BPA

As an additional note to any interested parties: I created an excel spreadsheet to chronicle and score the various burgers I've had during this adventure. Below is the rating scale and the factors I take into account when scoring my burgers.


Presentation (5 points)
Fries- i.e. seasoning, density, dipping sauces, crispy-ness (10 points)
Extras- i.e. lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, cheese, etc. (10 points)
Bread (10 points)
Atmosphere (5 points)
Patty- i.e. density, seasoning, thickness, juicy-ness (10 points)
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Burger Point Average (BPA) out of a possible 50 points



Grade:
A= 45-50 points
B= 40-44.5 points
C= 35-39.5 points
D= 30-34.5 points
F= 25-29.5 points

Riding my burger Bareback

It was a last minute decision to get the girls together for a night of burger tasting. I referred to the list we had created from all the recommendations that any friends and acquaintances had given since hearing about our quest. O'Brothers sounded like a good choice and I called ahead to see what their hours are since it was a little late for dinner on a Sunday night. The person who answered notified me that they were closing in 30 minutes...not enough time to even browse the menu nor savor my burger. I consulted with the gals and we opted to check out Bareback grill at their downtown location. My superior parallel parking skills landed us a superb parking spot in the heart of downtown...score!

Grabbing a booth, we sat down and got settled in. Our server was a bit "all over the place," but her bubbly personality and aussie accent won us over in the end. She shares how she lost her wallet in a drunken stupor the night before, then goes into a tangential monologue about how her work visa is expiring and she will be forced to go back home. She continues to share a little too much information about how she had initially moved to the states for a guy who hasn't "gotten over" his ex and how she's been waiting around for 2 years for him to "get it together." Wow. I just wanted to satiate my craving for a burger!!

Nonetheless, I ordered the Sheila's Cracked burger because the beet root intrigued me. Plus, I needed to see what all the fuss over the aioli sauce was about. Of course, a basket of fries had to accompany that burger and that wasabi mayo sauce sounded fabulous. The combination of the thick and juicy patty, lettuce, tomato, fried egg, and beet root was amazing! It was the perfect juxtaposition of sweet with savory, and the aioli sauce was drool worthy. The fries were freshly cut and perfectly cut so that you got a good bite ratio of the fried surface area and inner potato goodness. The wasabi mayo topped it off just right since it gave it a good balance to the salty seasoning on the fries. Yum! This was by far the best burger I've had since we sarted this whole quest for "the perfect burger." Who would've thought that we would find it in the midst of the gaslamp quarter, a neighborhood I vow to avoid at all costs :) My fellow taste testers had to agree: these burgers were a pleasant surprise and definitely surpassed our expectations. We walked back to the car and our conversation about our favorite parts of the meal did not cease until we parted at the end of the night. And, at that moment I realized that at this point in my life, the most exciting part of my weekends now consist of food :)


Grade: A-
Burger Point Average: 46

Bare Back Grill
624 E Street
San Diego, Ca 92101
619-237-9990
http://www.barebackgrill.com/menu-downtown.php

Discoverin' the 'Hood

Nic, Steph, and I started our "Quest for the Perfect Burger" with the critically acclaimed Neighborhood. It had a bit of an industrial decor and it was kind of dark, which made for an odd start to our burger adventure. Well, there was that and then there was my ex-boyfriend sitting at the bar with his current girlfriend. Can we say awkward?

I wanted to hastily finish my burger so we could get out of there, STAT! However, I was still able to enjoy the restaurant's classic Neighborhood burger. It had caramelized onions with Blue Cheese...which just happens to be my favorite combo anyway :) It made it an easy choice. The Ciabatta bun was nicely toasted and made for a great base for the patty. There were potato chips accompanying the burger but a better option were the sweet potato fries. There were crumbled cheese atop it, and the dipping sauce made for a good tangy taste. The sauce on the burger was a bit much, and the burger seemed a bit bare in general. I have to admit though, I like a lot of different flavors going on in my burger. So, this classic burger was a bit more simplistic than I preferred. Good burger, just not one of my favorites. I would probably not go back again given the pit in my stomach on the way home....well seeing the ex being fondled by his current girl might have added to that nausea.

Grade: C
Burger Point Average: 36

Neighborhood
777 G Street
San Diego, CA 92101-6418
(619) 446-0002
http://www.neighborhoodsd.com/menu-lunch.php
http://www.neighborhoodsd.com/menu-dinner.php

Griddle me this, Griddle me that

It was a week and a half past my birthday, but a good excuse to get the gang together and make it over to West Hollywood for some flapjacks. As Tony put it best "whenever you come into town I have to get ready to put on 10 pounds." So, in the midst of celebrity impersonators and the crowd of out of towners, we waited patiently for 40 minutes despite cries of hunger pangs from Mike. The wait did nothing to whet our appetite and we threw out the food orders before the waiter could even get his greeting out. I was sold on the "Golden Ticket" the minute I read streusel and cinammon. The stack of 3 flapjacks appeared insurmountable the minute it was placed in front of me...there were onlookers whose gaze followed the plate from it's departure from the kitchen down the main aisle of the restaurant. There was even a fellow patron who inquired the name of my dish so that he could order the same thing. The crumbly banana pancakes had a heavy handed sprinkling of cinnamon, and a huge scoop of whipped butter atop it. It looked more like dessert than breakfast, but I could care less. I was famished! I dug straight in and did not look back. The pancake was gooey and just the right amount of doughy texture without being too cake like. There were chunks of banana intermixed in the dough, along with toasted walnuts and sweet streusel. The warm, whipped butter was oozing into the nooks and crannies of the flapjack which made for THE perfect bite every time!

I also got to try Tony's and Mike's pancakes...and hands down my dish was the top contender out of all the dishes at our table. Tony's "Mounds of Pleasure" was a sugar shock from the beginning. It was so soggy from all the drizzled chocolate and whipped cream, that it was terribly overwhelming. I was only able to get through a couple bites...and even then I felt I was about to go into a diabetic shock. Mike's pancakes were better but it was the very basic strawberries and cream on their basic flapjacks. All in all, the meal set us back a pretty penny but it was well worth it....would go back in a heartbeat!!

Just as a side note: I couldn't help but notice that ALL the servers who worked there were outlandishly handsome!! They looked like they could've just walked off the set of the local Melrose Place shoot...which made it difficult to enjoy the food because I was distracted every few minutes. Yummy on all accounts!! :p


The Griddle Cafe
7916 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 874-0377
http://www.thegriddlecafe.com/menu.html