San Diego Burger Week is amazing because 1) there are $5 burgers (like crazy, gourmet like burgers) all over town! For FIVE dollars! 2) Burger Week lasts LONGER than one week and 3) It’s fun to try a bunch of burgers and share them and 4) A lot of places have $10 deals to get your grubby paws on some fries and beer. Total score for San Diegans everywhere.
Here’s my recap of San Diego Burger Week. I didn’t visit quite as many places as my friend Lynn of oh-so-yummy did, but I did my fair share! Super glad Jake was along for just about all of these since I couldn’t finish a whole burger on my own. Hooray, boyfriends!
Here are my burgers, in the order that I ate them:
[waffle burger at brabant cafe]
The first place we tried to go to for Burger Week was Sublime North Park, but we couldn’t find any parking on a Friday night and so we headed to South Park for our first burger at Brabant Cafe.
At Brabant they were offering a waffle burger which sounded much more unique than most of the other Burger Week offerings. It came on a Belgian waffle “bun” that was slightly sweetened. There seemed to be little pockets of maple here and there as we ate it. The beef was cooked to a perfect medium rare and though the meat didn’t taste well seasoned, it worked in conjunction with the tomato jam and the sweetness of the waffle. I really liked this one and would say it was one of my favorites for Burger Week.
We opted to get the $10 special that included the twice fried Belgian fries which were totally worth it. Crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside, the fries were perfect.
Brabant Cafe
2310 30th St
San Diego, Ca 92104
(619) 516-5100
[cluckmoo burger at henry’s pub]
I remember reading about our next burger, the Cluckmoo, on Lynn’s blog last year. It sounded so awesome and we were pretty excited to try it out for a mere $5. The Cluckmoo is a combination of a cheeseburger plus a fried chicken breast.
Sadly though, the burger was way overcooked. We ordered it medium rare and the burger came out well done and very dry. We ordered two of these and the second burger tasted a little juicer than this one, but not much more. Sad cakes.
Henry’s Pub
618 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 238-22389
[the woody at bub’s dive bar]
After one of Jake’s softball games, we headed into Pacific Beach to try this one: The Woody Burger at Bub’s Dive Bar. We split just one burger since it was just the two of us that day and also ordered a side of tots. The burger was nicely cooked though the untoasted bun was just meh. It was a simple, plain burger. No thrills here. The tater tots were nice and crunchy though and they split the burger in half for us, which was a nice touch.
Bub’s is a very loud bar and not someplace I’d necessarily want to go again. You had to tell them you were there for Burger Week otherwise they would charge you the full price, as I was initially until I asked about it.
Bub’s Dive Bar
1030 Garnet Ave.
San Diego, CA 92109
(858) 270-7269
[house burger at callahan’s]
Callahan’s is in my neighborhood for work and home. It was an easy spot to visit for lunch. For Burger Week you could get a plain hamburger for $5. Cheese was another $1. Fries bumped you up to the $10 range and so after all of that, there really was no savings since on the regular menu is it a cheeseburger + fries for $10.59. You did get an included drink though, so you still save a little. The burgers at Callahan’s are monsters. The burger meat is always nicely charred and cooked just how you like it. I always like how they melt their cheese properly. Good deal, would have been better if I had just gotten just the burger but I don’t mind. I love the fries here.
Callahan’s Pub & Brewery
8111 Mira Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 578-7892
[ct burger at common theory]
Jake and T met me at Common Theory one evening for our next burger: the CT Burger. The CT Burger comes with arugula, caramelized onions, fresh tomatoes and aged white cheddar on a very nicely toasted brioche bun. The arugula is tucked away on the bottom and there’s only a little bit of it so it (thankfully) doesn’t overpower the burger. Really good burger – juicy, well seasoned, nicely melted cheese and those sweet caramelized onions made a big difference. Yummy!
Common Theory
4805 Convoy Street
San Diego, CA 92111
(619) Phone Number
[meat love burger at the rabbit hole]
Now here’s a unique burger, my friends. The Meat Love Burger. They make their own mixture to create the burger patties which is a combination of ground short rib, brisket and beef chuck patty. The burger is topped with House Louie Dressing, butter lettuce, tomato, onion, with a brioche bun. Our waitress was confused about the special and we ended up getting cheese included plus duck fat (yessssss) fries for $10.
The chew on this meat was really different that the other burgers we tried, though I’m not quite sure how to describe it. It was very flavorful and juicy but it felt like you were chewing on a different cut of meat and not a burger. The bun was soft and toasted and paired so well with the meat. The fries were incredibly good and we loved the whole atmosphere and the customer service. This was my favorite burger of Burger Week!
The Rabbit Hole
3377 Adams Ave
San Diego CA, 20116
(619) 255-4653
[the boring burger at twist sandwiches]
Our very last burger was procured from Twist Sandwiches, a little bitty shop on University. It’s kind of on the outskirts of both North Park and Hillcrest. Their offer for Burger Week was the “Boring Burger” which was really anything but! It had smoked gouda cheese plus these little bits of fried shallots that I adored. Good toasted bun that held up very well and a very nicely seasoned and juicy patty. My only wish was for the gouda to be more melted than this, but the gouda flavor was excellent overall.
Twist Sandwiches
2041 University Avenue
San Diego, 92104
(619) 260-1813
And that’s a wrap for San Diego Burger Week! Til next year!
Oh that’s total sad cakes about the dry Cluckmoo. We had one visit there that produced the same outcome. Bummer. You did good during Burger Week ! I don’t know how you didn’t get burgered-out. The boring burger looks the best to me!
Hi Faye! I know, I was bummed about the Cluckmoo. I’m sad to hear your result was the same. Maybe it’s a hit or miss thing. I think I didn’t get burgered-out because Jake and I shared everything, so I only ate 1/2 or 1/4 of a burger. I’m sure if I were eating whole burgers I’d be like, “I’m done with this”!
Looks like a successful turnout for the most part. If my cluckmoo burger had been overcooked that much, I would have definitely complained! Ours was a tad bit redder than medium rare so we actually asked for a little more cooked! It came out super fast on the last day. I still drool when I see my newest pic.
Now I kind of want another burger. The ingredients in Twist sounded pretty good. I also missed the Rabbit Hole bc they were out of meat but am interested in trying this meat texture thing!
Hi Lynn – I really should have complained about the Cluckmoo, it was really dry. But I didn’t feel like doing it that day. Sometimes I feel like it, sometimes I don’t! Your Cluckmoo looked way better than mine, too! The Rabbit Hole was awesome – I want to go back there and do a proper post for them. They have these amazing cheese curds too…. droooooool.
What an epic post! I admire your fortitude in trying so many places, other than the Cluckmoo, everything looked pretty good! I’ve seen that Rabbit Hole before because I had to park near it, ha ha, but never been in there.
Hi CC – We do like to try haha! I think it helps that it’s longer than a week and so we can space the burgers out a little as well. It’s a great way to try a bunch of burgers on the cheap, I can tell you that much. Rabbit Hole is definitely a place we want to visit again – really, really liked their food! Plus duck fat fries, dear god, those were so good. I was trying to keep the focus on the burgers for this post though!