Sinful, Sloppy, Tasty Rocky's-Crown-Point burger this is not
	Reviewed By gadaboutdiner	Aug 30, 2008

Yesterday, as we drove south on 8th toward PETCO Park, we passed one of the attractive, newly-inhabited downtown low-rises, this one with a restaurant on the corner of 8th and G that advertised "Burgers, Beer and Wine."

I checked and the food reviews were mostly positive. With high hopes and hunger pangs, we decided to see if our new, best burger place was right in our own back yard.

I was surprised to see the extensive menu, but I purposely ignored the other offerings because I was there FOR A BURGER!

There were 3 "Designer" Burgers on the menu, which means someone, palate unknown to me, had designed the burger I would eat...and had used ingredients foreign to any I'd ever seen on that American "culinary" mainstay.

One design featured beef, spinach greens, cheese.

A second design featured beef, arugula greens, grilled onions, cheese.

The third and last design featured beef, mushrooms in marsala wine, cheese.

I asked the waitress if I could order a simple burger with fresh tomatoes, onions and cheese and she said, "No, only the burgers on the menu."

I started to feel a little hunger-pressure, so I ordered the "Arugula Burger" (their name was "Neighborhood Burger") and asked for mustard on the side. I figured there would be a wonderful, often-used, gourmet mustard available in the kitchen. After all, there was a kraut hot dog on the menu!

The waitress told me, "Sorry, we don't have any mustard!" I suppose my facial expression would have best been described as incredulous: Does a "kitchen sans mustard" exist in America?

When the burger was presented to me, it looked quite dry and I asked for some mayonnaise. Another waitress said, "Sorry. We don't have any condiments here that are usually used on burgers."

I said, "It looks very dry."

She said, "Try it. If you don't like it, we'll find some sauce in the kitchen to put on it." Some Sauce in the Kitchen? Mygoodnessme, what a clever solution!

Being the intrepid gadaboutdiner, I ventured a first bite. The beef tasted as if it had been freshly ground. Very nice. Incompletely seasoned, though. Seriously incompletely seasoned. I did a quick check and noticed not one table had salt and pepper shakers. Very interesting!

(I'm thinking: What we have here is a food designer with serious control issues running a burger-and-beer place.)

The upscale "bun" was lightly grilled and had a strong sourdough taste. Quality bread. But it needed an equally strong, complimentary flavor to make it work.

On the Arugula Burger I ordered, that flavor was...you guessed it...ARUGULA. If you tune your brain to your "tastebud channel," you will realize arugula and sourdough are not complimentary flavors. Kind of like sour cream and peanut butter are not complimentary flavors.

(Please, don't assume I have no appreciation for arugula. Its distinctive, bitter-but-nutty flavor is especially wonderful mixed with other, milder greens in salads made with a sweet, fresh fruit component and a sharply flavored cheese. Yuuummmm!)

My gadabout companion, who had ordered the Marsala Mushroom Burger, said, "Well, another restaurant we can cross off our list" while he skillfully separated the beef and mushrooms from the dry bun and munched.

I brought half of my designer burger home. I DO HAVE mayonnaise, mustard and dill pickles in my refrigerator, and I think I'll do a re-design on my $10 burger and have a snack tomorrow!