Great News, G Burger Opens In Irvine - CLOSED

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's 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 and gave them three days to work out the kinks before we went. You could say I was excited.

This G Burger location is in the Irvine Marketplace, in the same general area as Target, and right next to Thai Spice, Baja Fresh, and Yogurtland. The Irvine location is slightly more spacious than their La Habra store, with about ten tables inside and plenty of seating outside in front of their restaurant. We arrived at about 4PM on a Sunday afternoon and were one of only two parties here. I had thought people had yet to find out about G Burger, but there was a constant line at the register when we left. We ordered at the counter and patiently waited for our food. Within five minutes, our meal was brought to our table. I hoped for the same great food we experienced on our trips to La Habra. Let's see if they could deliver.

I had never had G G-style fries ($5.00) before, so we had to try them on this trip. They top their regular fries with smoked bacon, grilled onions, American cheese, and a house-made Thousand Island dressing. 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 and soft inside. The bacon 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; they lack any flavor, and the only way to eat them is to get them Animal-style. 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'll be the judge.

Another must-get side item at G Burger is the Onion Rings ($4.00). I was blown away the first time I had these up in La Habra. They used 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 sturdy and does not easily break away from the onion. 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 too thin on this visit, and it would have been better if it was a little thicker.

G Burger is not all about 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. It's like a Caprese salad but in burger form. It's no surprise, but this is not my type of burger. Katie, however, loved this. She found it to be more earthy, seasoned, and cooked well. The creaminess from the avocado and mozzarella made this sandwich a winner, and it 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 would 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, like a Cobb salad on a burger. The beef was delicious, cooked to a perfect medium. The bun is soft but can absorb all the juices and hold everything together. Another winning burger here.

No, I did not eat two burgers on this trip. We recently returned to G Burger, where Katie got the same portobello burger, which helped 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 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 well. The heat was gradual, so you could taste the quality of the ingredients. Again, the burger was cooked to a lovely medium; it was juicy, and the bun again held firm. I liked the spicy aioli, but only a little heat came from that. It was more the peppers and chiles that got me sweating. I would definitely get this burger again.

So, after two trips to the new G burger, I can happily relate to the fact 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 on par 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 good. The girls running the food and taking orders ensured we had everything. Weekends around mealtimes are 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 came early for me this year with opening 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