Coming soon: Ironside and Sam's Diner

Buzz, buzz and more buzz about burgers these days as the great and not so great line up to catch a part of the spotlight now focusing on burgers here on the American food landscape. Hubert Keller launched his Burger Bar just below The Cheesecake Factory in Macy's Union Square, maybe the most prominent and lucrative location in San Francisco if the ingredients are all there.

I've loved and devoured burgers since World War II and that's a lot of burgers, good and not so good, but they're still my favorite food to order anywhere I am in the world. I remember roadside burger barbecues as a kid, the first 19 cent burgers in the late 1940's and 1950's, Drive-In joint burgers, creamery and coffee shop burgers, fancy restaurant and hotel burgers and the dream stuff made by friends and family, and burgers are like meatloaf but more complicated because more is involved and every one reflects so much about the person and place preparing it.

My joy comes from the variety of treatments this simple, basic food item receives from so many different people and places, the almost infinite preparations and presentations out there these days. I never dreamed I'd see a glazed doughnut bacon cheeseburger, yet I made burgers using pancakes and waffles among other enclosures, I used lamb, pork, venison, buffalo and poultry long before I saw these things in restaurants and diners. Hell, I even use Spam and love it for the salty crispness when cooked the way I like it. And therein lies the operative word, the way I like it. Each of us has a preference and most are different than the person sitting next to you.

So please rate, review and rant about my reviews and make suggestions as you see fit. My email address is stusmith97@aol.com and I'd love to hear from you.

Oola

Oola is urban hip and slick while also being a producer of a great burger and some sensational fries in a bar or nightclub setting on Folsom Street near Moscone Center. It also serves this great burger until 1:00 AM on weekend nights and 11:00 the rest of the time. You enter off the busy street through a massive, gorgeous door that looks too heavy to move, but gracefully slides and in you go. There's a long bar on the ocean side of the long, narrow interior with modern tables filling out the front room. It's dim and understated with lots of grays and attractive wait staff wearing black, but with sunny attitudes of all my visits. Once seated and situated a beige paper menu is offered and they're aware they do a good burger for it leads off or stars on the simple, short menu of mostly small plates in two portion sizes.

I'm all about burgers so that is what I look for on any and all menu's and if not printed, I'll ask the server, host or even the owner if they make them to order. The Oola burger heads up the simple, short menu and well deserves the spotlight because it's a STAR. I was drawn to the description that talked about great meat cooked to order and served on a BRIOCHE bun, and that's a masterful achievement in a burger because of the demand on whatever bread is used to sop up the juices and condiments produced by a good burger, but this worked perfectly on several visits. There's a nice selection of cheeses, premium produce (onion, tomato and lettuce), and a fine aoili. The meat has been perfectly cooked to order every time I've been here and service has always been affable and pleasant.

Along with the burger, the plate is shared with fries, and these aren't just any old fries, these are also STARS. A generous portion of piping hot slender, not thin, crispy, crunchy high quality potato's already lightly salted are addictively and abundantly displayed on a white rectangular plate and it's almost impossible to start on the great burger while these gems are still hot on your plate, but push on I must. These fries also come with Parmesan and truffle seasoning and these are an adventure in heavenly taste and flat out impossible not to devour. They have some great house made desserts and all together there are few places that frame my burger experience than Oola, so take my advice and head here for one of the great ones.