Umami Burger – Union Street – SF

This weekend we took our good friend Shelly’s recommendation to try Umami Burger on Union Street in San Francisco.  It has only been there for about 7 weeks but so many in the bay area had already fallen in love with this fabulously unique burger bar after visiting one of their locations in Southern California.We had just finished our fourth basketball tournament game in the last three days in San Francisco and my 7th grader and his teammates had just won a nail-biter to advance to the semi-finals of the “Flame Tournament”, so it was a perfect time to celebrate and enjoy someone else’s great cooking!
First, the name, Umami Burger…seems strange, right?  Our waiter, Aaron, was quick to explain that Umami is the name for the fifth basic taste, after sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.  We weren’t quite sure what to make of that, but sure were excited to try what that translated to on the menu.  Truffle cheese fries, cheesy tater tots, burgers made from freshly ground (multiple times a day on location) custom blended beef varieties, interesting dipping sauces from garlic aioli to thousand island dressing, distinctive cheeses like beer cheddar made in the kitchen, this place really worked hard on crafting a unique “burger” spot.
So, how did it work out?  In a word…fabulous!  Truffle cheese fries did not last more than a few minutes with mom, dad, and all four kids devouring as quickly as they politely could.  Regular, skinny fries were great alone, but extra good for trying the sauces.  The burgers?  Delectable!  Dad had the “Manly”, which is their version of a bacon cheeseburger except with lardons, homemade, craftsman cheese and some crispy onion strings on top. Any sample bites for mom or others?  I think not…even the plain burger for our no cheese girl disappeared in short order.  Mom had the Ahi Burger that was on the special menu and all I can say is I didn’t share.
With such a delicious assortment of savory items in our stomachs, we were somewhat skeptical about how anything sweet might work out here. However, put a homemade “Ho-Ho” on the menu and we are going to order it!  We also ordered some sort of peanut butter marshmallow dessert and after looking each other in the eyes before our waiter left, went ahead and added a second Ho-Ho to our order just in case…..Good thing we did!  It was rich, but delicious!  The peanut butter/marshmallow was mom’s fave, but the “Ho-Ho” topped everyone else’s list.
Bottom line, we were a little nervous about taking our four kids here as it has a distinctly older, hipper vibe, but Jesse the host insisted while being gourmet, they also want to be a neighborhood restaurant.  At an early hour, it worked out fine for us.  One other challenge was the music was pretty loud and the speaker was directly over our table.  But when asked, they did turn it down, which made a big difference in the atmosphere and being able to carry on a conversation at a larger table.
So, in the final analysis, we had a delicious and somewhat unique meal with great service at a reasonable price and we will definitely be back!

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