Stu Smith's San Francisco Barbary Coast hamBurger Bible

Coming soon: Ironside and Sam's Diner

2009-11-13T11:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Cops endure hazardous conditions...

2007-06-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is a great story -- I'll pass it along to Stu Smith, who is
compiling the latest edition of "The Burger Bible."

They didn't bother to cook the pot? Now, that is stupid.

Thanks, dahlink.

B.

On Oct 9, 2006, at 1:26 PM, Michelle McRuiz wrote:

Restaurant workers spice officers' burgers with pot...

Three fast-food restaurant workers were taken into custody Sunday evening after two police officers discovered that the hamburgers they had ordered had been sprinkled with marijuana. The Isleta Police Department officers were had eaten about half of their burgers from a Burger King restaurant in Los Lunas before realizing that something was wrong. Opening the burgers, they discovered marijuana sprinkled on top of the meat.

"One of the officers, when he was eating his hamburger, he said, 'This thing
tastes like it has marijuana in it,'" said Lieutenant Joseph Sanchez of the Los Lunas Police Department. "And that's when he opened it up to see what was inside.
The officers used a field test kit, which confirmed that the green, leafy substance was pot. Officials say that the officers began acting odd after ingesting the marijuana and their sergeant sent them to a hospital for a medical evaluation.

The three Burger King employees were arrested and charged with possession of
marijuana and aggravated battery on an officer, which is a felony. They've been identified as 19-year-old Justin Armijo, 21-year-old Robert Nuckols and their manager, 33-year-old Joseph Ledefma

Scala's Bistro

2007-05-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

Scala’s Bistro
432 Powell Street at Sutter
The Sir Francis Drake Hotel
415-395-8555
A+
When someone told the reigning Mr. San Francisco that there was a guy trying to write a balanced review of every joint in San Francisco offering a burger, I got an email from Harry Denton suggesting I’d neglected his favorite which is made by the talented kitchen at Scala’s Bistro, home to his world renowned Starlight Room perched atop this landmark hotel in the heart of Union Square. Harry graciously offered to be our host with an unconditional guarantee that he would accept whatever we wrote, so a friend of both of ours, Jacob Logsdon, joined us and we experienced the Scala burger he rightfully takes such pride in. This is a beautiful restaurant and bar, brought to life by the Kimpton folks and a San Francisco dining destination since it opened.

The bar and dining room is part of the southern side of the entrance and lobby and is warm and welcoming with rich woods, a multitude of period lighting, comfortable seating and tables, most separated like booths at shoulder level with etched glass and polished mahogany. We were given one of these booths and it was the first thing Harry noticed when he joined Jacob and me, because they’re a little tight for the full bodied man and Harry and I share that dubious distinction but it worked. Service is great with handsome men and great looking gals dressed like the staff at Harry’s in Venice but friendlier and better at their job. A selection of house made breads, extra virgin olive oil and ice water with lemon were set on the table with an invitation to ask for more if we wanted, always a welcoming touch. Harry insisted we try more than just the burger so we split a small plate of wild boar meatballs and another of ‘Earth and Surf’ with crisp calamari, rock shrimp, onion, fennel, green beans, spicy aioli and both were superb.

A full bar and an expansive wine list only add to the large number of choices visitors to this great destination are faced with, but now to the burger. On the main menu under Panini they list the ‘Bistro Burger’ with traditional accompaniments on a house made egg bun with pommes frietes and a choice of either cheddar or mountain gorgonzola, and the waiter smiled with assurance as we each ordered our burger with a different cheese and a different degree of done. The burgers arrived and we were unanimous that we each were enjoying one of the great burgers to be had anywhere. The meat was cooked perfectly as ordered for each one of us, the cheese was melted to perfection and the bun was toasted just right. The fries are addictive and worthy of a glowing review on their own and it didn’t end there. Fine pickled squash replaced the more traditional pickles and are also habit forming and also each platter held fine sliced tomato, lettuce and aioli.

The beauty, rich ambience and discreet service along with outstanding ingredients and a dedicated kitchen come together to make this a stellar burger, but more than that I’m glad Harry insisted we try some additional items this Michelin candidate offers with such skill and excellence because this is now part of my inventory of must visit fine dining restaurants in San Francisco as well as a candidate for the Burger Bible Hall of Fame for their brilliant burger.

The Bell Tower

2007-04-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Bell Tower
1900 Polk Street at Jackson
415-567-9596
A
Once upon a time when Polk Street was the gay center of San Francisco, this unique little building was home to one of the Noble Frankfurters that stayed open until the wee hours for those craving greasy sustenance after a long night imbibing beyond reason. An interesting and sharp young gal named Barb had bartended down in the financial district and bought the place and went through the beaureacratic morass of becoming a tax paying employer in this graft ridden city. It’s a cozy, small space with knee high windows that climb to arched moldings separating the ceiling and adorned with murals. All the windows look out on the busy corner of Jackson and Polk and there are mature trees that lend civility and ambience. Well worn in a way the reflects the casual, well lived in nature of the place rather than neglect, the décor consists of various old and new floors, deco paintings and murals, art glass hanging lamps, an old mahogany bar with red leather upholstered bar stools and chairs throughout. This is a neighborhood classic much like people like to think of ‘Cheers’ but its earned and justified here. Simplicity, friendliness and constant chatter compete with canned tunes and several large flat screened televisions showing sports events with the sound muted most of the time. The staff is as much at home as the regulars and banter between everyone is a constant, and welcoming. It’s small with about 14 tables up and down and maybe 18 bar stools at the bar and sidebar so it can get crowded, but has always been warm and friendly. The burger is excellent and pride shows in every aspect of the preparation and presentation. Good ground chuck is hand formed into half pound patties and char grilled to order, places on a toasted artisan bun that has actually been hollowed out to fit the meat and melting cheese like a glove. The large white steakhouse platter arrives with the burger open faced and several leaves of chilled romaine, a couple thick slices of fresh juicy tomato and red onion as well as a pile of good sliced pickles. Filling out the plate are a mound of almost perfect shoestring fries that are hot and crisp.

Sometimes the wait staff can be aloof which can be distracting and uncomfortable, but usually this really is Cheers with smiling staff and patrons sharing all sorts of good vibes all the time. They have a full bar, a bunch of artisan beers, a small wine list that is smart and fairly priced and bartenders that make great drinks with generous pouring and fine ingredients. The kitchen is exposed and looks down on the lower dining room and bar which is kinda cool, and the upper dining room is more intimate and quiet. In addition to the excellent burger, they offer a variety of sandwiches, salads and some mighty fine blue plate specials and everything is priced favorably for the young folks starting to climb the ladder of success. This is a fun, neighborhood saloon and pub that serves very good food, drink and atmosphere so get there early and don’t miss their burger.

The Big Four in The Huntington Hotel

2007-03-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

The Big Four – Huntington Hotel
1075 California Street
415-474-5400
A+
Situated at the top of Nob Hill across the street from Grace Cathedral, Huntington Square Park and The Union Pacific Club and within yards of The Masonic Auditorium, The Mark Hopkins Hotel and The Fairmont is this grand and deluxe restaurant and bar that rivals the great restaurants and bars of the world. Located off the lobby of the Huntington Hotel, the Big 4 Restaurant is known locally as "the place" for the power lunch — a reputation aptly deserved as both social and business titans alike relish the privacy this exclusive San Francisco restaurant affords them. Guests enjoy the heady ambience while savoring perennial favorites, including one of the best burgers one can find in San Francisco. This uniquely historic San Francisco restaurant is named after the nation's four most famous railroad tycoons of the nineteenth century – C.P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, and Mark Hopkins. Appointed with lead-glass mirrors and forest-green banquettes, the Big 4 Restaurant instantly transports guests to another era of San Francisco dining and décor, with an impressive collection of original artifacts, historical photographs, and memorabilia from California's unique history. The burger is made from a huge hand formed chuck of choice ground chuck which is char broiled to order and served on a toasted and heavily seeded bun that easily absorbs the fine juices the meat lets off. Good white cheddar cheese is melting over the meat when served and the white steak platter is filled with generous portions of really fine tomato, lettuces and onion along with a good whole pickle.

Rounding out this glorious burger experience, the plate is brimming over with crisp, hot and addictive shoestring fries, lightly salted and delicious. A small plate with individual ramekins of good catsup, mustard and mayo are also offered and appreciate. The bar area is home to about a dozen nice tables where a limited but excellent menu is offered at really great prices. The dining room is a more formal affair but is equally warm and inviting. Green leather club chairs, thick etched glass table, white napery and solid silver plate flatware and discreet whispered service make this a premier destination for all great food and drink, along with a terrific pianist playing a concert grand and truly professional bar and wait staff come together to make this one of the great burger experiences anywhere. A must visit for any burger and history lover.

It's Tops

2007-03-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

It’s Tops
1801 Market Street at Octavia
415-431-6395
B-
“Where Good Friends Meet” since 1952 reads their logo on the menu. This place has been around a long time and is in great condition for a restaurant in a geriatric state. This is American Diner personified and really tiny to boot. There is an anal retentive aura about this diner, and it’s comforting and alarming at the same time, kind of like arriving at The Bates Motel exhausted, and the relief Janet Leigh expressed when she got into that steaming hot shower. That is of course, the rest of the story as Paul Harvey has proclaimed about the same amount of time It’s Tops has been open. The walls and ceiling are vintage knotty pine with a recent coat of varnish. The floor is drab linoleum that may just be so old the pattern or colors are worn away. There are 12 burnt orange stools at the counter and 8 booths that can squeeze four, five or more depending on size and lots of small people crowd into this place late at night. Oldie’s but Goodie’s play at all hours of the day or night and they have old fashion Seeburg ‘Wall-O-Matic’ juke box selectors along the counter and at each booth lending an authenticity money can’t buy. The walls are adorned randomly with bric a brac aimed at presenting a rustic, quaint atmosphere that works. The waitress wears black and pink in a period uniform that might be from the era they were first worn in diners. The waiters wear black slacks and pink t-shirts with the joint’s logo and messages printed on them. They have a sign outside that proudly proclaims that they have the best burger in the city according to someone’s poll and if it’s true, I’m reducing the price on the Brooklyn Bridge just for you! The burger I order arrived as ordered, but had that unmistakable taste of previously frozen meat although the bun was toasted and very good. The bun looked just like the buns Costco sells in bulk that are dusted with cornmeal and are a good match for a juicy burger. The cheese was melted, the lettuce chopped and the whole thing came with a slathering of mayo, a couple slices of tomato and three thin slices of pickle.

