The NY Times today has an article about the possibility of a NY burger stand filling the vacant old public restroom building on the commons:

New York Burger Stand on Boston’s Seafood Turf?

San Francisco: Day 1 or "It's My Birthday I Can Consume as Many Calories as I Want to"

This morning we hopped aboard Virgin America and made our way to one of our favorite cities, San Francisco. We have had this trip planned for awhile now. Our goal is mainly to explore the wineries of Napa Valley. We head out to Napa on Monday but until then we're happy to take in some of San Fran's signature treats. As today was/is my birthday, we decided we could splurge and eat all the stuff we love and not worry about how many evil calories we were putting into our bodies. Our first stop? In-N-Out Burger over by Fisherman's Wharf. We've written about In-N-Out before so I won't repeat too many details but for those of you who are not familiar with the joint, it's a fast food burger restaurant that specializes in fresh ingredients. The burgers taste great, the cheese actually melts on the burger and it's a much higher quality than McDonald's or Burger King. After our burgers I decided we needed to treat ourselves to some ice cream. As luck would have it (and as I planned it), Ghiradelli Square was just around the corner. After feigning interest in the store just to get a piece of free chocolate, we headed upstairs to the ice cream parlor for some sundaes. We both ordered the Gold Rush sundae which came with vanilla ice cream slathered in peanut butter sauce and rich hot fudge. Nuts and a cherry were sprinkled on top of fresh whipped cream to give the sundae it's delicious crown. Well, after all that we decided a long walk was in order and we meandered our way over to the Mission district. The Mission district is known for it's Mexican food, more specifically, the Mission Burrito. The Mission Burrito was invented in the Mission and is basically a huge burrito so filled with toppings and delicious goodness that it has to be wrapped and contained in a tinfoil sheet. The Mission Burrito supposedly was first invented at El Faro, a small restaurant on the corner of 20th and Folsom St. There, they simply call it the Super Burrito and as luck would have it, we discovered it was invented on this very day, Sept. 26th, way back in 1961. Well, the gods themselves couldn't have planned it better: me, eating a super burrito, on my birthday which just so happened to fall on the same day as the day the super burrito was invented. Perfect! Bry and I both ordered the super burrito, mine with chicken, his al pastor, both with everything on it. True to it's name, the super burrito was super....and by super, I mean big. Not only was it filling, it was satisfying and delicious.The perfect end to the perfect day. Stay tuned, we still need to try San Fran sour dough and a few other things before we head out to Napa!

Joe's American Bar and Grill

The second installment of REVEALED! takes a look at a long standing Boston institution, Joe's American Bar and Grill.

Don't call it American Joe's--its just Joe's (Joe's on the waterfront or Joe's on Newbury Street if you are getting specific). The restaurant is owned by the Back Bay Restaurant Group which also owns Abe & Louie's, Atlantic Fish Company, Charley's, Papa Razzi, The Coach Grill (in Wayland, Mass.), and the newest addition, Bouchee. All of these restaurants usually provide a solid dining experience....but as wise, informed restaurant consumers, it is important to know that all of these restaurants are managed centrally.

Its location on longwharf, a touristy area of the city, means the restaurant is prone to out-of-town visitors. This was the case on the day we were there, and an obnoxious couple was seated next to us. The woman carried her own SmartWater into the restaurant along with a snobby attitude (even though she was wearing Sketchers!) towards the whole experience. They ordered two shrimp cocktails after being told that 3pm was too late for brunch. During the remainder of the time they sat there, the woman talked the entire time on her bluetooth headset, while the man stared off into space.

Our server was not very "into" our table--on a beautiful Sunday for lunch the restaurant was crowded (as I'm sure it usually is) and the food didn't come for a very long time. Other tables were being served that had been seated after us--I'm not sure what that was about--maybe it was because Marco ordered a garden salad to start (see the picture of brown iceberg lettuce below). I have had great burgers at Charley's, so I was expecting something similar here. I was disappointed that the burger was small, even tough it tasted fine. All of use who had ordered burgers were interested to see that our lettuce garnishes had wilted--indicating that *perhaps* our food sat under a heat lamp for a long time. Marco's steak tips were cold--he should have sent them back--but he ate them anyway. It took us an eternity to get the check, as we watched the table with the obnoxious couple morph into a table of even more obnoxious drunk guys (this was at like 3:30pm on a Sunday....come on, there was no need for these men to be pounding down beers at an overpriced tourist trap).

Fortunately the food and service did not ruin the experience of sitting harborside on a great September weekend day. If it is people watching and a view you are in search of, Joe's delivers. If good food and attentive service is your aim, I would try Joe's other Boston location on Newbury Street or another restaurant group all together.

Joe's American Bar and Grill
We sat outside with a view of Boston Harbor

Marco's salad....which may or may not have thrown
off the timing of all of our meals...most likely not.

Steaktips

Joe's American Bar & Grill
(617) 367-8700
North End
100 Atlantic Ave
Boston, MA 02110
www.joesamerican.com

How I Met Your Burger

Last night, we were watching How I Met Your Mother. They were in search for "The Best Burger in New York," which Marshall had apparently found when he moved to the City. Regis was looking for it too. Well, Bob, Peter, and I were sitting there watching them go up and down the City and got to craving a burger ourselves! Luckily, right around the corner from where we were sits South End Pizza and Grill. We often order food from here when we're over, since it's quick and close. Plus, they have this fun little online ordering site that allows us all to customize our order without having to go en masse down to the restaurant.

Peter and I don't really like their pizza as well as we do from other spots in the area, but the burgers aren't bad. The Onion Rings, however, are really good!

We each got a burger, which satiated our craving; but, it certainly wasn't the best burger in Boston. Perhaps, this can be the beginning of a new quest for us. We've gotta have something to keep us busy, right?! :-)

South End House of Pizza is located at 772 Tremont at Mass. Ave. They deliver and stay open quite late.