Welcome back to The Great Burger Hunt. It’s the end of the year, and it felt like the perfect time to talk burgers before 2022 begins. Currently, my favorite burger in the city belongs to Monsieur Benjamin, and in the last installment, none of the burgers got to that level (but Niku Butcher Shop hit the top five). For this round, I tried burgers from The Willows, Double Decker and Rock Club Burger. Will any of them hit the top spot?
1. Western Burger from The Willows
The Willows is a Gastropub in SOMA serving a selection of burgers with a salad or fries on the side. I opted for the Western burger which, as one might expect, is a burger with onion rings, barbecue sauce and jalapenos. I decided to be “healthy” for the day and went with the salad on the side. The burger itself was fine. Honestly nothing special, and probably not really worth a trip back.
2. Double Decker Burger from Double Decker
Double Decker is a long time burger joint in San Francisco with two locations: One in the Mission, and one in Hayes Valley. I opted to order it for home, so I grabbed a Double Decker Burger with two seasoned patties and melted swiss and cheddar cheeses ($10) and a side of onion rings ($4). The burger was pretty tasty and relatively inexpensive, but again, there really wasn’t a wow factor for me. The onion rings were fairly standard as well.
3. AC/DC from Rock Club Burgers
Lastly, I tried out the AC/DC ($14) from Rock Club Burger. It’s a food truck currently located on 2nd Street in SOMA with some outdoor seating. The burger itself had cabbage, sweet plantain, fried cheese, french fries and green sauce. It was definitely one of the tallest burgers I’ve had in awhile, and I ordered a side of onion rings ($6) to go with it. I have to say the plantain on a burger was a huge revelation for me, and I think it’s something that should be done with more burgers in the future. The fried cheese was a Halloumi style cheese so it wasn’t that melty, but it was still tasty on it. In fact, everything about the burger was really well put together and balanced, but the burger itself was a bit dry and overcooked for my liking.
Winner: Monsieur Benjamin
Honestly, when I saw the burger from Rock Club come out, I was really hoping for a new champion, but alas, it still needed a bit of work, at least where the burger was concerned, but I would still go back and try some of the other weird and unusual offerings that they had. It definitely gets an honorable mention, but sadly the other two burgers weren’t that great for me. Also, I’ve noticed that Black Sands Brewery (now Fort Point) in the Haight (my number three burger) now only does hot dogs, and their amazing double smash burger is in the Valencia location, so I will be updating my top five to reflect that. Will I find a better burger somewhere in the city? Find out next time!
My current top five:
1. Monsieur Benjamin
2. Comstock Saloon
3. Fort Point Valencia
4. Wayfare Tavern
5. Niku Butcher Shop
Honorable mentions:
Classic toppings/burgers:
Gaspar
Nopa
Epic Steak
4505 Burgers and Barbecue
Magnolia Brewing
The Showdown
Spruce
Little Creatures Brewery
Frankie’s Java House
Unusual toppings/burgers:
City Beer Store
The Saratoga
ABV
Biergarten
Son’s Addition
Rock Club Burger
Multiple toppings/burgers:
Papa Mak’s
Brickhouse
Super Duper Burgers
Beep’s Burgers
Hoopla Burger
Sides:
Umami Burger
Wes Burger ‘n’ More
