#94123

The Tipsy Pig

2231 Chestnut Street San Francisco, CA 94123

http://thetipsypigsf.com/

Date: 11/11/10

Eater: Charlie

Price: $13 for 3 mini-burgers with white cheddar cheese

$5 for fries with herbed aioli

"...and that's how I ended up in the Marina on a Thursday night." I'm not rehashing that again. So, my friend and I, blurry-eyed, stumbled into the Tipsy Pig, unsure of the clientele, menu, or table availability, but full well knowing we were quite hungry and thirsty. The front dining room was hot and packed, but fortunately there was plenty of space on their back patio. While the back patio was decked out with heat lamps and large flat-screens, the menu was limited; the only burger option was their house-ground mini burgers (three per serving!) with white cheddar cheese. These burgers were "mini" by name only. For a trifecta of burgers they were much bigger than I had expected and the Hawaiian bun provided a great sweetness that I had not expected either. I greatly appreciated the size of the portion and the tastiness of the bun, but beyond that I was fairly disappointed. Again, the burger was brown throughout. THIS, after I tipped my hand to the kind waitress (who asked me to giver her a shout out in this post, but I have since forgotten her name. Ashley? Michelle?) that I co-authored a (famous, wink) Hamburger Blog. I ordered the burger medium-rare/rare and it came out well done. I suppose it's harder to prepare those smaller burgers, but if you can't pull it off, then pull it off the menu. The fries were delicious; nuff said. Ashley-Michelle did encourage me to come back for the real burger, which apparently has a good reputation, perhaps I will!

I must apologize to our loyal followers: in an attempt to update my iPhone's operating system, I lost all pictures. If you want a closer look at the Tipsy Pig's mini-burgers, I recommend you check them out yourselves!

Accouterments: Each burger was topped with White cheddar cheese in a Hawaiian sweet bun.

Size: 3 almost 1/4lb burgers

Beef: Cow

Ranch: Niman Ranch

Beer with Burger: Ninkasi Total Domination IPA

Beer Selection: Large bottled selection and about 10 beers on draft with options of 10oz, 15oz, or 20z glasses.

Ambiance: I've never been a fan of the Tipsy Pig's main dining room, but I really liked their back patio. Not only do the heat lamps provide warmth in any weather condition (that doesn't include precipitation), but they have flat-screen TVs outside too! Perhaps the best of both worlds...literally: the freedom of the great outdoors matched with the mind-numbingness of the great indoors.

   Place:  Roam Artisan Burgers (San Francisco)

1785 Union Street

San Francisco, CA 94123

(415) 440-7626

http://www.roamburgers.com/

  Eater: Megan

Date: 10/07/10

Price: $4.99 Classic Burger (add $1 for cheese)

 Roam has fancy topping options and good-quality meat and local ingredients. That’s their thing. Their thing is not a big hearty burger that you can sink your teeth into. But their thing is also cheap and fresh. Which we like. This burger is smallish by burger standards although an appropriate size for a female meal. You won’t have to purge yourself after a Roam burger. Yes, this burger is Marina-chick safe. Despite Roam’s creative and cute and carefully-crafted topping options, I went classic. With regard to how I would like my burger cooked I was asked, “Pink or not pink?” Oh, what an adorable new way to ask such a basic, time-tested question. Pink, bitch! The burger as a sandwich had good overall flavor, mostly due to the nicely toasted artisan bun baked at a local bakery, special sauce, and not-melted-enough-for-my-taste cheese. The actual beef patty did not stand out. With that said, everything melded together nicely and seemed fairly proportional… just shrunken.

  Size: ¼ lb.

Accoutrements: Butter lettuce, tomato, diced onions, house-made pickles, house sauce. I added gruyere cheese.  

Type of meat: Cow Ranch: Pacific Pastures 100% grass-fed Beer with Burger: Boont Amber Ale on draft (somewhere around $5)

Beer availability: Eh. At least they have beer. Three beers on draft and a few bottles.  

 Ambiance: Cute enough and has patio seating. Order at the counter and they bring it to you.