Zuni Cheeseburger at Zuni Cafe, San Francisco CA

This burger has been hyped in different forums, and it's been stated as 'the best burger in Bay area' for multiple times. The fact is that it really doesn't fall under burger joint category but I decided to give it a try after all the recommendations.

Zuni Cafe is a pretty well-known, award winning Mediterranean style restaurant in San Francisco. It was established in 1979, and it sits on Market Street between Civic Centre and Castro areas. Zuni is known for their extensive selection of exquisitely fresh, pristine oysters and really excellent roasted chicken. Atmosphere is relaxed, service is friendly, and their interior is really spacious with minimalistic details, huge windows and partly open kitchen with wood owen.

So what did I ate? My burger was:

"Mesquite grilled house-ground hamburger with Gruyère on grilled rosemary focaccia with garden lettuces, aioli, and Zuni pickles."

Before I go into details let's make couple of things clear:

1. This burger is not just any burger, it's a gourmet burger from gourmet restaurant menu.

2. This was the first time I got some house bread and butter served on my table while I was waiting my burger.

3. I expected this to be expensive but $16.55 with sales tax is robbery for a single burger, gourmet or not.

4. And finally, this was propably one of the best burgers I have tasted. Yes, it's gourmet and it's expensive but I can finally say 'What A Burger'!

Their meat is, naturally, organic and grown in sustainable way, it's juicy and tasty, and it was perfect medium rare as ordered. The meat was coarsly grounded and when I pressed gently from the top of the patty, it was just oozing juice. Perfect! Focaccia bread was grilled from the one side so that it was crisp from the inside and soft from the outside. The bottom part of Focaccia soaked in all the juices that squeezed out from the patty. The garden lettuce was fresh, crispy and marinated with the juices from the meat. House pickles were two types of marinated onion and pickle. Really tasty. And as 'a cherry on the top' I added some dijon mustard which was brought to table as condiment.

This was absolutely delicious burger. Recommended!

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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94102
+1-415-552-2522
www.zunicafe.com


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Another Cheeseburger at Hamburgers, Sausalito CA

We went for a walk on Sunday and had a burger at Hamburgers, again. Yes, I'm boring, two posts in the row about the same place. Well, I was young and I needed my vitamin X. It's close, it's good so what can I do!?

Mexican boys behind the counter wasn't as busy as last time so my burger topped the previous tasting. This was perfectly cooked medium, with real grill taste from the flames, fresh condiments - this was even more excellent than my previous try couple of days ago.

Here's couple of more images about the place: rotating grill through a greasy blurred window, the menu on the wall, and of course a close up of a perfect cheeseburger.

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Hamburgers
737 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
+1-415-332-9471


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Cheeseburger at Hamburgers, Sausalito CA

We just moved to Sausalito and I've been driving through the tourist-filled downtown several times and smelled some divine grill smell. Yesterday my wife finally spot the source and spot me the place, which was a small burger stall right in the middle of prime Sausalito tourist area. Today I decided to give it a try after my ferry ride from San Francisco. I joined the endless line of people and waited my turn. The local guy in front of me happened to know a bit of history about the place so I got proper update while waiting my burger.

The place is simply called Hamburgers. Despite their not-so-original name the place has been there for over 25 years. Current owner bought the place a few years ago and the previous Asian owner really make the place famous with her world famous burgers. The recipe for their success has been simple since the beginning: Fresh ingredients, rotating flame-broil grill, prime location with endless flow of tourist around the year, and of course the tasty burgers.

I was told that they use to ground their own meat on location and everything was really fresh. The new owner changed direction a bit and he only uses organic ingredients. Their beef comes from Creekstone Farms and it's USDA certified black angus - 100% vegetarian, hormone and antibiotis free meat. And the cheese is Finnish Lappi (Finlandia) cheese.

Their signature has been the rotating grill which sits behind their only window. Window is blurred with grease and flames hit high when the juices from the burgers hit the flames and the smell is ventilated to the street. That's proper marketing for your nose and eyes if you happen to walk by the place.

So, after a while I finally made my way inside the place. Burger options are simple, you can have hamburger or cheeseburger. They also serve chicken and steak sandwiches, hot dogs, super beef burrito and fries. Everything on it means lettuce, tomato, onion, relish, mayo, mustard and ketchup. Prices are high, $6.60 for a cheeseburger and $2.55 for the fries. Prime location definetly has its effect to the prices.

