Welcome to the inaugural cheeseburger review in my pursuit of the best cheeseburger in Davis, CA. We’re starting with Sudwerk’s Gourmet Cheeseburger ($10.75) for our inaugural review. First, a quick apology for the silence on the blog front I have been busy organizing an event at the state Capitol. (It went very well. Thank you for asking.) That’s over now though and I hope to return to a regular posting schedule.
Being the first comes with both positives and negatives. The first to be judged is able to set expectations but they’re also examined in a vacuum without any context. I didn’t know where to begin on my list of burger joints. I couldn’t simply start from the beginning and go down as some of these restaurants have odd hours. Instead of trying to randomly select a place or dither on which I wanted to try I kicked the responsibility to picking a place to my friends on Facebook. The “winner” was Sudwerk, a combined craft brewery and restaurant that has been in Davis since 1989.
If you need help recalling how I rate cheeseburgers you will find the criteria here. And without further ado let’s dig in:
The Review
Patty (10/35) – I ordered a medium rare patty. The one I got was medium well to well done. The patty was heavily seasoned. Lots of pepper and salt. It was difficult to taste anything but the spice. Salty, greasy.
Cheese (8/25) – A thing single slice on the patty. Actual cheddar as I requested. Tasteless. Probably mild or medium cheddar.
Bun (10/15) – The bun was grilled. The top was too dry and the bottom was soaked in grease from the patty and/or water from the lettuce.
Toppings (5/15) – Lettuce was iceberg and pre-shredded. Unable to tell if fresh but I suspect not. Three pickle slices, two tomato slices, and a single slice of red onion. The pickles were bland as was the onion
Condiments (0/10) – No condiments on the burger. No condiments on the table.
Ambiance (2/*) – The space is fine. It did not detract from the meal but nor did it add to the meal. The servers and waiters were hustling and working hard.
Total (35/100) – Not a good start to the project… I am hopeful that it is all up from here! This burger was so bad that I did not finish eating it.
I also sampled the two varieties of fries at Sudwerk: string and wedge. Both of the fries were tasty, golden, and not too oily. The string fries were a little too salty for my taste.
