Pearl's Deluxe Burgers (aka. Pearl's Phatburger)

The tears of joy coursing down my cheeks are preventing me from typing a proper ode to Pearl's. I'm going to go cuddle with my vanilla malted shake and leave you to drool over this photo. I'll type up a report after I recover.

Three hours and a buffalo cheeseburger later...

I almost ran back across the street for another one after I scarfed down the first. Then again, I can't remember the last time I had red meat, and I ran today, so maybe I was just feeling anemic. Still, this is one of the better burgers I've had in SF, not counting fancy restaurant burgers that cost $15. The buffalo cheeseburger was $7, a regular cheeseburger is a few dollars less.

Look at all that pink! The plusses: the meat was lean, flavorful, and cooked medium rare on the rare side. It had a hint of that gamey buffalo flavor, but it was similar enough to regular beef that I'll just order regular beef next time (see bonus round for statement retraction). It was nicely cooked, with a little bit of char and that buttery aftertaste that a great burger gets from its fat content. I just wanted a classic burger this time, and the lettuce and tomatoes were both cold and crispy.

The minuses: The onions could have been grilled a little longer (I like my char), and the burger could have used more salt. I solved the second problem by adding ketchup and eating a lot of pickles, but a very light sprinkling of salt over the patty would have been ideal. Still, I much prefer for a restaurant to undersalt than oversalt. This burger has great potential, and I'm willing to cut them some slack in their first weeks.

I love that there's finally a no frills diner in the neighborhood. This is the kind of food people want in the Sirloin (aka. Tendernob). You can get a full meal for under $10, or a light meal for under $5. It's the kind of food that makes you feel like a kid again, the kind that's conducive to sharing with friends and making a big mess. Lovable, familiar, back to basics food. Oh, and they let you have as many pickles as you want. Take the time to pick and choose; one of mine was crispy and the other was limp.

I do have to go back and explore the menu. So many delicious things, including a dish called frings. That's right, someone finally realized that people often want fries AND onion rings on the same plate, but don't always want two orders of deep fried snacks.

Bonus round...

Yes, I was back the next day for fries and a Fat Bob. Bacon, onion rings, Monterey Jack, and BBQ sauce on top of a beef patty. I rescind my previous statement: the buffalo tastes way better than the beef. I guess I never noticed because I've never done a side by side comparison, but buffalo tastes beefier. Not gamey, per se, just beefy. Still, this was a well made burger--like a Bacon Western Cheeseburger that tastes like real food. The fries were hot, crispy, and of the variety that has much more soft center than crispy crust. Again, I love this thickness for fries. I was really impressed by the length of these fries. There were only a handful that were shorter than my longest finger, and many that were a good four inches long.

A note on ordering: do insist on your meat being rare or medium rare if that's what you want. They're not squeamish about giving you what you want. I wasn't careful about ordering today and the meat was barely pink in the center. Yesterday I was very insistent about my meat not being overcooked, and it came out deliciously pink/almost raw.

Pearl's Deluxe Burgers
Post, between Leavenworth and Jones
Website