Burger Joint

Jesse:

Food: 4 out of 5 stars

     I ordered a Niman Ranch natural beef burger without a bun, garden salad with balsamic vinegrette, for $9.45. The price of their burgers continue to go up and tonight I realized that the burger patties were becoming thinner as well. But both the salad and the burger were very tasty. 

     I have been eating at Burger Joint for many years and it continues to be one of my favorite hamburger joints. It’s also a favorite of the teenagers in my life, in spite of all the other great hamburger places nearby.

     I love, love the interior of this place. It is by far the “coolest” hamburger shop I have ever eaten in. Well, Ok, Hamburger Mary’s was better, but Mary's is sadly, long gone. 

     Burger Joint also has the best music of all the hamburger joints I’ve haunted over the years. Awesome hits from the 50’s thru the 80’s. Makes you want to dance or at least sing along. It’s my theory that the great music is also a great digestive aid, which is quite necessary at a hamburger shop.

     Their bathroom is sweet too. Nice lines and colors aesthetically, and always clean. 

     I would highly recommend this restaurant for when you experience a hankering for hamburgers, fries and a good milkshake.

     Bon appetite!

Mary:

One of the favorite photographs I've taken is of the neon green and maroon back of a booth, with mustard and ketchup bottles on a formica table-top, shot through the window. It's of Burger Joint. And the experience of eating there matches the good feeling I get when looking at that picture. Burger Joint is the place to go for a full gustatory, visual, auditory treat. If you're Jones-ing for a good burger and fries, this is definitely one of the top places to go to in the city. It's got a retro feel with the formica table tops, booths, oldies playing on the sound system, and good burgers and fries that satisfy that multi-decade continuum that is "the memory of burger eating."

What can you say about burgers and fries? That what you order should satisfy your memory of all good burgers that you have had. Burger Joint definitely does. The fries are fat, a little on the soft side, and very tasty. The burger was cooked to my medium rare specification. The lettuce was crisp and so was the tomato slice (a slice of tomato that looks like it is dying of anemia is a definite appetite suppressant).

Burger Joint definitely satisfies.

Shirley:

The Burger Joint
Burgers and milkshakes and fries, oh my!
I like the Burger Joint. No matter what I order, it's good. Especially the milkshakes. I don't have them often, but they are so good.

My burger with cheddar was right on medium, just the way I ordered it. The bun, onion, tomato, piclke and lettuce were fresh and tasty.
The chrome trimmed 50's style booths and tables, the half-tone comic-like graphics on the walls and the doo-wap music create a fun, comfortable atmosphere.
Go there, eat there, try a milkshake and have a good time.

Phoenix Cafe and Irish Bar

(Sorry, no photos at this time.)

Jesse:

Phoenix Café and Irish Bar

Food rating: 2.5 stars out of 5 
Bathroom: 3 stars

    We were Really hungry when we arrived and I believe that improved our meal greatly.
    Upon entering you see a nicely appointed long bar on the left with a long line of well attended stools. There are several TVs tuned to Bay Area sports teams, or teams with former Bay Area players. That was the case tonight. Pablo Sandoval was playing with the Red Sox on one screen. I didn’t pay much attention. He made his choice and now I choose to be unimpressed.
    On the right are nice booths with copper covered tabletops and lots of dark wood trim around the room.
    The overall effect is warm and inviting. I like this place. I could hang out here, and we did. After we finished our so so meal, we did linger comfortably, talking amongst ourselves. 
    But let me get to the meal. The waitress was great and very helpful with my allergy questions. No complaints there.
    I ordered a burger, $15, cooked medium rare with bacon, avocado and a salad.
    The burger was a little dry and the bacon was a bit of a tasteless wad. How you can get bacon to a state of tastelessness is a mystery to me, but they did it.
     The salad was the best tasting dish on my plate. 
    There were two restrooms. The women’s had two stalls and was clean, with the same warmth as the rest of the joint.
    I probably wouldn’t choose this place again for a meal, but it looks like a great place to have some beers and watch a game. Come to think about it, I bet after a few beers the food is pretty damn good.

Mary:

The Phoenix bird can represent rising from the ashes, or it can depict the crash and burn part of the cycle that precedes the resurrection. Regarding the eating part of the Phoenix bar and restaurant experience last Friday night, it was unfortunately the crash and burn segment that we encountered. 
A good Rueben is my gold standard for a restaurant. Evidently I'm not alone, both Shirley and Barbara ordered one too. We were all ravenous (watercolor painting which precedes our Friday night restaurant excursions, can be an energy-depleting experience. Who knew that moving a brush about could burn so much energy.) So we would have been easy to please. It took me five or six bites to realize what was wrong. Not enough cheese, no sauerkraut, not enough thousand island dressing. And, the meat was not piled on. Ruebens taste great with just the right amount of excess. These sandwiches were anemic and disappointing. So sad. Barbara only ate half of hers and didn't get a to-go box.
But the environment was great. A nice place to hang out. Just don't go ravenous and expect good food.


Shirley:

Hurray! A place I've never eaten before. I was definitely looking forward to something new and different.
The Phoenix is an Irish pub, a place to knock back a sandwich and a couple of beers after work. There is plenty of memorabilia on the walls to keep you occupied while waiting for our order and the noise level ran high enough to have us shouting across the table to each other. It was dark, noisy and very friendly.
The menu was Irish/British/Mediterranean? fare, Shepherd's Pie, Bangers & Mash, Irish Potato Nachos, Chicken Strips, you get the picture. It is what I would call an American mix and very varied for bar food.
Now, I love a good Reuben. I have eaten them from New York to San Francisco. Corned Beef, Swiss cheese, Sauerkraut on Rye, grilled until it is all melty and crispy and gooey but not greasy. That is a good Reuben. Some like it with Thousand Island dressing, I slather it in a good mustard. Either way is great when the sandwich is up to par.
The Phoenix makes what I would call "a pretend Reuben". It followed the basic recipe but left some key elements. The quality of the beef was mediocre, the sauerkraut sparse and the bread, if it was not rye as I know it. If there was rye flour in the bread, it was hiding. And, the concoction missed salt. I found that strange because most bar food is build to keep customers ordering thirst quenchers.
So, not a great rendition. But I was hungry and the place was fun, so if you are not a food snob, it's a good place to hang for a bit. I am curious about the Shepard's Pie. I don't see it on menus very often but I fear disappointment and will have to seriously contemplate the possibility of not being satisfied by the Phoenix version.
I liked the place but the food is not the primary draw. For a rowdy evening, check it out. No pretension or pressure, just old dark wood, water served in jars (okay, just a little pretentious) and a full bar. Try it when you're in the mood.