers and yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, they all have their place in the culinary scene.
And I, you know, and my wife and I when
we travel, I always have to see the McDonald is
their interpretation of McDonald's and other countries. It fascinates me.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, it's like Gates.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So you love a good burger and and you're you're
seeing that is a possible, you know, helpful lunch exactly
because you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Know, selling French food to go, it just wasn't you know,
it wasn't It didn't taste as good. So I was
heavily influenced by George Motts and also Kenji Lopez alt
be caught. You know, they've been talking about burgers for
the longest time. And then I was able to try
George Motts's burger and I was like, Wow, this is
(03:35):
is so simple. Yeah, it's so good. But then I thought, like,
you know, as as a as a chef or whatever,
I was like, oh, maybe I could embellish it a
little bit more and and and and add something, whether
it's like a sauce or do a little something special
to the onions. And obviously there's a technique. So which
is what we do? You know, because as you know,
there are a ton of smash burgers places. We essentially
(03:59):
use the same button, essentially use the same types of
you know, meeting. You know, there's like, you know, gradients
of beef that you can get. Some people use different
cuts or wet this and that, right, but in essence,
it's kind of the same thing.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
You're making a burger.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So it comes down to these little things that you
can do, like how do you toast the butt, how
do you how do you smash the burger? How do
you treat the onions? And of course the sauce is
is going to be the one thing that really kind
of makes a difference. And I think we have the best.
It took me like about nine months to kind of
perfect it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I'm a feeling you weren't crying during that time of testing,
no researching.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So that's why, that's why I said, like I used
to eat burgers almost every day, and then I used
to eat my burger every day like for for a
couple of years and then so it's like it's not
something that I do anymore, but you know, I will
do exactly, I will do quality control. But yeah, so
that's how it started. Okay, so let's hold let's hold
(05:01):
there and we come back. Well, you know, I'm gonna
probably end up keeping them for a little while too,
so we can bring the burgers in next if you want.
We're talking to Santos and Ronald. Is there a way
to say it doesn't sound like somebody's as you say?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Uh? I like, it sounds good. That's a good tasting burger.
For the Win is the burger is the smash Burger.
You need to know. When they came on the scene,
I heard about him immediately and I've had I can't
even tell you how many times I've had their great food.
(05:39):
So right now we're talking with the good folks at
for the Win Smash Burgers, and you can check them
out at for the Win l a dot com. For
the Win l A dot com find one near you,
Santos and Ronald OOHI I like it clears out the pipes.
So what do we have in front of us? What
(06:00):
is this here?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
I can't, I can't see, but you.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Okay, that's probably the double cheeseburger with helapeno and bacon.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Awesome, A great combination. So how many combinations do you
have on the menu now? And how many did you
go through?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
So it's basically so there's a there's a base, right,
So the basic cheeseburgers, it's the bun of course, smashed
beef patty, grilled onions, pickles, and sauce.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Then you can add lettuce, tomato, bacon, halapeno, so any
any combination of that. So what we brought was a hamburger,
I believe, a cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, and then a double
with bacon and hal apeno.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So yeah, what do you want?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You already got years?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
And those are the loaded fries.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Wow? And these look great.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
There there's similar to you know, the in and Out,
but way better, way better.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, well, in and out it's got great burgers, but
their fries us an ambulance. Oh that's great.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
And all our fries sweetness. We cook them all in
tallow as well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Oh beef, yeah, yeah, we've been doing that since the beginning. Yeah,
and that's the you know, that was actually one of
the things that people loved about McDonald's early on. And
then they had to change it.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
And then yeah, because you know, oil is cheaper, and
then they put like.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well also they got nailed by somebody was a vegetarian.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, they got popped because it was just purely.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And then they get some you know, you don't want
to deal with all that, all right, So what these are? Okay,
so I'm going to tell you right off the bat
and beautiful bond. It's it's grilled on the inside. We
talked about this earlier. That does a couple of things.
Brown food was good food. You get those, uh the
camelization of the bread there the in the bread, get
a little butter on there for extra fat. Also, it
(08:03):
doesn't get soggy due to the toppings. It looks like
you're doing these not only pressed down, but you're pressing
the edges, which gives you that nice extra crispy, crunchy
caramelized meat on the outside, which gives for a great
bite and great flavor on the edge. It looks gorgeous.
