If I ever have a pre-show dinner at Monsieur Benjamin again, I’ll get the burger. I find the place sterile and the food soul-less in general.
Had a solid burger from Bandit on Geary near Leavenworth in the Tenderloin, a newish tiny hole in the wall restaurant with two counter seats and a couple more seats against the wall. I asked the man at the counter what his favorite burger was and he said either the cheeseburger with bacon or the Bad Mofo burger, which is a cheeseburger with bacon and grilled onions. I had the Bad Mofo burger ($13). Nice brioche bun. Melty muenster cheese, aioli, a thick slice of tomato, grilled onions and butter lettuce. The patty, which is made of American Wagyu beef, was medium rare and beefy. Could have used a touch more salt perhaps. Didn’t taste aged. The best part of the burger was the bacon, and I can see why he recommended a burger with it. Thickly sliced, smoky, with lots of flavor. Fries ($3) were pretty good - freshly fried and medium cut.
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Quite liked the burger at the Village Pub:
There are burgers…and, there are BURGERS…
This tasty burger is at Sweet’s aka Sweet Inspiration at 2239 Market Street/SF.
$5.49 cooked to order medium rare, 5 oz. patty. Double $7. Lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and special zesty sauce. Cheeseburger $5.99. Fries are crispy $1.99. Good value. This is an Ike and Ryan venture.
Great half-lb. burger under $10 at The Pork Store on Haight Street includes fries or green salad - this is 8 oz. of beefy goodness. $9.99
My Go To BURGER is at The Morris $17 on potato bun with aioli (add Comte $2). Fries $4.
2501 Mariposa Street/SF. True love.
6/28/18 update
new favorite burger at Aracely cafe on Treasure Island at 401-13th Street.
1/3 lb. cooked to order medium-rare, with roasted potatoes on the side. $11. I love these roasted potatoes!
$7.50 burger at New Taraval Cafe - good burger!
$3.75 Double cheeseburger - best value at Hawaiian Drive In - 4827 Mission St.
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Berkeley Burger, Ninth St. at Gilman, has shut down. They never got the level of business that their predecessor, Farm Burger, had.
Israeli chain Burgerim opened a branch in the El Cerrito plaza a few months ago. It’s a little disappointing that they wouldn’t cook a burger to medium-rare, but the fries are excellent.
Grazzy Burger shut down last year, replaced by 310 Eatery, which claims to offer “LA Street Food”. I haven’t been to LA in years, but I don’t remember “street food” as a thing. Their burgers are good. Next door, the Albany Taproom continues to server the excellent burgers and fries that Grazzy used to have.
Probably mostly marketing gimmickry (see previous thread), but perhaps they are trying to capitalize on the popularity of Smorgasburg LA (kinda like Off The Grid Fort Mason, except bigger).
Really? from what i know/remember about L.A. (used to live there but I don’t go back regularly) is that there are tons and tons of taco trucks, bacon wrapped hot dog carts, churro carts, elote carts, tamale carts, fresh fruit carts, Filipino food vendors, a Korean night market, etc…
Grazzy’s burgers were a huge disappointment to us, something about the texture. I really like the burgers (and the people) at 310 Eatery but they get to be too much (they’re mostly all piled so high!) I keep forgetting to go back to Burgerim. they were pretty tasty.
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I lived there for most of the 1980s, and there was very little street food. Taco trucks were suspect (for Anglos), and the only carts had Mexican palletas. I think it’s only in the past 10-15 years that street food became common.
hmmm. i grew up there, moved to the OC in the 70s, but still hung out in L.A. a lot before moving up here in the mid-90s. Maybe just different areas, but i totally agree that the proliferation of food trucks - especially more upscale ones, is a newer thing.
