Roam Artisan Burgers - San Francisco, CA

The Sunny-Side Burger from Roam Artisan Burgers features an egg on top.

Roam Artisan Burgers on Fillmore is the second location for this San Francisco burger chain. It is a warm and friendly place to meet friends for burgers, which is exactly what we did one Wednesday night.  We all ordered our food at the counter and staked out 10 places at the communal table in the middle. Roam has a very nice wine and beer selection which is definitely a win. But go here for the burgers, which are some of the best I have had in San Francisco. 

I got the Sunny-Side ($8.25) with the beef patty, organic free range egg, aged white cheddar, caramalized onions, greens, tomato, sweet chili sauce. The patty is 4.5 ounces but seems bigger. The meat is moist and nicely spiced, cooked just the right medium. Sesame bun toasted and spongy. Sauce is just the right amount of sweet and spicy.  Onions sweet and perfect. Fresh tomato slices were fresh and tasty.   My only quibble would be the egg yolk should have been runny, not cooked hard.

Russet Fries from Roam Artisan Burgers

The Russet Fries ($2.99) are medium cut and sprinkled with parsley. These were not as hot as they could be. 

Zucchini onion haystack strings ($3.49) are ok. They were tough to eat and indeed stringy. 

The place offers a nice choice of meats including beef, turkey, bison and veggie. I didn't consider anything but beef, but a lot in our party did. They seemed equally pleased. 

I will be back. Sorry for the photo quality. The place was very dark. I lit the food with my iPhone. 

Burger 5 spatulas to of 5

Fries 4 spatulas

Onion Strings 2.5 spatulas

Roam Artisan Burgers

1923 Fillmore Street, 

San Francisco CA 94115

415.800.7801

roamburgers.com

Shake Shack - New York City, NY

Double Shack Burger at Shake Shack in Manhatten's Madison Square Park.

Shake Shack in Madison Square Park is the original location for this New York City icon. When in New York I felt compelled to give it a try. On a lovely fall Sunday in the shadow of the Flatiron Building, the line at noon was only about 5 minutes.  I ordered a double Shack Burger ($7.20) fries ($2.70) and a chocolate shake ($5). Pat ordered a plain cheeseburger. We grabbed an outdoor table and waited with our pager. It only took about 5 more minutes to get our food. 

The burger is special. The two patties were fresh and lightly compacted. There was lots of room for the juice to flow. The meat was salty to the best degree and cooked a perfect medium. Melted American cheese oozed nicely blending with the mayo-based sauce. A couple of firm tomato slices and some fresh green leaf lettuce topped it off. The hinged bun was toasted and spongey, holding everything together in the two minutes it took me to eat it. 

The fries were crinkle fries cooked brown and salted. Medium thick, they were good, but not unusual. 

The original location for the Shake Shack in the shadow of New York's Flatiron Building. 

The shake was fabulous. Creamy thick and cold, but still drinkable through the fat straw. The Chocolate quotient was perfectly balanced. I sensed a slight hint of coconut.  

If you get to New York, don't hesitate to give it a try. Try to get to the original location for a great experience. 

Burger 5 spatulas out of 5

Fries 3.5 spatulas

Chocolate Shake 4 spatulas

Shake Shack

Southeast Corner of Madison Square Park

Madison Ave. and E 23rd St.

New York, NY

212.889.6600

shakeshack.com

The Flatiron Building looms next door to Madison Square Park.