What kind of cheese are you using?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
American cheese?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Standard American cheese?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, crass American cheese.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We tried a bunch of different, you know, brands, but
we like we like crafts.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
But I'll tell you this obviously isn't the first time
I've ever had your food. I enjoy your food, but man,
that every time you get that that great flavor that
comes from those edges that you don't get in a
pub style burger or backyard burger or those types of things,
that's a whole different experience. You know, thicker chew bite. Yeah,
(08:59):
those edges are priceless.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
One of the things that I like to I guess,
I don't know cooking philosophies, if you would like to
call it, that is a variation of texture. I think
that's really important in anything, whether it's a sandwich, you know,
a composed dish, a soup or whatever. A variation of
texture makes something more interesting. And even you know, I
(09:23):
kind of I got into the wine business before, but
sometimes when you talk about wine and you're like, you
talk about the texture of it, right, the grippy tannins, sure,
or like a white and wine you would call it
crunchy sometimes, right, So even in the liquid, you would
texture is one of the most important things. And you
know in wine, you know, I wouldn't say i'd be
(09:45):
able to vocalize a lot of the things like fruits
and stuff, but I am. For me personally, I'm able
to text texture. And that's that's sae wee cocktails. You
you have, you have one of my favorites, Like an
old fashion. If it's made with granulated sugar, it's gonna
be brighter, whiter, little edge here. If you're going to
use a simple syrup, it's gonna be rounder and softer.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
It's gonna have you know, so I like those things too.
And yeah, this this meat, you're the way you're not
only smashing it but feathering the edges to get this crispiness.
It almost gives a bacon like texture on the edge
with the fats being rendered down in that crunch. It
just ar Yeah, you get something before you even get
(10:30):
deep into the burger. And that's great. All right, stick around.
Can I'm gonna hold you guys over. You were gonna
come on at three, You guys got here earlier, so
we brought you on. Can you stick around another segment? Yeah,
of course, welcome back with the boys from for the
wind smash Burgers for the wind La dot Com. For
the wind La dot Com is where you want to
go to find out more about this fantastic food. It's
(10:52):
just it is great. It is homie and has this
really nice natural made right front of you feel, and
the way it's assembled is just, I don't know, it
just makes you want to eat it. My two guests,
my first guests today are Santos and Ronald Uhi and
they are from for the wind smash Burgers. So look
(11:15):
them up. You have to if you love a great burger.
For the win La dot Com. For the win La
dot Com, they came out at a time when there
was a lot of investigation and interest in smash burgers,
and even we talked about the simplicity of the ingredients
per se. There's a lot that changes from texture to flavor,
(11:37):
and they're just doing it right period. They're not hiding
behind a bunch of extra and gee ingredients making it
chefy in the way that it's like, oh, you're going
to have a novelty burger that you're going to have
once take a picture with it and then go away.
This is very well thought out, incredibly balanced, terrific food period.
(12:00):
So how many locations are you guys at now?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I think we have eleven wow, now that are open
in Los Angeles, one in San Diego. Ronald could talk
about a little bit more about that. It's our first
one outside of LA and then we were opening three
more in Los Angeles and then one in Las Vegas
off the strip at the Marriotts.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh wow, good for you. So with your ingredients and
the control on that, I'm assuming it's the two of
you guys really going through all this stuff. How do
you manage? How do you manage once you leave the
media area because you have like Echo Park Glendale and
(12:44):
stuff like that. So yeah, that you could get to
pretty easily, but how do you keep you know.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well, it all started, as you like, maybe with maybe
just three locations. Then I had to hire somebody. So
right now it's Peter who brought all the food. He's
our COO. He takes care of the whole basically the
whole operation, opening businesses, hiring upper management, and we have
(13:12):
like different people of the upper management. One guy's more administrative,
takes care of all the payroll and the taxes and
all that stuff. And then we have a couple that
are focusing on quality control, right, so they'll go they'll
open locations higher and then make sure everything is done correctly,
you know, customer service, hospitality will you know, they'll go
(13:34):
around to all the locations, you know, and make sure
everyone's right, doing it right, but by our standards.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Right.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
We've actually just worked with a third party, the thirty
Rule to kind of really help us out with our hospitality.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And you know, we are growing business.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
It's like we're growing fast, so we had to get
all of this under control, like our standard procedure, operating procedures,
h and everything and even hl R.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
It's like we're we're doing it all at once.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So yeah, so Peter is the main guy who's who's
kind of like, you know, the doing it all and
uh so that that gives me a lot of free
time to to go out look for new locations. And
then Ronald his his background is in finance and banking
(14:29):
and he lives in San Diego and he wanted to invest.