When I crossed the door step I was already asked my order and they gave me a waiting number. I ordered a Cheeseburger with everything on it except ketchup. I stayed in the line until I reached to the counter, paid and got my burger wrapped in paper. They only have three tables inside and most of the people eat their burger on the street or in the park across the street. So I squeezed myself out of the place and headed to a park across the street.

I opened the wrap and enjoyed my burger in the sunshine and felt like a happiest guy in the world. My nearest burger joint serves excellent burger which taste like home made. This burger was really good; tasty, fresh and perfectly stacked with a proper homemade feel in it. Recommended!

Next time I will call my order in to avoid the long waiting time in line. They had a note on the wall saying: If you live in the area, call your order in, it will be ready when you get here.

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Hamburgers
737 Bridgeway
Sausalito, CA 94965
+1-415-332-9471


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Cheeseburger at Original Joe's, San Francisco CA

Original Joe's is a well known restaurant in San Francisco. It sits on the out-skirts of dodgy Tenderloin area near to Market Street and it has 70 years of history.

The first Original Joe's was established in San Francisco by Louis Rocca and Tony Rodin in 1937. The little restaurant initially consisted of two counters and a row of booths. As business grew, Louis and Tony leased a vacant space next to them that allowed the addition of a full dining room. Later, further space became available next to the dining room enabling the addition of a full bar, thus completing Original Joe's in San Francisco. The second Original Joe's was opened in May 1956 and it's located in San Jose.

Original Joe's serves a wide variety of foods themed more toward Italian food. They serve over 100 entrees including a large variety of salads and soups, sandwiches, roasts, veal, chicken, fish, pasta, steaks and chops along with a variety of omelets and other dishes. Their signature is extremely large portions of food regardless of what you order and penguin suited, only male waitrons (or at least during the time a visited the place). The atmosphere and the waitrons were friendly and they seemed to know every other customer by name.

Large portions means large burgers. You have three choices: the Original Joe's burger with or without cheese, a Diet Plate which has hamburger steak with tomatoes and cottage cheese, and your third choice is a Joe's Special which has fresh spinach, eggs and mushrooms mixed with ground chuck (this is something that could really make your arteries sing). All sandwiches are served on sourdough French bread and include fresh hand cut steak fries.

I had the original Joe's Burger with cheese: 12 ounces of ground chuck on a French loaf with cheese. Cheese was white cheddar and the big slap was covered with it. Burger was served with hand cut steak fries. And that's it - a bread, a big slap of meat and cheese - no condiments of any kind. I poured some mustard and started to destroy this monster. The slap was made medium well as ordered and it was mildly seasoned and mixed with onions, really really tasty. I was told that they ground their own chuck so it's fresh every day. My fries weren't really good, barely warm, dry and propably done long before I arrived to the restaurant.

After finishing my first half of the burger I started to grave for lettuce, tomato or something, so I asked for the extra stuff and heard that bacon, lettuce and tomato costs extra and are available only on request. Maybe you should mention this in your menu?!

There really wasn't anything wrong with the burger except the missing lettuce, tomatoes etc. I definetly recommend Original Joe's, maybe not for their burgers but for a friendly and authentic dining experiece.

# Original Joe's San Francisco
# Wiki
# Google Map

Double-Double vs. Double-Double Animal Style at In-N-Out Burger, Mill Valley CA

After my two week excursion to Dallas Metroplex area I'm back in Bay area. Today we pulled to In-N-Out in Mill Valley to pick up something fast on our way to home after a long day on wheels.

I didn't feel like fries so I decided to go head-to-head with Regular and Animal Style Double-Double. I've been a big fan of animal style burgers at In-N-Out but I have to admit that in the head-to-head battle regular Double-Double beat Animal Style 6-0. Double-Double stands for two meat patties and two slices of cheese. Normal double-double comes with lettuce, tomato, onion and spread. Animal Style is one of the 'secret menu' options and it comes with fried onions, pickle, extra spread and mustard fried patties.

I've already told the basic In-N-Out story so let's dig deeper to 'Secret Menu'...