Joining the cheeseburger on the small white plate with a blue ring on the outer rim were some heavily salted, house cut fries that were fresh and limp, as well as too salty. I note that it is also more expensive than most other burgers reviewed by the Burger Bible and lacking in vision and character that most much better display in abundance. It’s Tops offers a broad menu including sandwiches, salads, desserts and a variety of blue plate specials and quirky, almost petulant service that is polite but suspicious in an eerie way, like Norman Bates. It also boasts some of the weirdest hours I’ve ever seen because they close from 3:00 to 8:00 PM weekdays which I guess is siesta time for the strange staff. It’s worth a visit because it’s strange but good. They offer lots of fountain shakes and malts.

Magnolia Pub & Brewery

2007-03-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

Magnolia Pub & Brewery
1398 Haight at Masonic
415-864-7468
A-
A welcome and relative newcomer to the restaurant and pub scene here in the city and a perfect fit for the Haight. It fits like a well worn glove into the crossroads location at ground zero where the summer of love began. Eclectic and dedicated, this place is a real tribute to artisan beers, ales, bitters, stouts and handmade brews more so than other brew pubs anywhere in San Francisco and each a breakthrough with an audience and following. The names of some of these beverages alone merit serious literary perusal. Food follows in the same direction with creativity and integrity being the passwords at this serious joint. Windows from mid thigh to arm reach level face both Haight and Masonic and a permanent wooden overhang protects visitors from the blaring sun and rain. Green, beige and brown tiny tile flooring contrasts with the simple ceiling adorned only by old milk glass hanging lamps. A mural wraps around the whole interior wall at arms length height and is vibrant and reminiscent of famous poster art from the hippie era. There are lots of wonderful little discoveries to make at this formidable testament to individuality like handmade sodas and no Coke or Pepsi which is truly refreshing. The burger came on a large white steak platter and the plate was filled with the burger, fries and salad with a house made pickle on the side. The burger was generous and from Niman Ranch which lends itself to a great burger like skin to bone. The artisan bun was perfectly toasted and the cheese was still melting over the meat when delivered. The house cut fries were piping hot and fresh with a dusting of herbs and fine salt which was close to overpowering but after a few bites just right. The fresh lemonade came in an old fashioned pint glass and was perfect.

Magnolia Pub offers food in several categories at all times they’re open and it is interesting enough to have loyal followers at all times of the day and night. I loved their snack menu with things like roasted salted almonds, bacon wrapped water chestnuts and the starter menu which offered blue bell onion rings with horseradish mayo, Niman Ranch lamb chili, the sandwiches, salads, specials and desserts like a tri color sundae with chocolate, vanilla and wild cherry ice cream with banana and house made sauces. The place is casual and fun with pleasant and professional service and excellent cooking as well as a fine burger of note.

Harry's on Fillmore

2007-03-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Harry’s on Fillmore
2020 Fillmore Street
415-921-1000
A

The first place owned and operated by the one and only Harry Denton who many feel is the maestro of mirth and the good life in San Francisco. This place was the saloon equivalent of Star’s which introduced the city to late 20th century café society under the toque of Jeremiah Tower. Harry’s on Fillmore was jam packed from opening night and made the upper Fillmore a must stop destination for hipsters, hucksters and hapless wannabe’s that follow the leader. Harry’s has consistently offered a great burger, mouthwatering and a notch above most of the rest with the best ingredients and attention to every critical step it takes to turn out a great meat sandwich. The prime chuck is hand formed into a thick, round patty and cooked to order with authority. A choice of good cheese, a thick, dense, toasted bun and farm fresh lettuce, tomato and onion are delivered to the table, and you’re set to dress it up as you wish with a choice of mustards, catsup, steak sauce, mayo and you’re off to burger heaven.

The burger comes with some almost perfect fries that are always crisp and hot, and perfect for dipping into aioli or the good mayo they provide. Harry’s has a mahogany bar as long as the building and rich with detail and history which is well stocked with just about every fine liquor money can buy. They have a short but diverse menu in addition to the great burger, a wine list and a good selection of boutique beers. Service is usually pretty good and carried out by some attractive, young gals who are also smart and well trained and can talk about anything under the sun. The crowd is usually young and well dressed, not too rowdy and for the most part respectful of others. This is a well managed, long lived Fillmore Street institution that continues to offer one of the great SF burgers.

Polker's

2007-03-12T23:19:00.000-07:00

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.

The Daily Grill

2007-03-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

Daily Grill
347 Geary Street
415-616-5000

Prominently located across the street from The St. Francis Hotel and Union Square, this chain steakhouse offers the sophisticated meat gourmand excellent quality beef and all the trimmings in the center of this great city. A long, masculine, clubby place with a huge bar and several dining rooms, this steakhouse is a perfect addition to the retail center of town, offering a high quality and reasonably priced alternative to Morton’s on the other side of the St. Francis. Next door to one of our great treasure’s, Lefty O’Doul’s, this white linen restaurant has a huge menu that includes many steaks, pasta dishes, seafood, specials using veal, lamb and poultry in a wide variety of rock solid preparations and presentations. Because the quality and prices are so friendly, The Daily Grill is almost always packed, but you can eat at the bar and also in the lounge area at bar height tables with bar stools, and the menu is served at all hours. The burger here is very good, starting with a huge portion of fresh ground chuck which is hand formed into a thick, round patty and charbroiled or grilled to order. Served with your choice of cheese which is melted and just starting to run over the meat onto the platter and sharing the plate with a variety of excellent tomato, lettuce and onion this hunk of beauty rests on a toasted bun that is a perfect home for the juicy meat, melting cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and good quality condiments.

The fries are house cut and served in a generous portion and have always come crisp and hot which is no mean feat in a large, crowded restaurant. They also offer some excellent onion rings and great substitutions or side orders. I’ve asked for and been provided with my burger served on toasted garlic bread which was delicious, and my understanding is they will try and accommodate all requests. The servers are seasoned professionals, they have a full bar and extensive wine list and know how to get theater patrons in and out in deference to curtain time for the nearby ACT and Broadway plays almost next door. This place is great for a burger and almost everything else they serve.

Holy Grill

2007-03-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

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.

Annabelles Bistro

2007-02-20T17:52:00.000-08:00

Annabelle's Bistro
68 Fourth Street
415-777-1200

Annabelle's Bistro has been around almost a century and will likely be around another century if owner philanthropist Charles Mosser has his way. Originally known as The Keystone and a fine dining establishment of the highest standards, it has maintained that distinction since first opening in 1913 at this location. It's the street level presence of the Mosser Hotel located between Market and Mission on bustling Fourth Street, and kitty corner from Metreon and Moscone Center. Well maintained and stylish with fine patterned tile floors, period lighting, large nouveau poster art and a long mahogany bar with good buzz and spirits. High ceilings, mustard walls with lots of detail woodwork and molding accented in white enamel, it's soothing and striking and inviting at the same time. They serve a good burger here and in balance the drawbacks don't really cancel the pluses. A small patty of seasoned but good beef is char grilled to order and served on a charred poppy seed bun that for me is the highlight of this burger experience. Crispy and crunchy and just about perfect in density and absorbency, the bun is a match made in heaven for the meat and melted cheddar cheese. The cheese, although melted, was skimpy as were the fixings which left a bad taste but try and they might the burger was still darn good. No tomato was on the plate and instead of lettuce there were some flat leaved greens on which were four slices of house made pickles which were outstanding. The fries were great, delicious, and I could quickly become addicted. Seasoned and saffron colored, they arrived hot and were finished before I even took a bite of the burger.

Annabelle's is an ambitious restaurant, catering to tourists, locals and regulars from around the globe and is part of the historic Mosser Hotel which adds another dimension to its customer base, so its always busy, but its intolerable when a major convention is taking place nearby at Moscone Center. The staff is not up to the standard of the kitchen and owner, but are pleasant enough. It's always frustrating to be served good food by servers who don't know anything about it, and when the restaurant prides itself on local, organic and top notch ingredients it is sad that the staff is blithely unaware and unable to answer simple questions for interested customers. The burger is good, but could be great.

Blue

2007-02-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

Blue
2337 Market Street
415-863-2583

Close to Castro and Market in the middle of the action is this small restaurant that was once part of a mini chain of small, good restaurants based in or near the Castro that are gay owned and operated. Blue feels like a shoe box at an angle from the street which is vividly visible from the inside of the restaurant. This place serves a very good burger along with a full menu of meat, poultry, fish, salads, sandwiches and even small plates. The burger is top notch meat generously formed into a large patty and cooked to order. Blue has a short history as part of a small gay owned chain that had great ideas and lousy delivery, and it got spun off to an owner who knows how to operate a restaurant that keeps the customer in the forefront of his operation. There is an urban warehouse feel to the place with painted concrete, chrome and dark blue tables and chairs and simple industrial décor. The place was a hit from day one for great Mac and cheese which went downhill under the previous ownership along with just about everything, but has been revived to its rightful glory under the new owner. Back to the large and juicy burger that is served on a very good roll that is lightly toasted and the perfect cushion for the meat and produce they offer to dress their burger. Good, generous portions of lettuce, tomato and onion share the plate with some excellent shoestring French fries. Condiments are good quality and limited in selection as are the cheese choices, but you can’t go wrong with the bleu cheese which arrives bubbling beautifully.

The wait staff is friendly, warm and fun, the place is clean and the service flows smoothly and efficiently for the most part. They have a couple of excellent salads and their meatloaf can be terrific. They serve quite a few other comfort type entrees that frequently disappear quickly, so the early bird usually gets the worm at this popular Castro diner. The location is perfect for just about anything you might want to be doing over there and most people know the Castro is a prime destination for people from everywhere with every kind of interest and persuasion. A great burger and a lot of fun at reasonable prices.

