Actually Pretty Awesome

Actually Pretty Awesome: The Buffalo Burger at Double Decker

See that little bit of bright orange sauce peeking out under the lettuce? That's the hot stuff.
See that little bit of bright orange sauce peeking out under the lettuce? That’s the hot stuff. Photo: J. Barmann/Grub Street

Sometimes you just want a burger, you know? Not some overwrought creation with three kinds of ground meat on focaccia, just a plain, good-old American burger with some lettuce and tomato and a touch of humility. SF Weekly critic Jonathan Kauffman expressed such a sentiment in his review this week of Umami Burger, where there is no ketchup or mustard available but there is “umami sauce,” their proprietary blend of fifth-taste-tickling ingredients. And while we call ourselves fans of the Shake Shake-esque burgers they’re slinging at Super Duper, we’d like to confess another love to you all today: Double Decker (465 Grove Street), the little wings-and-beer joint attached to an old motel in Hayes Valley that makes a humble but noteworthy cheeseburger.

Their burgers are priced similarly to Super Duper’s, but they’re a little thicker (they also use Niman Ranch beef here), served on sweet, supermarket-style sesame buns. And while we appreciate the plain old cheeseburger, and the double-decker option — dressed simply with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and red onion — we are even bigger fans of the Buffalo Burger (and that’s ‘Buffalo’ as in sauce, not meat).

It comes topped with Mild, Hot, or Inferno sauces (we like the Hot, a.k.a. the porridge that Goldilocks chose), which are of course the same tangy-spicy sauces used to dress Double Decker’s baskets of wings. But added to a burger, with a thin slice of Swiss cheese, and topped with the usual fixings, it’s the best marriage of hot wings and burgerdom that we can imagine. And why hasn’t Carl’s Jr. thought of this already?


Earlier on Actually Pretty Awesome:
A Preview of Dishes at Haven
Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas
The Cocktails at Outerlands
The Meatball Gigante and the Honey Pie at Tony’s Pizza
Three New Gins from St. George Spirits
The Date Night at Sneaky’s BBQ
Crab and Dumplings at Pican
The Fried-Chicken Sliders at The Lookout
The Tripe and the Pickles at Bar Tartine
A Dinner of Small Plates at Frances
Fried Chicken and Cornmeal Doughnuts at Beast & the Hare
Aaron London’s Take on Vichyssoise at Ubuntu

Actually Pretty Awesome: The Buffalo Burger at Double Decker