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California Burger and Deli. . . in Utah

Don't get confused. Yes, this restaurant is called California Burger & Deli and yes, it is in north Salt Lake. Not in California. I wouldn't have such an exotic flare if this place actually existed in California now would it? And yes, California is exotic to us Utahns.
I have heard good things about this restaurant and decided to take my wife there. By the way, she is great, she follows me around and, because burgers is what I do, she almost always lets me choose the places we eat. Fair? Maybe not, but to be fair to me,  she has never complained and I really don't see it happening anytime soon either because she loves burgers about as much as I do now.
California Burgers & Deli is in a weird spot nowhere near any other businesses that I could see. However, West High School is directly across the street and I suspect all the students there are making the owners of this establishment rich.

Yes, I know, this is from Subway. I just found this picture somewhere
and it is not the actual sign that I mentioned, but it was a lot like this
 sign only there were at least three of them posted on their soda machine.

At first I couldn't understand why there were so many signs up on the soda machine written in sharpie that said "ONLY 1 REFILL!" or "2nd REFILL IS 50 CENTS" or "SERIOUSLY, QUIT STEALING MY DAMN SODA". Ok I get it, you love your soda and don't want to share, sheesh. But then I Realized that the poor owners are dealing with teenagers 90% of the time. I now approve of the signs. I can't imagine the hell they have had to go through that eventually lead to the necessity of such signs. Those poor owners, they have a great locations that blesses/curses them.
It's a little restaurant and the vibe was a bit weird. It was eerily quiet in there, no music at all for some reason. You don't realize how important background music is in a restaurant setting until there is none to be had. Definitely needed some California-themed music to go with the environment. Without the music, rather than give off a Beach Boy vibe it gave off an Escape From L.A. (A movie which stars my man-crush Kurt Russell. He's my boy!) However, the restaurant itself was very very clean though, dang near spotless. The owner scurried past us a few times as he wiped down tables and windows and swept the floor.
As for food, my wife got a cheeseburger and I got their signature California Burger with a basket of fries, which come with two onion rings as well. Count em, two. The California Burger is a pastrami and swiss burger that also has bacon on it. Yeah, I know. Needless to say, it was pretty good. However, in the end, the bacon over powered the pastrami. I know, I know, it doesn't sound like much of a problem for a guy who's mistress is bacon. But, I think a good pastrami burger needs no upstaging, and that's what the bacon did.
But, lest I be misunderstood, it was good burger and it was big, juicy, and above average. My wife liked it better than Crown Burger's pastrami burger, buuuuut I'm on the fence about that.
The fries seemed to be fresh cut but were just ok. Not a whole lot of flavor. The onion rings were much better and had a good crispity crunch to them, just the way I like 'em.
So if you're looking for an 'exotic' burger option, I give my approval. Head on downtown to California Burger & Deli and tell them to turn the music up.

Lucky 13, at last I have found you.

Let's just get it out of the way, Christmas passed and today is New Year's Eve, so . . . happy 'those days' to all of you. Many blogs do the whole themed posts with candy cane decorations and the like. I have a Y chromosome and, like the majority of us Y'ers, this whole decorating and theme-ing thing is lost on me. However, I do like the holidays and hope you all had/have jolly ones, hopefully with a tasty burger to help celebrate. Now to the real reason we're all here.

I was surprised that from moment I declared my intentions of starting this burgers adventure, and consecutively this blog, that all of my blog followers genuinely wanted to guide me to 'their place'. Everyone seems to have one, their go-to burger place for a consistent and satisfying experience. Most of the recommendations I've received have been better than good, while other's have fallen flat. I love the recommendations, keep them coming. I even like the ones that fall flat, oddly I like knowing they're there and I take notes of what to look for, and usually I can find at least one redeeming quality. 

I was equally surprised to find out how many restaurants exist that specialize in burgers. I had no idea there were so many. I worried that I may run out of places to go and thus this blog would eventually go the way of the dodo, I see now that I could do this consistently into the foreseeable future with no chance of running out of places to try. That said, I may drift, very rarely, to some different but obviously related and relevant food groups. For example: hot dogs, bratwurst, fries, maybe even root beer etc. . . So stay tuned, I have some exciting places to visit that I am antsy to try. (also, stay tuned for the fast food burger showdown. It's gonna be epic!) 