KK Cafe

2007-02-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

KK Café C
252 Divisadero at Haight
415-626-6188

They bill themselves as the “best hamburger in town” and I love courageous immodesty, but they do have a pretty damned good burger which they prepare in several ways. They also are founder of and home to a concoction known as ‘Signs & Wonders’ peanut milk which is a pretty strange pair of things to be called unique for in my humble opinion. It’s a little hole in the wall with lots of vehicle and pedestrian traffic hurling by at all times of day and night. It’s ‘gate to the Haight’ in both directions and same with Castro to the south and Pac Heights and the Marina to the north. Years of accumulated grunge cloud the wall of windows facing the street, and there is almost nothing bright and cheery on the inside, but there are five small and cheap wooden tables that stay busy with a steady stream of regulars who order breakfasts, the croissant sandwiches, Costco pastries and various coffee concoctions along with the ‘best hamburger in town’ and the infamous peanut milk. The burger itself is a quarter pounder grilled medium regardless of your preference and served on a room temperature lightly seeded bun with melted American cheese, mayo on the bun, several slices of tomato, some dripping, cold iceberg lettuce, three thin slices of pickle and the smallest portion of red onion I’ve ever seen. A small portion of once frozen fries fills out the presentation, and mustard and catsup come in plastic packets. The burger actually tastes good because it’s simple and standard burger fare, the cheese is melted, burger hot and basic.

Back to the peanut milk. I guess it’s a cure for cancer and a myriad of other fatal diseases and has a loyal, devoted following because one solitary (strange it is always just one person at a time) guy after another comes in and orders a burger or breakfast and a peanut milk while carrying on a conversation with the Chinese lady in charge, almost cult like but innocent in the way regular customers always are in the know and I’m not. It doesn’t appeal to me so I read the dozens of articles smeared over all the wall surfaces and quietly devour my burger, watching the world pass by the murky windows as music from exotic lands squeaks out of an old radio. A good burger while waiting for the bus.

Max's Opera Cafe

2007-02-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

Max’s Opera Café B+
601 Van Ness Avenue
415-771-7300

This is the current home base of Max’s full service San Francisco restaurants and bars, and I think it’s one of the earliest in their once high flying chain. There are locations all over the bay area, but only Geary and Mason in the city is a full scale Max’s as far as I know. Max’s original theme was that their restaurants were a bad place for a diet and they still practice that spellbinding magic for the food addict by offering enormous plates of good quality grub in a vibrant and exciting atmosphere. The burgers they’re so famous for are huge, close to a pound of good ground chuck which is cooked to order and placed on a lightly toasted equally huge bun. With a great selection of cheese’s which are also applied with no regard or regret for arteries and the heart healthy fads creeping through the dining world these days, this platter holding the cheeseburger is served with maybe a pound of perfectly cooked steak fries and a bowl of tangy housemade Cole slaw and some house cured dill pickles which makes for one of the most decadent burgers available in our fair city.

Max’s also excels with their salads, and has one of the best Cobb’s I’ve ever had outside the original Brown Derby in Hollywood. I personally think they offer the best Reuben to be had west of New York City and offer a huge variety of pasta, steaks, poultry, sides and sandwiches. A full bar and live music which is often randomly accompanied by waiters and waitresses jumping in and singing show tunes and even opera in the middle of taking and serving you food orders. A word of caution to the Max’s first timer…save room for their fantastic house made desserts which are legendary and scrumptious. Many second and third generation regulars at Max’s consider this their favorite birthday haunt as kids and return frequently to recapture sweet memories from their youth, and smart people go their with the intention of their meal also being tomorrow’s breakfast, lunch or dinner and that is a true testament to the quality and quantity of Max’s. Great burgers & ambience!

Pincecrest Diner

2007-02-02T00:12:00.000-08:00

Pinecrest Diner
401 Geary at Mason
415-885-6407

The Pinecrest is a 24 hour diner with a past, and what a past it is if you’re a devotee of poached eggs. Although the Pinecrest has been around the perimeter of Union Square and the tenderloin for many decades, in 1997 it was home to a murder that left a 20 year veteran waitress dead from a volley of bullets shot across the counter by the cook who had also worked there at least 20 years. There are a variety of versions of this tale, but apparently the cook owed the waitress money and hated preparing poached eggs which weren’t even on the menu. The waitress took an order for poached eggs and taunted the cook who left momentarily to get his gun, returned and shot her five times, killing her once and for all. Back to burgers and let me tell you the Pinecrest version ain’t good and it ain’t bad, just a fair to middling previously frozen meat patty pulled from a stainless drawer under the grill and cooked the way all once frozen meat is and tasting that cardboard kind of way. The sesame seeded bun is lightly grilled and two slices of American cheese are melted just right and its plated with head lettuce, a couple slices of tomato and a pickle spear and slid across the hard vinyl counter to where you’re gonna eat. It comes with good thin cut fries, also previously frozen, but cooked with care and served hot. The condiments are French’s mustard, Heinz catsup and a good, high quality mayonnaise so it’s pretty good except for the beef.

The diner lacks charm of any kind and could easily have been designed by a color blind fancier of blandness and tastelessness. It’s an oblong room featuring a faux burl wood counter running the length of the room and plum colored booths around the sides and front and windows along the front and side. Behind the counter it is all stainless kitchen, and the floor is covered with a matted green carpet that could pass for thousand year old felt. The décor consists of two or three framed five and dime faux oil paintings that are cardboard reproductions and a few cheap fake flower arrangements. It’s not dirty, just shabby and it’s almost empty until a sold out theater offering at ACT or The Curran lets out and a gaggle of tourists or club goers from Biscuits and Blues or Ruby Skyy leave drunk and famished from one of those nearby clubs. It’s decent food, almost no ambience or atmosphere, other worldly service and no character. The burger is perfect for anyone with low expectations or who despises burgers in the first place.

The Cheesecake Factory

2007-02-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

The Cheesecake Factory
Macy's Union Square, Geary Blvd. 7th Floor
Tel: 415.391.4444

http://www.cheesecakefactory.com

The San Francisco outpost of this thriving, thirty plus unit chain
that is justifiably famous for some excellent cheesecake and a Willie Wonka
sense of spun silliness, is an enormous, cavernous and claustrophobic
football size mass feeding machine that actually turns out some excellent
food at fair prices to complement the sumptuous desserts that so many come
for. One enters Macy's seven story glass casket and has the choice of
escalating or elevating to the seventh floor where this hallucinatory
happening offers the weary shopper a respite from retail mania as practiced
by Federated Department Stores in our fair City.

Once inside the holding pen is one is jammed into a space way too small for the overwhelming number of people who want to eat here, and it becomes a real problem because it's almost impossible to beat a hasty retreat without banging into the ongoing stream of new arrivals. A glossy laminated full color book consisting of 18 pages and including advertising is what one makes choices from, and it's a daunting task, because it's well presented, and attractively described, and reasonably priced.

They offer a burger in several ways, and each one is good in my never humble opinion. One of my favorite lunches is their plate of Slider’s and a Boston Salad. The Slider’s are four small burgers with hand formed mini patties on good, dense parker style buns with melted cheese bubbling on top, some really good pickle slices and fries to die for. They also have their Factory burger, a full sized offering that’s a winner too! Again, they start with good beef, form it into generous patties, cook them to order and place them on lightly toasted housemade buns and pile great lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion and condiments and it’s an outstanding burger. The fries are also excellent, thin and perfectly cooked and miraculously they arrive hot which is a trick for thin fries. One of my favorite touches is that when you order a side of mayo, it’s delivered in a silver gravy boat for a touch of class. If you can stand the mayhem and madness in this overcrowded asylum, the burger, cheesecake and everything else I’ve had tastes great.

Slider's

2007-01-31T17:38:00.000-08:00

Slider’s
449 Castro Street 415-431-3288
1233 9th Avenue 415-753-1453
1202 Sutter Street 415-885-3288

Although not linked together legally, according to the staff at each location, the individual joints look like replicas of one another in price, ingredients, signage and their huge condiment or salad bars. Not that it matters I guess, but each seems to be overseen by a Chinese Mama San and the cooks at each appear to be Mexican or Latin. There is a language and labor disconnect and sometimes it’s hard for burger talk to be heard and interpreted to what one wants their burger to be like. One thing they have in common is a good burger cooked to order on a round rotating grill that is prepared in front of each customer as well as every pedestrian and car passing the windows that showcase the grill at each joint. The burgers come in several sizes and each is a good value. They serve the burgers on a lightly buttered and toasted quality bun that is the ideal density for holding all the stuff available at the sprawling salad bar that’s part of the deal. Dining in the places is usually fun with early rock and roll blaring continuously. The burger comes on a huge plastic plate that holds a large order of their good fries and can also accommodate a damned good salad from their groaning board salad bar that holds the goodies.

The fries are high quality frozen and this place has the cooking technique mastered for serving up generous portions of crisp golden brown fries to accompany the damned good burgers. You order and pay at the counter and then they call your number when its ready which is pretty quick unless you want your burger well done which more and more people are doing these days. The salad and condiment bar has dozens of choices to garnish your burger, but they skimp on quality consistently at this part of their operation and the mayonnaise they serve is the poorest quality money can buy. They have a good burger, but maybe you should closely inspect the fixings, because they’re usually picked over like produce in the open markets of Chinatown. The Slider’s experience is pretty good and every once in a while, I actually crave one.

Beep's Burgers

2007-01-30T17:44:00.000-08:00

Beep’s Burgers
1051 Ocean Avenue – San Francisco
415-584-2650

The Ingleside’s claim to burger fame, this is a neighborhood drive-in type joint that is a real burger joint and fountain still chugging along after generations. Quarter pounder cheeseburgers with a generous slab of melted American cheese and good fixings is their basic entrée to the burger world, and it’s a good one. Tired by some standards and pretty mediocre and sloppy by others, this isn’t home to any revolutionary burger developments but it is what most burgers were like around the time the 19 cent burgers came into being more than half a century ago. This is the type of burger joint that also serves rice bowls and pork chops if that gives you a hint of their something for everyone mentality, and of course they can’t do such variety much justice with so little vision and focus. What you see here are a lot of kids and ethnic families who choose this type of burger over the alternatives and that is good considering it’s a block away from a McDonald’s and is more expensive.

They offer a veggie burger and a turkey burger and their fries are previously frozen from what I can tell. The fries are also inconsistently cooked and aren’t a very good deal price wise. You see a lot of students out here, mostly San Francisco State and City College, but there are also a horde of high school kids, so it can loud and unruly at times which makes it more for the burger to go crowd. This is a greasy spoon burger joint that has a following and only the burger devotee and expert willing to try them all need pass this way.

