Oh Daly City In-n-Out Burger, this was one of the more interesting inputs on my ‘genex style’ Double Double. It was “Animal P Raw O instead” which I think got me just Animal style, without pickles, but ONLY raw onions. I actually did like the taste of it and the Godzilla-sized lettuce was a nice touch. Made me feel like I was getting a full serving of veggies!
Do you like burgers? I love ’em so when we saw that 7×7 Magazine had done their top twenty burgers in San Francisco, we decided to try out their top ten and do our own evaluation. Now, these are more the cloth-napkin type of establishments where the top ten were chosen from so my dining companions @a and @sfgirl went through them together and we have arrived at our final judgments.
If you are interested in my general favorite burger list (which as of this posting has not been updated to reflect these last ten burgers, check it out here. That’ll give you an idea for the types of burgers I like (Pearl’s, In-n-Out, Bullshead, Zeitgeist for example) so you can determine whether my reviews of these other higher-end burgers is relevant to your tastes.
Best Burgers in San Francisco (based on 7×7’s reviews*):
1) Bix
2) Spork
3 tie) Mission Beach Cafe, Fish and Farm, NOPA
6 tie) Namu & Spruce (shown above)
8 ) Zuni Cafe
9) Orson
10) Serpentine
And this list posted on Yelp is here (where you can read in more detail about each of the dining experiences).
* we substituted Orson for Acme Chophouse, since Acme no longer exists. Why not Slow Club? Well, we had all already eaten there before so we chose Orson b/c of the many high ratings it’s gotten like from Michael Bauer, the Chronicle’s food writer.
What’s the best thing to eat before a photoshoot outdoors in the sun? An In-n-Out Burger Double Double of course. So we had to drive down to Watsonville for our shoot at Driscoll’s and the Gilroy In-n-Out Burger was the perfect pit stop. It was so nice and sunny and we got here early so it wasn’t even that busy! Oh and those are animal style fries (extra crispy) in the background, which Vicki recommended and that Natalie tried for the first time… mmm…
As a read, this book is a quick one. At close to 300 pages of actual content (and lots of notes at the end), it details the rise of the burger chain from its humble beginnings in Baldwin Park, CA through it’s current state. Harry and Esther Snyder started In-n-Out Burger and the company has stayed a family business and remained privately held even while the entire fast food industry has gone corporate – for the most part.
The book details some of the drama concerning the most recent change in leadership as well as some interesting tidbits and backstories.
A few random things I learned included:
But back to the content of the book itself – author Stacy Perman’s quotes seem to do little to support the text when she uses them – to me the quotes are too short and it would have been nice to get more context aside from a one liner.. Her writing style wasn’t all that compelling to me either, but luckily the story of In-n-Out Burger and the machinations of the business are strong enough to propel the story. Maybe it’s because I am one of those fanatical In-n-Out fans that I demand the greatest prose to accompany this great burger institution’s story.
Oh well, who could live up to that. I guess maybe if I can get Haruki Murakami into In-n-Out then maybe he could write something about that. Now that would be freaking awesome…
Well, I will leave you with a nice quote from our own San Francisco Mayor – Gavin Newsom – from the books back cover: “When fast-food restaurants tried to locate to Fisherman’s Wharf, our local merchants were opposed to every one of them – except In-n-Out. Because every meal is fresh and made from scratch, In-n-Out is in a class by itself.”
Among the factoids she mentions that must be in the book are:
– Julia Child kept a list of where all the In-n-Outs were between her place in Santa Barbara and LA.
– When Per Se opened, self-professed In-n-Out fan and super Chef Thomas Keller got 300 In-n-Out Burgers for his staff.
Once I read it I’ll post a review or if you are more impatient than I, you can order it online!
Oh and on the Five Guys vs. In-n-Out? No contest – In-n-Out kicks Five Guys’ ass. Head to head like the Lightning Burger, I’ll take my Double Double any day 🙂
Well, a good friend of mine who I originally met through the bodybuilding and fitness scene sent me this book after he had read it. I hadn’t heard of Steroid Nation before, but of course the subject matter is quite familiar having worked in the industry so long. The first thing I was struck by was the whole back story on Dan Duchaine. I had met Dan through a friend and former Ms. Olympia , Andrulla Blanchette, and we would see each other at shows.
In one of my earlier reports he let me use some of his commentary (1996 NPC Nationals). It was also Dan who first exposed me to GHB and I didn’t realize how much he was responsible for that drugs popularity. I knew he was the ‘guru’ but he never treated me in a way that made me feel like he was someone important and he did impart one piece of advice I later used.
Having been in prison, he said: “You find out who your real friends are when you go to prison.” I later recalled that advice when Dave Palumbo had to serve time. I sent a few photos and reports on contests happening to Dave and got some letters back. It’s kind of neat to get mail from prison I guess?
Anyhow the book overall is a good recap of what affect steroids have had in our society and when you are close to so much of it, it’s even more interesting. The book might go into more detail than someone outside the industry would care for, but when you are inside, it’s nice to see how others perceive things. It’s a quick read too although it looks like it’s longer since the last 40 or so pages are source notes and such.