I’ve been to Eureka! Burgers before – but never actually had a burger there. I’ve tried the salads and appetizers and I felt it was high time that I actually try one of their burgers. I was curious how it stacked up to the many, many other burger places we have here in San Diego.
[pearl street blues burger / $10.95]
On my first visit by my lonesome self (I don’t mind dining alone at restaurants – this has never bothered me since I usually have something to read) I decided to try the Pearl Street Blues burger. I’m not sure where Pearl Street is and what this had to do with the name of the burger but this sucker has got the toppings piled high with melted blue cheese crumbles, herb sauteed mushrooms and grilled onions and a chipotle ketchup to sauce it up.
It’s a lot of stuff to put on top of a burger. I love that you can SEE the herbs with the mushrooms, they’re not chopped up too finely.
I always ask for my burgers medium rare and get so excited when they actually come out medium rare! This one is a nice pink which helped make the burger even juicier and more delicious. Though maybe a little too juicy since my bottom bun was 100% soggy by the time it hit my table. Wow. Usually it gets soggy part way through but NOPE… this one was soggy right off the bat. This usually disturbs me so much and I decided to flip the burger over so the top un-soggy bun was on the bottom. That way my tongue didn’t touch the gross bottom bun and I was able to enjoy the burger a lot more. I don’t care if that’s weird or not. I hate soggy food!
Despite the weird-o sogginess, I ended up really, really liking this burger. I loved the flavor of the herbed mushrooms mixed in with the sweet grilled onions and how it mingled with the nicely seasoned and extra juicy patty. It says a lot if I love a burger even if the bun is soggy!
The fries were just okay – I was wishing for those truffle fries with the creamy cheese on top but they don’t offer those fries as an upgrade. Sadness.
[napa burger with upgraded onion rings / $11.25 + $1.25]
On my second lonesome visit, I ALMOST got the Pearl Street Blues burger again but talked myself into trying something new for the sake of the blog. Can’t get stuck getting the same thing over and over again! Must try new things! Something else could be BETTER. Gosh, you just never know.
The next best sounding thing to me on the Eureka! Burgers menu was the Napa Burger. It comes with an oven-roasted Roma tomatoes, pesto aioli, Havarti cheese, pancetta, and arugula. My only change was to nix the arugula since I don’t like that peppery stuff by itself. It’s okay mixed in with other greens but alone I find it too overpowering and want it away from my mouth. Sorry, arugula. No hard feelings, okay?
I upgraded to the onion rings this time around since I wasn’t enamored with the fries. When they set the plate down I thought, “Seriously, only three onion rings?” but it turns out that was plenty since I didn’t even finish all of my food! The onion rings are nice, thick cut onions – almost meaty in their thickness. The batter is light and doesn’t get in the way of tasting the sweet onions. I LOVE their ranch sauce – it’s slightly tangy, creamy and has a kick of spice to it – paprika maybe? In any case, I dipped all of my onion rings in it and used up every last delicious drop.
I loved how this burger looked with the melted Havarti cheese oozing down the sides and completely covering the patty. Partially melted cheese makes me notoriously sad so I was gleeful seeing this baby! The oven roasted tomatoes look kind of dramatic all shriveled up like that.
I asked for medium rare again but sadly got medium this time. It’s a slight pink and it closer to medium well so it was not as juicy as the first burger I had. Oh well.
I loved the pesto aioli on this though it came through stronger on one half of the burger so I guess it wasn’t spread out evenly. It still added a wonderful boost of flavor with the touches of basil and garlic in the creamy sauce. I wasn’t sure if I would dig the shriveled – er I mean roasted – tomato but it kind of worked in this burger. I didn’t think this one was as flavorful and bursting with joy as the other burger but it was nice with the crunchy pancetta on top (you can see a piece of pancetta blurred out and sticking out at the bottom of the photo above).
There are still a few more of the Eureka! Burgers I’d like to try but if they could consistently give me a medium rare burger I’d be a lot happier. And if I could upgrade my fries to creamy, cheesy truffle fries! Maybe I’ll ask next time… it’s probably like +$3 instead of $1.25 or something. But it’d be worth it.
Eureka! Burgers
4353 La Jolla Village Dr.
San Diego, CA 92122
858. 210. 3444
We went to Eureka for a work lunch and I liked it. Got the burger with fig and arugula. Looove that they cook their meat with some pink inside, nothing ruins your burger like a dry gray-throughout well-done patty!
Also “bursting with joy” is the perfect adjective for a delicious burger. Will have to get the more joy-filled burger you tried next time 😉
Hi J.S. – Overcooked burgers are saaaaad. Might have to try the fig one next – I like fig but not arugula! Bursting with jot does sound good now that I re-read it haha!
My fav burger is the fig one! i didnt think id like it by the description, but the flavors really work.
Two votes for fig! I’ll definitely have to check it out on my next visit. I don’t even remember seeing it on the menu!
I want to try this place. Medium rare juicy burgers sound so good right now. I hate it when the meat comes out cooked any other way than it was requested. I don’t know why, but my dad likes his meat medium, but at places he knows he’s going to most likely get it well done instead of medium, he orders it well done, expecting well done means medium to them. Yeah, I am embarrassed to watch him order anything “well done” lol.
I cringe hearing well done. It just ruins the flavor of the food! Don’t do it, people! A lot of places seem to overcook stuff. Maybe they are afraid of serving undercooked food..?
I wonder how one can prevent a soggy bottom bun. Is it searing the meat better? Or maybe take the patty out, cut it in half, wait a bit, then put patty back on bun? I hate soggy-anything too. I went here for HH last weekend and it was alright. Their yummy onion rings weren’t on the HH menu though. Smart restaurant huh – they know their onion rings are pretty good. Those truffle fries you love so much are offered during HH though 🙂 I tried them some time ago and felt it needed a TON more truffle (not being greedy or nuthin’).
Hmm, maybe soggy bun prevention (I feel like there should be a “Soggy Bun Prevention Society” or something) could be avoided by letting the meat rest before putting it on the bun (so juices go back to their happy place in the meat) and a toasted bottom. And slicing the bun in half evenly. Seems like a good idea to me, anyway. I kind of love the truffle fries more for the creamy cheese on them than for the truffle part! They’re being stingy with the truffle!