Holy Grill

Holy Grill
659 Townsend Street
415-431-4659

Holy Grill is a recent addition to a fast growing and eclectic mini chain of interesting and good grub, at this time including Caffe Pazzo, Café 24 and Dos Pinas Taqueria all in the southeastern section of San Francisco. This joint is a modern and sparse tribute to the burger, drawing heavily on the great In N Out chain, but with a lot more muscle and might in each burger they turn out. A couple blocks away from the new ballpark and Mission Bay as well as the train station, Holy Grill is a tenant in a new condo development with lots of commercial enterprises taking up the non descript ground floor around the block. Floor to ceiling windows front Townsend Street and there is a polished aluminum block letter sign announcing the business protruding from the front. Inside you’ll find several tall cocktail style tables with stools in blond, neutral wood, clean pale yellow walls, clever quotations matted in bright red and framed in thick black wood. Tributes to the independence of this place include a giant, almost life size Buddha, some cute posters and the new, clean and stainless steel exposed kitchen where you can watch the staff cook these magnificent burgers and the rest of their bill of fare. The burger is 1/3 of a pound of Meyer Ranch Angus beef, hand formed and char grilled to order with a choice of great, high quality cheeses including baby Swiss, cheddar, jack, pepper jack, provolone, cambozola blue and good old American. These two items are then placed on a room temperature Sciambra Bakery yellow seedless bun that is almost perfect, and would be that way if lightly grilled. To this bun has been added the delicious Holy Grill secret sauce which tastes of catsup, mayo, pickle relish, minced onion, a touch of grey Poupon and horseradish and its really superb. Lot’s of other choices are there including bacon, voo doo chili, peppers, grilled portobello mushrooms and avocado. This is packaged in a white box lined with waxed paper and placed on a cafeteria tray when your number is called.

Holy Grail also does a great job with their fries and onion rings, both made on premise of top notch potatoes and onions. These are served in little red and white paper boats and the condiments are at an ‘island’ next to the self serve soda fountain and include Best Foods mayo, Heinz, French’s, Gulden and Grey Poupon. With you soda or one of their fabulous milk shakes, grab a seat and settle in for a great burger experience. This burger is actually crispy on the outside, and medium rare on the inside, the cheese is melting over the meat, and the juices are absorbing into the dense, yellow bun. The fries are thin, crisp and cooked in a ‘safe’ oil and from the first bit to the last, it’s a labor of love where juices will flow and perhaps spill, but it’s worth every minute and splash.