Burger Me!

I'm a burger lover. I'm always in the mood for a good burger. If you're like me you're always on the hunt for a good burger joint. Here are the places around the Bay Area that are on the top of my list (If you know of anymore places, please let me know):

• Val's Burger
• Peninsula Fountain and Grill
• Cafe Rouge

Val's Burger

A friend of mine introduced Val's Burger to me and I love him deeply for it. This place is Mecca for burger lovers. I'm told they butcher the beef themselves. Definite plus. Their menu consists of the Baby Burger (1/3 lb), Mama Burger (1/2 lb) , and Papa Burger (1 lb). There's obviously more on the menu, but everything else is irrelevant for the purpose of this discussion. A girly man gets a Baby Burger. A real man gets a Mama Burger. A manly man gets a Papa Burger. It's all the same burger, just different sizes, so it depends how hungry you are. Do not make the mistake of adding extra stuff like mushroom or bacon to this burger. You're just insulting the burger and you'll lose in the end. When, not "if", you go there just remember that there is just you and the burger. Nothing else matters.

Peninsula Fountain and Grill

This place is classic. You walk in and you're feelin' like you're in a 1950s diner - The burger, the fries, and the shakes. Yeah, it's like that. Sound good already doesn't it? They have several different types of burger. They're all good. Just remember to wash it down with a milkshake. Go there. Sit down. Order a burger, fries, and milkshake. Turn off your cell phone, your pager, and your iPod. Turn off everything except your tastebuds and eat with reckless abandon.

Cafe Rouge

This place is different from the other two mentioned above. It's not a burger joint. It's not a diner. This place is an excellent restaurant with a full menu that just happens to have a really awesome burger. They call it the Rouge Hamburger. They can call it whatever they want, I call it salvation. Unlike most burgers, this one ranks high on the foo foo scale because it's made from organic beef that is freshly butchered everyday and the buns are not an afterthought. It is really good bread. This is the best foo foo burger in town. I know the concept of a foo foo burger sounds strange, but trust me on this one.

Here are the burger joints I talked about:

• Val's Burger: 2115 Kelly St, Hayward, CA 9454 (510) 889-8257 (Closed Sundays and Mondays)
• Peninsula Fountain & Grill: 566 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 327-3141
• Cafe Rouge