So I was like, okay, let's let's try it out.
With because you know, otherwise it's just it's just me, right, sure,
I don't have any investors. I don't have you know,
barely any any any any dat were just kind of
like bankrolling it, right, So, uh, maybe Ronald can talk
(14:50):
about the San Diego operations.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I'm still my day job is still being a banker
and you know, been doing it close for two decades.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Oh wow, it's after three You sure you don't need
to stop working right now?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Maybe maybe maybe maybe if you know, my brother lets
me invest in a few more. But it was kind
of a kind of an experiment and a thought that
he thought of, probably back in February and March. He's like, hey, look,
you know, I know you've been living in San Diego
for the last couple of years. I think this would
be maybe a good opportunity for us to expand outside
(15:27):
the scope of Los Angeles and you know, kind of
get some name recognition outside of LA. And so he
approached me about this in February March, we got the
bowl rolling, We finally opened down there. We first to
talk a couple of months for us to find a location.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
And uh, Burger Town too, I mean a huge lot.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Of San dieg is a huge burger town, lots of
Mexican food obviously, you know tacos.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
North Mexico pretty much pretty much.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But I think the thing with San Diego is also
they really like small family businesses, and.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I hope we all do, but I get that, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
San Diego preferred. I could.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I could definitely vouch for that, being born raised in
Los Angeles and you know, moving down to San Diego,
they really liked those niche restaurants. And you know when
we first opened, first of all, we found a place
down there in Pacific Beach right on Garnett, so oh yeah,
and yeah, so we were able to find a place
(16:34):
there and open up, and we're like, okay, we're hoping
that San Diego can accept us. And you know, we're
this micro chine coming from Los Angeles, and obviously, you
know sometimes there's a little landimosity, especially you know, padres,
dogs all that kind of stuff down theres. Anyway, no
(16:55):
love San Diego. And we opened technically July four, and
we've been we've been a hit down there.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Really well.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, that's awesome. I love seeing the growth and relatively,
I know, you guys feel every moment of it. But
from an outsider watching your growth and success, that's relatively quick.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's definitely I mean that's I
think my brother he didn't probably explain it to the best,
but yeah, they're growing. You know, the company's been around
for I would say four, you know, close to five years,
and within that amount they've you know, accumulated now technically
twelve locations in the Southland, over ninety employees. So there's
(17:38):
definitely a lot of growing pains, you know, working and banking,
I've mostly worked with small to really large corporations, and
seeing the trajectory of growth that my brother and this
company has been going through is really amazing. Again, you know,
shout out to Peter. He's he's definitely helped me because
I had nothing, you know, no experience in the restaurant industry.
(17:59):
I mean I used to bartend back in the day
for you know, one of my brother's restaurants. That's the
extent of it.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
It was a far attendant at this little tiny wine
bar head and my mom was like, hey, you have
to hire your brother.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Sundays and then he just and then he just like
give away drinks Solas it's all the chicks, right.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I like, in the baking industry, do you just feel like, hey, man,
keep the change.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But no, I mean in finance, I mostly worked with
operating companies, you know, been their advisor for for a
lot of different things. And so throughout the years, you know,
I would give Santo's little drops of advice. But you know,
just to watch the trajectory of for the wind, you know,
from you know, twenty twenty one to now, it's it's
it's amazing, Hey.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Having good family that can give you advice. They're the
only ones that are going to be truthful with you.
