Thursday, July 29, 2010

It's aptly named...


Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
It's just called "Burger" on the menu. You can think of it as presumptuous because of the silent "the" before the menu item or you can think of it as humble because of a silent "a" before. It really doesn't matter, I don't really think anyone cares, it's a/the Burger at Roosevelt Ale House. If you want to be technical, it is the happy hour burger, there, you have a name. The only difference between the happy hour burger is 1/6th of a pound and $2, so you'll forgive me for not making a major distinction.

The patty itself was well done, it's called a burger, and it's a burger. I enjoyed the cheddar, the fixings were fresh, the bun was well toasted. This means a high grade right? Well, nothing really made it stand apart. It looked to be a house sauce, Thousand Island based, but unfortunately, also somewhat flavorless, 'tis unfortunate.

The fries are, well fries. Very descriptive, yes I know, but that's all I can really say.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B
Bun: B
Fixings: B
Condiments: D+
Sides: B-
Price: $6-8
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: Burger

Sunday, July 25, 2010

A posh place for a posh crowd...


Diablo Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
I had the opportunity to go to South Lake Bar and Grill simply because the brother of one of my good friends is now a part owner of the establishment. To be frank, I probably would otherwise not even have known this place existed. Now some of you might wonder how being a close friend to the younger brother of the owner might skew my opinion of the place, but I will try my best to be as objective as possible in regards to the burger.

Now the Diablo Burger is noted to be a peppered patty, served with avocado, and the typical other fixings. I have to say, my patty was very well peppered. The cayenne was at times rather overpowering, and therefore, it was hard to really taste a lot of the other stuff (say, the cheese, and even the beef at times). Nonetheless, the beef quality was fairly good, the patty was hearty and juicy, though it's hard to conceive that a half-pound patty cooks to be so small nowadays, but I guess it does. I like the fixings, lettuce and tomatoes and stuff were fresh. My only qualm was the presentation, the avocado quartered and cut width wise may look cool, but it creates globs of avocado in the center of the burger and doesn't evenly distribute the avocado flavor and texture evenly throughout the burger as traditional length-wise slices do. The shape also does make it pretty difficult to put the burger together as a whole. The bun was more doughy like a dinner roll than airy like a typical bun, which was an interesting twist, but it neither added to nor subtracted from the burger. Finally, I think they had something of a house sauce for the condiment, but frankly, the pepper flavor was so overpowering that I frankly wouldn't have known it was there save that I saw it.

They did have sweet potato fries, I don't know if those are included in the bottomless option thingy, but if they are, sweet.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B-
Bun: B
Fixings: C+
Condiments: C-
Sides: A
Price: $12-$17
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: Western Burger

Thursday, July 15, 2010

It's a happy hour burger


Classic Cheeseburger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
I don't mean this in any disparaging way, but rather that it's not something you go out of your way expecting supreme excellence from. Really, you don't. I certainly don't walk into happy hours thinking, "I am going to have the best burger ever..." because let's be honest, if you do, then either you don't eat a lot of burgers or you have to tell me where you go to happy hour. Stanford's is a semi-local establishment, with stores in Oregon and California as well as in Washington, so a group of friends and I decided to come here after volleyball. In all honesty, I really just expected a cheap burger.

Stanford's is by no means a burger joint, it makes no claims to be one, and by my honest assessment it isn't. It's pretty much your run-of-the-mill upper-middle class dining establishment, where the food is blase and predictable, but safe. You're not going to wow anybody going here, but more likely than not, you'll probably leave thinking it was alright. It's probably somewhere you go if you can't decide wherre to eat, and you're really just going more for the company anyways.

The patty was pretty well made, I liked the beef flavor, though it was slightly on the thinner side. The bun was well toasted, which gives it bonus points, it was something of a sesame and poppy seed affair, which was interesting, but which I feel neither added nor took away to or from the experience. The fixings were fairly fresh, which I do enjoy, nothing spectacular about them. As for the condiments, it appeared at first glance there were none aside from the side of ketchup that comes with the burger, but they actually have a sweet Thousand Island/honey mustard/relishy thingy under the patty that's actually pretty good. I'd say it's fairly comparable to the sauce they use in Dick's Burgers.

Finally, the fries, well, I'm not a huge fan of shoe-string potatoes, which these essentially were, but to exacerbate the situation, these fries were oversalted. Seriously, there were points in time I was eating entire grains of salt. Okay, so their still edible, but really? French fries? Is that to be your downfall?

