Bullshead Tower Burger
Yesterday was Vida’s last day of Kindergarten. Since spending the last three days camping with her class I was way too frantic to cook anything for dinner. It seemed like a night for celebration anyway. We sat in the car after school perusing her yearbook. Vida got the “tag playing, early morning person, good friend to all award”. I think that pretty much sums up her Kindergarten year--lots of tag, lots of friends among both older and younger kids and adults.
Dinner with Vida has been suffering lately—we have actually settled into a bit of a routine, revisiting some of our favorite restaurants. Tony’s Cable Car has been our spot for hamburgers because we can sit outside and Vida can jump from bench to bench while we wait for our hamburgers. We have also become regulars at Warakabune. Now when the sushi chef sees Vida he starts making avocado rolls and putting them on the boat just before it reaches her. For mother’s day we went back to St. Francis Fountain for dinner and milkshakes.
The pursuit of the city’s best burger hasn’t really stopped though. About a month ago the night before my birthday we went with B to Bullshead in West Portal. I had just recently heard of this very old school hamburger place next door the Philosophers Club Bar and the West Portal Muni Station. We walked in to see a large meat case—an unusual sight in a hamburger restaurant. They also featured buffalo burgers. It was busy but since we were early we sat down right away. We went to the back past the salad bar into an alcove with a very low ceiling that looked like it had been taken from a doctor’s office. We sat at brown formica tables and restaurant supply wooden chairs. I looked down at a patchwork of carpet remnants on the floor. This was a place that definitely didn’t worry too much about atmosphere. The crowd was definitely from the neighborhood, lots of older people and a few families the kids.
I ordered a plain burger with just pickles for Vida and a bacon cheeseburger for myself. When my burger came it was piled high with an incredible amount of bacon. Vida saw it and wanted some—usually I’m loath to give up one of my two slices of bacon that usually come with a burger but in this case I could give her a few and still have plenty. When I tasted the burger I was immediately filled with the knowledge that this was the best hamburger I had ever had. No question that it surpassed all the cable car places, Burger Joint, Burgermeister, whatever. The fries also lived up to the high standard of the burger. Thoroughly satisfied we made our way up to Double Rainbow for ice cream.
The day after this evening was my birthday and we woke up to go to school and work and our car had been stolen. We calmly called the police and then a cab to get us where we needed to go. The next few weeks were spent communicating with the insurance company, driving around a rental car and eventually purchasing our new car. Its only now a month later things feel a little more together. Now that school is over for the year and we go into our summer schedule I don’t think things will necessarily be calmer for me but Vida is very excited about her camp schedule.
I didn’t think Bullshead could be beat but I decided to go another burger place, Tower Burger up near Tower Market. I had low expectations from this non-descript restaurant next to A Round Table Pizza in a strip mall. The fog was particularly thick up there so we shivered our way from the parking lot into a surprisingly busy restaurant. It was a bit chilly from the foggy air sweeping into the place from the constantly swinging door. But I was instantly relieved when I saw that they used Niman Ranch meat. Their menu not only had great hamburgers but a lot of vegetarian burger combinations as well. We ordered our usual plain hamburger and bacon cheeseburger and decided to branch out into some onion rings as well as French fries. We poured our own drinks from the soda machine, took our order number and sat down. We were served within minutes. The food cooled quickly from the chilly atmosphere so Vida could dig in immediately with out worrying about everything being too hot. The lukewarm fries put me off a bit but the hamburger was great. The onion rings were obviously made there with more of a tempura rather than the bread batter indicative of pre-made onion rings.
Yesterday afternoon on the way to the baseball game we walked down 18th Street past the old Ryan’s restaurant. This location is clearly cursed for whatever reason. It has it all, cute building with street level, upstairs and outside seating but even the well-known Ryan’s seemed to struggle not to mention its more recent incarnations. But I think the tide may turn—there was a big banner announcing that Bullshead restaurant is opening a new location. We may have to stay close to home for our hamburgers.
Restaurant Total: 208