You know, they'll tell you you're ugly. I bet you
guys have told each other that, you know, we look alike.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
So it's kind of hard today.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Part of the fun, all right, to figure out one
more second of these guys because we didn't get to
the charity arm going on. If you're in the eastern
side of Los Angeles or Los Angeles proper, a good
way to get a burger and if you're looking for
a new Catholic church to go to every day, Yeah,
you're under thirty five, and I wanted to talk to
(19:29):
you about you said you're doing on the eastern side
of Los Angeles. You're doing a charity event age your church,
So tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
So October fourth is a feast day of Saint Francis
and the church is Saint Francis of a sci It's
on Golden Gate, So if you're in like sunset, you know,
go up Golden Gate.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
It's right there. And we're we're doing two things.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So on Saturday, the actual feast day, you know, my
wife and I were going to be doing a Sinnamarya
style of barbecue all you can eat twenty five bucks
or no, it's thirty, it's thirty.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And then on Sunday, wow man.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
And then on Sunday for the wind is going to
be there selling burgers on the proceeds does go to
the church. And there's also I think at two or
three pm or around that time, a blessing of animals.
You can bring here your dog or cat or whatever
whatever you have.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah, right there in Silver Lake. So Golden Gate and Sunset. Yeah,
and the date again.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
October fourth and fifth. Unfortunately I don't have the website.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Why do they have it on the church?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, it's an event, right, it's on event, right, you
can probably google it.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
It's a feast day in Los Angeles, October fourth and fifth.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
The event right, yea for fourth.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Is the dinner Okay, it'll be at six pm and
then lunch at on Sunday. Awesome. I think that's great.
And you know he's.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Got the whole setup too. You got the grill that
was barbecue for the Sana Maria Barbecue. That's what I've
been doing a lot my free times.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So okay, so event bright you look it up for
October fourth and fifth, and it's at La what's it
called in the La Saint Francis Saint Francis CCS. Yeah,
and it's a Blessing of the Animals and all of
that fifteen twenty three Golden Gate Avenue. And if some
reason you didn't get any of that and you really
are interested, just hit Kaitlin and I up here or
(21:32):
something like that, get a hold of us and get
a hold of me on social media and I'll make
sure you know how to get there. But that's very
very cool. I love that you're doing that. That's the
that's the really cool thing about local keeping it locals,
that you can be embedded in local needs and things
like that. So that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Back to the community, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Excellent, very very cool. Nice to meet you, Jents. Thanks
for coming in. And if I don't bumped into you
at one of the locations, I mean, I'll oftentimes I'm
having stuff delivered to the house, you know, but when
I get out to one of the restaurants, I'll say hello, cool,
best of luck. It sounds like things are going well
in San Diego and continued success.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
All right, thanks for coming in. The burger is for
the Wind just absolutely fantastic, especially if you're if if
you crave a good burger period, but if you love
the the crunchiness on the outside of a smash burger,
the feathering you guys do is on point. You know,
you're not burning it. You're just getting that nice, crispy, wonderful,
(22:33):
fatty but crispy flavor on the outside. Very very good.
Check them out for the wind la dot com.
Let's get to food, shall we. I'm very excited. We've
been trying to get these folks on the show for
some time now and talk. Are you ready? I know
Tayla is just she's had, Like she said, I only
had one hot dog today, so she doesn't care about
anything else going on today except for these gentlemen coming in.
(00:21):
You got for the win smash burgers. There are chainlet
in the sense that they've grown, and God bless them, man,
I love seeing that grown to many locations across the
south Land here and there's at least three near me.
That makes it easy for me to get them as well.
But you can check them out at their website for
(00:42):
the win LA dot com, for the win la dot com.
And the gentlemen are with us today as we are
going to talk about smashing burgers and making them yummy
and delicious. Santos and Ronald yeahs and how do you
pronounce the last name? Gentlemen went syllable?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Oh yeah, we kind of gotta say, oh, God like,
oh yeah exactly.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
I like that. It's yeah, it's yeah, yeah exactly. Uh
look at you guys. So, uh, what started the quest
for the Ultimate smash Burger? With you, gentlemen.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
So I started doing it. During COVID, I had a French,
a French bistro over on Franklin and Argyle. I'm not
sure if you're familiar. It was called PAPIs Bistro. Oh yeah,
little tiny, thirty seed French restaurant. So during the last
I opened in twenty eleven with a with a chef,
(01:44):
and then went through a couple more chefs, and then
in twenty eighteen I became the chef and it was
it was fun. You know, we gotta we got a
Michelle and bib Gourmand. We're doing like, uh, you know,
very classic French bistro dishes. I was changing, changing the
menu very often, going to the farmers market and all that.
