If you grew up in Los Angeles, there’s a chance you’ve eaten an Original Tommy’s chiliburger at some point—probably under the fluorescent halo of a streetlamp late at night. But what about Tomy’s, Tam’s, or Tom’s Jr.? LA Times business reporter Daniel Miller took on the challenge of looking into these knockoffs and how they came to spawn all over the city.
In 2018, Evan Kleiman visited Original Tommy’s with Roy Choi and Alvin Cailan on The Burger Show.