After years of living here and never having been to that grunge rock burger bar on Belmont and Francisco, Greg and I finally grabbed lunch at Kuma’s Corner. Finally. I can’t say that it was the best burger I’ve ever had but it was pretty damn good. I can say that the blue cheese and bacon fries were some of the best fries I’ve ever had. And the side salad with the burger was the best side salad I’ve ever had. But I didn’t expect to leave Kuma’s thinking “wow, that was a really well-dressed salad.”

I can’t fault the burger or the guys that cooked it though.  Truth be told, I’m just not that into burgers that weigh as much as my head. I don’t love burgers that are topped a mile high with a crazy concoction of condiments and, more than likely, a fried egg.  Nope, I love a small thin burger with maybe some cheese or mushrooms if I’m feeling bold. Occasionally I throw some A1 on my burger. Maybe onions. I keep it simple. When I eat a burger, I want it to taste like beef. I also like taking bites without food getting all over my face or my clothes. It’s a personal preference but, that said, there was no way Kuma’s was ever going to be the best burger I’ve ever had. It was flawed by design before I even walked in the door.

Greg and I shared the megadeath, a beefy burger topped with a chorizo and red potato hash, pico de gallo, cayenne avocado cream and tortilla strips. It wasn’t super spicy but there was a nice heat in the back which was a nice compliment to the fresh pico. It was very tasty though, and the beef tasted very beefy, which I appreciated. I ate a quarter of it without any of the toppings or the pretzel bun. Just ground meat on a fork. And it was good.

We opted to get an order of blue cheese and bacon fries and swapped out the fries that would normally come with the burger for their side house salad. These two dishes were just fabulous so let me tell you why: seasoning. It’s one thing to come up with unique and inventive toppings for a sandwich but I think there is far more talent in just seasoning your food well. The salad was simple: greens, curly shaved carrot, some cucumber, tomato, and onion. It was the dressing that pulled it all together. It was salted well and had tons of fresh herbs. The fries were awesome and, yes, I’m sure you’re thinking that anything covered in bacon and blue cheese would be and that’s true but the fries, at their most basic level, were seasoned so perfectly that they almost tasted better on their own, without the toppings.

I’m also not a big fan of these ultra-popular places that are rude to newcomers because they feel like they can be. I didn’t appreciate the way the bartender rolled her eyes – twice – when my husband asked if there was a place to put our name down to wait or when he asked if someone was sitting in the empty chair at the bar (apparently the guy was outside on the phone – how were we supposed to know?). I generally tend to follow the rule that good food brings people in but good services brings people back. We almost left but I’m glad we didn’t. B*tchy bartender aside, service was fast and good.

They also have a great beer selection (we love a good Bottoms Up by Revolution) and they have whiskey on tap which is pretty neat.

If you can get past the music (not as bad as I expected) and the smoke in the air (much worse than I expected) then it’s actually a comfy place with unique stuff on the walls (I loved the sign above the bar that read “die emo die.”) and a very creative menu. Sometimes I’m not sure if a place is really worth the hype but here’s a case where it is. The end.