And then of course, uh you know, we got shut
(02:08):
down because of COVID, and so yeah in twenty twenty
in March. And then so I was I had been
working on doing the smash burger concept. I was I
figured like, oh, you know, we're only doing a dinner service.
I'm going to start selling burgers during lunch. So I
was doing a lot of research, like I eat burg
I used to eat burgers all the time, like you know,
(02:30):
not every day.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
But you know what I mean, right, like you just
set that in. I used to, I not anymore.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
He's got this tradition literally on Christmas with him and
my cousin, Well they'll go and get McDonald's and also combined.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
It, well we'll get McDonald's and Popeys and all just like.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
Make your own. Yah, yeah exactly. So I mean he
loves fast weo, he loves burgers and yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, they all have their place in the culinary scene.
And I, you know, and my wife and I when
we travel, I always have to see the McDonald is
their interpretation of McDonald's and other countries. It fascinates me.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Yeah, it's like Gates.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So you love a good burger and and you're you're
seeing that is a possible, you know, helpful lunch exactly
because you.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Know, selling French food to go, it just wasn't you know,
it wasn't It didn't taste as good. So I was
heavily influenced by George Motts and also Kenji Lopez alt
be caught. You know, they've been talking about burgers for
the longest time. And then I was able to try
George Motts's burger and I was like, Wow, this is
(03:35):
is so simple. Yeah, it's so good. But then I thought, like,
you know, as as a as a chef or whatever,
I was like, oh, maybe I could embellish it a
little bit more and and and and add something, whether
it's like a sauce or do a little something special
to the onions. And obviously there's a technique. So which
is what we do? You know, because as you know,
there are a ton of smash burgers places. We essentially
(03:59):
use the same button, essentially use the same types of
you know, meeting. You know, there's like, you know, gradients
of beef that you can get. Some people use different
cuts or wet this and that, right, but in essence,
it's kind of the same thing.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
You're making a burger.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So it comes down to these little things that you
can do, like how do you toast the butt, how
do you how do you smash the burger? How do
you treat the onions? And of course the sauce is
is going to be the one thing that really kind
of makes a difference. And I think we have the best.
It took me like about nine months to kind of
perfect it.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I'm a feeling you weren't crying during that time of testing,
no researching.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
So that's why, that's why I said, like I used
to eat burgers almost every day, and then I used
to eat my burger every day like for for a
couple of years and then so it's like it's not
something that I do anymore, but you know, I will
do exactly, I will do quality control. But yeah, so
that's how it started. Okay, so let's hold let's hold
(05:01):
there and we come back. Well, you know, I'm gonna
probably end up keeping them for a little while too,
so we can bring the burgers in next if you want.
We're talking to Santos and Ronald. Is there a way
to say it doesn't sound like somebody's as you say?
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Uh? I like, it sounds good. That's a good tasting burger.
For the Win is the burger is the smash Burger.
You need to know. When they came on the scene,
I heard about him immediately and I've had I can't
even tell you how many times I've had their great food.
(05:39):
So right now we're talking with the good folks at
for the Win Smash Burgers, and you can check them
out at for the Win l a dot com. For
the Win l A dot com find one near you,
Santos and Ronald OOHI I like it clears out the pipes.
So what do we have in front of us? What
(06:00):
is this here?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (06:02):
I can't, I can't see, but you.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Okay, that's probably the double cheeseburger with helapeno and bacon.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Awesome, A great combination. So how many combinations do you
have on the menu now? And how many did you
go through?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
So it's basically so there's a there's a base, right,
So the basic cheeseburgers, it's the bun of course, smashed
beef patty, grilled onions, pickles, and sauce.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Then you can add lettuce, tomato, bacon, halapeno, so any
any combination of that. So what we brought was a hamburger,
I believe, a cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, and then a double
with bacon and hal apeno.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So yeah, what do you want?
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
You already got years?
