Local man completes 2018 resolution, eats 365th LA burger

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- It's that time of year where we all start thinking about New Year's resolutions, so we thought you should meet a man who set out 2018 with a lofty goal: eat 365 burgers.

There's dispute over the origin of the hamburger. Some say Ohio, some say Texas. Other historians can even take it back to Genghis Khan. His army flattened meat underneath their saddles and ate the patties raw.

But Lawrence Longo, who founded his own food app, only cares about the present.

"I wanted to be the burger king of Los Angeles," he said.

On Jan. 1, 2018, Longo set out to prove that.

"There wasn't anybody who had, I think, eaten every single burger in L.A., and there's so many amazing ones, I wanted to document it," he added.

On his Instagram page, @bigshot, there's post after post of all the burgers in L.A. he's consumed over the past 364 days.

Longo said he has proof the burger origin story has roots in L.A.

"The biggest burger companies came out of California: McDonald's, In-N-Out. I mean, Carl's Jr., so the list goes on and on, and the food scene in L.A. just keeps getting better and better," he said.

Longo, who is opening up his own burger spot in the New Year picked Electric Owl in West Hollywood to eat his last hamburger of 2018. There's only one burger on the menu there - the Smashburger. It's a returning favorite. Along with being the 365th burger eaten, it was also No. 56.

"This place doesn't get the recognition it deserves. It's an amazing burger. The ratio on that burger is incredible," Longo shared.

He said the chef behind it was also the creator of two of the most famous burger spots in L.A. - Umami Burger and Plan Check Kitchen + Bar.

Someone not behind Longo's weight gain due to his New Year's resolution of 2018 is his wife, Astrid Swan. She is, however, excited about 2019.

"He is a man of his word, which is one of the things I love about him," she said.

Longo said he'll digest all that he's learned about hamburgers this year. And next year, he'll write a book detailing his top 52 burgers of L.A. -- a new burger a week for an entire year.