Burger and Destroy – The Search for the Best Burger

Archive for Category ‘$15+‘

Wayfare Tavern – San Francisco

Published on Thursday, September 22 2011

After a few recommendations with my girlfriend around, it was decided that we would try Wayfare Tavern. As you may have already found out, I am a big fan of places you can go for a nice date night, yet still have an awesome burger. Win-win for everyone. When she is happy, I’m happy. And when she is happy and I am eating a burger, the world is a beautiful place.

I also don’t watch a lot of tv but there are a few things I watch obsessively; hockey, it’s always sunny, top shot, and anything on the food network. Wayfare Tavern happens to be Tyler Florence’s restaurant, and he has always seemed like a good chef and a good guy. I appreciate the fact that he’s gained a little weight recently too; it helps me trust him. So all signs were a go for Wayfare Tavern.

Since this is one of the few nice night out restaurant’s I have reviewed so far, I’ll go into some of the other details a bit more than I normally would. Wayfare Tavern is in downtown SF and is a pretty cool two story restaurant. It was crowded, as we went on Friday after work, and wasn’t a quiet place. It wasn’t obnoxiously loud either, but not a candlelit dinner where you whisper sweet nothings back and forth between bites.

I am very big on bread, and they served us some giant popovers after we ordered. They were huge, awesome, delicious and fun to eat. And to make it twice as good, they came back and offered us more after we finished our first ones. For the main course, obviously, I ordered their burger. They use a “proprietary grind” of local meat, brie and smoked bacon on a brioche roll. It came with a generous portion of fries too, that were good without being over-herbed like so many other nicer restaurants tend to do.

Wayfare Tavern - Burger and Destroy

This burger was very interesting. It is not the kind of burger you could eat all the time, but I am really happy I tried it. All that thick, melted brie ended up overwhelming me a little over halfway through the burger. I am not a huge brie guy but it has been growing on me lately, so this may have been all I was able to handle. The consistency of the cheese was also really different compared to our typical burger cheeses. The crispiness of the bacon helped quell the gooey wave of cheese that flooded from every bite, but the flavor was still overpowered by the cheese. All of this was on top of a brioche roll, and as expected after the popovers, it was a really good roll. The meat was cooked perfectly, and was a little thicker than the average patty. It is apparent that there was some serious thought in this burger.

Even though the burger didn’t quite work for me, I would definitely recommend you at least try it. I can see that being a burger people would love as everything is top notch, the flavors just didn’t quite click with me. And again, this is a really nice place to take someone special and have a good time. My girlfriend loved her pasta dish, and the bite I had was delicious. I would definitely recommend this restautarnt, though if I go back I don’t know if I will get the burger again. But that’s just me, and if you love brie then you have to try it.

Rating:

Learn more about them at:
http://www.wayfaretavern.com

Filed under $15+, California, Gourmet Restaurant, San Francisco | 0 Comments

Buckeye Roadhouse – Mill Valley, CA

Published on Sunday, August 28 2011

A weekend excursion driving around Muir Woods left us hungry and without a clue where to eat. We ended up right at the Buckeye, so decided to go for a little nicer dinner. The Buckeye has been around since the 30’s, yet I can’t ever recall going there. Maybe once growing up, but I wrote it off for being a boring place where adults just talked about nothing important all night.

At least that kinda fits the bill now. We were seated upstairs, and the place was loud. Like really loud, in every part of the restaurant. But we received the special table, tucked in a little alcove, adjacent to the largest party. 14 or so middle aged people, one upping each other and talking about their friends with a few properties here or there. Blah. We literally butted up right against them, as
some people would come to talk to the people nearest us, and actually stick their butts on our table.
Wonderful. So much for having a nicer dinner with my girlfriend.

Already a little perturbed, I didn’t feel like getting something fancy on the menu, so I went with the 1/2 pound ground angus burger. $15, with cheese and fries and the normal fixings. Definitely up there in price.

Angus Burger at Buckey Roadhouse - Mill Valley CA

And as somewhat expected, it seemed to be an “out” burger; an option for people who want something cheaper-ish or don’t know what to order. The patty ranged from really thick to normal size, and the taste of how it was cooked varied pretty strongly in each part. The cheese was, well, just cheese. It didn’t stand out from the rest of the ingredients, and was just generally bland. I am not a poppy seed fan, though they didn’t interfere too much. The bun itself was also just so so, nothing like the bread they served before dinner which was delicious. The fries were standard, but tasty.

No real surprise here. While not bad, it definitely was not very exciting or inspired. The more I ate of it, the less I wanted, and ended up leaving more than a couple bites. Worth a stop? Maybe, just not for the burger. They had a smore pie that was pretty interesting and tasty, and the service was good. We actually got the dessert for free, and 50% off our food, which was really nice. We didn’t say a word, but he knew it was pretty bad at our

table. So that was a real nice gesture, but didn’t help the burger out any.

Rating:

Check out their menu at:
http://www.buckeyeroadhouse.com/

15 Shoreline Highway
Mill Valley, CA 94941