Sorry, so blurry. Bad lighting

Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, recommendations. Ahem. . . Since the moment I started this culinary journey I have been told by many a burger connoisseur to try Lucky 13, a local bar and grill in downtown SLC. As a birthday treat Whitney and I decided to give it a try, hoping it was as good as people have said. Our expectations were high, our birthdays are 3 days apart so we usually do something big as one big party for both of us. This year, it was Lucky 13. 

Lucky 13 somehow exceeded expectations, which, again, were quite high. Portions are very generous and their burgers are creative without trying to hard, you can usually tell when they start throwing pineapple on things. Not at Lucky 13 though. They serve a variety of burgers that all sounded so good I nearly had a panic attack trying to decide. It was decided we would have to return several times to try them all. 

again, sorry for the poor quality

In then end Whit got the Bacon stinky cheeseburger (blue cheeseburger) and I got the Pig Pen (bacon + ham. putting HAM back in hamburger). Just so you know, they do bacon right! Thick and real. so so real. She got the onion ring which had a strong beer kick to them and I got the rosemary garlic fries that were so good I nearly wept. 

I did very little research of this place beforehand, going exclusively off of my fans' recommendations. Later I realized why we were so impressed. Their buns looked fancy but still looked like they came out of a big plastic bag, but as it turns out they are freshly baked every day, which is great. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! Seriously, I was SOOOO impressed by this next piece of information. Are you ready for it? You're not, but I'm gonna tell you anyway. Lucky 13's bacon is smoked in-house daily with hickory apple wood. Is that not amazing? They do their own bacon, I think this is a first for me. So be aware that their bacon is very very good and as real as you're likely to get.

So do I approve? Why yes I do, best birthday ever. Go to Lucky 13 and tell them Samburger sent you. Don't really, they probably don't know me and it will just confuse them.

Carl's Jr., you heard me.

Ok, I know I have never blogged about a fast food joint before, and for good reason. Mainly that reason is that they are not very good and, thus I try to avoid them. However, no one can escape fast food. At some point you're gonna be desperate and it will be the only option. Or, if you're like me, sometimes you just crave a jr. bacon cheeseburger and a frosty at Wendy's. We all know fast food is poor quality and usually equally poor service, yet we go anyway and some of us go often. Don't get me wrong I like a fast food burger every once in a while. They are usually edible and are masked with just enough taste as to convince us that they are 'good'. 

But let's try something, reach back into the recesses of your memory and try to remember what a fast food burger taste like. This should be easy, it's not hard to remember. If you can truly bring this to your memory than you will realize that the fast food 'burgers' you like so well don't actually taste much like a real genuine burger, not really. Right? Not surprisingly, these are merely synthetic recreations of a product with inferior ingredients, some of which are made and cooked in China before being shipped here. 

However, there are two things that most fast food places do that I think are executed well, as far as taste goes anyway. The two things that are most delicious on the fast food menu are their fries and most of their breakfast sandwiches. McDonald fries are a cheap imitation of the real thing, buuuuuuuuuuut damn they taste good! They are just good and I can't resist them. Damn them all, I am powerless to their evil, evil fries.
Anyway, I'm not here to blog about fries, not today. Today I want to give credit where credit is due to Carl's Jr. (The west coast version of Hardee's). They are stepping out of the box as of the last couple of years and I for one have noticed. As far as I know they are the only fast food chain to make their biscuits fresh every day. There is a difference between, say, McDonald's pre-cooked-then-frozen biscuit and one that is fresh baked from dough from Carl's Jr, a big big difference. Seriously, it would be like comparing the repulsive feeling you get by touching the sticky used gum stuck to the underside of a table to the blissful blissfulness of being cuddled by puppies and ducklings in a nest of cotton candy. It would be like comparing pulling porcupine quills out of the roof of your mouth to being in a hot air balloon with a dozen baby otters who sang sweet lullaby's in your ear until you fell asleep curled up in the bottom of the wicker basket. (Man, can I paint a picture with my words or what!) Seriously though, their biscuits are amazing which makes their breakfast sandwiches even amazinger. I'm sure the eggs, the bacon, and the sausage are all pre-frozen and probably microwaved and the cheese is made of plastic but the buttery flaky biscuit comes in and gives you a big hug and makes everything ok.

