Kirk's Steakburgers - Palo Alto, CA

Kirk's is located in the Town & Country shopping Center right across from Palo Alto High School. But there are no high school kids in the restaurant on a recent Thursday at lunch time, just lot's of photos of old Paly sports teams. I hear Kirk's is mean to the students and shoos them away. Either that or the students don't feel like spending $8 for a hamburger. But I have no such hesitation in pursuit of the best burger in the Bay Area.

I was joined by my friends Jeff and Dave for lunch. We stepped up to the counter and ordered. Given a number, we retired to a table to wait for our feast. Jeff ordered the 1/3 pound burger with chedder and pineapple - he says it is a local legend. I stuck with the featured items with stars by them on the menu. Those were Kirk's Big Griller ($8), combo of shoestring onion rings and steakfries ($4.19) and the vanilla milkshake ($3.85). Dave wimped out and ordered the caesar salad with chicken. He didn't want to get too filled up for his stretching class. The salad resulted in our burgers sitting under the heat lamp while it arrived, possibly from the grocery store nearby.

The Big Griller is a half-pound of fresh beef cooked to order and served on a roll. It has grilled onions and swiss cheese. I added only mayo at the generous toppings bar. The burger was quite juicy and tasty, if slightly overcooked. I rated it 4 spatulas. The onion strings were fabulous - lightly battered and crisp. (5 Spatulas) The steak fries were hot, but too big. (2.5). Finally the vanilla shake was thick and very cold, but not headache cold. (3.5). Jeff rated his Burger a 4 and the mocha malt shake a 5.

In closing, Kirk's serves a very nice burger and deserves to remain in a Palo Alto fixture. Perhaps some coupons to the high school could patch up the relationship with the students.

Burger 4 spatulas (out of 5)
Fries 2.5
Onion Strings 5
Milk Shake 3.5

Kirk's Steakburgers
75 Town & Country Village
Palo Alto, CA 94309
650-326-6159