Zuni

2007-01-24T22:38:00.001-08:00

1658 Market Street at Gough - 415-552-2522

Considered by many including media food legend Michael Bauer to be the finest burger to be had in San Francisco, this great and original restaurant and bar is one of the best in many categories as well. A pie slice shaped space with street level to roof top windows and a southwestern arts and crafts appearance, this vibrant Parisian style brasserie opened in 1979 to roars of approval, has stayed popular and packed ever since. They are best known for a great caesar salad, roast chicken and their burger in local food lore and each is still a stellar offering. An extensive menu far beyond those outstanding offerings is always available and equally excellent. The burger is prime beef, gently hand former into a generous soft ball sized patty and mesquite grilled to order. They serve it with pickled onions, excellent tomato and lettuce and ramekins of house made catsup and mustards. It comes on lightly grilled foccacio and is a hearty, delicious and sensuous meal.

Zuni offers some of the best fries (pommes frites) to be found anywhere in the world and all the sides, condiments as well as the service are of the highest caliber. There is a full bar that is equally popular and crowded that is covered with copper that is well polished and stocked with the finest spirits money can buy. A great wine list is also part of the experience as is superb service by an attentive, well trained and courteous staff. They also have some outstanding desserts, all housemade like every item on their menu. This is a great restaurant that produces a great burger.

Jack In The Box

2007-01-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

Jack In The Box
Multiple San Francisco locations
(858) 571-2121

Jack In The Box is one of the most prolific and successful burger chains in the world and they do a remarkable job with the largest menu offered by any burger chain. They do it consistently which is amazing considering the thousands of locations all over the globe that offer the same extensive menu. Their burgers are among the best offered by a large chain in my opinion and they appear to use quality ingredients wherever they operate to achieve that consistency. They offer almost a dozen burger variations as well a handful of chicken, fish and specialty sandwiches along with taco’s, salads, snacks, breakfast and a value menu that is also more diverse than the competition. Their ‘quarter pounder’ is a standard for the chain operators and one of the best, but they excel in my opinion with their various interpretations and presentations including the sourdough jack and their ‘philly cheesesteak’ among others. They have a number of salads, soups, chili, desserts and half a dozen breakfast meals as well as shakes and juices to go along with sodas and waters. They were one of the first large chains to offer onion rings and theirs are damned good and a huge seller for them, but like all the big chains their menu’s tend to play a big role in the enlarging of America with calorie overload and heart hating preparation methods and ingredients.

Their fries for some reason have never been very good in my opinion, but they’re the victim of a corporate decision to not throw out fries that might have outlived their peak moment of tastiness. Another problem I’ve frequently had at many Jack In The Box locations is poor English language skills which often leads to incorrect orders and angry customers. Overall, I give this chain the highest marks for their ambitious and well served menu and the quality of their ingredients. I also like their commercials and have adopted Jack like a brother.

Harrington's

2007-01-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

Harrington’s Bar & Grill
245 Front Street – San Francisco
415-392-7595

The last great traditional Irish Pub located in the heart of the financial district and still going strong all these years. Operated by Kathleen Harrington who is proud and an activist in cultivating the best things in the local restaurant scene and also a true Irish maiden, proud and resolute. Like so many Irish pubs the world over, the staff all speak with a brogue and seem barely able to keep up with the crowded and often rowdy gang that seem to conscientiously avoid The Royal Exchange and Holding Company which are both more upscale and expensive. The Harrington burger appears to be previously frozen as are the fries, but they do a reasonable job with it and the price is right. Very straight forward and simple. A quarter pounder with cheese and fries is usually served hot and they’ve got catsup and mustard, some sliced mealy tomato, head lettuce at room temperature and pickle chips round out this genuine pub burger. This joint is a historic Irish pub locked in the center of San Francisco’s financial district and hosts the city’s largest and loudest St. Patrick’s Day celebration among other block party size events and its laid back and a favorite of the broker crowd who are usually done working at the same time most of us are finishing lunch, so there’s never a dull moment in this place.

In addition to the burgers, they offer a pretty complete Pub menu including very good corned beef and cabbage and a variety of blue plate specials, salads, sandwiches and lunch type food. Service is funky and casual with humor taking the place of competence, and you might even wind up doing shooters with your sweet lass or bartender which is casual and cool. They feature a popular and coveted smoking patio which is legal because the area is self service and only the smokers are theoretically at risk. The bar gets very crowded in the afternoon and after work with throngs of young urban guys and gals all looking to unwind after a hard day’s work. They sell a lot of Guinness, Harp and Bass Ale here and they also serve a lot of burgers, so they’re doing most things right for their customers. Its loud and raucous but a bargain by today’s standards. This is a place to have fun at lunch and after work, and one of San Francisco’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

Cafe Du Nord

2007-01-06T23:09:00.000-08:00

Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market Street
don't phone

Once a famous Basque restaurant and bar on the edge of a working class Irish neighborhood of San Francisco that has morphed into a very cool and successful club featuring good contemporary music and performance art along with a wide variety of non profit special events, Cafe Du Nord has successfully changed with the times and proven resilient and able to fill the wants and needs of an audience that wants food, drink and entertainment in a club with character and class. Subterranean and below the Swedish American Club this room is rich with old woods, a great long bar, a pool table and some quaint and very limited seating to enjoy their damned good food. They offer one of the truly good nightclub burgers and at a fair price. The burger is made of a large, hand formed patty grilled to order that is served on a good, dense and toasted sesame seed bun with crisp, cold leaves of romaine, tomato and pickles. The large white steakhouse platter also carries three ramekins with condiments of high quality containing a grainy mustard, herbed catsup and aioli mayonnaise and some house cut fries that are delicious.

This hip club offers a pretty complete menu that includes a solid rib eye steak, some good fresh fish and a vegan pasta entree in addition to large and small salads, pizza's, soup, small plates, a veggie burger and a tofu burger to boast offering something for everyone. One of the small plates that is the perfect item to accompany their large selection of boutique or craft beers is a plate on mini corn dogs with that grainy mustard. The place is always noisy, cheerful, and busy because they do a lot of things very well and seem intent on keeping their loyal clientele coming back. The burger is really a winner and they do equally well with the drinks and entertainment so go for their burger as well as the music.

MoMo's

2006-12-31T15:15:00.000-08:00

MoMo's

760 Second Street - San Francisco - 415-227-8660

The ultimate San Francisco sports bar and restaurant featuring Peter Osborne and Bob Mulhern at the helm, and a staff of long term survivors of turf and bar wars the last three decades in this great city. This classy, sassy and masculine joint started when the Giant's were still trying to put together their great new ballpark and Peter Osborne signed a long term lease on faith and vision when the neighborhood was a wasteland. He and his investors built a truly sports bar and imbued it with dark wood, leather, sports memorabilia and character that set the tone for the area that emerged with the building of the stadium that is home to our Giant's. One of the things MoMo's did well from day one was a solid menu that has always featured a great burger. Hand formed and generous, the patty is large and cooked to order by a kitchen that shows respect for their customer and the food they present. Served on a large platter with excellent lettuce, tomato and onion with a nearly perfect bun that is the right consistency to absorb the juices and flavors of the broiled meat and condiments, this is a winner from the first bite to the last.

The French Fries are top notch and also house cut, not frozen, and cooked to order in a healthy oil that isn't laden with flavors of a lot of other fried foods. They offer a full menu and some great desserts as well as good side dishes to go with their terrific burgers. One of the great features of this joint is their large patio across from the ballpark where you can enjoy your burger in the afternoon sun with all the excitement of our national pastime surrounding you. This is the best burger within a stone's throw of our new Giant's ballpark whatever name it is carrying the day you go to MoMo's for their outstanding bur

Cafe Flore

2006-12-19T11:09:00.000-08:00

Café Flore
2298 Market Street – San Francisco
415-621-8579

One of the great Castro landmark eateries that has long offered organic, vegetarian and even vegan menu selections to the health conscious residents of the area, but with cache and a unique list of distinctions including a large outdoor patio protected by glass walls and space heaters, a great selection of coffee and tea specialties, great baked goods and superb people watching and eavesdropping. They are part self serve and part table service and it works well considering how busy they almost always are. They have an extensive menu for such a small kitchen and they emphasize healthy, organic selections in everything they offer. The burger is good quality beef although they don’t label it Niman Ranch, thank God! The patty was about 6 oz. and cooked to order and served on a toasted, dense artisan bun with generous slices of good, fresh tomato, onion and chopped lettuce. A Dijon style mayonnaise is spread on the bun and it is a good solid burger. The cheese was perfectly melted white cheddar and they offer pretty standard condiments and it makes for a great experience on their patio on a beautiful warm, clear day.

Café Flore doesn’t serve fries, instead partnering the burger with your choice of soup or salad. The salad is more of the chopped lettuce with the blandest dressing I’ve ever tasted and that was applied so sparingly I had to use my imagination to taste it. Their soups on the other hand are housemade, hearty and robust and are a great value and addition to the burger. It seems to always come back to the seductive and sensual outdoor patio and great people watching at this dynamic outdoor café, but the burger is a good quality, well prepared addition to the burger bible.

Chow

2006-12-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

Chow
215 Church Street – San Francisco
415-552-2469

A bastion of burger superiority in a sea of crass, incompetent pretenders with almost every quality that could make a burger enthusiast cry with glee. Located at a major intersection where the 22 Fillmore and Metro meet the old iron monsters at Market and Church near the heart of the Castro and always crowded with people of every age and background eager to enjoy a world class burger which is just another outstanding item on their superb menu which is served continuously morning, noon and night. This great place has a full bar, a patio, great servers, great prices and great ambience and is rocking with positive energy at all times. The burger comes in two basic iterations, their classic is oblong and cooked to order, served on a baguette and they offer a soft, fresh cooked round bun with patty also cooked nearly perfect time after time. Both burgers are made of a large, hand shaped patty of quality meat, and come with your choice of first rate cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion as well as delicious sliced pickles. The baguette or wonderful soft bun are both grilled to a light golden brown and they serve a housemade mayo and the standard selection of catsup and mustards. One of my favorite places to have a burger here is a window table watching all the pedestrian, vehicle, auto and cycle traffic converging on this dynamic corner having fresh strawberry lemonade or a cold frosty draft beer or even a fairly priced varietal while listening and observing action of all kinds.

