Polker's

Polker's
2226 Polk Street
415-885-1000

A neighborhood favorite for what used to be called yuppies who stand in line chatting on ultra expensive cell phones while waiting for their name to be called for a table inside, this place does a great burger in a variety of different treatments including the hottest Havana chili burger in town according to many who have lived to tell about it. Located on the Russian Hill end of Polk Street which is upscale but still transient, this place is wildly popular for their burgers as well as their brunches and comfort food served at all hours every day. Modest in appearance, high in standards and quality, Polker's earns high praise for quality ingredients and preparation of a thoughtful and expansive burger menu with a lot of choices of other great comfort food. In addition to regular high quality beef burgers cooked to order, they offer salmon, turkey, veggie and several other burgers that are well conceived and delivered. The good quality and generous ground chuck patty is cooked to order with a broad choice of cheeses, placed carefully on a bun crafted with care and toasted gently and brought to the table on a white platter loaded with terrific lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles. Condiments are on the tables with silverware, paper napkins and the servers are about the smartest and friendliest you’ll ever find outside the Grubstake.

Service is practiced with humor, grace and charm by some great wait people who know what they’re doing and do it well. They have several types of fries and maybe the best onion rings in town. They have diner style makeshift booths and pretty simple and plain decor including galvanized tin pails filled with branches, huge hand forged rusty wall scones and colorful art for sale on the walls, but the food is the main attraction here and they do that as good as anyone in the City. The throngs come here day and night for the burgers, great brunches, home-style lunches and dinners that are fairly priced and soul satisfying. They offer fountain drinks and really good milkshakes and if you can handle hordes of inconsiderate monosyllabic cell phone addicts driving cars they can’t afford to buy and paying a kings ransom in rents as they climb their ladders to success, you’ll love Polker's.