Coffee Nerds...

Whenever we visit the USA, getting decent coffee is always a pretty big priority.  With all the walking that we do, we certainly need a good coffee hit!  While in San Francisco, we were glad to pick up these Stumptown cold brew serves at Whole Foods.  The coffee was sweet, without sugar and definitely not bitter.  A delicious way to get a coffee fix while walking those hills of San Francisco!

I'm also a bit in love with this travel kit that Stumptown makes.  If anyone feels like buying it for me for Christmas, it would be most appreciated!!!

OMG... Umami Burger San Francisco...

Check out the Umami Burger website:  www.umami.com

While we were in San Francisco we ventured (and by ventured, I mean took a very long walk!) to Umami Burger.  Mark had heard really good things about this place and it was near the top of our list of burger joints to suss out.  I can tell you know that we were not disappointed!

My Manly Burger at Umami.

Umami are known for their unusual takes on the burger.  One of their specialities is a burger that has a bacon wrapped scallop as the patty.  It was amazing to see a huge scallop patty instead of the usual beef version.  I had what is known as the 'Manly burger' which was a beer patty, beer-cheddar cheese, salted onion strings and delicious thick cut bacon. Hmmmm.... drooooolllll....

Mark's Scallop and Bacon burger.

Naturally Umami have all these special made secret sauces etc on their burgers which make them super delicious too.  What I loved about them was they pretty much tell you that the burgers are what's on the menu.  You can take something off a burger but not add as they have created, what they believe to be specially balanced combinations of burgers, cheese and their special additions.  I love that they stand behind what they make and seriously, the burgers that we got were so delicious with the perfect balance of cheese, sauce and meat that I would trust to go with what's on the menu!  I can see them rolling their eyes at someone trying to mess with the burger system!

smushed potatoes.

The sides were also amazing.  After a few weeks of living on french fries, I decided to mix it up and go with the Smushed potatoes.  They were whole potatoes cooked, smushed a bit, then fried so they were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Kinda like the perfect roasted potato.  It made for a nice change from fries.

The Pickle Platter!

We also indulged in the Pickle Platter which was a highlight!  It featured a range of pickles, of varying heat and vegetables.  I love pickles so this was a real treat to start off with.  Be warned though, the pickled chilies are HOT!  All of this was washed down with my favourite Portland Maine beer, Allagash.

Umami are a Californian based chain and each restaurant has their own special burgers that they create so if you have the chance to visit a few restaurants, you will get different burger combinations.

Definitely on the list of 'must goes' if you are in San Francisco!  I will be visiting again, next time I'm in the area!

Pearl's Burgers in San Francisco...

Snapshot of the Pearl's Burger website.

So while I may of been eating a whole lot of pizza in New York City, I have definitely been eating quite a few burgers in San Francisco.  We actually have a list of burger joints that we are wanting to visit while we are here and are slowly making it through the list - I mean, can you eat burgers for breakfast, lunch and dinner?!

Menu snapshot from the Pearl's website.

We stumbled across Pearl's Deluxe Burgers as it is super close to where we are staying in San Francisco and I have to say that I am impressed!  It is no frills, super fresh and super delicious.  I had the mini beef burger with cheddar cheese and bacon (OMG - such crispy and delicious bacon!), with mayo, lettuce, onion and tomato.  Mark went for the next size up, which I decided was a little too much for me to handle.  Their fries are great too, really crispy and they have sweet potato, regular as well as some onion fries too.

Our delicious burgers and fries... yeah, we ate here for breakfast!

I love that they come in the little red plastic baskets too, very cute.  Our Pearl's Deluxe Burger experience has been so good that we have actually eaten there twice!  Check out their website for the full menu, and naturally if you are in San Francisco, visit for a burger, you won't be disappointed!

North Beach Bloody Marys...

Ah, the joys of a well made Bloody Mary... the spiceyness, the tang of the lemon, the kick of the vodka.... My pal Jess and I are always talking about the perfect Bloody Mary and I have to say that Bloody Marys in the USA are generally better than ones in Australia, unless they have been made at my house!  After a morning of shopping, Mark and I had a Bloody Mary craving so we decided to hit North Beach to eat some Italian food and have some afternoon Bloody Marys!

Jess described these Bloody Mary's best, "not stingy on the olives and a chunky straw - win!"  They also had a good amount of spice and were served in a big glass - also they were $8!  Bargain!

Although North Beach can get a little bit touristy, you hear loads of people speaking Italian and the food is definitely some of the better Italian food you will get in San Francisco.  We love Calzone's and have gone there several times.  I love the quirky red shelves inside with pasta and olive oil displays.  I remember the first time we went there I had Bloody Marys and garlic bread.  Simple but delicious!

 

Their simple dishes are awesome!  The lasagna, the bolognase sauce and their wood fired pizzas with proscuitto make you feel like you're having some delicious home cooked meal.  Calzone's we love you!

Give me some burger and fries with a view...

 

I guess I have a  bit of a ritual when I arrive in San Francisco.  I get off the plane, check into my hotel and then I hit The Burger Bar on the 6th floor of Macy's to get a burger and fries hit - big time!!!  I got the Sliders (three mini burgers) with sweet potato fries.  Mark had one of the more meaty burgers with cheese - medium rare of course.  We also got their delicious fried jalapeno pickles.

 

One of the things that I love about The Burger Bar is the view from the restaurant.  If you manage to get a window seat like we did, you can see all the way down to Union Square.  Lucky for us, it was a beautiful day too.

 

There is something super relaxing after the 14 hour flight to chill out eating burgers and immersing yourself into the landscape of San Francisco.  I love it!