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B
Bun: A-
Fixings: B+
Condiments: B+
Sides: D
Price: $4.50-$10
Overall Rating: B-
Recommended Burger: Classic Cheeseburger (during happy hour)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Very much a BBQ place


T-Rex Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
Which means that you should stick with the BBQ not the burgers. They do use a fresh organic Hearst beef, which is also fresh ground on the spot (which I believe is the type of beef they also use for some of their ribs and brisket), and I have to say that it's good. However, T-Rex BBQ, well, let's say that you should stick with the BBQ and corn bread (yes, get the corn bread, it's good). This was once again another one of my forays in Berkeley, which ironically was recommended to me by my pescaltarian sister-in-law.

Anyways, the beef quality was good, you can tell that the meat was very fresh and the patty homemade. The bun was a bun, nothing fancy. I liked the fresh organic tomatoes and sprig of romaine, very fresh. You have to pay extra for bacon and cheese, I got bacon and white cheddar. I never really thought I'd say this, but I wish I didn't get the bacon. It really doesn't add much to the burger, but rather, takes away from it. The bacon here was way too tough and chewy, and overly dry, it really took away from my ideal burger experience. And here I thought because it was called "T-Rex" bacon that it would be special. Maybe CJ's spoiled me. As for the condiments, there were none that come with the burger, but they do have this smoked picante sauce that's really good on the side in addition to the typical ketchup and mustard (they seem to like Grey Poupon in California).

The fries were just not-quite-steak-fries-but-larger-than-regular-fries kind of affair, nothing to write home about, but complimented the meal well.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: A
Bun: B-
Fixings: C+
Condiments: B
Sides: B
Price: $10-14
Overall Rating: B-
Recommended Burger: T-Rex Burger (no bacon)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Barney's, the burger joint in Berkeley, not the purple dinosaur


Baja Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
So over the weekend I was visiting my brother's family in the East Bay (of Northern California) and he told me that we should go to this place, for the sake of having another entry on the Burger Snob. So here it is, for you 5 readers out there. There seems to be a couple, but I'm hesitant to call it a chain simply because it's only in the Berkeley area. I have no idea why it's called Barney's or any history behind it, just that it's a burger joint and college students kind of like it, or something like that.

Anyways, the burger itself was pretty good, I got the Baja Burger, which, comes with a homemade pico de gallo salsa, bacon, avocado, and I believe swiss cheese. Interesting combination, but hey, it's California, so it makes sense. While the ingredients themselves were good, I found that the construction of the burger itself was actually somewhat lacking. I liked the salsa, but it was a little light on flavor, avocado and swiss cheese in and of themselves are naturally fairly flavorless to begin with. The beef quality was good, it was a nice hearty patty. The bun a typical sesame bun, but it wasn't toasted, so it wasn't anything fancy. Now fixings is where the construction issue comes in. I don't mind the bacon, it's pretty typical of a bacon burger in terms of quality of the bacon, but the fact that all of bacon was clumped into a roll mad it hard to eat with the burger. Frankly, I want to taste the burger, not globs of bacon. I'll give them points for the salsa and avocado since they are nice, but I felt like the mix didn't add a whole lot to the burger as a whole. Unless you count the salsa there wasn't any condiments. They do have Grey Poupon, ketchup, and regular mustard at the table, so it's pretty typical,, nothing out of the ordinary.

I did really like the spicy curly fries, those are good. However, this place serves them more like an appetizer than necessarily a side, so it's recommended that you go and eat with a friend.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B-
Fixings: C+
Condiments: C+
Sides: A
Price: $7-12
Overall Rating: C+
Recommended Burger: Classic Burger

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Better than breakfast


Bacon and Cheddar Burger
Originally uploaded by jaceman4
Okay, maybe not everyone would think so, CJ's Eatery is generally known as a breakfast-all-day kind of place. They do serve some mean scrambles as well as a scrumptuous biscuits and gravy. However, what this place does very well also are its burgers. I had always known that the burgers here were good, but honestly, with this further assessment I was pleasantly surprised, I would say, more than pleasantly surprised. I originally was recommended this place when I had a summer internship in Belltown, and it's been a good place to eat, at least I've never been disappointed.

The meat quality in and of itself is pretty good, it's full and beefy in flavor. The burger itself is served on something like a large brioche bun, so it has a little more of that country-earthy flavor. It's a nice combination. The lettuce and tomatoes are fairly fresh, so it's a good combination. What makes this particular burger stand out is the bacon. It's not quite typical of what you'd expect in bacon burger. The bacon slices themselves were super hearty and substantial, not the thin crispy strips that I mostly see in other bacon burgers. It was goooood. I'm normally not a big fan of bacon burgers, but this one may have changed my mind. Condiment-wise they just give you mayo, but they do also do give you ketchup, Tobasco, and a nice seedy deli mustard.

The steak fries are a nice plus, a little over-fried for me personally, but it's a good touch. I like it.

Rating of the Burger:
Meat: B+
Bun: B
Fixings: A+
Sides: A-
Price: $8-12
Overall Rating: A
Recommended Burger: Bacon and Cheddar Burger