Hello from San Francisco and the Foodbuzz Festival! I have about 6 blog posts I need to write, but today is a busy day for Foodbuzz Featured Publishers, so I will keep it short with a review of Burger Bar.
Burger Bar probably wouldn’t be my first choice for a lunch destination, but the hubby likes a good burger, and I love Hubert Keller. Not to mention that the Burger Bar was within view of our hotel room at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco, in the beautiful, Christmas-decorated Union Square Macy’s.
We were seated promptly for our 1:00 reservation and had a great view of Union Square and the Christmas tree setup, not to mention great food photography lighting!
Since burgers and beer go so well together, I started with an Eel River Organic Porter. It was yummy!
For lunch, I had the veggie burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, jalapenos, and garlic aioli. Burger Bar’s veggie burger is no frozen patty out of a box. It is made of caramelized onions, lentils, mushrooms, peas, brown and white rice, potatoes, and pumpkin! I immediately wanted to recreate it at home.
On the side, we shared the jalapeno fried pickles. If fried pickles are on the menu, I have to have them!
My husband had the trio of different sliders. He liked them all, but gave a big thumbs up to the buffalo slider.
My burger was huge and very filling. All of the healthy ingredients, plus the toppings I chose, made for a tasty and substantial meal.
As you can see, I had to resort to eating with a fork because the burger was half the size of my face 
I barely ate half of it and was completely full. The food at Burger Bar is great, especially for you burger-lovers. The service, however, was a little pushy, and spurred a conversation between my husband and me about our eating speeds and restaurant service. He is a super fast eater, and I am verrrrrrrry slow. Once our server saw his plate mostly empty, she returned repeatedly to try to take it, but I had not even made a dent in mine. I hated feeling rushed on vacation and probably ended up eating less than I would have if I felt more relaxed. I am sure my slow eating can be annoying, but I really like to enjoy eating and never end up way too stuffed because I am always conscious of how full I am. It works for me!
Overall, Burger Bar was worth a visit if you like burgers, a great view, and are a fan of celebrity chef Hubert Keller. Perhaps sitting at the bar might have resulted in a less fast paced meal, and I would probably go that route next time.
Are you a slow or fast eater? When you are eating out or shopping, do you prefer constant attention from staff, or like me, do you prefer to be left alone?
