438968 Fri Sep 07 00:27:57 -0700 2007 14 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2918821 Windy and I went here for dinner after checking out the Asian Art Museum Thurs night. I wasn't that hungry since I ate some food before coming here but I still managed to try 2 things. So you get a paper menu and do 5 steps to custom your burger: 1. Pick type of burger. They use Golden Gate meat Company local, naturally raised beef. 1/3 Angus Burger, American Kobe Beef, Lamb Burger, Turkey, chicken, salmon, veggie All burger cooked Medium-Well unless requested. 2. Pick toppings which is between .99-$1.99: American cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, beef & black bean chili, feta cheese, fried Petaluma egg, pepper jack cheese, Pt. Reyes blue cheese, sliced avocado, swiss cheese, Tillamook sharp cheddar. 3. More toppings: up to 3 toppings included at NO Additional Cost. Extra toppings .50 ea. Arugula, balsamic marinated onions, black olive tapenade, fresh tomato slice, grilled pineapple, hoisin glaze, ice box slaw, jalapenos, leaf lettuce, pea sprouts, raw sliced red onions, roasted green chiles, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed sweet yellow onions, sweet piquillo peppers 4. Pick a sauce. One sauce FREE, extra sauce .50 ea. blue cheese, chipotle cilantro mayo, cucumber raita, Ketchipotle, ketchapeno, mayo, pesto mayo, roasted garlic aioli, secret sauce, spanish romesco, red tail ale bbq sauce. 5. Pick a bun: onion poppy, sesame seed, potato pepper, multigrain, brioche. I wanted a lamb burger but they didn't have it when I went, so I picked salmon burger $7.99, got 3 free toppings that's included w/ price: black olive tapenade, fresh tomato slice, leaf lettuce. They ran out of sauteed mushrooms when I went. Sauce I wanted roasted garlic aioli - ran out, got chipotle cilantro mayo, bun was multigrain. My salmon burger was a bit dry, had to use lots of the chipotle cilantro mayo. Bun is too big!! Didn't eat it all. Also got a veggie lentil chili which comes w/ a side of raw onions, cup of sour cream, cup of cheddar cheese, and 2 toasted sliced baguettes. small was $3.99/large $6.99. It's like a veggie stew w/ tons of lentils, pretty healthy if you don't add the cheese or sour cream. they got salad: caesar $7.99 and mediterranean chopped $8.99 shakes: vanilla beans, Ghiradelli chocolate, Cal. strawberry $4.29 pies: organic apple crumb or flavor of the week $4.99/ a la mode $1.25 more cookies: oatmeal or chocolate chip $.89 They take credit cards, my total was $13. One unisex bathroom across from the Custom Lounge. Hrs: Lunch 11-4 Dinner 5-9:30 Next to Best Western, walking distance to Orpheum Theatre and Asian Art Museum. Fri Sep 07 00:27:58 -0700 2007 10677 hhc 1 2919439 I was going to do a quick report on Custom Burger. Cheers for yours ! The wife and I decided to check out this place last night, after reading about it on tablehopper. I had the vegetarian burger (took a chance) here with onions, kethcupeno, tomato slice and mushrooms. It was quite good. One could actually taste the veggies and spices in the patty, without drowning the burger in condiments. The wife had the chicken burger with jalapenos, pea sprouts and sliced red onions. She quite liked the burger as well. A couple of snags during the meal though. The chicken burger bun was hard as hell. Secondly, the fries we were served were very soggy. I went back to the counter and informed the manager. He was gracious and replaced our order of fries, post haste. He seemed to appreciate the feedback. I loved my burger. Finally, a vegetarian burger I can devour in a flash !! We'll definitely be back. Fri Sep 07 08:33:20 -0700 2007 2918821 49974 osho 2 2920904 I had the veggie burger today at lunch. Blah. Tasteless mush with what looks alot like mixed frozen veggies (peas, carrots, corn kernels) mixed in. They are not house-made (I asked). I did not pay for any add-ons. I had the chipotle ketchup (don't waste a free topping ordering this - use the Heinz on the table and get a few lettuce leaves or something instead); the sauteed mushrooms (which were probably the best part of the whole thing) and piquillo peppers (not detected). I got the "multigrain" bun, but it was virtually baloon white-bread with some wheat bran sprinkled on top. All I could really taste was the dijon mustard I added at the table. $6.50 with tax. For a delicious, house-made veggie burger, go to Ananda Fuara on Market St. Fri Sep 07 14:59:16 -0700 2007 2919439 31877 lmarie 3 2920987 AFAIK, I didn't like the burger at Ananda at all. Maybe I