At In-N-Out you can order custom-made food. Some customizations are available at no additional cost. Those that use inventoried items such as cheese, meat, and buns cost extra. While it's not on the printed menu, there are buttons on the cash register for these items. You can pretty much order anything you want, as long as they have the ingredients. The 'secret menu' is listed on the In-N-Out corporate site, it is far from complete. Here's some details:

Custom Burgers

1. Animal style adds to the standard toppings pickles, extra spread, grilled onions, mustard fried onto each meat patty.

2. Protein style (low carb burger) replaces the hamburger bun with large leaves of lettuce. You can also combine first two options for animal protein style.

3. 3×3 and 4x4. Here number refers to a burger with a varied number of meat patties and slices of cheese. For example, the popular Double-Double would be 2×2 (a Two-by-two). As of August 2006, the largest burger that can be ordered is a 4x4. Only four slices of cheese maximum may be permitted on a single burger. Before that you were able to order generally any Meat x Cheese. A burger with 6 meat patties and 3 slices of cheese would be a 6×3 (a Six-by-three). With this freedom of choice you were able to go crazy, check 100x100.

4. One-by-Bitch (1x0 aka One-by-zero) is a One-By-One with no cheese. Naturally not all employees will appreciate the term One-by-bitch and may ask you to revise your order.

5. Double-Meat (2x0 aka Two-by-zero) is a Double-Double with no cheese. By definition a Double-Double automatically includes two slices of cheese, for two patties without the cheese, a double meat burger must be ordered.

6. The Flying Dutchman is two meat patties, two slices of cheese, no bun. Note that other condiments (including lettuce, tomato, spread, and onions) are not included unless you request them.

7. Grilled Cheese is a sandwich with two slices of cheese, no meat with spread, tomatoes, lettuce, and onions if you would like. Like most orders, this can be combined with other styles such as animal style.

8. Wish Burger or Veggie Burger is a sandwich containing only vegetables, and no meat or cheese.

9. Additional options are Chopped Chilis which adds some mild pickled peppers to the bottom of your burger. And you substitute mustard or ketcup for the spread.

Custom Fries

1. Fries Well-done are extra crispy fries.

2. Fries Lite are fries that have been cooked less than normal.

3. Animal Style Fries includes two slices of melted cheese, grilled onions, and spread as toppings.

4. Cheese Fries are fries with one or two slices of melted cheese.

5. Fries no-salt have no salt added to them.

Custom Drinks

1. Root beer float is a concoction made of half vanilla shake and half root beer soda. Be sure to specify whether you want it more creamy or soda-ey.

2. Neopolitan shake is a mixture of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavored shakes.

3. If an order contains a shake of each flavor, this is called 'Around the world'. 4. Strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla can be combined in any way, ie, just chocolate and vanilla, chocolate-strawberry, etc.

4. You can also ask for extra syrup in your shake (ie extra chocolate or strawberry) — not all employees know how to do this, but this option is available.

5. Large and extra large shakes are also available. The cup sizes for these shakes are one below soft drinks (i.e. a large shake is a medium soft drink cup, while an extra large shake is a large soft drink).

6. Milk.

Side Items

1. Spread - good with fries

2. Side of pepperoncini - container of little colored mild and sweet peppers.


That's it. Go and try 'em!

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In-N-Out Burger
798 Redwood Hwy
Mill Valley, CA 94941
+1-800-786-1000
www.in-n-out.com


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Double Meat Cheese Burger at Chip's Old Fashioned Burgers, Dallas TX

During my two week visit to Dallas Metroplex I've got about dozen tips about different burgers. Today was my last day in here so we decided to pick one joint from my list: Chip's Old Fashioned Hamburgers.

Chip's has two homey locations in Dallas: one on Cole Avenue and other on Lovers Lane. I typed Chip's to my always-got-lost-navigation and followed its instructions to Chip's on Cole Avenue. My friend told me that this was the hip area of Dallas where people look like they only eat organic food and live a healthy life. And in the middle of all, there's a small green house and a sign Chip's Old Fashioned Hamburgers.

Chip's is all about the burgers and it has got good review all over the places so my expectation was really high. Chip's also serves hot sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken strips and salads, but most folks go for the burger. Atmosphere is well suited to the food: wood floors, clean enough but not sterile, low lights, air conditioning and a patio where you can go and enjoy your meal.

