SF 2k8, Day 6: Late Dinner – Taylor’s Refresher

I realized this morning that I left for my trip on September 20, and it’s almost a month later and I’m not yet done with these posts.  It’s especially frustrating because I’ve been eating well a lot lately and I want to share the more recent experiences with you!  Arghhh!  (Which explains the multiple posts per day…)  As such, I’m combining the winery posts (I’m not even sure people are interested in those!), skipping the restaurant we got take out salads from, and skipping the hot air balloon company (though I have mad love for Napa Valley Balloons!!!  If you go, you should use their company and no one else’s, they have the prettiest balloons (seriously)!!!).  Anyway, this means I will be done (finally!) with SF 2k8 by midweek next week… sigh.  And then I’m off for another vacation from the 27-31 (staying in NYC mostly this time around, just futzing around), so I’ve really got to get my butt in high gear…

In any case, back in Napa Valley, after we’d visited 3 wineries, we were understandably hungry.  Since the first of my friends had gone to Napa a few years ago, I’d heard of Taylor’s Refresher.  HB is not one to tell me that a place is really good or “You should definitely go there,” unless she’s very strongly convicted of that belief.  It didn’t hurt that HB and I have somewhat similar tastes in a few things (not burgers though! evidenced by my passion for Shake Shack, on which she’s lukewarm, and her passion for In-N-Out, on which I’m lukewarm), so I mentally wrote the name down.  StB went to Napa next, and agreed that the place was worth a try.  Coincidentally, a week or so before I left, I was flipping through the channels and landed on Food Network, which was showing Bon Appetit’s Best of the US or something, and they named Taylor’s Refresher as one of the best burgers in the country~! 

So of course when we were hungry, I “happened” to take out the address for Taylor’s Refresher, punched it into the GPS, and off we went.

Two root beers, a plain burger, bacon cheeseburger, one plain fries, one garlic fries, and one onion ring order came out to about $33.  Sure, not as expensive as Joe’s Cable Car, which came out to $28 for just me (and smaller sides, I must say), but it still seems pretty pricey for some burgers and fries! 

BF’s plain burger.  He said it was alright but not great.

I have to admit, that does look pretty damn good right about now.  (I’m pretty fuzzy cuz I’m actually coming down with something; my head is pounding, my nose is all stuffed up, and I’m slightly delirious – ask my friends and the crazy emails I’ve been sending them all day! – so forgive the staccato manner of this review…)  My notes say: “Chzbrgr good but not better than Shake Shack” and not much else.  Channeling my memory skillz – the burger was pretty juicy, but not overwhelmingly so where it dripped down my hand (a pet peeve of mine).  The flavors blended well, but then again, think about my toppings: tomato (love it), cheese (love it), bacon (love it), and secret sauce – well, who doesn’t love secret sauce? 

Look at that cross section… but the notes say what they say, and my memory can’t compete with that.

Garlic fries close up.  These were only okay.  Under-salted (a fluke, or the norm?) and over-garlicked (I hadn’t thought there was such a thing possible, but the garlic stood out in sharp contrast).  Definitely have had better garlic fries… at Crab House!

Yvo says: If you go to Napa, I definitely recommend getting a burger here, and I hear their shakes are pretty good too (I heard this after I already went, oops!).  The fries were only okay, and the onion rings were good, but not as good as Joe’s Cable Car (I do so like the breading versus the batter!).  If I’d had more time, I’d have tried more stuff!
recommended

SF 2k8, previously:
Bi-Rite Creamery
King of Thai Noodle House
House of Prime Rib
New Asia
Ghirardelli Square
In-n-Out
The Country Way
Joe’s Cable Car
Honu’s Island Grinds & Bar
Plaza Garibaldi
Vintage Inn
Mondavi, Rubicon, & Peju