I don't know how but Carl's Jr. got our address and sends us coupons every month. I'm not even mad. We use them fairly often. Every time we make a trip to southern Utah we stop there for a couple Monster Biscuits for the trip. And their coupons are actually good, meaning they are buy one get one free or $1 off your order, you know, they actually have some value. We also get coupons for a chinese restaurant in the mail that offers a free small drink when you purchase two entrees and a desert at regular price, not even tempted. Are there people living who fall for this stuff? Also, Carl's Jr. usually has some breakfast deal that requires no coupon at all, like two bacon egg biscuits for $2.22. It's well worth it, although the sausage is better.
I'm thinking Carl's Jr. is achieving some success with their decision to bake their own biscuits because I recently saw a poster saying they are now baking their own burger buns. I haven't tried them, but I like the sound of that.
So if you want a little quality in your fast food experience for a change try out Carl's Jr. for breakfast and, hell, get fries with it while you're at it.

St. George's FROSTOP

As you may have noticed, at times, I travel to St. George, Utah which is my wife's home town. I love everything about that lovely desert town except that as a result of my visits my skin often turns crispy and red. 2 minutes in that summer sun will most likely kill me. One of the several disadvantages of being a redhead.
On our most recent visit to this sandy paradise we decided to visit an old time favorite and local family-owned diner in town, Larsen's Frost Top. I've actually eaten here before, getting your fair-quality shake every once in a while. Their shakes are . . . fair in quality.
If you really want a blast from the past just park in one of their many drive-in slots and a lovely young waitress will walk up to your window and take your order. No one does that anymore! Although I do think the experience lacks a certain roller skate quality.
It's a fantasy of mine to park at a diner and have a woman in a whirly skirt roll up to my window on her American flag roller skates and say "What'll ya have hun?" Then later she'll roll up to my window again with a strange tray, and on that tray will be an big greasy burger. The strange tray will defy physics and balance on the outside of my partially open window. . . Alas, I fear it is only a silly dream.


I ordered, of course, the bacon cheeseburger (aka, the Queen Burger). I bought lunch for 4 people and spent $15. Not bad. As you can see, we ordered a bit of everything. The nearly-burnt-looking onion rings are what really stood out to me. After eating everthing, including the promising onion rings, it became apparent that all the food, much like their shakes, was fair in quality. Fair might even be an itsy bit generous too. Better than your typical fast food? Perhaps, but only just.

I found myself puzzled. Usually at a restaurant, burger places in particular, there is a menu item that I refer to as the "hero". Most burger places reserve that title for their burgers. Der! This is the item that they pride themselves in either perfecting or reinventing. I have no idea if Frost Top even has a hero. I'm not sure if they're a burger place that also serves ice cream or vice versa. I'm unsure because all the items I've tried have been, again, 'fair in quality'. My wife tends to think that their glaciers are the heroes, which is a snowcone on top of ice cream. She may be right, I've tried them and they are quite good. Good, but also easily executed.
But wait! I literally, just now as I was typing, remembered going to Frost Top a few years ago and absolutely LOVING what was served to me. What was it, you ask? It was their grilled ham & swiss sandwich. I don't know what it was about that particular sandwich but it was amazing. After finishing it I nearly ordered another.
So there you go, for fair in quality and affordable food as well as the occasional high quality glacier and grilled ham & swiss sandwhich give Frost Top a try.

JCW's and the amazing grilled cheese

It seems like JCW's has been around forever while at the same time it also seems to have just started showing up recently. I really have no idea when they started showing up in Utah but they are around now. According to my research (I just typed jcw in google) they have been around since 1998 and started here in Utah. So, there you go.
JCW's has that old not-trying-too-hard feel to it, which I like in a burger place. Because believe me, and if you have read my earlier posts you know, some places try way too hard. JCW's seems to be a plain and simple yet established greasy burger joint, nothing crazy.
Except their menu is crazy huge.
I get real worried when places sport a massive menu because I think that, often times, that the greasy side dish you order may actually be a byproduct from an over used grill that they then throw on some bread and call a 'special'. The place will make one pretty good item and then all those items between the lines are the lowest quality imaginable.
That did not seem to be the issue at JCW's. However, we didn't stray too far from the popular menu items either. I had a good bacon cheeseburger and my wife had a simple grilled cheese sandwich. My wife says, and I heartily agree, that sometimes only a grilled cheese will do. wise words.
My burger was ok. A decent burger for a price that I thought was just a bit high with no glitter yet it wasn't completely forgettable either. To me though, the fries were the highlight. Those fries may not be fresh cut, honestly I couldn't really tell. I'm guessing they're not but look at the color. That golden brown color may just be my very favorite color ever. When a fry is that color, it often means it is in what I call 'the buttah zone'. Meaning, they pulled those fries from the fryer at just the right moment, when the fries were in the 'buttah zone'. They are fried just over what one might think is enough, just the way I like them.

