Tuesday's Burger: Burger Lounge (Kensington Location)

(Visited November 21)

Kensington Burger Lounge

There I was, minding my own business, doing a Google search for organic food in San Diego (organic food is very important, a topic for a different discussion, to be sure, but important none the less), when what do you suppose pops up in my search results? A burger joint of all things! What the heck is going on here?! It's a world gone mad, I tell you, mad!

But in a good way.

From their website: "Burger Lounge grew out of the idea that a hamburger should not only taste great, it should also utilize healthy ingredients produced in a sustainable environment. We provide a simple premium quality menu that appeals to health conscious diners, vegetarians, salad lovers and diners simply 'hankering for a great hamburger'." And all their beef patties are hand-formed all natural grass-fed beef (no feedlots) from "Tallgrass Beef"...sweet!

"Great taste", "healthy ingredients", "sustainability", "grass-feed beef"...heck, those are all things I can sign on to, and wouldn't you know it, I'm forever getting that "hankering for a great hamburger"! Hmm, it would seem that further investigation was in order.

The next day we were heading out to San Diego's "Kensington" neighborhood so my wife could visit the area where she spent her "Wonder Years". As luck would have it, one of the six "Burger Lounge" locations is right there on Adams Avenue...kismet!

It was Monday and it was lunchtime, so a bit of a line was not unexpected; the line wasn't too long and it didn't take much time at all to reach the counter to place our order.

We each had a draft beer, (a local micro-brew that I can't remember the name of...good though!) 14oz for her, 22oz for me.

All their Premium Burgers come with the Lounge Bun, Crisp Lettuce, Fresh Tomato, House-Made 1000 Island, Organic Cheese (White Cheddar or American) and Fresh or Grilled Onion. My wife ordered the "All Natural Turkey" Burger with a side of their French Fries ("Fresh-Cut, Twice-Cooked in the Belgian Tradition") and I ordered their "Lounge Burger" ("100% American Grass-Fed Beef") with a side of their onion rings. We both asked for "the works" and opted for the White Cheddar and fresh onion.

Our Burgers

The sides were good, but doing this burger blog I've noticed that sometimes one tends to make comparisons from one place to another, and that's what happened here. Taking nothing away from Burger Lounge, I prefer the fries at “Matt's Rotisserie & Oyster Bar”, and here's why. I'm convinced that Matt's also uses fresh-cut potatoes and fries them twice in the "Belgian Tradition", but I think they do it just a little bit better and I prefer their seasoning. The thing about frying the potatoes twice (in the "Belgian Tradition") is that they're crisp and tasty and they stay that way, even when they go cold.

As far as the onion rings go, I preferred the rings at Hodad's. The batters are very similar, both using panko bread crumbs, but what makes the difference for me is that Hodad's cuts their onions thicker so that after cooking you know that, by golly, there's an onion in there! The onions at "Burger Lounge" are cut thinner, so that while the crust is cooked about the same as at Hodad's, the onions are cooked more.

I mention my preference of other rings and fries, not as a criticism, but in an effort to offer honest feedback to the good folks at "Burger Lounge" to do with as they will. The next time I'm at "Burger Lounge", and there will be a next time, I'll gladly order the fries (or rings) again.

OK, enough about the sides, what about the burgers? In a word, "outstanding"! My wife couldn't heap enough praise on her Turkey Burger, and my "Lounge Burger" was fantastic! Both burgers earned a “Worth the trip” on my three tier scale of “Worth the trip”, “Worth a stop” and “Drive on by”.

Give 'em a try, be your own judge. If you're in the San Diego area, with their six locations, there's bound to be one near you. If you're in the Greater L.A. area, chin up, they say they'll soon be opening locations West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

"Burger Lounge" can be found online at http://burgerlounge.com/ and has locations in the Kensington neighborhood on Adams Avenue, in the Hillcrest neighborhood on University Avenue, in Little Italy on India Street, in the Gas Lamp District on 5th Avenue, in Coronado on Orange Avenue and in La Jolla on Wall Street. If you're reading this you're already on the internet...look up their addresses and phone numbers here: http://burgerlounge.com/neighborhoods/.

Go to "Burger Lounge", check them out and see just how enjoyable eating at a "Certified Green" burger joint can be!