Burger
Godfather’s Burger Lounge opened in Belmont, December 2009 right on busy El Camino Real just south of the Ralston Ave. They focus on ½lb. fresh, all-natural “Certified Angus Beef” humanely raised burgers. No added hormones or antibiotics in their meat. Our last visit was in during the pandemic in July 2021, after indoor dining reopened. They still do take out and have some seats outside.
4505 Burgers and BBQ is run by chef and artisan butcher Ryan Farr. Ryan formerly was executive chef at Fifth Floor. He teaches butcher classes and serves up food at the San Francisco Ferry Building Farmer’s Market. We saw them at the Eat Real festival in Oakland and on other occasions the Ferry building. They create homemade relishes, multi-national ’Zilla sauce, and even bacon-dressed chocolate desserts. They have since setup on Divisadero in SF’s Nopa neighborhood.
Better burgers!
Rave Burger is a burger joint that opened October 2008 in downtown San Mateo. We were walking by and decided to give it a try to see how it rated. The provide sit down service in addition to to go food. They serve hamburgers, vegan burgers, hot dogs, and salads and a lots more now. We have been to Rave Burger several times over the years with our last visit in 2019.
We like dining at McDonalds at different countries around the world. What interesting items will we find. Our last trip was to Spain. We checked out the local McDonalds in Barcelona and found some interesting items.
Why did we dine here? – The Best Milk shakes of course! Black Tap has rocked the social media world with huge shakes covered with all sorts of crazy candies, cookies. It was definitely on our must hit NYC list. This restaurant is notorious for waits up to 3 hours, something we did not look forward to.
Palo Alto Creamery has been serving up classic burger joint food since 1988 when Robert Fischer took over the business. They used to have 2 locations in Palo Alto, with the downtown location open since 1923 in previously known as the Peninsula Creamery. Stanford Shopping Center location closed in 2013.
Why did we dine here? – The Little Store is a long standing (1902) restaurant that we have passed many times. It used to be a gas station, then morphed into a general store. Having eaten at most other restaurants nearby ie Buck’s, Woodside Bakery, it was time to give it a try. A small quaint place with a mom and pop old school atmosphere. Our last visit was Summer 2016.
Lanai has been on our must visit lists for a while. We finally got a chance to visit this tropical paradise in April 2014.
The easiest and cheapest way to arrive is by ferry from Maui. The fare is a reasonable $60 round trip. Frankly we saw more dolphins, flying fish, and whales riding this ferry than we did on a whale watching tour!
There are two Four Seasons Resorts on the island along with a small Lanai Hotel. We stayed in the Four Season Manele Bay, right on the beach. (Why would you want to stay at the other one?) One beautiful resort and priced a couple hundred less than the Four Seasons Maui. Lanai City is a small plantation town in a timewarp to the 70’s. A tiny place with a small town square. Here are 3 places we ate in between all the chilling.
One Forty
1 Manele Bay Rd
Lanai City, HI 96763
(808) 565-2000
Website
Marlowe is a market driven neighborhood bistro near SF’s ATT park, they moved to the old Coco 500 location in 2014. Chef du Cuisine: Jennifer Puccio was formerly of restaurant Cortez. The focus here is on American comfort food. We decided to try this place because Michael Bauer raved about its burger. Our last visit was in February 2015. Marlowe’s sister restaurant is Park Tavern SF.
Jeffrey’s Hamburgers is a popular burger joint in downtown San Mateo open since 1997. They also have a location in Menlo Park. They serve American fast food including burgers, hot dogs, fish and chips, salads, fries, and shakes. Seems like every town has a place like this, San Francisco has its Mel’s Drive in..
Umami burger is named after umami, one of the five basic tastes. It is rarely recognized on its own. This subtle savory flavor naturally occurs in many foods. Some tie it to MSG as it is tasted by the same glutamate receptors in the tongue.
Fenton’s Creamery has been around since 1922 in Oakland. They produce their own ice cream and toppings batch by batch on site. They serve breakfast, sandwiches, burgers, salads, but the main draw is of course, ice cream. Their creations are simply huge. Even the kid’s ice creams are huge. Our last visit was to the Nut Tree Vacaville location in the spring of 2015.
Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe is a diner in Emeryville, near the Home Depot shopping center, serving American food till 1am. Big breakfasts, salads, burgers, and sandwiches. Breakfast is served all day. It is owned by Billie Joe from rock band Green Day.
