G Burger
13256 Jamboree Road
Irvine, CA 92602
I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I heard the news. One of my favorite burger places in OC was expanding. They would be opening up locations in Fountain Valley and Irvine. Much closer for me than the hour drive to their first location in La Habra. Most people I told about G Burger would argue that La Habra was not even in Orange County. I won at least two bets by pulling out my phone and proving my misinformed friends wrong. I waited patiently for G Burger to open on August 15th, then I gave them three whole days to work out the kinks before we went. I guess you could say I was excited.
This location of G Burger is located in the Irvine Marketplace, in the same general area of Target, and right next to Thai Spice, Baja Fresh, and Yogurtland. The Irvine location is a little more spacious than their La Habra store, with about ten tables inside, and plenty of seating outside, in front of their restaurant. We got here at about 4PM on a Sunday afternoon, and we were one of only two parties here. I had thought that people have not found out about G Burger yet, but when we left, there was a constant line at the register. We ordered at the counter and patiently waited for our food. Within five minutes, our meal was brought to our table. I was hoping for the same great food that we experienced on our trips up to La Habra. Let's see if they could deliver.
I had never had G Style Fries ($5.00) before, so we had to try them on this trip. Here they take their regular fries and top them with smoked bacon, grilled onions, American cheese, and a house-made thousand island dressing. Basically, this is G Burger's version of the Animal Fries at In N Out. This version is way better, starting with the fries. They use a fry that comes out crisp, with a very soft inside. The bacon, of course, adds flavor, and the American cheese does not overwhelm this side item. This is a way better version, than the In N Out counterpart. I am no fan of the fries at In N Out, I think they lack any kind of flavor, and the only way to eat them is getting them Animal style. I know my views about In N Out are blasphemous in these parts, but I stand by my opinion. Get these G Style Fries at G Burger, and you be the judge.
Another must get side item at G Burger are the Onion Rings ($4.00). The first time I had these up in La Habra, I was blown away. They used to use red onions to make them, which was a nice twist. Now they use the regular white onions that everyone else uses. Still good, but I liked the red onion a little better. The breading is very sturdy and does not break away from the onion too easily. These came out of the fryer scalding hot and had to sit for a few minutes. One of the better onion rings I have had. The ranch dressing here was a little too thin on this visit and would have been better if it was a little thicker.
G Burger is not all about the beef, they offer three vegetarian options, one of which Katie selected, the Portobello Burger ($9.00). This is a grilled portobello mushroom with tomato, avocado, basil, fresh mozzarella, and thousand island dressing. Kind of like a Caprese salad, but in burger form. It's probably no surprise to you, but this is not my kind of burger. Katie, however, loved this burger. She found it not too earthy, and seasoned and cooked well. The creaminess from the avocado and mozzarella made this sandwich a winner and has become one of her favorites in recent memory.
The two other times I have been to G Burger, I got their namesake burger, the G Burger, which has almost everything in their kitchen on the burger, but you tell them what you want to be left off of it. This time I went with one of their custom burgers, the Garlic Spinach Burger ($9.00). Joining the sauteed garlic spinach on the burger was bacon, blue cheese, tomato, red onion, and a Dijon mustard sauce. This was a very juicy burger. When I ordered this, I thought the mustard sauce was going to overwhelm the burger, but it was subtly in the background. Different bites yielded different flavor bursts. The bacon, red onion, and blue cheese worked well together, kind of like a Cobb salad on a burger. The beef was very good, cooked to a perfect medium. The bun is soft but able to absorb all of the juices and hold everything together. Another winning burger here.
No, I did not eat two burgers on this trip. Just recently we made a return visit to G Burger. Katie got the same portobello burger, which helps me by cutting down on my writing. Thanks, Katie. Of course, I had to try something new, so I went with the G Fire Burger ($11.00 with bacon added). This burger was topped with red and green chiles, roasted red peppers, tomato, red onion, pepper jack cheese, and spicy aioli, which was served on the side. I added bacon to this burger, but the heat really overpowered the bacon flavor from coming through here. I am always leery when menus claim that items are hot, but let me tell you that this burger had my mouth burning, in a good way. The heat was gradual, so you could taste the quality of the ingredients. Again, the burger was cooked to a very nice medium, it was juicy, and the bun again held firm. I liked the spicy aioli, but I do not think a lot of the heat came from that, it was more the peppers and chiles that got me sweating. I would definitely get this burger again.
So two trips to the new G burger, and I can happily relate that it's just as good as the one in La Habra. I put these burgers right up there with some of the best burgers in OC. They are right there with Mick's Karma Bar, The Counter, and Rider's Club Cafe. I know some will scoff at the price, but when it comes to burgers, I will pay for quality, and the burgers at G Burger are high quality. Both times we have been here, the service has been pretty good. The girls running the food and taking the orders made sure we had everything that we needed. Weekends around mealtimes are definitely the peak hours for this restaurant, but there is plenty of seating outside, so you do not have to wait for tables like you do sometimes in La Habra. Christmas definitely came early for me this year with the opening of a G Burger closer to my house. This is one gift I will definitely not return.
Out of five bags of popcorn, (because growing up we went to see a Disney movie every summer vacation, and they were all rated G), five being best to zero being worst, G Burger gets 3.5 bags of popcorn.
For more information about G Burger, go to their website, which you can find by clicking here: http://www.gburger.com/about_us
What a bummer... I loved the red onion rings. I understand that it is more expensive with the red onions versus than the yellow or white; but that is what made them so delicious. I have no problem paying extra for the red onion rings. Did they lower the price for the rings?
ReplyDelete-Cupie
No dessert?
ReplyDeleteCupie - I do not believe they did lower the price for the onion rings. I wish more places would use red onions for their rings too.
ReplyDeleteCody - They do not offer any desserts. Wish they had milkshakes. Nothing goes with burger and fries like a good milkshake.