Their burgers all come with housecut shoestring French fries which are always cooked to perfection and lightly salted. They also put a small salad on the plate which makes for a damned big and delicious meal. Chow is equally famous for some mighty fine homemade pies and desserts, so try and save room for fresh, homemade seasonal pies and some great ice cream. Cakes are also a specialty and their regular menu is outstanding also and worth a few trips in its own right. This is a great place for a burger in San Francisco, make this a must try.

Bistro Burger

2006-12-13T10:02:00.000-08:00

Bistro Burger
845 Market Street – San Francisco
415-495-2266
333 Bush Street – 415-434-3754
343 Sansome Street – 415-989-7566
21 Drumm Street – 415-772-9974
201 Mission Street - 415-348-8788

An upscale mini chain started in 1993 with the then bold idea of using only the finest ingredients, this is one of the more mediocre burgers offered by a place striving for excellence. Like most of the other upscale burger joints, they use Niman Ranch beef and make their own patties which taste good but that is the end of excellence for this burger lover. Inconsistent cooking always leaves a bad taste in my mouth and this operator either doesn’t train his cooks or they just don’t know how to differentiate between rare and well done. They offer a variety of presentations with the usual geographic names and all are OK when you overlook the game of chance you play asking for your burger medium rare or medium well. The bun is decent but is served cold and nothing adorns the thick, tasteless bread. The lettuce, tomato and onion can be inexcusable and often are because a recent offering came with a wilted, small single outer leaf of romaine, an almost green and rock hard small slice of tomato and a blackened and limp outer edge of red onion, all of which had to be discarded. The condiments are in small plastic packages and the fountain soda came in a small styrofoam cup and was flat due to lack of carbonation.

They also offer the same variety of geographic named chicken sandwiches as well as Salmon and Mahi Mahi and a hot dog. They serve several choices of fries and onion rings as well as frings which is a combo. The fries are house cut and come with a little skin left on but are salty and almost rancid from the cooking oil which is a shame. Service is on a par with your typical Carl’s Jr. in my opinion and again points to poor vision and execution by owner/management. Lack of attention to training and detail makes this a lousy burger choice.

Cafe for all Season's

2006-12-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

Café for all Season’s
150 West Portal Avenue – San Francisco
415-665-0900

Located in the heart of a village within San Francisco that seems a lifetime away, yet is a five minute ride on Muni Metro from downtown. It’s an unpretentious, almost bland diner type place that enjoys a large clientele of blue rinsed women of a certain age, but then everything in this neighborhood has that in common. Café for all Season’s has been around a long time, and the upholstered dining room chairs show if with their threadbare fabric. At the same time there is a cleanliness and earnestness that makes this place a welcome return to simpler and better times. The burger is upstanding and also simple with good meat cooked as ordered and served on a toasted baguette with a paper cup of tartar sauce, iceberg lettuce, hot house tomato and institutional pickles joined by two thin slices of red onion and it makes for a hearty and good burger. The place is decorated the way your grandmother’s house might have been in Eisenhower America of the 1950’s and they offer polyester napkins that move mistakes rather than absorb them. They offer a full American style menu and the burger is good but in no way exceptional.

The matchstick French fries are delicious and they claim they use no trans fat oils to cook them. They’re always piping hot when served too which shows good management and staff training although it’s not so obvious in water or coffee refills. They serve breakfast or brunch, lunch and dinner and the prices are moderate. Wine and beer and fountain drinks and homemade desserts which are overpriced and average are available at the restaurant and a deli and ice cream shop with their name up the street. A friendly and warm neighborhood place that serves a good burger.

Dottie's True Blue Cafe

2006-12-07T13:54:00.000-08:00

Dottie’s True Blue Café
522 Jones Street – San Francisco, CA
415-885-2767

What’s to say that you haven’t heard about this tiny, heart of the tenderloin café that does some of the best food in San Francisco, and burgers are no exception. Although it can be an adventure getting to the front door of this great American diner, and then learning you’re going to stand outside waiting for a seat, any seat, in this always packed place you are in for a great treat if you’re willing to go through all the hurdles to eating here. Tiny and homey, the scent of fresh baked goods wafting everywhere, smiling faces, animated conversations drowning out the pain that howls through this tough, dope riddled area where you almost stumble over crackheads and junkies smoking and shooting their way to messy oblivion the food here is uplifting and almost heavenly. The exposed kitchen reveals a lone, lean man working a series of stoves and grills making a vast array of food they serve from early morning to lid afternoon as they serve breakfast and lunch only and are closed on Tuesday’s. Their lunch menu offers up their Niman Ranch burger and it’s made to order and the vision behind it is rock solid and an inspiration to burger lovers anywhere who demand respect for this most important food offering. A lightly buttered bun, able to hold the delicious juices and moisture from the lettuce, tomato and condiments you choose to apply to your burger is a perfect counterpoint to the good meat cooked just right.

Dottie’s uses the best of everything and cooks it all with great dedication and passion so what you get is always several notches above the rest of the burger joints mentioned here so this is a benchmark place you can use to rate the others with authority. They offer up some great home fries most of the time or a small salad with impeccable ingredients and sometimes I’m told they offer great fries but not on my visits. They also offer tremendous breakfasts, desserts, baked goods and even have their own mini gift store that sells branded items to the throngs of tourists who stand in line every day to get in for their great food. This is a must visit.

Burgermeister

2006-12-05T09:38:00.000-08:00

Burger Meister
138 Church Street – San Francisco, CA
415-437-2874
86 Carl Street
415-566-1274
759 Columbus Avenue
415-296-9907

Another mini chain, locally based with great vision and delivery on that vision, they operate three places now in the City and are sure to keep expanding. Using really good ingredients, cooking them to order and serving them with the best condiments, pickles in warm, inviting burger joint surroundings that are clean and well maintained, this operation shines in San Francisco burger ratings. The beef is excellent and served in a couple sizes, all fresh and hand formed to generous bun fitting and mouth watering proportions then char grilled to perfection as you order. The bun is generous and stands up to the rich, flavorful juices that are absorbed and integrated in the bun and lettuce, tomato and onion and your choice of condiments which are premium and well chosen.

They offer turkey, veggie and a chicken sandwich as well as the basic Burgermeister burger which is a winner. Their fries are hand cut and blanched as well as cooked to order and disposed of before getting old and soggy. They offer some good salads and other items like onion rings a different version of potato as well as a good variety of fountain drinks and milk shakes. The staff are well trained, clean, respectful and do a very good job. This is a well intentioned and managed mini chain offering up some great burgers and diner fare.

Original Joe's

2006-12-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

Original Joe’s
144 Taylor Street – San Francisco, CA
415-775-4877
Started by the father and grandfather of the family now running this classic Italian restaurant located in the heart of the tenderloin, Original Joe's serves one of the best burgers ever produced in San Francisco. Marie Duggan, her husband, daughter and son can be found working this pioneer of mesquite grilling they've done since 1936. Booths are the seating arrangements unless you opt for the bar or counter fronting the exposed kitchen.

Sitting at that counter is one of the great educational and inspirational experiences a person who loves food can have. A white clad and mature chef within five feet of you will take the order for your burger and grab a huge handful of premium ground chuck and form it into a football field sized patty he then puts on the mesquite grill to start sizzling and crackling. He then grabs a whole loaf of fresh French bread, cuts it in half and then again lengthwise for the bread part of the meal you're soon going to enjoy. The only cheese option is an equally enormous slab of good jack cheese which is too think to actually melt but does start bending by the time the cheese covered meat is placed upon that fresh bread.

Now perched on a huge white platter with garnish of onion, lettuce, tomato, peppers, olives our chef reaches for the fryer basket and drops about a pound of the biggest fresh cut French Fries you've ever seen onto the plate so it is more than awesome, it's a mountain of food. I've been going to Original Joe's since 1946 and have only managed to finish a burger a handful of times, but the half I asked to be wrapped up to go home with has been a great and huge meal the next day. This is a great burger and a great place.

Bix

2006-12-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

Bix
56 Gold Street – San Francisco
415-433-6300

Nestled away in a tiny alley between bawdy Broadway and the majesty of the Transamerica pyramid is one of San Francisco’s classiest restaurants run by one of our best restaurant owner operators ever to grace the scene hereabouts, Doug Biederbeck. He’s a descendent of the late Bix Biederbeck of the world of Jazz and it shows in the design, décor, distilled spirits menu and the music that fills the elegant dining rooms and bar when its open. In addition to being a really great full service, white linen restaurant, Bix serves up a classic burger that rivals the best to be found at 21 in New York and at the celebrity chef places that dot Las Vegas like fleas on an old dog. Biederbeck is a maestro at everything connected to his restaurants and is always fine tuning and seeking perfection in every aspect of this place. The burger is a large, hand formed hunk of premium ground sirloin that is mesquite gilled to perfection and served on a lightly toasted custom burger roll with excellent lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle as well as the best condiments money can buy. Great hand cut, blanched Idaho russet potatoes are cooked to perfection in a high grade heart healthy oil and what is delivered is about as it gets.

Other sandwiches are offered including a great steak sandwich and they’ll gladly produce a vegetarian or poultry burger to customer specifications. The fries are first rate and come in a copious portion. One of the great and tasty appetizers here are the mini lamb burgers that are addictive and delicious. They’re like sliders and can make a perfect meal in themselves with a side of their great fries. Bix offers a continental menu with a lot of contemporary California and is overall pretty good, but it is the atmosphere most people keep coming back for time and again.

Absinthe

2006-12-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

Absinthe
398 Hayes Street – San Francisco
415-551-1590

One of the finest French Bistro’s in San Francisco and they do wonderful things with their version of the burger. They take Niman Ranch ground chuck and make a three or four ounce patty that they lightly season and cook as ordered. They put that with a choice of either gruyere or a good gorgonzola on a brioche like warm bun that holds and absorbs the flavors and nuances of the meat, bread, cheese and condiments. To this can be added some sautéed mushrooms, the pink pickled onions and cornichon already on the stark white platter and you start understanding the slavish devotion so many grown men and women have for the Absinthe burger experience. Add to this a silver chrome martini shaker of their near perfect pommes frites with their four distinct dipping sauces and it starts to become a joyous interlude with sexy food.

