Wednesday, May 16, 2007

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

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

We love Kirk's. My dad has who is 69 years old has been eating as Kirk's since he was in high school. He claims that it is keeping him healthy (he is trucking along). He probably eats there 2-3 times a week. There is an old photo of the original kirks and the old car in front of the restaurant is my dad's. He just walks behind the counter and tells them what he wants.

Scott R. Kline said...

I have heard this from many folks. Kirk's is a fixture for Palo Alto. it is good to know they don't coast on trheir reputation and still make a good burger.

Anonymous said...

The store that was on California St. was special, a wood burning indoor grill, so many condiments, no frills, perfection. We used to go to the original Kirks on El Camino when I was a little kid before it burned down. The Town & Country store doesn't hold a candle to the two previous Kirks incarnations, new owners that don't really get it.

Scott R. Kline said...

The Kirk's California street was a landmark. i liked burgering there. Fortunately, there is a new burger place on California that is pretty good at The Counter. But it doesn't have that smokey old world charm of the old Kirk's.

Sarah Saad said...

شركة نقل اثاث بالرياض
شركة نقل اثاث بالدمام
شركة نقل عفش | شركة نقل اثاث بجدة | شركة نقل عفش بالرياض | شركة نقل عفش بالمدينة المنورة | شركة نقل عفش بالدمام

http://khairyayman2.livejournal.com/6248.html
http://khairyayman2.livejournal.com/6044.html

Post a Comment