Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers
Type	Private
Industry	Fast food restaurants
Founded	Los Angeles, California United States (1946)
Headquarters	Monrovia, California
Key people	Tommy Koulax, Founder (1918-1992) Tommy Koulax Jr. Founders Son
Products	hamburgers, hot dogs, tamales, chili, french fries, soft drinks
Website	http://originaltommys.com

The original location, at Beverly & Rampart. The Shack is in the foreground, the building surrounding is also a part of the restaurant. Patrons eat at their cars or standing at the counter along the back walls.

Original Tommy's is a hamburger restaurant chain in Southern California, United States. It is known for its chili burgers.

History
The original location was opened on May 15, 1946, by Tom Koulax (October 26, 1918 - May 28, 1992), the son of Greek immigrants, on the northeast corner of Beverly and Rampart boulevards west of downtown Los Angeles. The stand, which still stands today, sold hamburgers and hot dogs topped with chili. At first business was slow, but started to pick up. During the 1960s, the entire lot at this intersection was purchased. Soon after, the northwest corner was acquired for expanded parking and storage of goods. Not long after that, a second service counter occupying the building at the perimeter of the northeast lot was set up. The food was essentially the same from both locations, except for longer lines at the original shack counter, perhaps for nostalgic reasons.

Koulax credited the students, both as workers and customers, from nearby Belmont High School for making Tommy's a success. He supported the school by placing advertisements in the school newspaper and yearbooks. In his last will and testament, he left a scholarship fund for Belmont.

In the 1970s, Tommy's initiated a conservative expansion plan, growing from the original location to 30 locations in 2006. Tommy's did not expand to more than a handful of locations per year. Most Original Tommy's restaurants are found in the Greater Los Angeles Area. There are also Original Tommy's restaurants in San Diego, Barstow, Palmdale, La Habra, Riverside, Henderson, Las Vegas, and most recently, in Lake Forest. In recent years several locations have closed.

The company is based in Monrovia, California, after years at Glendale, California, and is run by the late Mr. Koulax' family. The restaurants are all company-owned, and there are no plans for the company to offer any franchised locations.