The bar and dining rooms are striking and beautiful, rich in wood and brass with gorgeous artifacts, furniture, floors and bar each claiming elegance and luxury in high style and fashion. The bar is always manned by two great looking master mixologists who know what they’re doing and do it very well. The hosts are usually warm and welcoming and the staff is reserved but polite. I don’t have a comparison place of equal or even lesser acclaim, but this is a great San Francisco restaurant that serves up great drinks and food and one of the great small burgers in the city. A must visit.

Houston's

2006-12-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

Houston’s
1800 Montgomery Street – San Francisco
415-392-9280

Across the street from Fog City Diner and almost next door to Levi Plaza where it meets the Embarcadero is this chain transplant the has earned the respect and envy of many other local restaurants in the city. Most chains meet with little success in San Francisco but Houston’s was a hit from day one. Housed in a contemporary building facing gardens and the waterfront, this American Bar & Grill with a full bar and top notch steak and chop house menu surprises with a really outstanding burger. A large hand formed patty weighing at least eight ounces and cooked to perfection over mesquite or grilled as you choose, then served on a large toasted bun with a generous slab of cheese of your choice and some good quality lettuce, tomato and onion and a huge portion of house cut thin fries that are addictive, this is heaven for a burger lover. They offer a very good garlic aioli and a big selection of condiments of superior quality and the whole experience is terrific.

This is a big restaurant and bar that also has a large area for eating and drinking outdoors as well as waiting since they don’t accept reservations for parties of less than six. They have a bar staff that knows all the current hot drinks and they make them very well. A full wine list, no corkage for California varietals and a bar menu make this a true destination restaurant that shines in almost all their food and beverage. The burger is a real star and many folks substitute their great mashed potatoes for their equally great fries. They have a beet based veggie burger than many swear by and their fire roasted whole artichoke is another work of art as are some of their desserts.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Ice Cream

2006-11-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

San Francisco is a subtle Ice Cream city, not so brash as to boast of The Good Humor Man plodding around town selling ice cream from his truck, but a visit to the Mission reveals dozens of push carts carrying many varieties of frozen icicle bars with the vendor ringing his bicycle bell to draw young and old customers to his fresh frozen fruit bars which are delicious. We can also boast that we're home to It's It, the unique ice cream sandwiches made famous by the World Fair in 1939 at Treasure Island and many a kid's childhood staple at the long gone Playland at the Beach. Swenson's started here as did Double Rainbow and many great small businesses still make local boutique ice creams and gelato's here that are considered among the best anywhere.

We've got Mitchell's which is some of the richest and creamiest ice cream known to man. We can point with pride to Joe's out on Geary at 18th Avenue and Bombay on Valencia. Some independent gelato makers can be found in North Beach near old St. Peter's and Paul Cathedral as well as in the Ferry Building Farmer's Market. We're also in the mix of large home grown dairy's that make some well know major brands like Dreyer's which is national and offers many brands including distributing many of the national boutique labels. Some of finest restaurants and diner's even make their own ice creams and sorbets as well. There is nothing quite as marvellous as a great milk shake with a burger, or a sundae after. This cold weather city goes to great length to offer many varieties of world class ice cream and I wish I had time to focus on all of them.

2006-11-26T16:34:00.000-08:00

The Washington Square Bar & Grill

2006-11-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Washington Square Bar & Grill
1707 Powell Street – San Francisco
415-982-8123

Located on the western side of Washington Square Park in the heart and soul of North Beach is the first great saloon of a trio of transplants who gave San Francisco one of its best saloons ever, the Washbag. Ed and Mary Etta Moose and the late Sam Dietsch conspired with the best of intentions to grace we left coasters with a saloon where people who are the center of the culture and political life of our city would gather to dine, drink and dish together in good will and hard times. This dynamic trio imbued their soon to be bustling restaurant and saloon with good food as well as good drink and the chance to watch movers and shakers from around the world enjoy the freedom a great saloon offers all who gather to relax and share the days doings. An important part of their menu from the first day was a burger, and thank God, it still is.

They started a lot of great traditions never duplicated and they also gave us a great burger that was the perfect marriage of Italian pride and Irish stubbornness with a Jewish mother thrown in to make it all work. A generous hunk of hand formed ground chuck, grilled to order and served on real 'North Beach French Bread' was what they gave us and current owner Guy Ferri, after a rocky start, still delivers to the politically savvy, artistic relevant and irreverent wannabes who flock to this bohemian, beat, hip and happening saloon that serves a great burger. There’s nothing quite like having one of their great burgers at the bar as one of the best bartenders in America mixes a perfect drink or pulls a great chilled draft beer. Great burgers in great surroundings.

Moose's

2006-11-26T16:08:00.000-08:00

Moose’s
1652 Stockton Street – San Francisco, CA 94133 – 415-989-7800
www.mooses.com

Ed and Mary Etta Moose, along with Sam Dietsch started their San Francisco saloon keeping careers across Washington Square Park on Powell Street with the creation of the infamous Washington Square Bar & Grill, affectionately known for decades as the ‘Washbag’ that still graces the park under different ownership. After years of being the hippest media, political and cultural watering hole in town, this spirited team took a breather and regrouped so they could evolve and bring forth the fabulous Moose’s. Both saloons are great and each has always served a great burger, the kind that powerful and widely traveled people grow used to where ever they go and that is consistently outstanding in every way. Moose’s offers a white linen experience in a dining area and bar that reminds one of a picture perfect, modern urban town hall overlooking the town square. Elegantly sophisticated and timeless, this warm and inviting place feels like a kid glove and fits that well. The dining room is expansive, clean and simple with a discreet black baby grand piano midway between entrance, bar and dining room.

Noise is kept within reason by good design and the tone set by Ed Moose who hold forth like all great publicans, with charm, grace and authority. When ordering the burger, one sees it’s a proud part of the menu and they treat it with respect. Fine ground chuck hand formed to a large patty and cooked to order, then served on a lightly toasted bun that is well designed to absorb drippings and contain all one puts in the bun to complement the meat and bread, this is just right. Generous amount of good lettuce, tomato and red onion, a pickle and a choice of condiments round out their offering, and their fries are delicious, cooked to perfection and generous in portion. This place is great for people watching, table hopping, great bar tenders and focal point in any time spent in beautiful North Beach.

The Royal Exchange

2006-11-26T16:03:00.000-08:00

Royal Exchange
301 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA
415-956-1503

Deep in the canyons of the financial district is this well worn and trustworthy pub like institution that has putting out robust burgers for more than a quarter century. It boasts the biggest bar in San Francisco and a pretty good burger. The menu is on a ticker tape piece of paper which probably has no meaning to today’s young stockbrokers who make up a large part of the clientele here and it’s simple and straight forward. The ingredients are good, not the best, but good and the food is well prepared but this is really a pub that serves food rather than a restaurant that takes great pride in their food.

Staff is friendly and usually smiling like you might expect at an Irish Pub if you were traveling through Ireland, and its also usually crowded and loud with a lot of televisions blaring out sports from around the globe. Lot’s of young urban professionals venting tension and proudly making the scene round out this burger experience where food is just a part of a greater social phenomena.

Good fun place with dozens of draft beers, hundreds of great looking gals and guys as well as a pretty good burger.

Darla's

2006-11-26T16:01:00.000-08:00

Darla’s
822 Irving Street – San Francisco, CA
415-753-3275

Darla’s is the darling of burger joints in the inner sunset and has been serving up their excellent version for a long time. Never be put off by the fact that Darla’s is seldom crowded because that seems to go with this neighborhood. I used to be afraid of any restaurant that wasn’t packed, but today I am grateful. Darla’s offers a burger deluxe that is two third pound rectangular patties grilled perfectly, topped with two slices of American cheese they melt just right and then they dress the lightly toasted French roll and put their condiments on and add their lightly salted shoestring fries in a large portion and you can even have this repast outside on their patio which is urban heaven for this city dweller.

Taking a moment to reflect on why Darla’s isn’t more crowded and bustling brings to mind several possible observations that include the design and décor which always feels unfinished and unimportant to the owners. There is a feeling that they could use someone who knows and understands Feng Shui to try and give them a better chance at the success their food quality deserves. The staff are friendly and helpful but also seem remote and stand offish which doesn’t breed acclaim and devotion. This is a great neighborhood diner type restaurant close to Golden Gate Park that serves up a great burger, but also does excellent comfort food brunch and dinners.

Joe's Cable Car

2006-11-26T15:21:00.000-08:00

Joe’s Cable Car
4320 Mission Street – San Francisco, CA 415-334-6699

Long listed as home of one of the great San Francisco burgers, this outer Mission joint works in spite of itself. Operated by the same Joe since 1965 when he started serving a fresh ground chuck burger from a tiny grill with a window and slowly expanding to the simulated cable car that today offers indoor seating and a more diverse menu. Ala Carte is the style and the offerings are really good. The meat is trimmed and ground every day in their own butcher shop and is served in three sizes. The bun is specially made to accommodate Joe’s juicy high quality meat that is cooked medium rare unless ordered otherwise. The place is filled with all kinds of clutter that covers every inch of wall space and spills over where ever a space reveals itself.

Joe’s offers nine choices of cheese which itself is astounding and almost daunting but again illustrates his commitment to giving his customers the best burger experience they can ever have. Fries are outstanding and cooked to order using hand cut Idaho taters that have a distinct and fresh taste. The burgers are served open faced so you can see all of the meat and the toasted bun and dress it anyway you choose. They really show great care and dedication to serving the highest quality burger and fries and they consistently accomplish their mission. A great burger.

The Bull's Head

2006-11-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

The original Bull's Head is up in West Portal near the entrance to the Metro tunnel to go back downtown and its an institution that just added an outpost on 18th Street near Collingwood in the Castro. Famed for their burgers and long offering buffalo as a choice in their burger repetroire, they do a good job with a lot of unusual choices in this erzatz steak house doubling as a pub from a very foreign place. The ingredients are all good, and the prices are fair, but for some reason the whole thing always feels incomplete to this writer. The service might be part of my challenge with this place because the wait staff are either indifferent or over zealous in selling add ons which isn't good even in a Burger King. Sometimes the meat is cooked perfectly, and some times its so far away from how ordered it has to go back. On a good day, everything works and is good which makes for a terrific burger experience and one leaves with that deep satisfaction only a good burger, brew and fries can give a strapping lad or lassie. One other thing that might dampen my enthusiasm for The Bull's Head is lack of attention to cleanliness, but its not obvious or threatening, just a persistent lack of attention to detail, and coupled with erratic service and delivery as ordered it can be disappointing. A great place when it works and well worth a visit just to see it.

