East Bay Burger

[Reese in Rockridge]

Hi,

This is my first time posting, though I drop in to read alot. Unfortunately, my budget doesn't allow me to do much food adventuring, but I dine vicariously through you! (Yes, I'm the type who reads cookbooks for fun, even though I do very little cooking that requires a recipe.)

I am hoping you all will be able to lead me to the best places in Oakland/Berkeley to get a great hamburger. We like them fat and juicy, cooked rare to medium rare (bonus points if they don't overcook). A nice assortment of toppings is nice, but doesn't need to be anything off the wall. Bonus points for great fries too. We don't drink, so while we're perfectly happy with a brewpub atmosphere, no points given for microbrews, etc. Points are given for fun N/A drinks like good root beer.

I'll contribute my research so far... The best we've had so far is at Triple Rock Brewery -- they really cook them to the temperature you ask! Barclay's is a horrible patty-style entity.

I see Barney's, Christopher's, Pyramid, and countless places that have burgers on more varied menus. Any advice?

Thank you so much!

Link: http://www.triplerock.com/pub2.html

[Paulie]

I lot of people like Barney's burgers, but I find them to be just average...if you want to go for a splurge-burger, try Cafe Rouge on Fourth Street in Berkeley.

[Brian Stack]

I like Carrara's in Oakland on Broadway's Auto Row. They're in the Chrysler dealers building. Juicy, and done to order with a great roll and excellent fries, and a good half sour pickle on the side. Meal Ticket in Berkeley makes a fine burger as well. Micro greens and carmelized onions are a special touch, no fries!

[Robert Lauriston]

Out of business.

[Robert Lauriston]

Second on Cafe Rouge. Really a superior burger, and the best fries around, even if they don't finish them in beef fat any more.

[gordon wing]

some friends who live near Lake Merrit have mentioned that they have had a good burger at a place on that stretch near Arizmendi - I think it's Adam's Burgers....run by a Korean couple / woman?
good ingredients / good burger.

[Missy P.]

A one who leaves near there (now even closer due to a recent move!) and really likes burgers, I will try to go check out this place -- Adams Burger -- soon. Linked is the Citysearch profile. According to the map, it's just before Mandana on the Arizmendi side. Never heard of it and I couldn't find any posts on it.

Link: http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/pr...

[gordon wing]

I hope that's the right name - my friend pointed at it as we were driving by. I looked up Lakeshore businesses on Google and came up with that name - Adam's burgers. I am sure that she did mention that it's run by a Korean woman/couple? and that it was a good honest burger. Don't think it will be a pedigree one, though. Let me know how it turns out. Meanwhile, I'll try and confirm the info.

[Steve Green]

Try Val's in Hayward. Old-fashioned burger in an old-fashioned place. Great rootbeer floats also. At Center and B (best to call for directions--it's been a while. Closed on Sunday and Monday.

BTW, yes, Adams Burger on Lakeshore is the one run by the Korean couple. It's more than a few doors away from Arizmendi, though, IIRC; quite a bit further up the street away from the lake, on the same side.

[theSauce]

Nothing against Val's, but their fresh ground meat is great after that the burger sort of goes downhill. Three burgers to choose from, baby (1/3 lbs), mama (1/2 lbs), and papa (1lbs). I love the old time feel of the place and they pile on the fries and shake. Wait time is usually 20+ min. on average.

[gordon wing]

Hi Missy,
Here's what my friends like to order at Adam's - the Adam's Burger is topped with pastrami, plastic swiss cheese, grilled onion, lettuce & tomato. They also like the onion rings - not homemade but expertly fried (not greasy). Adam's Burger, onion rings & a drink will run you close to $9 - so, not real cheap but satisfying.....there are also lots of other options for burgers and they probably won't cost as much as the Adam's Burger....

[Missy P.]

OMG! Pastrami on TOP of a burger?! I'll have a heart attack before I'm 30!

Will try in the name of the board, though. Soon.

