Around the Belmont-San Mateo border, El Camino Real is an interesting mix of mattress vendors, timeworn motels, mom-and-pop stores, and used car dealerships. Not exactly an area where you would stumble upon hamburgers with Meyer Ranch ground beef and shakes with Clover organic milk. Lo and behold, newly opened Jack’s Prime serves up all that sustainable and humanely raised goodies that Bay Area denizens have come to demand and expect.

Jack’s Prime just opened at the beginning of October and seems to be garnering a good amount of attention already. Mmmm, cold beer. Have to hand it to Jack’s and their attention to the small things that make a huge difference. Frozen pitchers?! Great idea, folks. We kicked off the meal with some ice cold Boont. Jack’s even has wine available for those weirdos who would rather enjoy a Zinfandel over a cold one.

The interior features a very modern industrial minimalism with its strong emphasis on gray and metal. Thankfully, it didn’t feel like I was going in for a prostate exam or anything. Unfortunately for the wait staff, we snuck in 15 minutes before closing, but our waitress was fantastic and pretty understanding (and it was her first day!).

Nate and I both ordered the Maytag Blue Ribbon burger, complete with Maytag blue, caramelized onions, and beefsteak tomatoes. Pretty freaking good. Juicy and messy, just the way I like it. The bun was perfectly toasted and the spread tied the whole creation together. However, when we first received it, there was one glaring omission. No blue cheese. Nate and I were a bit perplexed, but the waitress quickly took care of it. Being the first week of operation, a few snafus were totally excusable, but it’s hard to call a burger Maytag blue if you forget to place the namesake between the buns. Also, in writing this, I just realized that there were sauteed mushrooms, which was not a part of the menu description. Sweet, free shrooms.

We ordered a pair of fries: the Mushroom Swiss and Breakfast. The Breakfast fries was topped with a fried egg and served with a side of Tabasco mayo. The fries were quite tasty, but we were definitely disappointed by the fried egg. Some of the ooey-gooey yolk running all over the fries would have been nice. Hopefully they’ll address this for all you future patrons.

Had to try the handmade shakes. I had the mint chocolate and Nate went with the black and white. Mmmm, pretty good. The shakes could easily be slurped up a straw (unlike those pesky In ‘n’ Out suckas) and were almost smoothie like, but they held very well. The mint chocolate had a delicious treasure trove of chocolate chips at the bottom. Great way to end the meal.

Based on the past reviews, it seems like we’ve been eating at a lot of burger and sandwich joints recently, but what can I say… I love sinking my teeth into a juicy patty sandwiched between two crunchy and soft buns. Does Jack’s deliver on flavor? Yes, very much so. Should you go? Yes, check them out and support a Peninsula restaurateur who is committed to serving good ingredients. Would I go back? Not for a while. I don’t mean to be a jerk, but I was a bit disappointed by some of the mistakes. We didn’t even get a dish comped. I understand the first week slip-ups, so I’ll wait a bit and let Jack’s iron out some of the wrinkles before I make a return visit.

Jack’s Prime
3723 South El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94403
650-638-1479
www.jacksprime.com
Support our local businesses!

Located in San Jose’s illustrious (or pretentious…you decide) Santana Row, The Counter is another play on the “build-your-own-burger” concept. Wherein it is in your hands, dear diner, to select the individual components that will make up your custom built, and hopefully delicious, burger. I must admit I had my reservations first coming in…my past experiences with gourmet burger places have been lackluster at best. While solid in concept, I haven’t yet been to a place that has made gourmet burgers tasty enough to warrant coming back. Especially when I know there’s delicious, simpler, fresh burgers available for a much more palatable price…..*cough* In-n-out *cough*

I really don’t get the interior of this place. Scant decor, solid metal metal beams, a high warehouse ceiling, and chrome chairs. It’s like they were trying to shoot for a minimalist, industrial feel to be cool and edgy, but the place ends up feeling more cold, cavernous and empty. Like enjoying a burger in a warehouse. To top it off, the only color they give the place is this weird aqua-turquoise. So like eating in an old refrigerator. But a warehouse. A refrigerhouse? Not the most welcoming, nor relaxing of places to eat. I dunno, not really working for me. They did have a pretty stocked bar though.

The menus are pretty fun here…you get a clipboard and a small pencil. And you basically check off your selections and give the sheet to the waiter. Be careful if you’re super hungry, I can attest that one’s impulse is to check all the way down the list. One thing I do appreciate about building your own burger is that it allows people to actually read each ingredient and savor, test it in their minds. And people actually thinking about flavors, thinking about what they’re eating is never a bad thing.  Anyway the menu consists of 5 steps…choosing a meat, a cheese, toppings, sauce, and a bun. I have to say I was impressed with the selection…particularly with the sauces available. You have solid roasted garlic aioli, apricot sauce, horseradish mayo…etc. I went with a 1/3 lb. beef patty (medium-rare, of course) horseradish cheddar, (I think) red onion, sauteed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, grilled onions, and roasted garlic aioli sauce. I guess I must’ve gotten too excited checking off whatever sounded good…cause it didn’t dawn on me until later that I had ordered double onions. What a foo I am.