Their burgers are served on a huge poppy seeded bun which has been toasted on the outside and left soft on the inside. Burgers are stacked with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions and mustard. The result is a thick, juicy burger, cut in half so you should still be able to eat with your hands.

I ordered a double meat cheese burger with grilled onions which ended up being a big messy mistake. The burger was big and juicy but that's it. I was kind of disappointed and I didn't get that big 'what a burger' feeling while the grease was dripping from it and I believe that with two big slaps of meat the thing just got too big.

Chip's was ok, not really special but I'll definetly give it another try with less bodacious choice. The journey continues...

Special Burger at Café Brazil, Dallas TX

Last night went to a local punk rock gig and ended up having a burger in Café Brazil around 2am. Café Brazil is local Dallas restaurant chain where you can enjoy a great breakfast and specialty roasted coffees from around the world in a smoke-free environment. Their Deep Ellum location is areas premier 'deep night' dining spot.

After the bar was closed we headed to Café Brazil for 'breakfast', or salt and grease as I say it. I didn't know if they would serve burgers so I just ordered the most bodacious burger they could come up with. They serve two burgers and after reviewing the menu from their website I guess that I ended up having a mix of Brazilian Burger and BBQ Burger. Let's call it as a special burger. This burger had a slap of meat covered with jalapeno bbq sauce, bacon and american cheese with tomato, lettuce, red onion, bell peppers, mustard and mayo.

If I remember right the burger was excellent. Juicy and tasty, and I have to mention those peppers, excellent addition to a burger. During the time, place and situation it might have been the best burger I've ever had... It was served with fries which were crispy and coated with spicy seasoning. Just excellent.

I have a feeling that I need to give Café Brazil another, and a sober, try someday for objective review.

Country Burger at Southern Recipe, Irving TX

We had lunch in this hole-in-the-wall place in Irving. My local buddy knew the place but told that he hasn't gone there for years after her sister had a bug in her meal. It was nice to hear after making your order.

There's not much to tell about the place. The building had seen it's best days and it had propably worked as a restaurant longer than I have lived. It was just one of those local small diners where you can get decent food quickly and cheap. The place was almost empty when we arrived. Couple of things that I noticed was a sign "Non-smoking Area" and an electronic fly trap. First when you see a sign which says non-smoking area you don't expect to see anyone sitting under that sign with a cigarette in his hand. Secondly should the flies be trapped before they get in?

I was about to skip the burgers and go with Chicken Fried Chicken but their Country Burger caught my eye. Brown gravy? On a burger? What the heck? This burger had slap of meat, grilled onions and mushroom topped with some white cheese and brown gravy. The burger was ok. With that gravy it was a safe bet to mess you up so I ate it with utensils. You didn't really taste the gravy that much so it ended up being just a regular burger with gravy on it.

I also had some excellent onions rings that I renamed to Chicken Fried Onion Rings since this whole concept of chicken-fried-something is really confusing. There's no real logic for it, even thou that my buddy does his best to convince me that there is.

This is one of those places that you really can't say if you recommend it or not. If you come across it, go and have a meal but don't bother to make any extra effort to get there. Homemade food is homemade food, even with bugs on it.

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Triple Meat Triple Cheese Burger at Whataburger, Dallas TX

Yesterday we went shopping in Dallas North Park Center and on our way back to the hotel we ate at Whataburger. I saw their TV ad couple of days and the company values and burgers looked good, and most importantly I remember seeing Whataburger in King of The Hill animation so I really wanted to review this joint.

First Whataburger was opened in 1950, in the little town of Corpus Christi, Texas. A young man named Harmon Dobson opened his small burger stand and had a simple idea. He wanted to serve a burger so good that whenever someone tried one they'd sit back and say, "What a burger!" This bigger, better burger with 100% pure American beef, fresh ingredients and a big 5-inch toasted bun was an instant hit.

Since those days the small burger stand has grown. It's still privately owned, but it's far from small since with more than 650 restaurants serving burgers around the clock in ten states. I don't know how original Harmon Dobson burger tasted more than a half a century ago but I didn't get that "What a burger" feeling. Whataburger is one of those places where burgers look big and good on the images and the version you get on your tray is something else. Don't get me wrong, burgers are pretty tasty. It beats your average Burger King or I'm-loving-it-not places any day but there's no competition with places like Adairs, Griff's or In-N-Out.

