[SF] Best-O-Burger, Good sliders in the FiDi Options

[Squeat Mungry]

Randy Lewis (former chef at Mecca when it was good) and Mecca's owner Steve Weber, have finally opened the project they've been working on: Best-O-Burger at the corner of Pine and Belden Place. Since this is in the same block as my office, I stopped in today for lunch to see what all the fuss is about.

Pretty darn good burgers! I got a 2-burger bag of the BOB Cheeseburgers, which comes with a side of "Strings & Ring-Os" -- fries and onion rings. The burgers are grilled on an iron skillet while you wait (took about 5 minutes) and they were really tasty. Good tasting meat with a nice char outside, nice pink center. Good, fresh buns ("oven baked fresh all day long").

The onion rings were good too. Thin-sliced and crispy. Fries were kind of eh. Nice to have this downtown, where it is hard to find a decent burger.

Best-O-Burger

[Alexandra]

Inquiring minds are interested in the gelato shake...

[Squeat Mungry]

Inquiring minds are interested in the gelato shake...

I'll try one soon and report back. (In the interest of, you know, science.)

[cstuart]

Had a burger here last week. It was ok. Maybe I was expecting too much. I wasn't too impressed by the meat (not seasoned enough). I think you have to go into it thinking about a little greasy slider as opposed to a hamburger, if that makes any sense. The best food in the the bag o burgers was the onion ring o's and the worst was the fries.
A decent spot for a quick lunch if you work around there but I wouldn't make a trip to eat there again, although the shakes sound promising.

Squeat, have you been back yet?

[Squeat Mungry]

Squeat, have you been back yet?

Yeah, I went back the other day and was not as impressed as I was the first time. This time the patties were overcooked, and the buns seemed different somehow... too sweet and "squishy". The onion rings were still good, though, but the fries are kind of sad.

Dang. Oh well... the search for a good quick burger downtown continues.

ETA: D'oh! I forgot to try the shake!

[Stone]

A friend of mine who lives in the Financial District asked me not to call it FiDi.

[cstuart]

Squeat, have you been back yet?

Yeah, I went back the other day and was not as impressed as I was the first time. This time the patties were overcooked, and the buns seemed different somehow... too sweet and "squishy". The onion rings were still good, though, but the fries are kind of sad.

Dang. Oh well... the search for a good quick burger downtown continues.

ETA: D'oh! I forgot to try the shake!

Ya, that's what I mean in terms of expecting a slider. My bun was squishy and covered in grease, there was cheese and I think sauce all over the place, the meat wasn't seasoned well - just not a good hamburger.

Have you tried Pearl's Deluxe Hamburgers? I recently heard some good things but haven't been over there myself.

[cstuart]

A friend of mine who lives in the Financial District asked me not to call it FiDi.

What about Di Fi?

[Squeat Mungry]

Ya, that's what I mean in terms of expecting a slider. My bun was squishy and covered in grease, there was cheese and I think sauce all over the place, the meat wasn't seasoned well - just not a good hamburger.

Have you tried Pearl's Deluxe Hamburgers? I recently heard some good things but haven't been over there myself.

I haven't tried Pearl's -- though I've heard good things, too. It's a little too far for me to hit at lunchtime. (I'm right down in the heart of the Financial District.)

(Also, I can't stand sweet potato fries... I wonder if they have regular fries as well?)

A friend of mine who lives in the Financial District asked me not to call it FiDi.

What about Di Fi?

Hmm... it's kind of funny: I don't mind "FiDi". I guess I might if I actually lived here. But "NoPa" just seems silly to me.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Summer is [practically] here and that makes it burger weather for me, so I'll start posting on my recent excursions.

My first coupla years in the city were mostly relegated to the Kobe burger at Harry's Bar. It was good and all that, but I don't really think it was Kobe.

Then O Izakaya opened up and it has become the benchmark in San Francisco burgers for me; amazing sponge bun, perfectly marbled "Kobe" beef, and intriguing sides; spicy pickles, aioli, and the not-your-standard mustard and ketchup. The fries are spiced with shichimi-togarashi (that spice you find on jars in Japanese restaurants). I always order my burger with matsutake mushrooms and swiss cheese.

Arlequin (the little Absinthe-associated bistro) has a Greek-inspired lamb burger which I enjoyed before an opera one evening. It was a nice change to the "classic" beef burger with a spiced tomato compote.

Most recently, however, Yoshi's has added burgers to its bar menu so I headed there Friday evening to see how my closest local burger stands up. Served with a side of potato- and sweet-potato fries, it is less glamorously presented than either O Izakaya's or Harry's; paper-wrapped and significantly less fries than the latter. It was also advertised as Kobe and it is very good meat, but it was hardly awe-inspiring for $14.00. A good burger, yes, but not very memorable.