Bob's Steak & Chop House

2006-11-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

Located in the Omni Hotel at 500 California Street across from the sculpted metal banker's heart in front of the former world headquarters of Bank of America sits a handsome import steak and chop house that serves up an outstanding burger. A clubby room with white linen, fine carpets and great service, this joint knows good beef and uses the best here. They carry this thinking out with the best ingredients and fixings money can buy which makes this a good value at the relatively high price they ask for their premium burger. They add a well balanced and fresh bun, lightly toasted, to the meat which is a huge portion and plate it on good china and add your choice of great cheese, melted perfectly, excellent fries or onion rings, fresh produce and top flight condiments. The fries here are worth noting as are the onion rings, and like I said it brings meaning to the phrase stolen by one of the fast food burger chaings when they advertise their 'Whopper' which is a whisper compared to this huge offering.

What makes a great burger?

2006-11-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

I think a hamburger, better yet a cheeseburger, is one of the great tests of a chef, cook, owner or operator of a restaurant that cares about their reputation as well as their customers. When you stop and think, a good burger has almost everything in the classic food pyramid and offers a restaurant more opportunities to make it good or bad than just about any other food item on their menu. Starting with the vision of what they consider a burger to be, then what will go into it and how they'll present it and at what price and with what accompanyments, it's an excercise in choice from start to finish that is pretty complicated, or should be. All kinds of meat can go into a great burger, usually some kind of ground beef is used and it can vary in fat content and type of beef widely. Fat content determines taste for many, but I've had great grass fed beef in burgers as well as Kobe which has more marbling than Winston Churchill's heart. What does the chef or restaurant want to say determines the meat or basic ingredient, but with care, all meat can make a great burger. Then we look at what the burger will be encased and served in, usually some kind of a bun or roll, but focaccia and wraps have become popular and choices are limited only by the imagination. Does the chef want to toast the bun, buttered or brushed with olive oil, perhaps with garlic? Choices start becoming legion and they change the finished burger with each different choice. Will it be a light, airy wonder bread type bun with no character and little ability to absorb all that is inside or will it have the capacity to absorb and hold the burger together? Cheese, the kind and quality come into play now, and will it be melted or added after the meat is cooked? The variety of cheeses available at gourmet burger places these days is astounding and joyous. Then we come to the lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles; again a huge variety of choice; then condiments including catsup, mustard, mayonnaise and special sauces of infinite variety and composition. Finally presentation and pricing make this a work of art and time consuming effort. It is also usually one of the least expensive of all whole meals in a restaurant and not a great inducement to spend a lot of time creating, but the true chef, cook, owner or operator knows damned well that smart people have always judged a restaurant by their commitment to putting out a great burger.

Sparky's Diner

2006-11-02T11:25:00.000-08:00

Sparky's Diner

Sparky's is a fixture for all sorts of Castro folks as well as people crossing town on the 22 Fillmore, F line or J Church Metro as well as Safeway shoppers and local area residents and students at Mission High. It's funky and stale like cigarette smoke in the hair, but it's fun and they play and replay music from an era long gone to lend authenticity to the ambience they think we want and need to accompany the burgers, fries and shakes.

The burgers are pretty straight foward, a decent meat patty, a toasted bun, some torn head lettuce, a slice of unripe tomato and thin slices of wilten red or white onion. The fries are good, portions vary widely for no reason, but the fries if still hot are really fine. The guys and dolls who take orders and serve it all can be pretty spacy, but they're almost always really nice and doing the best they can so it's mellow. Most are covered with tattoo's and piercings and are really young, but they care and don't seem like automatons. One of the cool things here is they let you pick and choose from a two column menu so you can have a burger and spinach salad for half the price of a burger and salad across the street at Chow. It could use a little updating I suppose but that would be such a cave in to the BS that drives the real diners into extinction. Sparky's is a great diner with a lot of flair and pizzaz.

Izzy's Steak & Chop House

2006-10-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

People have said time and again that Sam DuVall is the restaurant king of San Francisco and this is another example of his brilliant handwork that also happens to provide one of the best burgers available in the marina district of San Francisco, where food is revered and taken very seriously by upscale residents and shoppers who support more beauty product stores per block than any other area of the city. There are also some mighty fine restaurants and joints that do a great burger in the Marina. Sam opened this meat 'Mecca' several decades ago and he's also opened branches in other parts of the state with equal success. The reasons the burger is so good here are simple and straightforward. Good, honest ingredients, a large high quality product at a fair price in an exciting and fun atmosphere are part of the charm and reality of this joint as well as great service. This is a fun place that offers a sophisticated wine list, full bar, some great desserts including the best authentic Key Lime Pie available in the city. The burgers are huge with great beef, bun, cheese, produce and more condiments than any burger joint ever dreamed possible. Being a world class steak house, the condiments represent DuVall's commitment to always being the best at everything he does and serves and this is a great burger.

Clown Alley

2006-10-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Located at Columbus Avenue and Jackson Streets in between North Beach and the financial district is this reborn creation and legacy of the maestro of culture and epicurean cafe life, Enrico Banducci who started it more than half a century ago. Bancucci also gave us Enrico's on Broadway, still packing them in after opening as the first legal sidewalk cafe in San Francisco, the world famous 'hungry i' and who coined the name 'Purple Onion' for the joint where Phyllis Diller became a star. Banducci saw a need and filled it, but like everything Enrico did it was done with style and substance and was to become an institution. He sold it to a man who gave it to his son who ran it for three decades and then retired as others tried to make it everything but a great burger joint, and failed trying. That man chose to bring back Clown Alley a few years ago and it thrives again today. The burgers are not as good as I remember them many years ago, but its a real bargain and its a good, greasy burger with good cheap fries. They offer a great condiment bar with plenty to choose from and there is no burger joint in San Francisco that offers better people watching. Its busiest during the lunch hours when white collar workers from the financial district flock to their outdoor patio and inside view tables for a cheap and substantial burger, fries and shake. A must see burger destination, at least once.

Barney's Gourmet Burgers

2006-10-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

Barney's is a small, independent chain based in San Francisco that made its reputation for offering a variety of really 'gourmet' burgers along with excellent salads, soups, vegetarian, turkey and other 'faux' burgers and some of the best fries around. They're located on Steiner between Lombard and Chestnut and on 24th Street just West of Castro in the city. Both locations have outdoor seating and have complete menu's that feature their great burgers in a variety of presentations. The beef and bun are top shelf as are the lettuce, tomato, onion and condiments. Their fries and onion rings are really good too and they fry with the right oils and off heart friends choices in all categories of their menu. They also are one of the few burger joints that have some really good deserts and everything they sell comes in huge portions so its all great value. The staff in the two places in the city are kind of lax and sloppy, but very friendly so its easy to overlook. The burgers are among the best available locally.

Mels Drive-In

2006-10-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mels Drive-in was bestowed upon San Francisco first by Mel Weiss and then years later by his son Steven. One of the first successful mini chain Drive-In restaurant joints in San Francisco it inspired movies, mayhem, marriages and countless misdeeds for many generations of young people. The essence of a drive-in for us kids was cruising and being seen by our peers, trying to look and feel better by the cars we drove and the boys and girls we dated. Never a citadel of burger excellence, they nevertheless sold hundreds of thousands of these meat sandwiches then and continue doing so as a mini chain of sit down diners rather than the classic Drive-ins. They offer a variety of burgers and claim to cook them all to order, but it's a somewhat sloppy presentation often light on quality and long on mediocrity. My three primary gripes with Mels are inconsistency of the burger and service, skimpy portions and their problem cooking burgers as ordered. These joints are fun, very noisy with great juke boxes, waiters and waitresses in genuine old Drive-in constumes of that era and they will help celebrate birthdays with enthusiasm and abandon. Priced somewhere in the middle of the burger price scale, its just not a high quality burger. As of now there are locations adjacent to Moscone Center on Mission at 4th, Van Ness Avenue at Geary, Lombard Avenue near Steiner and a couple others. Check em out online at http://www.melsdrive-in.com/

In-N-Out

2006-10-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Like most American's I kept hearing about In-N-Out burgers from my friends who travel by car in the western states and they always raved about these great burgers, their fries, the secret sauce, the cleaniness of their opertions and the friendliness of the staff at all their locations. After a long time dissing all the hoopla they finally opened in San Francisco and the hype was all true. I can't say its any one thing, but man it speaks volumes about the way they do everything. The meat is good and cooked just right, the bun is great and also lightly toasted. The sauce is tasty and applied in the perfect amount, the produce is frest, the staff so pleasant and helpful its almost sinful. And the place is clean and civilized although over run by hungry throngs of tourists who flock to Fisherman's Wharf where this chain that is so much better than any chain I've ever supported in the past. Consistency is an art form, and they have it married to style and functionality and produce great burgers that put almost every chain burger to shame.

The Holding Company

2006-10-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

For more than three decades the man in this picture, Mike Walsh and his wife Marsha have been grilling great burgers at Embarcadero Center Two in the financial district. Pioneers in many ways, Mike and Marsha and a staff of celebrated bartenders, cooks and waiters have entertained the high and mighty of the world of commerce right in the center of things. Their burger is a knock out, top quality meat, bun, cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato, high quality mustards, catsup and mayonnaise all put together consistently and with care show the dedication of this unique restaurant and saloon to their mission of providing top notch pub food in great ambience and atmosphere with laughs and a lot of great memories in the making. The passion of a publican is celebrated by Mike and Marsha who both have worked the grill as well as the bar over their long run in this great burger joint for all these years.

Taylor's Refresher

2006-10-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

Relatively new to San Francisco and in the wonderland of the restored Ferry Building which is the best thing I've ever seen in local redevelopment is Taylor's Refresher where a really good burgers are to be had. Long and institution in the Napa and Sonoma Valley, they branched out and chose the city as their first outpost, and a marriage made in heaven is what it's turned out of be for all who visit the Ferry Building with a yen for a burger. And a very good burger it is, featuring very good meat, bun, produce, condiments, their own special sauce and even the old fashioned presentation. Cooked to order, great fries and shakes available along with many other great sides and sandwiches along with top notch salads. The ass kicker is that outdoor seating on both the front and back of the Ferry Building which makes this a truly unique burger, even in San Francisco.