Since I have a word "bodacious" in my blog description, I try to review the meanest burger available. At Whataburger they have Triple Meat & Triple Cheese Whataburger so I went with that. It was joined with medium fries and medium drink. The service was friendly and fast and I got my burger in front of me quickly. As you can guess triple stands for three meat slaps covered with american cheese. Stacked with tomato slices, pickles, onion, lettuce and mustard between 5-inch bun. Burger was made to order so it was hot and fresh. Mustard is made with a house recipe and it made this burger above average. In the end, the burger was just an another standard burger with some personality through tasty mustard. No big suprises on the way or the other.

Recommended with caution. I'll have to give it an another try some day.

# Whataburger
# Google Map
# Wiki

Cheeseburger at Adair's Saloon, Dallas TX

I've been in Dallas for a week and today I finally had a chance to go taste my favorite burger at Adair's. One could call Adair's just another regular hole-in-the-wall-honky-tonk-bar but it propably is one of the best hole-in-the-wall-burger-beer-and-live-music-joints around, and it sits in the middle of nipple-pierced-body-tattooed Deep Ellum on Commerce Street, Dallas. If you ever visit Dallas, Adair's Saloon is the place for some quality burgers and country music. Totally recommended!

Adair's was opened by S.L. and Ann Adair in February 1963 on Cedar Springs. Their clientele consisted mostly of college students from nearby schools. The now famous burgers got started because Ann would make the 1/2 lb. cheeseburgers to satisfy S.L.'s large appetite. The school kids decided the burgers looked good and began to request them from Ann. Another Adair's trademark, the graffiti on the walls, began as kids would leave their "mark".

Current owner Lois McKinzie Adair bought the place with her late-husband in 1977 when S.L. and Ann retired. They moved Adair's to it's current location on Commerce Street in January of 1983. At the grand opening party, Lois handed out black markers and the old traditions began a new. The tables, photos, walls, ceilings, and everything is full of black "graffitis" and messages from anynomous visitors from country stars and random visitors to George W's secret service agents. On the walls under the marker lines you can see photos of some famous and not so famous folks that, Lois, has come across including a blown up photo taken of Lois and some guy named Elvis Presley back in 1955. There's history all over the place and everything is like it was almost 25 years ago.

The one other thing is the music, Adair's is all about the music. There's a stage where now famous country stars have started their career and new stars perform almost every night. Adair's jukebox is one of a kind and it has been said that it has the best selection of country songs in Texas.

Ordering burger at Adair's is easy. You get a hamburger, or you get a cheeseburger. You can add lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion and you have a choice of mustard, ketchup, or mayonnaise. The bread is a regular hamburger bun. The meat is "juicy" but not all-over-the-place-juicy and weighs half a pound, it has some peppered seasoning which just makes it taste even better. The cheese on the cheeseburger is American. The whole thing is topped with a jalapeno and held together with a toothpick. You can take the fries on the side but you can live with just the burger. Fries are thick slices of potato covered with seasoning. Perfect!

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Adair's Saloon
2624 Commerce St
Dallas, TX 75226
+1-214-939-9900
www.adairssaloon.com


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Monster Burger at Griff's Burger Bar, Irving TX

Griff's Burger Bar was a regional fast food chain founded in the early 60's. The chain no longer exists, but individual stores remain open mainly in southern states. Back in the 60's, they were only famous for the 15 cent burger, nothing particularly juicy or good. Just cheap! You could pull in and for less than a buck have a shake, fries, and a handfull of burgers. Since then their burgers must have changed.

We went for a lunch to Griff's Burger Bar in old Irving, Texas. I ordered a monster burger aka triple cheeseburger which had three big cheddar covered slaps of "juicy" meat with onions, tomato, lettuce, mustard and mayo in the middle of two buns. Combo came with the tasty fries and big bucket of coke. This was a sure thing to mess your face, hands and the tray.

Griff's burgers beats the hell out of 80% of the burgers out there. It's has a good taste from the grill, it's juicy and it has good combination of mustard and mayo. Perfect stuff for $5.73. Recommended!

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Griff's Burger Bar
718 E Irving Blvd
Irving, TX 75060
+1-972-579-7651


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