should try it again, one of these days. Fri Sep 07 15:25:01 -0700 2007 2920904 49974 osho 1 2920176 Sounds like a knockoff of The Counter. Fri Sep 07 11:47:42 -0700 2007 2918821 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2920213 I think we were both disappointed. It seemed like fun, but was basically glorified fast food with fancy toppings and $8 glasses of wine. $4 for fries? Maybe at a real restaurant. They first delivered the wrong burger to me, then gave me a well done burger despite my requesting it medium rare. So much for custom. The meat on the regular angus burger was dry and not flavorful. The secret sauce was bland. The roll was ordinary. With a soda, this came to almost $10 without fries for basically self-serve. Give me Big Mouth, or honestly, In and Out, any day. The people who work there couldn't be nicer, but they need to get their act together. Fri Sep 07 11:55:14 -0700 2007 2918821 10966 Windy 1 2921030 My thoughts exactly Robert. I actually think The Counter is pretty good, order process almost identical although I believe you get 4 or 5 included toppings. Also the 50/50 side of french fried Sweet Potato and Onion Strings with 3 dipping sauces is great Fri Sep 07 15:39:46 -0700 2007 2918821 96274 dhoffman1421 1 2924295 my pics of our meal here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=t5dik17.apgstoqf&Uy=-12um&Ux=0 Sun Sep 09 09:55:34 -0700 2007 2918821 10677 hhc 2 2924363 Thanks for the pics, the burger and the bun look very overcooked, but the lentil chili looks good. Sun Sep 09 10:23:23 -0700 2007 2924295 10125 Frosty Melon 3 2924534 I think olive tapenade on the bun is what made it look overcooked. Ultimately, though (and great photos, by the way) none of the burger looked all that appetizing to me. Thanks for the report. Sun Sep 09 11:54:36 -0700 2007 2924363 80141 ccbweb 1 2924408 And no dill pickles??!?? Sun Sep 09 10:41:25 -0700 2007 2918821 10418 Cecelia 1 2924411 The dinner hours are different than the ones hhc noted--though maybe only on weekend nights. I went with a group of friends after 10 on Friday, they closed at 11. I had the Kobe burger with mushrooms, cheddar and bacon on onion poppy. I wanted brioche, but they were out. The meat itself was flavorful and cooked to order, but the bun was rock-hard; I discarded the top. The bacon wasn't as crisp as I like, but the mushrooms were nice. The prices seemed spendy for the 7th and Mission area--my burger, plus coke, plus cookie, was $20. My friends got glasses of wine--their bill was $50 for two burgers and two glasses. Oh, and we also split a 50/50 order of regular and sweet potato fries, which were just ok, a bit soggy. I think they've seen a lot of tourist traffic. One of my friends had her camera with her, because we were working on our blog. The guy behind the counter offered to take our picture together and asked us where we were from. "Uh...the Mission?" Sun Sep 09 10:42:14 -0700 2007 2918821 19097 pane 1 3879580 I went here for the first time the other day. I thought the place had a lot of promise but overall the execution is just too sloppy. Too bad. The concept makes a lot of sense (burgers of many types with interesting toppings and buns that you can build to order; a limited number of enticing side dishes). I decided to bypass the many choices and order the "summer special" of buffalo burger on a sesame seed bun with mozzarella, lettuce, tomato and barbecue sauce. I thought it was nice that they asked you how done you wanted it. I ordered medium rare and a half order of "fries with sea salt." The burger had a good buffalo taste but was definitely well done (why did they bother to ask?) and had no barbecue sauce. The fries were fresh and hot and could have been good if they had been cooked a bit longer. A little more care and attention and I think it could be really good. Unfortunately, my first experience doesn't make me want to return. Thu Jul 17 23:28:54 -0700 2008 2918821 16045 cwujd1 2 3880162 Sounds like nothing has changed. I find it interesting that you like the custom concept but didn't order a custom burger. Fri Jul 18 07:41:22 -0700 2008 3879580 10966 Windy 3 3880322 Well, it was written up there and sounded good. It relieved me of the panic to make a commitment that was building as I neared the front of the line. I just think a few tweaks would improve the place immensely. Perhaps they don't have much incentive. The place was full of happy-looking lunch diners when I went and there's not a lot of competition in the neighborhood. Fri Jul 18 08:31:08 -0700 2008 3880162 16045 cwujd1