BURGERMEISTER

Burgermeister is a small local chain of burger shops in SF, that's actually pretty popular. And I have eaten here before. However, it was last year right after we'd completed that AIDS walk, and I was so tired that I was in no mood to take pictures of food and write about them later.

However, on a rare visit to SF, we were in the Haight and decided to head to the Burgermeister in Cole Valley since Tom had never been there before. The thing with Burgermeister is that they give you a lot of options to customize your own burger. The bad thing is that they're pretty expensive - the most basic burger starts at $9. You can expect to spend around $12-$15 for a burger.

So on this visit, I went with a California burger- turkey patty with cheddar and avocados. I also like putting BBQ sauce on it. And it came with a side of very delicious curly fries.

Meanwhile, Tom went all out and got his burger topped with chili and cheddar. He got a side of their sweet potato fries, which I also like. And he did enjoy his burger (though he didn't think it was the best burger he'd ever had).

I admit that I do like going to Burgermeister for all the customization and options. And they do use great, fresh ingredients, and the make the fries fresh, so they're always super hot and crispy. However, the price is a deterrant for me. A meal here always costs around slightly under $20, and we're talking about burgers, fries and a soda. So really, it's more of a yearly thing for me - good thing it's located in SF.

THE DRIVE HOME

Well, we had gotten the mini van from my parents and it was time to drive home to the Bay Area. Unfortunately the weather spoiled our plans. We had planned on driving up the 5 back up, but snow closed down parts of the highway, and so we took the 101 North all the way back to the Bay Area. Though it was a much longer route, it was also far more scenic.

I haven't driven up the 101 North in years, so when we started approaching San Luis Obispo, I started noticing things that we had visited on a family trip years before. The thing that caught my eye was a giant billboard for Apple Farm. I remember visiting the place with my family years before, and since it was near lunch time, I made Tom get off the highway so we could find out. Unfortunately when we followed the directions that the billboard had given us, we found a satellite location for the Apple Farm which had closed. A little sad, we headed back to the 101, but at then I spied the original Apple Farm and we stopped for lunch.

You know, memories are a powerful thing. I don't actually remember eating at Apple Farm with my family, I just distinctly remember going there. But given that we had to wait 20 minutes for a table, I thought it'd probably be a decent place to eat. As we walked to the seats, I noticed that the clientele there is filled with locals, elderly people and tourists, probably not the best crowd to be dining with. And when we were given the menus, I noticed that the prices were actually kinda on the high side of standard American fare.

So we wanted to get back on the road, we ordered quickly. I got a turkey pot pie.

The crust that you see on top was actually the best part of the whole thing. I was very buttery and crusty. What was underneath wasn't as tasty, but it was fine. Meanwhile, Tom ordered a burger...

which came out pretty overcooked and anemic looking. At least the fries were ok.

Overally, it really wasn't worth stopping here for a bite. It did delay us an additional hour, and I have a feeling we would've been happier at In N Out, but it was good to experience this place again and learn that memories of food don't always translate to the present.

BETTY'S BURGER'S AND THE SANTA CRUZ BEACH BOARDWALK

After my sister and boyfriend arrived in Santa Cruz, we played a round of pool. (yes, along with beautiful views, the beach house came with its own pool table). I suck at pool. Luckily, everyone was ready to go for dinner. Earlier in the day when we drive over to downtown Santa Cruz, we'd passed by a burger restaurant called Betty Burgers. I noticed it just by the smell coming off the place. So we decided to head over there for dinner.

When we arrived at the place, it was already pretty packed with family, locals and a whole lot of children (it was Labor Day Weekend after all). The place is pretty small, but is decorated with cute 1950s decor and they have a good amount of seating outside. I had Tom place our order while I went outside to stake out a table and chairs.

