We Went Searching For Real Poutine In LA (And Yes, We Found Some)

Poutine is sadly not a common dish at the diners and burger joints of greater L.A. If you’re unfamiliar with this touchstone of Quebecois cuisine, the basic formula is a plate of french fries, chunky cheese curds and a thin brown gravy.

The gravy should be hot enough to melt the curds so you get a gooey pull of cheese with every forkful of fry. Like the chili fries of L.A.’s classic burger stands, Poutine is best enjoyed by fork. Also, like chili fries, this messy dish can be an indulgent side to a burger or a meal in itself.

Since originating at diners in rural Quebec in the 1950s, poutine is now common throughout Canada. Menus at many poutineries often include embellished versions, supplemented with toppings or transformed by subbing the gravy for another rich, heavy sauce.

(Montreal’s Au Pied de Cochon, an icon of Quebecois cuisine, famously serves a foie gras poutine that melts in your mouth and travels directly to your arteries.)

Attending college in Montreal in the early 2000s, I probably had it once a week, sometimes as post-bar drunk food, but often as a part of a bigger lunch or dinner (RIP to my early 20s metabolism).

Every burger place, kabob shop, deli, diner and pizzeria had at least a simple version of poutine. Even Canada’s McDonalds has a poutine that’s hard to resist. “Do you want to upgrade your fries to a Poutine?” [ think about it for a 10th of a second ] “Yes. Yes, I do!”

For years, when people asked me if there was poutine in L.A., I would point them to Jay’s Bar, a comforting strip-mall gastropub in Silver Lake that nailed the main three elements of the dish. But when a friend recently texted me the same question, I realized that Jay’s menu had switched to Japanese bar food.

So where else to go? To find out, I've bounced from Santa Clarita to Long Beach, assessing the viscosity of various gravies, testing the elasticity of melted curds, and determining which restaurants make the most delicious poutines in the region.

Here’s what I found:

The Kroft (Anaheim, Chinatown, Long Beach)

Walking into the Kroft’s Chinatown outpost, nestled into one of the new apartment buildings at the Chinatown Gateway Monument, I was slightly skeptical. The counter-service restaurant, with outposts in L.A., Long Beach and Anaheim, had a sign in their window that announced they serve poutine. But then, in parentheses, the sign described poutine as “loaded fries.”

Now, it’s true that poutine is similar to loaded fries — I would contend they might even be culinary cousins. But this description negates poutine’s identity as a category unto itself. It would be like a sign describing nachos as “chips and dip.” It undermines the dish’s power.

However, once I took in the plethora of authentic-looking poutines on the menu, I relaxed a bit. Even though they sell burgers, this place could qualify as a poutinerie, a restaurant that makes poutine the star of their menu. In addition to a basic poutine, they serve some very appetizing variations, like a loco moco poutine with wagyu beef and fried eggs. And a country fried chicken poutine, which adds chicken nuggets and swaps out the brown gravy for a country sausage gravy.

I was blown away by the braised beef poutine, which, in addition to brown gravy, curds and fries, adds pickled red onions, sautéed mushrooms and the titular braised beef to make an oozy carb bomb. The double-fried french fries are crisp enough to not immediately turn soupy when hit with the gravy, but the gravy is not so hot that it scalds your mouth. It is also rich, complex, and the braised beef blends perfectly with the overall dish. A strong contender.

Locations and hours:

Anaheim:
440 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim
Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. - 9 a.m. Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Long Beach:
The Hanger LBX, 4150 McGowan St., Unit 15, Long Beach
Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m.- 9 a.m.

Chinatown:
629 N. Broadway, Los Angeles
Monday through Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sunday, 11:30 a.m - 9:30 a.m.

Sideburns, Long Beach

During the pandemic, The Stache Bar, the platonic ideal of a neighborhood dive located near downtown Long Beach, opened up Sideburns in the space next door. It’s a humble counter-service burger joint, with a menu that lends itself to food that works well before the bar, after the bar and during the bar.

Sideburns has a lot of mouthwatering offerings, including a classic poutine. (They also have a “poutine burger,” which is exactly what it sounds like, a burger with poutine on it, which I will have to try for another article).

We initially ordered in the restaurant, but realized we could eat at the bar, so made the trek next door to eat our food with a cold beer. Nothing makes me feel quite like a grown-up then walking into a dark dive on an excessively bright day.

After a short wait, the bartender dropped a tremendous classic poutine on the bar. Size-wise, it’s closer to a side poutine than a meal. I suspect that's because if the bar was serving full plates of poutine, they would immediately put their customers to sleep. The poutine itself hits all the important notes: a brown gravy that lingers on the tongue, thick curds that melt nicely, and crisp, kennebec fries. After cleaning the paper tray the poutine came in, I was envious of the locals who get to call this lovely dive their neighborhood watering hole.

Location : 941 East 4th St., Long Beach

Hours : 11 a.m. - 12 a.m. (every day)

Wavy Gravy, Highland Park

A newish, gravy-forward restaurant in Highland Park, Wavy Gravy has enough varieties of poutine on the menu that it could reasonably be called a poutinerie — if that term meant anything to Southern California restaurant-goers.

However, they also serve plenty of burgers, sandwiches and all-day breakfast items, so their framing as a “diner” also fits. The counter service restaurant on York has a retro aesthetic, a comfortable vibe and I suspect some Canadian roots. There was a stack of Nanaimo bars (a chocolatey cookie bar originally from British Columbia), in a display case next to a small Canadian flag. They also know their poutine.

Of the L.A. County poutines I tried, I think Wavy Gravy has my favorite gravy, which is a happy development for a restaurant with “gravy” in its name. It was rich and decadent and was also the perfect temperature to melt the square-ish curds on the poutine. The fries were also perfectly fried — initially crispy but soft enough inside to melt in your mouth a few moments after biting into them.

After trying the basic poutine, I came back for their taco poutine with grilled chicken. I was curious to discover how it incorporated Mexican flavors into this decidedly Quebecois dish. The answer? Not very well. Nonetheless, the poutine was delicious, but it would have been better called a “marinated chicken poutine” rather than a “taco poutine”. That’s all to say, I still heartily recommend Wavy Gravy as one of the finest purveyors of poutine I’ve found in Southern California. I look forward to returning and trying more of the varieties on the menu.

Location : 5805 York Blvd., Highland Park

Hours : Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

I’m definitely hoping that these and other restaurants will create a new generation of poutine aficionados in and around L.A., and will push chefs to try new iterations on a classic dish. But even if it remains niche and only on a few menus, I'll still return to these recommended spots, hoping for that perfect, gravy-soaked cheese-pull.