A Palms Smash Burger Stand Is Rolling Onto the L.A. Auto Show Floor

Tripp Burgers grinds Prime chuck, sirloin and bacon, and the Convention Center doesn't let visitors bring in their own food.

The most interesting thing to eat at the L.A. Auto Show comes from a burger stand that usually works lunch at Palms and Sepulveda.

Tripp Burgers, which the show's own October announcement calls a cult L.A. favorite, is bringing its burgers to the floor, the Los Angeles Auto Show said. The show runs Nov. 20 to 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown, and L.A. TACO, in a sponsored post Monday, pitched readers on the 2027 models and the test drives that come with admission. Its list ran from Porsche's 1,139-horsepower Cayenne Turbo Electric to Fiat's tiny electric Topolino. It didn't mention lunch.

Lunch is where Tripp comes in. The pop-up's own website keeps the menu short: meat, cheese and a bun, or onions on top for an Oklahoma fried-onion burger. The patty is a custom grind of USDA Prime chuck and top sirloin with bacon mixed right in, and the site says of the man the stand is named for: "He wants you to taste the meat." Because of that bacon, the site warns the burgers contain "a little bit of pork."

A good burger counts for more than usual at this show, because nobody gets to pack a cooler. The show's visitor guide allows two factory-sealed water bottles per person and nothing else. Everything else gets bought inside, from the concession stands' hot dogs, hamburgers and nachos to cafes in South, West and Kentia halls. L.A.-based food trucks turn up on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and L.A. Live's restaurants are next door.

The announcement doesn't say which of the 10 days Tripp will be cooking. Any Day tickets go up by a dollar on Nov. 20, according to L.A. TACO, and the show is open on Thanksgiving from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tripp isn't the show's only food-and-drink booking. Comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias is bringing five of his Volkswagen buses, and his exhibit will host the Pocho Fino Lounge for his new tequila brand, the show said. In the same announcement, show president Terri Toennies listed "what we eat" right alongside the art, the collecting and the games as part of L.A. car culture.

Tripp's site says it has catered film shoots at Paramount, Universal, Disney and Sony and sold burgers at music festivals. Still, a stand that usually feeds the lunch crowd at Palms and Sepulveda is about to share a floor of nearly one million square feet with the new Cayenne.

Source: lataco.com, retrieved November 10, 2026. Other sources: prnewswire.com, Tripp Burgers' website, laautoshow.com.