[wimpy]

Triple Rock does make a good burger. Quite a relief after years of serving dreary psuedo-gourmet sandwiches.

The last time I had a Cafe Rouge burger was a few years ago and I haven't wanted to try it again. Prime meat but that results in an overly greasy burger with fat dripping out as I was eating. The burger was served on what I recall to be like a section of crusty baguette. All wrong for a burger.

Quinn's Lighthouse on the Embarcadero in Oakland serves a nice burger made from Niman meat and only runs about eight bucks or so including fries. The garlic burger version uses garlic bread (you know, toasted with garlic butter spread) which tastes good but makes it slightly more difficult to eat. I prefer to go upstairs to the bar area instead of the dining room.

[Robert Lauriston]

Cafe Rouge uses buns, not pieces of crusty baguette.

[wimpy]

that's a change for the better then from the folks at cafe rouge. not everything has to be so frou frou

[Missy P.]

I've had a couple of bad, overcooked burgers at Quinn's recently (like, in the past six months). Sad, because that place is such a gem -- especially on a warm day. The other food I've had since my initial vist a few years ago -- mussels, calimari, etc. -- has been unexceptional. Seems like standard SYSCO-serve with the addition of the Niman Ranch for local reference. Go for the atmosphere and the beer, not the food, I say.

[larkmud]

I just ate at Barney's this afternoon--you might try Oscar's (not exactly fat, but delicious and they have been doing it for like forty years), Bongo Burger www.bongoburger.com (with three locations) has decent burgers and fries.

Oscar's
1890 Shattuck Avenue @ Hearst
Berkeley
510-849-2164

Link: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/...

[Peter Kim]

i think i recall a chowhounder mentioning zax's tavern having a stellar burger although i've never been...

Link: http://www.zaxtavern.com/

[HungryGrayCat]

Yes, that was me. My husband claimed that it was better than even the Cafe Rouge burger (which I've had many times and love.)

[Merle]

You might try Big Al's Burgers in El Cerrito. I prefer mine medium-well, but they'll cook it however you want.

Bonus points, too, for "fun" drinks if you like ultra-thick milkshakes. Again, not my cup of tea, but I understand they're fabulous there.

I have no idea where it is, aside from "El Cerrito, on San Pablo, between Solano and the El Cerrito Plaza". It's not in any phonebooks. The only mention I've ever seen was right here, a few years ago, and even that is not on google (no doubt due to the page shuffles).

Link: http://www.livejournal.com/users/merl...

[Mary Montgomery]

It's Al's Big Burger, 437 San Pablo, at about Brighton.

[gordon wing]

it's right next to a BlockBuster video and across the street from the Albany Bowl .....

[Richard Neidhardt]

Try the Red Onion on San Pable in El Cerrito (across from Home Depot). No Barney's gourmet burger pretentions here - just your basic All American Greasy Cheesy. Grilled onions if you want 'em. It's an old fashioned burger stand. Nothing but burgers.

[Reese in Rockridge]

Thanks for all the recommendations! I can't wait to expand my burger horizons!

We ended up back at Triple Rock over the weekend and had a pretty disappointing experience. My boyfriend's rare burger came out right, but my medium rare was more like medium well. The fries, which had never been memorable, were appalling. Within a minute of being on the table, they hardened into tasteless, crunchy twigs.

Add that to the fact that our apps and mains came out simultaneously and several ants wandered across the table, and I was glad it wasn't our first visit. We'll probably give them another chance, but I'm happy to have more options now!

[cwujd1]

Luka's at West Grand and Broadway in Oakland has an outstanding burger and fries. They'll cook it as rare as you want it. The fries have a lot of flavor. Lots of other good food and interesting beer too.

[lucymom]

also try 900 grayson and meal ticket. both have great burgers and if you like it rare, meal ticket is the way to go.

[Chuckles the Clone]

This ancient thread is currently what's coming up on top of google searches
for east bay burgers (I know this because we were looking for a burger joint
this evening, and here I am), so I'll add my twosense.

