Sizing Up Cisco's CLOSED

Cisco Burger

620 W. Anaheim Street

Long Beach, CA 90813

My Dad had gotten a new job at the Port of Long Beach a few months back, and he wanted to show off his office, show his co-workers what a cool son he has, and also show us one of his favorite places to eat by his work, Cisco Burger.

Cisco Burger is the brainchild of owner Jesse James. If you have not kept up with your subscription to People magazine or US Weekly, he is the former husband of Sandra Bullock, a reality television star, and owner of West Coast Choppers, (a custom motorcycle company). West Coast Choppers used to be next door to Cisco Burger, but now James has packed up and headed to Austin to be closer to his kids. The only thing he has left behind is Cisco Burger, and that is where we headed.

Cisco Burger is named after Jesse's pit bull. They have been open for four years now, and have a very loyal following at lunch time. They are open daily until four, and on Sundays until 2, so do not expect to go here for dinner. Cisco Burger is also very eco-friendly, they derive most of their electricity from solar panels, participate in local recycling programs, and use real plates and silverware for dine-in orders. Let's see how the food looks on those real plates.

Cisco's is more known for their breakfasts and burgers, but my Mom and her friend Sue split the Turkey Sandwich above. They both mentioned that they liked this sandwich, and felt that it was very filling. They do have very tiny appetites. They also liked the turkey on this sandwich, and felt that it tasted very fresh.

Here is what my Dad got, the Cisco Burger with Cheese. He called this, "a four napkin burger". I think that is just because he is a messy eater. The bite that I had was just okay. I did not get the juiciness of the burger that he got. I also was not too big of a fan of the wheat bun. I will trust his judgement on this burger though. The fries here were pretty good. They came out hot, and had a small amount of breading on them that made them extra crunchy.

Jarrod had a breakfast/lunch hybrid, the Breakfast Burger. This quarter pound burger was topped with an egg, hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, and mayo. The bite that I had was pretty good. I would have liked a little more mayonnaise on this, but all together this was a good breakfast burger. Jarrod had two complaints about this, he would have wanted the hashbrowns crispier, and the burger a little more moist.

I was in the mood for breakfast, so the Cisco's Pile was my pick. This mound of food consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, bell peppers, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and hashbrowns. As with many dishes that have lots of big flavors, this one was not all that it was cracked up to be. It was hearty, but I expected real big flavor with this, and it failed in that respect. This was made much better when I added hot sauce to it, it brought the flavors alive.

Cisco's is a very clean and sleek restaurant. The staff was all pretty cool, and they got the food out to us quick. By the time we left at 12:30, the place was starting to fill up. I am not sure that Cisco's would qualify for destination dining. If I were in the area, or worked in the area, I would pop in from time to to time, but living in the OC, I do not think it was worth the drive. They did have some interesting specials on their board that maybe I would try the next time I went to visit my Dad at his work.

Out of five routers, (because the Cisco Company was one of the first companies to successfully sell routers to the public), five being best to zero being worst, Cisco's gets 2.5 routers.

For more information on Cisco's click here: http://ciscoburger.com/