A couple of recent burgers:
Nopa in SF on Divisadero at the communal table around midnight ($19 + I think a dollar for gruyere cheese). Very good, have had this a few times. Not the most economical burger at around 20 bucks but it does come with fries and considering the prices of the rest of the menu items is a comparative deal for the amount of food. A very thick patty that was pink in the middle and medium rare as requested. Juicy meat but not super juicy. Brioche like bun. Excellent fries. On the side there was lettuce, pickled onions, a green tarragon flavored aioli, and some chunky ketchup that I think is made in house. The burger with bun, cheese, and patty was quite thick already so I forgoed putting the vegetables inside the bun and just ate bites of the onions and lettuce between bites of the burger, whilst occasionally spreading a dab of aioli and/or ketchup on the burger.
Another burger from Maven in the Lower Haight. Pretty good, but not quite as good as the one from Nopa. It’s $17, comes in a sesame brioche-like bun dressed with Muenster cheese, mayo/secret sauce, lettuce, and pickles. It came with a choice of fries or salad (I got salad this time). Juicy patty.
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You mean the place on Gilman that was also Marin Pizza? Is the spot empty? They put in all those video monitors.
Nopa’s Fries are my all time favorite in SF.
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Yes, the spot on Gilman and Ninth in Berkeley. I don’t know what’s going into it now.
I remember doing a gig in downtown LA and there was a really greasy spoon lunch counter that was actually on the sidewalk with chairs. The place had the stench of … well, it had a stench, and the food was OK if you were drunk. That would have been within a few blocks of the Tower Theater, I can’t find anything like it on google maps…
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They were really good, light and crispy.
Anyone have any recommendations for South Bay/Lower Peninsula?
I had an excellent burger at the Oakland Museum (“Blue Oak Cafe”) the other day. It was thick and juicy, and they were able to cook it to a perfect medium rare. The fries were crisp and fresh. I was surprised that a museum cafeteria would be so good.
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Reviving this thread … these are my top ‘fast food’ burgers:
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Super Duper burgers: At the $8 price point, this is the best burger IMO, the ratio of bun to patty, the messiness, the juiciness all hit the spot for me. Fries are not their strong suit, but that’s another discussion. My favorite is the burger with the blue cheese. Oh, I love their super salty pickles too.
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Roam Artisan burgers: More expensive and not always worth it, but nevertheless at a base price of $12, an excellent burger. Superb bun that holds firm even if you customize the burger to the hilt and stuff it silly. When you order fries, make sure you order them extra crispy to avoid the dreaded sogginess. They have fried crispy brussels sprouts sometimes, which is a nice treat. I like the Tejano, French, Sunnyside and sometimes add jalapeno relish to their standard burger. The veggie burger is made with beets, it’s excellent.
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MASABAGA – the Washugyu Burger.
I’m usually not a fan of using super rich and fatty beef like Wagyu for burgers, but Chef Masa Sasaki does a good job repurposing the beef, especially to create a fabulous char and crust on the burger.
And the Tapioca Crackers that come with the burger are just ridiculous. This alone is reason enough to get the burger.
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Catching up in 2024.
Cal favorite Smokehouse on Telegraph in Berkeley reopened maybe a year ago, and I enjoy their burgers a couple of times a month, especially the gooey chili-cheeseburger (utensils required). They cook to medium rare, and the price is right at around $8.00
At the higher price point, a little window called Cali Alley on Grayson in Berkeley has an over-the-top burger made from ground brisket and short rib, $18 for the base model. It’s too big for me to eat all of it, especially with the large pile of seasoned fries. I have half the burger and all the fries and take the rest of the burger home for later.
Someone uptopic mentioned Super Duper, which I also like. Their self-order kiosks don’t let you specify cooking temperature, so you have to ask the human. Great fries. They’re in the Emeryville Public Market.
Somewhat nearby in the Bay Street Mall is a branch of Shake Shack. The burger was fine, parking is confusing, lots of outdoor seating.
And up in El Cerrito, Al’s Big Burger on San Pablo is reliable and inexpensive. I hit Trader Joe’s and Petco, then over to Al’s. It’s popular among retirees, sipping vanilla shakes in the afternoon.
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