Perry's

2006-10-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Perry's forever changed the dining and drinking scene in San Francisco and at the same time brought great pub food from Manhattan to San Francisco. One of the first joints to take a large handful of high quality of ground chuck and form it into a flattened ball and then grill it to order, adorn it with fine fixings and great condiments and set a citywide standard for burgers ever after, this is what most local burgers have been measured against since Perry Butler left Madison Avenue and became a saloon keeper on the left coast. Perry's grills the high quality bun, grills the meat to order, offers a choice of fine cheese and produce and excellent condiments. Linen napery, unlimited bread sticks and butter are also trademarks of this pre-eminent singles bar with great food and drinks. The burgers come with excellent fries, cold slaw or potatoe salad on china and every table in the joint has worn a blue and white checked table cloth since day one. Consistency and high standards in the food,d drinks and service have made Perry's a perennial destination for burger gourmands from far and near.

Balboa Cafe

2006-10-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

Formerly owned by Mayor Gavin Newsom and his Plumpjack group and before that a bait shop that catered to deep sea fishing boat operators, this place is world famous for the 'Balboa Burger' which was one of the first anywhere that the burger was a long, narrow rectangle place in a grilled baguette. A delicious and unique presentation that actually was the idea of Jack Slick and Doyle Moon who transformed the Balboa from that bait and beer joint into an upscale bistro that was one of the most popular bars in San Francisco since the day they remodeled and opened with the great pub menu. Pictured is a traditional round burger, also available, with their outstanding fries. The Balboa uses the best ingredients from start to finish, is a white linen joint with a professional, hip and relaxed staff from the door to the floor. This place is packed from the moment they open til the moment they close, but the burgers are available all hours they're open and the round burger known as the bar burger is a real steal. It's very common to see the Mayor, the biggest names on the social scene, famed conductors of our symphony and cable cars as well as tourists from every corner of the globe devouring these great burgers at all times of the day and night.

Cafe Andre in the Hotel Rex

2006-10-19T18:10:00.000-07:00

Cafe Andre in Hotel Rex was the last place I ever thought I'd find one of the best burgers I've ever had anywhere. Chip Conley is the vision behind this great burger because he shapes each of his hotels as he see's a great publication and here he built the Rex based on his shared vision of The New Yorker. Adding to that high end magazine vision, Chip allows the food operator at his hotels to practice culinary art and expression pretty much as they see fit, providing they are visionary and truly commited themselves to the highest standards of food quality and a consistent food and beverage experience for his guests who may be local or world travelers. Cafe Andre is not the type of place that one would think would turn out such excellence. The theme feels French and mediterannean, small, cozy and very comfortable. The service is good, casual and professional while keeping a boundary between customer and server but allowing for conversation beyond the weather. The meat here is top notch, ditto for the bun, lettuce, tomatoe and onions as well as all the condiments. The french fries are as good as ever served in a Parisian Brasserie and addictive in their own right. Wine and beer, great salads, interesting special events and solid excellence are all trademarks of this particular burger and the place that cooks it to order.

Flipper's

2006-10-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

Flipper's takes their burgers seriously and puts out a variety of cutely named choices that are consistently among the best of the breed here in San Francisco. The place leaves a little to be desired from a tidybowl point of view, but sitting next door to Marlena's,

one of our better nightclubs welcoming gender illusionists and those who seek a change of identity along with clothes, it invites diversity along with warmth and tolerance. The burgers are substantial, with quality meat, a well balanced and grilled bun, good fresh tomatoes, lettuce and onion and excellent dill spears. The giant burgers come with both fries and salad in copious portions and high quality. I love their ranch cut fries and the spring salad mix comes with a great balsamic vinaigrette or some high quality creamy dressings. They offer three or four types of mustard and Heinz catsup but use a cheap, inferior mayonaise like so many otherwise great burger joints do and I'll never understand why. Flipper's also has a large outdoor patio that is perfect most of the year and has umbrella topped tables with comfortable patio chairs. The servers are mostly chicks with great motherly love and tender instincts and provide great contemporary diner service. They serve some of the best burgers in San Francisco as well as some great salads and terrific brunches.

Another burger, another day...

2006-10-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many burgers I've eaten in my 65 years on Planet Earth and how much sensuous joy those meat sandwiches have given me, and I think of some of the best ones and how I chose to remember them as so good. As a kid down in Palo Alto, I remember our backyard barbecue that Dad grilled so many hand formed ground chuck patties on and then placed on a grilled warm bun with the melted cheese slowly sliding off. Tomatoes from my grandmothers Los Altos farm and the onions and lettuce bought from the produce truck that drove by the house every afternoon of the year. Best Foods on the west coast and Hellman's on the east coast were the only two mayonaise's I ever ate and I loved them both. As a kid I only knew mustard from French's and catsup from Heinz and sometimes we added Heinz sweet pickle relish to the mix. The there was Kirk's on the El Camino Real, The Dutch Goose, Rossotti's and the Oasis. There were Bonander's and Marquard's Drivc In's where they put your burger and shake on the window of your front door as other cars circled endlessly around the Drive In. We had the fancy burgers at Rickey's Studio Inn and other fine restaurants and of course we came to San Francisco, The City, for even more exotic burgers. As a kid I went to school in Paris and London and used to go to The U.S. Embassy is each city and have cheeseburgers like at home in the embassy dining rooms with a cold bottle of Schlitz. Oh yeah, the burger is a huge part of my life and I still love them.

Trader Vic's

2006-10-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

Trader Vic's was part of my life from the first day and I finally was given a wallet card by the late Vic Bergeron who created Hinky Dink's which morphed into the world famous Trader Vic's at a later time. For much of my life Cosmo Alley, named many believe for Vic Bergeron, was home to the Polynesian quonsset hut revered and adored by San Franciscans and travelers of all stripes and callings. Never known for burgers, but one was always available, Vic's primary purpose was to bring fun to upscale dining and they have been masters for many generations. Currently on Golden Gate Avenue in the original home of Jeremiah Tower's equally famous Star's, I recently joined a table of local journalists for lunch and tried the current version of their burger and I'm here to tell you it was excellent and a good deal compared to some of the other fine dining burgers. A large burger with a choice of cheese and a humongous amount of hand cut fries (prepared perfectly) was cooked just as ordered, charred medium well, topped the large white platter adorned with great chilled bibb lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, good red onions and those great fries. The condiments were served in porcelin ramekins and all were top notch. They also offer a variety of other condiments from their unique menu that can be great with a burger. Service is excellent, and the quality was up there with the best. It feels a little like Star's did and a few more giant plants might soften and remind some of us of the original, but its still one of the really great legendary San Francisco fine burger joints. They also know and practice the art of five star service with elan.

Lark Creek Steak

2006-10-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Newest burger joint here in Baghdad by the Bay is Bradley Ogden's brand new operation, Lark Creek Steak in the new Bloomingdale addition to San Francisco Center. A neutral, almost sterile place that reminded me of a gray, modern, industrial and upscale cafeteria, it's unsettling to feel warm in a cold setting but that may be the success of the designer trying to present the steakhouse in a 21st century frame. The burger was the reason for this visit, so I went to the small nine stool bar behind the entrance on the floor halfway to the new Century Theater complex that is an anchor part of the development. The bar was manned by two husky young guys in the house uniform which appears to be black pants and a black and brown stiped shirt worn by all the serving staff who all appeared to be healthy, corn fed midwestern kids with big smiles and eager to please. The menu suggests a large burger of great beef on a good house made roll with house cut fries. The fries are truly delicious, among the best I've ever had. The burger came with a choice of cheese, white cheddar, blue and a jack style in a generous portion. The burger was undercooked, but featured excellent beef and the cheese was melted perfectly. The bun was toasted but tasted like a pillow of cotton like wonder bread and almost distracted from the high quality of everything else on the plate. The fries deserve a hall of fame ranking and are worth the trip. The burger is priced at $15.00 at this writing and is overpriced. The Lark Creek team are dedicated and really professional food people and I felt they are going in the direction of making a steak house in the manner of a fast food institutional food operation. The constant erasing of color and character in today's trend setting restaurants is a curious phenomena because the comfort was in the luxuriousness and distinctive bravado the rich woods and red leather so long defined the American steak house.

The Grubstake

2006-10-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

Had a Grubstake again last night to compare to some other recent burger samplings and once again am comforted by the consistency and simplicity of their burgers, service, staff and ambience. They know my gang and I so well that they not only roll out the red carpet, but they know everyone by first name and what we eat and drink down to specific requests for how many pickles one in the gang wants but also to special dressing requests (blue cheese) for fries from one of us. The burger is about six or seven ounces, grilled to order and served on a toasted standard burger bun. Depending on the season, the condiments, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles will shine or be ordinary, but they always try to offer the best, freshest and tastiest stuff to go with the basic burger. They make a mean hot sauce that looks like a green goddess dressing and a thick, rich blue cheese salad dressing that is better than Ruth's Chris, the highest standard. They only offer cheddar, jack or blue for the cheese topping, but all good stuff. The only weak link in their line up is a cheap and inferior mayonaise. The fries are cooked to order and are house cut and they cook them to order, which is a real rarity in my experience. So most in our gang are spoiled with crispy fries, in generous portions and when someone feels slighted in the amount of taters on their plate, a huge platter of more fires is brought to the table on the house. The catsup, mustard and mayo come in squeeze bottles and are fine except the mayo as mentioned above. Service is fantastic, the place is as friendly as eating with Ozzie and Harriet in another century.

2006-10-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Barbary Coast Burger Bible where we explore and communicate about the glorious hamburger in its many beautiful incarnations. We hope to start out focusing on the history of the burger as a food that contains all the elements necessary for nutritional balance. You have meat, bread, produce, cheese is an option and a variety of condiments and side dishes that typically accompany this amazing and hearty food. We'll explore where the sandwich came from, the many ways its prepared and served and all the places to enjoy this fabulous food from the chains of McDonald's and Jack in the Box to the lofty heights of great hotels and five star french restaurants. We're going to focus on San Francisco where the Barbary Coast was home to a lot of bachelor gold miners always hungry for meat and potatoes at a fair price. So I invite each of you to start sharing what you know or have heard about the beginnings of burger lore here in San Francisco. Don't hesitate to share your experiences with dining on burgers of style and substance in this fair city and tell us your concept of the perfect burger.