Speaker 4 (06:51):
And those are the loaded fries.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Wow? And these look great.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
There there's similar to you know, the in and Out,
but way better, way better.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, well, in and out it's got great burgers, but
their fries us an ambulance. Oh that's great.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
And all our fries sweetness. We cook them all in
tallow as well.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Oh beef, yeah, yeah, we've been doing that since the beginning. Yeah,
and that's the you know, that was actually one of
the things that people loved about McDonald's early on. And
then they had to change it.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
And then yeah, because you know, oil is cheaper, and
then they put like.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well also they got nailed by somebody was a vegetarian.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
Yeah, they got popped because it was just purely.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
And then they get some you know, you don't want
to deal with all that, all right, So what these are? Okay,
so I'm going to tell you right off the bat
and beautiful bond. It's it's grilled on the inside. We
talked about this earlier. That does a couple of things.
Brown food was good food. You get those, uh the
camelization of the bread there the in the bread, get
a little butter on there for extra fat. Also, it
(08:03):
doesn't get soggy due to the toppings. It looks like
you're doing these not only pressed down, but you're pressing
the edges, which gives you that nice extra crispy, crunchy
caramelized meat on the outside, which gives for a great
bite and great flavor on the edge. It looks gorgeous.
What kind of cheese are you using?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
American cheese?
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Standard American cheese?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, yeah, crass American cheese.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
We tried a bunch of different, you know, brands, but
we like we like crafts.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
But I'll tell you this obviously isn't the first time
I've ever had your food. I enjoy your food, but man,
that every time you get that that great flavor that
comes from those edges that you don't get in a
pub style burger or backyard burger or those types of things,
that's a whole different experience. You know, thicker chew bite. Yeah,
(08:59):
those edges are priceless.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
One of the things that I like to I guess,
I don't know cooking philosophies, if you would like to
call it, that is a variation of texture. I think
that's really important in anything, whether it's a sandwich, you know,
a composed dish, a soup or whatever. A variation of
texture makes something more interesting. And even you know, I
(09:23):
kind of I got into the wine business before, but
sometimes when you talk about wine and you're like, you
talk about the texture of it, right, the grippy tannins, sure,
or like a white and wine you would call it
crunchy sometimes, right, So even in the liquid, you would
texture is one of the most important things. And you
know in wine, you know, I wouldn't say i'd be
(09:45):
able to vocalize a lot of the things like fruits
and stuff, but I am. For me personally, I'm able
to text texture. And that's that's sae wee cocktails. You
you have, you have one of my favorites, Like an
old fashion. If it's made with granulated sugar, it's gonna
be brighter, whiter, little edge here. If you're going to
use a simple syrup, it's gonna be rounder and softer.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
It's gonna have you know, so I like those things too.
And yeah, this this meat, you're the way you're not
only smashing it but feathering the edges to get this crispiness.
It almost gives a bacon like texture on the edge
with the fats being rendered down in that crunch. It
just ar Yeah, you get something before you even get
(10:30):
deep into the burger. And that's great. All right, stick around.
Can I'm gonna hold you guys over. You were gonna
come on at three, You guys got here earlier, so
we brought you on. Can you stick around another segment? Yeah,
of course, welcome back with the boys from for the
wind smash Burgers for the wind La dot Com. For
the wind La dot Com is where you want to
go to find out more about this fantastic food. It's
(10:52):
just it is great. It is homie and has this
really nice natural made right front of you feel, and
the way it's assembled is just, I don't know, it
just makes you want to eat it. My two guests,
my first guests today are Santos and Ronald Uhi and
they are from for the wind smash Burgers. So look
(11:15):
them up. You have to if you love a great burger.
For the win La dot Com. For the win La
dot Com, they came out at a time when there
was a lot of investigation and interest in smash burgers,
and even we talked about the simplicity of the ingredients
per se. There's a lot that changes from texture to flavor,
(11:37):
and they're just doing it right period. They're not hiding
behind a bunch of extra and gee ingredients making it
chefy in the way that it's like, oh, you're going
to have a novelty burger that you're going to have
once take a picture with it and then go away.
This is very well thought out, incredibly balanced, terrific food period.
(12:00):
So how many locations are you guys at now?