After we placed our orders, we waited for quite a long time. The place was packed, and they made their burgers to order. Still, after waiting about 15-20 minutes, we finally went in to check on our order. We were told it'd be out shortly and it was. Here's a photo of Tom's burger:

It was a 1/2 pound patty, and as you can see, he got it with all the toppings. I think he said it was ok, but not as good as the burgers at Al's Big Burger. Meanwhile, we got a basket of sweet potato fries to share:

I was a big fan of these fries. They were skinnier than the normal sweet potato fries, which make them cook up extra crispy, and I do love crispy fries. It was served with a side of their secret sauce, which I really didn't find all that special, and the fries were pretty great on their own.

Meanwhile, I was still so full from lunch that I got a kid size order of chicken tenders:

And what can I say, they were chicken tenders. Nothing super special, but not bad, either. I was only disappointed that they had only one type of dipping sauce - ranch.

After dinner, it was off to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. (we see ads for this on ALL THE TIME). I gotta say, it was located in a seedier part of town (if you could say that Santa Cruz has a seedy part of town) and the attractions themselves were a little run down and unseemly. But we still had a good time playing skee ball (when the machine wasn't ripping us off) , video games and just walking around.

To top off the day, Tom decided that he needed to try a deep fried twinkie (though I encouraged him not to):As you can see, it came on a stick, drenched in powdered sugar and chocolate sauce. I didn't try it, but made him let me look at the inside when he bit into it - the creamy interior had basically disintegrated during the frying process. He ended up throwing most of it out, because had been pre-fried and had been sitting there for a little while before it'd been served (not tasty for any type of fried food).

So we had a great first day in Santa Cruz. Did a little bit of relaxing and a little bit of sightseeing, with plenty more sightseeing coming up.

FUDDRUCKER'S

That's damn right people, I'm doing a post about Fuddrucker's. Most of you know that above all, I want to know that when I pay for a meal, it has to be worth it. That means if I pay $5 for a meal, I know that I'm not going to get a whole lot for my money, and that's ok with me. I'll still enjoy my food. And if I'm paying $100 for a meal, then I'm going to expect more- better food and exceptional service. When I don't enjoy a meal iis when I pay $50, and end up getting food and service that was worth $10. So yes, I may love going to fancy restaurants, but I also like KFC fried chicken and biscuits.

So it was my co-worker Kim's birthday and she loves Fuddrucker's. A little while ago, we'd gotten some coupons for Fuddrucker's in the mail, and I handed them off to her, but she wanted to use them, so a group of us headed out for burgers.

So I'd been to Fuddrucker's as a kid, but it's been at least 15 years since my list trip, and I was actually pleasantly suprised by the settings. It was pretty early on a week night, so there weren't any screaming kids, big families, etc. It was really tame, the place was impeccably clean and they even refilled the BBQ sauce pump right away when I complained that it was empty. (more on that later).

But first, a photo of my soda (I got the Orange Crush for Tom and took it home with me) and the large roll of paper towels that they provide for each table:

One reason why my friend loves Fuddrucker's is for the free pump cheese. Actually, if you're unfamiliar with the chain, the whole idea is that they make a burger for you, and then there's this whole toppings bar when you can add all the free toppings that you want- tomatoes, onions, lettuce, pickles, mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce, and for my friend, the glorious pump cheese, served warm and in two different flavors (plain or jalapeno). Behold the pump cheese:

Let me just say, this whole trip was worth it, just to see my co-worker order a Kobe beef burger, with bacon, and then dump orange pump cheese all over it. And yes, she finished the whole thing (though she felt kinda sick afterwards).

I was a little more tame and ordered chicken breast with grilled mushrooms and cheese. As you can see below, I topped it with tomatoes, onions, pickles, lettuce and bbq sauce:

And I gotta say, it wasn't that bad. The mushrooms were kinda dry and overly peppered, but apart from that, I'd totally rather pay like $6 for a burger here, than $10 for a burger at Barney's. I think it's got something to do with that all you can eat toppings bar- just makes it feel like you've got so much more control. So overall, I enjoyed by meal at Fuddrucker's and I truly wasn't expecting to. Maybe one day I'll go back and take Tom- just as long as he promises to avoid the pump cheese.