My wife loved, nay, LOVED her grilled cheese. I tasted it, and I thought it was good, but she was having a When Harry Met Sally experience with it. I think it was the right item at the right time for her specific craving. Rarely does one get to see this experience in the wild. But I saw it first hand. She wasn't too hungry but she was crave-y. She ordered her sandwich just because no one is ever disappointed with a grilled cheese and she was not. As you can see it arrived on large white sourdough bread. A not so typical, yet nothing really fancy, spin on the grilled cheese. I'm not sure I would say it was the best grilled cheese ever but my wife might disagree.
So if you want a decent burger and what may or may not be the best grilled cheese ever, try JCW's.
My sister compared JCW's to Culvers and I would have to agree. What Culvers lacks in bacon quality it makes up for with it's buttery aftertaste (although I don't think you can really make up for poor bacon quality. Not really). And what JCW's lacks in originality it makes up for with a solid product. Not my favorite place, but not overly hyped and it is what it says it is.

I'll have what she's having.

Guzzi's Vintage Burgers

You should eat at Guzzi's. Really, you should. But from my experience you need to plan on it. You might not be successful if you just decide to go there on a whim. Why? because it's only open 4 hours a day. Ok, 4 and a half.

From 11:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. Guzzi's makes some of the best burgers I've had the pleasure of testing. They only have half dozen items on the menu, my hope is that with a small menu they will give each item it's due attention to perfect it. Actually, I'm going to say they only have 5 things on the menu because I'm not counting the pineapple burger on principle.
My blog has way more readers than I ever anticipated (thanks!) and it has become somewhat of a conversation piece from other people who talk to me at social gatherings. My brother in law Eric is one such person who is interested in my opinion of burgers and has asked if he could join me every so often on my culinary adventures. To which I said "absolutely". Eric is a wise guy (in every meaning of the expression) and he is a person whose opinion I respect so his being present is only a plus for me.
We met there bright and early at noon (I work graveyard shift so noon is early for me) on Eric's lunch break. It is perhaps the weirdest burger joint I've ever visited. Very old, small, and not in the greatest shape; but it had plenty of 'spirit'; note the two motorcycles on the roof.
Eric and I both ordered the Blue Burger and Whitney ordered the Garlic Burger. These burgers are real, the people at Guzzi's are not trying to fool anyone, they are just trying to do their job well. The garlic burger was very garlic-y and very good, but the Blue Burger was very very good. They make a bleu cheese burger as I've never seen it done before. While grilling your patty they also grill the bacon and cheese together until it become a little patty of its own with a crispy crust of bleu cheese surrounding thick cut bacon. Like I said, it was very very good. Eric says his bacon was a little weird, but that was the only foul word spoken about our experience. Ok there was one other thing, my only real complaint was that their ice maker and soda machine was broken so there was a bag of ice on the counter to share between the customers and the soda wasn't carbonated. They were having an off day I think.
And the fries, I really enjoyed the fries too. They were fresh cut unpeeled and just look at them, really just look at them and remember that shade of golden brown. THAT, in my opinion, is the correct color of a fry. It should be on the well done side and crispy. A fresh cut fry will only get so crispy but these guys did it right. I've had some limp fries in my day, not a fan. The worst limp fry culprit was at Five Guys, I could have tied a not with those noodles. (remember this? Look at that last photo again. http://samburgered.blogspot.com/2013/05/five-guys-burgers-and-lies.html for shame.)
I really liked the burgers, I liked mine so much that I forgot to offer a taste to my wife even though I took a bite of hers. I owe you one honey.

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