We took some of the advice and went to Triple Rock. OK, but there were some
problems. Ordered 2 burgers medium rare. One was perfect, the other was
on the far side of "well". How can a kitchen screw up a pair of identical orders
like this. Also, the "maytag blue cheese" is actually some bland milky sauce
which may or may not have had actual cheese in it. The bacon on the burger
may have been cooked yesterday. And everything was infused with an odd
tarragon-like flavor. I wouldn't have minded it if I knew what it was. But tarragon
was not an advertised ingredient in anything.

An oh yeah, crappy buns. This is Berkeley. Don't they have a law there against
bad bread? Wonder Bread equivalent with some sesame seeds on top.

Still, they were sizable, come with cole slaw which can be upgraded to fries
or salad for $1, are cheap-ish to begin with ($6.95), and the beer is excellent.
The IPAX (I dunno, India Pale Ale eXtreme ?) was very, very good. A little
caramel sweetness and a bushel of hops up your nose. Wow.

So anyway, I've adjusted my expectations down a notch or two for the burger
and I'll probably enjoy it much better next time. It's a pleasant place. They were
totally overcrowded with sportsfans watching the nba playoffs but the staff was
completely on top of things. I'll be back.

Here are a couple of other suggestions. Al's Big Burger, mentioned above, is
consistently disappointing. I eat there at least once a month. It's a tiny bit better
Nations (which in turn is a tiny bit better that the Smokehouse) but they're all
your basic grilled mystery patty on a soggy wonderbun.

I had a great one at T-Rex a while back. Excellent bun, crazy-spicy ketchup,
pickled onions. The thing T-Rex is doing wrong is that their idea of a "glass" of
wine is approximately equivalent to what most of us think of as a "mouthful"
of wine. And they charge a pretty penny for it. So you can get a really great
burger for $10 and the stingiest glass of wine you've ever seen for another $10.
There's a liquor store across the street. Maybe the thing to do is to to get a
bottle of wine and open it in your car and head out to the parking lot a couple of
times during dinner for a chug?

Other good burgers include the Lamb Burger at Jerusalem Organic Kitchen
way up at the top of Solano where it meets MLK (or whatever it's called at
that end). An odd little space that always seems to be under construction
and a couple of friendly guys running it. Spicy. Approximately one full
lightyear ahead of the lamb burger at Bongo.

Claremont Diner on Claremont at College: Totally decent. Peas in the salad.
A little train runs around a track suspended up near the ceiling. Very good
buns.

Christophers: OK. Like T-Rex they've got that sneak-attack on your
wallet thing going on. The burgers look cheap enough ($6 or so) but as
soon as you add cheese, fries, drink you're thinking, "at these prices I
don't want to have to order at a counter."

Lukas: Everything about Luka's makes me happy. They're what, three, four
years old now and are showing no signs of slacking off. They could probably serve
me an Al's Big Burger there and I'd enjoy it but fortunately they don't. Hunk o' meat
on a great bun with excellent fries that come with mayonnaise. It's crowded and
cramped and real noisy so do not go for the first time if you're not in the mood
for crowded-cramped-noisy.

Sea Breeze Market: forgettable burger in the wackiest place to eat a burger in
the east bay. It's a perfect place to have a bite while exploring the east bay
shoreline. And as far as I can tell it's heads and tails above the rest of the
restaurants at the Berkeley Marina. Everyone should make at least one trip to
the Sea Breeze. The steamed garlic crab looks awesome but I haven't tried it
yet.

[yay_food]

I know this is an old threat, but given the original stated preference for rare, I have to add Fat Apple to this list. It's the ONLY place I have found in Berkeley that makes a burger really RARE like I like it. Triple Rock totally over-cooks in comparison. And Fat Apple uses better cheese (extra-sharp cheddar).

[wolfe]

You might want to add your post to a more recently amended thread with other 2008 choices.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/42175