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I think we have eleven wow, now that are open
in Los Angeles, one in San Diego. Ronald could talk
about a little bit more about that. It's our first
one outside of LA and then we were opening three
more in Los Angeles and then one in Las Vegas
off the strip at the Marriotts.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Oh wow, good for you. So with your ingredients and
the control on that, I'm assuming it's the two of
you guys really going through all this stuff. How do
you manage? How do you manage once you leave the
media area because you have like Echo Park Glendale and
(12:44):
stuff like that. So yeah, that you could get to
pretty easily, but how do you keep you know.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Well, it all started, as you like, maybe with maybe
just three locations. Then I had to hire somebody. So
right now it's Peter who brought all the food. He's
our COO. He takes care of the whole basically the
whole operation, opening businesses, hiring upper management, and we have
(13:12):
like different people of the upper management. One guy's more administrative,
takes care of all the payroll and the taxes and
all that stuff. And then we have a couple that
are focusing on quality control, right, so they'll go they'll
open locations higher and then make sure everything is done correctly,
you know, customer service, hospitality will you know, they'll go
(13:34):
around to all the locations, you know, and make sure
everyone's right, doing it right, but by our standards.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Right.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
We've actually just worked with a third party, the thirty
Rule to kind of really help us out with our hospitality.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
And you know, we are growing business.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
It's like we're growing fast, so we had to get
all of this under control, like our standard procedure, operating procedures,
h and everything and even hl R.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
It's like we're we're doing it all at once.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
So yeah, so Peter is the main guy who's who's
kind of like, you know, the doing it all and
uh so that that gives me a lot of free
time to to go out look for new locations. And
then Ronald his his background is in finance and banking
(14:29):
and he lives in San Diego and he wanted to invest.
So I was like, okay, let's let's try it out.
With because you know, otherwise it's just it's just me, right, sure,
I don't have any investors. I don't have you know,
barely any any any any dat were just kind of
like bankrolling it, right, So, uh, maybe Ronald can talk
(14:50):
about the San Diego operations.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
I'm still my day job is still being a banker
and you know, been doing it close for two decades.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Oh wow, it's after three You sure you don't need
to stop working right now?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Maybe maybe maybe maybe if you know, my brother lets
me invest in a few more. But it was kind
of a kind of an experiment and a thought that
he thought of, probably back in February and March. He's like, hey, look,
you know, I know you've been living in San Diego
for the last couple of years. I think this would
be maybe a good opportunity for us to expand outside
(15:27):
the scope of Los Angeles and you know, kind of
get some name recognition outside of LA. And so he
approached me about this in February March, we got the
bowl rolling, We finally opened down there. We first to
talk a couple of months for us to find a location.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
And uh, Burger Town too, I mean a huge lot.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Of San dieg is a huge burger town, lots of
Mexican food obviously, you know tacos.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
North Mexico pretty much pretty much.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
But I think the thing with San Diego is also
they really like small family businesses, and.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I hope we all do, but I get that, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
San Diego preferred. I could.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
I could definitely vouch for that, being born raised in
Los Angeles and you know, moving down to San Diego,
they really liked those niche restaurants. And you know when
we first opened, first of all, we found a place
down there in Pacific Beach right on Garnett, so oh yeah,
and yeah, so we were able to find a place
(16:34):
there and open up, and we're like, okay, we're hoping
that San Diego can accept us. And you know, we're
this micro chine coming from Los Angeles, and obviously, you
know sometimes there's a little landimosity, especially you know, padres,
dogs all that kind of stuff down theres. Anyway, no
(16:55):
love San Diego. And we opened technically July four, and
we've been we've been a hit down there.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Really well.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Yeah, that's awesome. I love seeing the growth and relatively,
I know, you guys feel every moment of it. But
from an outsider watching your growth and success, that's relatively quick.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, yeah, you know, it's definitely I mean that's I
think my brother he didn't probably explain it to the best,
but yeah, they're growing. You know, the company's been around
for I would say four, you know, close to five years,
and within that amount they've you know, accumulated now technically
twelve locations in the Southland, over ninety employees. So there's
(17:38):
definitely a lot of growing pains, you know, working and banking,
I've mostly worked with small to really large corporations, and
seeing the trajectory of growth that my brother and this
company has been going through is really amazing. Again, you know,
shout out to Peter. He's he's definitely helped me because
I had nothing, you know, no experience in the restaurant industry.
