Ron W.
Yelp
Wander down a dark street to a dark door. Enter into a dark hallway and prepare to feed your dark soul. You have chosen wisely and you shall come to the light and be rewarded.
You are now in the brightly lit dining room where the clutter is as intense as any club in the Goldengai. There are only a few seats (12 at tiny tables and 3 wedged in at the Chef's Bar, all ready to do serious Burger biz).
The open kitchen is what you'd find in a camper shell. A flat top grill, deep fryer, stacked condiment containers, a few squeeze bottles and a blur of activity between the Fry Cook and the solo Server.
There is decor crap everywhere. The whole place has the feel of Akira Kurosawa creating a riff on a funky American Road House Trucker's stop greasy spoon. Look that up on imbd and you'll see an insert of Center4hamburgers, although there are no photos of the interior or the dining denizens as they are not allowed or tolerated by management.
The Staff: Say "ohayo" to the Fry Cook even though that is 'good morning' and he will reply "No, San Francisco". (Which is where he apparently honed his burger chops, and he's got'em). Meanwhile the sweet Server flies around the room like a balloon that slipped it's knot.
The Bar Program: Pretty creative for a tiny spot. Craft Beer, local brewed Sake, and Chocolate Shakes, if y'all ache for home. I had a Coed Beer made from Sweet Potato. It was like drinking Pruno after pulling a bullet in County. I washed that down with a Hitachino White Ale right out of the Gai-jin bin. It was good as gold and twice as cold.
The Food: Yeah, they have a few things other than burgers, but why would you bother? (That's like ordering Tofu at Peter Lugar's or asking for a Double Bacon Cheeseburger at Sukiyabashi Jiro.)
So, what did I want? Yup, a Double Bacon Cheese Burger. Good choice. It was an edible construction towering almost 6 inches above the plate and made with a practiced Japanese sensibility. Everything fit neatly with no slop over or ooze out under the fresh Potato Bun. It was Burger art from the start to the finish. The question is...Can you finish it?
Two hand formed house ground exceptional patties 1/2" thick rested on a Kewpie Mayo'd bun bottom which eliminated a spongy bun, gee, after only the second bite.
Add shredded Lettuce, a Hot House Tomato, Cheddar Cheese all sized exactly to the Burger's dimensions.
Ready? Now, gently compress the looming monster until it will just barely fit through your gaping maw.
All the elements play off each other. A juicy beefy chew against a Tomato that actually tastes like a Tomato instead of a cardboard cutout of one. An ooze of Cheese against cool crisp Lettuce plus just enough diced Onions to compliment the whole balancing act.
If the owner opened 1,000 stores in the USA he could be President which is not a bad idea at present. At least he'd be adding something of value to the Country.
On to the supporting cast. The French Fries (nee, English Chips) were as thick as Godzilla's toe, crispy and substantial, with the requisite creamy center. Scrape off some of the luscious Kewpie from the Burger Bun, mix it with a packet of Ketchup and...voila, ersatz 1,000 Island or just enjoy them neat. Either way, the fries were terrific, and if those champion chips were indeed special, and they were, just wait until you try the French Fried Onion Rings. These were flash fried after being dragged through Tempura/Southern Fried Chicken batter. The technique easily produced the very best Onion Rings in memory on the four Continents I recently visited.
The Onion Rings are so good, in fact, you could eat them two days later right from the fridge and still be in love with every one of them.
Some times in order to capture the taste of home, you have to leave home to find it.
Center4hamburgers is at the outer edges of the Burger Universe.