Prather Ranch Meat Company is a boutique firm that raises grass fed and pastured cattle in North California’s Mt. Shasta area. Their focus is on high quality, sustainable, humanely raised meats in support of a whole-animal sales model. Founded in 2003, they made a name for themselves as one of the first merchants in the Ferry Building.
Peggy Sue’s is a burger place that has been there since 1958 that also serves classic American breakfast. They have two locations in downtown San Jose, right near the major destination including the Children’s museum, The Tech Museum, and San Jose State. Free all-day weekend parking with validation. They push their USDA lean 100% Angus Beef. Our last visit was in April 2013.
We had to indulge in all the hype..
Burger King Bacon Sundae – $2.49 and 510 Calories. A Guilty Pleasure! Sweet as heck and remarkably – Not Bad.
Park Tavern SF is a new American Restaurant from the team at Marlowe. It replaced old school favorite Mooses, right on Washington Square in San Francisco’s North Beach district.
The place was packed early on and is already a hot spot. Our last visit was in August 2012.
Burger Joint is another trendy high end burger place that uses high quality Niman ranch organic beef and Double Rainbow ice cream. They have 5 locations in the San Francisco area and have been around since 1994. We house dined at the Burlingame location several times, which is located in the Burlingame Avenue shopping district with our latest meal at the San Francisco Airport International terminal location. Burger Joint’ s quality has improved over the years.
The Ferry Building Marketplace is one of our most favorite destinations in San Francisco. Filled with restaurants, food stands, and gift shops, this place is on any foodies must visit list. Here are some of our favorite shops to visit and dine at.
Another trendy fancy burger place… The Counter opened in 2006 and is another fancy casual restaurant located in the Palo Alto, California Avenue shopping district. They have locations in CA, CO, GA, NC, and TX with many more coming soon. We revisited in March 2011 at the brand-new San Mateo location, click next door to Trader Joes. Loud music greeted us as we entered the place along with some flat screen TVs at the counter.
Alice’s Restaurant is located in the San Francisco coastal mountain range at the intersection on Highway 35 Skyline Blvd, and Highway 84. They are “Home to the best specialty burgers in the world”, as they put it. Lots of motorcyclists stop here on the weekend as well as hikers, bikers, and those touring the area. We have eaten here several times, the last time in June 2010.
Roam Artisan Burgers is a new Burger joint on Union Street in the Marina district. They focus on humanely raised, grass feed meats, sustainable produce, organic ice cream salted caramel milkshakes, wine on-tap, and agave-sweetened sodas. Even their menu is printed on 100% post consumer recycled paper or using green energy. All their packaging is hundred percent compostable.
Super Duper is a new hamburger restaurant in the Castro. It was opened by the folks behind Delarosa, Beretta and Starbelly. They use Niman Ranch meats. This restaurant opened in mid-April 2010. They have grown to several location in San Francisco as well as North and South Bay. We returned to this location in 2016.
Decor, Vibe – Brand-new Burger restaurant with some retro decor and stainless steel seats. The place had a couple younger folks stop by for a quick bite.
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Jack’s Prime Burgers is a burger place in San Mateo that opened in 2008 on El Camino Real just south of Hillsdale mall. They serve burgers, salads, and have a fair amount of beer and wine selections. They serve Meyer Ranch Beef patties and Diesel Ranch free range turkey patties. All beef is humane certified raised and handled. They have to go, patio dining, and sit down dining. Our last visit was in the middle of 2012.
In-N-Out Burger opened way back in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California focusing as a drive through hamburger stand. Their motto is “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” They have locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
Burger Bar: Build Your Own Ultimate Burgers – This book is full of Burger Bar insight as well as recipes for making your own awesome burgers.
KK Cafe is a small family owned cafe in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. This place has gotten 4 stars on Yelp. We decided to visit and try their highly touted burger.
Big Mouth Burgers Restaurant is located in the Mission and uses Mountain Natural Foods Natural Beef without hormones, antibiotics, insecticides or chemical residues. They include fries with their burgers.
Barney’s Gourmet Hamburgers has been serving up burgers since 1978. They have 7 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area and 3 in Southern California. We visited the Steiner St location in San Francisco.
They use humanely raised Niman Ranch all natural ground chuck that is free of antibiotics or hormones. They serve beef, chicken, turkey, and veggie burgers along with salads.