(17:59):
I mean I used to bartend back in the day
for you know, one of my brother's restaurants. That's the
extent of it.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
It was a far attendant at this little tiny wine
bar head and my mom was like, hey, you have
to hire your brother.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Sundays and then he just and then he just like
give away drinks Solas it's all the chicks, right.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I like, in the baking industry, do you just feel like, hey, man,
keep the change.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
But no, I mean in finance, I mostly worked with
operating companies, you know, been their advisor for for a
lot of different things. And so throughout the years, you know,
I would give Santo's little drops of advice. But you know,
just to watch the trajectory of for the wind, you know,
from you know, twenty twenty one to now, it's it's
it's amazing, Hey.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Having good family that can give you advice. They're the
only ones that are going to be truthful with you.
You know, they'll tell you you're ugly. I bet you
guys have told each other that, you know, we look alike.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
So it's kind of hard today.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Part of the fun, all right, to figure out one
more second of these guys because we didn't get to
the charity arm going on. If you're in the eastern
side of Los Angeles or Los Angeles proper, a good
way to get a burger and if you're looking for
a new Catholic church to go to every day, Yeah,
you're under thirty five, and I wanted to talk to
(19:29):
you about you said you're doing on the eastern side
of Los Angeles. You're doing a charity event age your church,
So tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
So October fourth is a feast day of Saint Francis
and the church is Saint Francis of a sci It's
on Golden Gate, So if you're in like sunset, you know,
go up Golden Gate.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
It's right there. And we're we're doing two things.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
So on Saturday, the actual feast day, you know, my
wife and I were going to be doing a Sinnamarya
style of barbecue all you can eat twenty five bucks
or no, it's thirty, it's thirty.
Speaker 4 (20:04):
And then on Sunday, wow man.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
And then on Sunday for the wind is going to
be there selling burgers on the proceeds does go to
the church. And there's also I think at two or
three pm or around that time, a blessing of animals.
You can bring here your dog or cat or whatever
whatever you have.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah, right there in Silver Lake. So Golden Gate and Sunset. Yeah,
and the date again.
Speaker 4 (20:32):
October fourth and fifth. Unfortunately I don't have the website.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Why do they have it on the church?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, it's an event, right, it's on event, right, you
can probably google it.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
It's a feast day in Los Angeles, October fourth and fifth.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
The event right, yea for fourth.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Is the dinner Okay, it'll be at six pm and
then lunch at on Sunday. Awesome. I think that's great.
And you know he's.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
Got the whole setup too. You got the grill that
was barbecue for the Sana Maria Barbecue. That's what I've
been doing a lot my free times.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So okay, so event bright you look it up for
October fourth and fifth, and it's at La what's it
called in the La Saint Francis Saint Francis CCS. Yeah,
and it's a Blessing of the Animals and all of
that fifteen twenty three Golden Gate Avenue. And if some
reason you didn't get any of that and you really
are interested, just hit Kaitlin and I up here or
(21:32):
something like that, get a hold of us and get
a hold of me on social media and I'll make
sure you know how to get there. But that's very
very cool. I love that you're doing that. That's the
that's the really cool thing about local keeping it locals,
that you can be embedded in local needs and things
like that. So that's awesome.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Back to the community, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Excellent, very very cool. Nice to meet you, Jents. Thanks
for coming in. And if I don't bumped into you
at one of the locations, I mean, I'll oftentimes I'm
having stuff delivered to the house, you know, but when
I get out to one of the restaurants, I'll say hello, cool,
best of luck. It sounds like things are going well
in San Diego and continued success.
Speaker 4 (22:11):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
All right, thanks for coming in. The burger is for
the Wind just absolutely fantastic, especially if you're if if
you crave a good burger period, but if you love
the the crunchiness on the outside of a smash burger,
the feathering you guys do is on point. You know,
you're not burning it. You're just getting that nice, crispy, wonderful,
(22:33):
fatty but crispy flavor on the outside. Very very good.
Check them out for the wind la dot com.
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