Believe me, it’s smaller than it looks. After waiting a long damn time, the burger finally arrived in all it’s…well…smallish glory. It’s not a big burger. However, upon taking my first bite, I can see where the work went in. The red peppers were nice and sweet, as were the grilled onions. Nice crisp red onions, well-seasoned sauteed mushrooms. And the beef tasted the way it should…like beef! I’ve had so many burgers that were char-broiled till they tasted like burnt cardboard…or so muddled and tasteless that only the condiments lent any flavor. Not this patty. I have to say I was pretty impressed. All the flavors were well pronounced and they all tasted like they should…which speaks of high-quality ingredients and good execution. A solid, better-than-average burger.

Service leaves something to be desired here…everything took a pretty long time while I saw plenty of waitstaff idling around chatting, which is not only infuriating for a waiting diner, but is also a big no-no in my opinion. And my Diet Coke was syrupy and flat…sorry, I had to say it. While having had a solid burger, I left still a bit hungry and with a significantly lighter wallet. Better than average, but still pricey. That aside, The Counter’s burgers are worth trying out. They’re probably one of the better “gourmet burgers” I’ve had. But the issue is that apart from the burger’s flavor, I feel like everything else here is lacking. So it’s worth trying out…but it’s not yet come-backer status.

The Counter
3055 Olin Avenue Suite 1035
San Jose, CA 95128
www.thecounterburger.com
I hate syrupy Diet Coke…no seriously.

Finding delicious treasures is fun. Especially ones in the middle of tall, dusty warehouses. Slow Club sits on the edge of the Mission and SOMA, far from the hustle and bustle of the taquerias and fruit markets. Across the street from grimy MUNI buses and carved inside of a cold slab of stone, you can find a dark cave that holds a bunch of treasure, namely lots of loud, hip folks sharing some pretty good comfort food.

Check out the inside, with those beams chilling right in the middle. The industrial look is alive and well here at Slow Club, and although it may be a bit sterile, it works. The stone keeps the noise in, so the volume keeps cranking up as more and more people get their chow on. It’s a stone cave, with little lighting, but the lighting gives the place that underground feel. I can’t even imagine how dark it must be after sunset. One interesting observation: most of the dudes had facial hair (I was one of them), so if you have a Y chromosome, grow some fuzz before you chow down. Good service, very helpful, but with an attitude. The server noticed and then proceeded to fix our wobbly table, which I very very much appreciated. Pretty impressive.

I love them pizzas, so when I saw the grilled flatbread with montasio, white anchovies, and heirloom spinach, I couldn’t help myself. Good thing I didn’t hold back from ordering or I would have been a sorry man. The flatbread was crisp and flaky, with just enough chewiness. The montasio was creamy and the perfect canvas for its toppings. The anchovies added just the right amount of salt and the spinach evened the flavor out. Sometimes I just can’t understand why those ninja turtles never liked anchovies. The appetizer was a great start and the sheer size meant I could have stopped there, but I didn’t!

If I’m ordering pizza, I might as well order the other American favorite, the burger. Slow Club doesn’t even try to give it a fancy name, but instead loads it up with fancy ingredients like balsamic onions, Prather Ranch dry-aged ground beef, aioli, and gorgonzola. Damn, what a tasty burger. The meat was cooked perfectly juicy and the fries were some of the best ever. Even though it just had some parsley on it, they were fried just right. Sorry Pearl’s, but this burger has you beat. Too bad you have to cough up a little more dough to get it. Might be one of the best I have ever tasted. No joke.

I also tried the fresh egg pappardelle. The braised short ribs were sinfully smooth and melted in your mouth, but the sauce was lacking; just didn’t quite have the oomph that I was expecting.. The currents gave it a bit of a tart and sweet kick, but I couldn’t figure out what it was missing. The pappardelle itself was amazing; you could tell that the noodles were hand-prepared with some love.

Be prepared to wait because they don’t take reservations. The place is as trendy as ever and people come in droves for the food. The menu changes according to season and the chef’s whim. Would I recommend it? Definite yep. But you better have the swagger or look the part (probably be under 40 also), otherwise you might feel a bit out of place. And damn, you can actually watch the chef make the food. Amazing. Being able to serve 40 people with a kitchen like that takes some serious skill. Slow Club should be one of your after-work hangouts if you live or work anywhere nearby. Something about that stone cave in the middle of nowhere.

Slow Club
2501 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
415-241-9390
Check it. Even the workers on break are hip.