Burger Gourmet in Oakland, CA was a pleasant find one day when I found myself in downtown Oakland for an appointment. I typed “burger” into my iPhone and found the Gourmet was just a few blocks away.
As I approached, I spotted their green awning and entered to find myself in a high-ceilinged room full of people enjoying their burgers. Handwritten on the board behind the counter were dozens of burger choices. I went with the basic Bacon Cheeseburger ($6.25) and Frings (fries and onions rings for $1.95), constituting a hell of a bargain, which I applaud.
The place is very green. Not in the earthly sense so overused in marketing, but green tabletops, green carpet and the aforementioned green awning. Everything was clean and orderly too.
My 6-ounce burger came a little overcooked, but the rest of it was very nice. A sesame bun was toasted and nicely fit the burger. Bacon crunched atop the nicely melted cheese. The usual complement of fresh veggies was all in attendance as well. Everything balanced properly with some nice spicing to the meat.
Two big, battered onion rings perched on top of medium cut skinless fries, a tidy accompaniment to the burger.
It was all quite lovely; next time I am downtown, I will stop by again and try one of the more adventurous burgers from the big board. 
Burger 3.5 spatulas out of 5
Fries 2.5 spatulas
Onion Rings 3.5 spatulas
Burger Gourmet
351 19th Street
Oakland, CA 94612
510-268-9022
Scott R. Kline is a photographer, father, traveler, husband and burger-lover based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves road trips, Burning Man, scotch whiskey, mid-century furniture, his dog Rex, building houses in Mexico, and seeing what comes next in life.
