Monday, October 12, 2009

Sometimes, all you need is just a Good ol' burger - Paso Robles

After a 4 hour drive, we arrived in the City of Paso Robles to massive traffic jams. I completely forgot that October 12 was Pioneer Day. It's pretty much the biggest town festival that has been celebrated since 1931. No wonder all the hotels were booked or the prices were jacked up. The festivities started at 7am with cooking beans, followed by parades, contests and ends with an old gas engine show.

Because many streets were closed, we were having trouble making our way to the town center where there are many restaurant and bar options. We decided to stop at Big Bubba's Bad BBQ Place, however the wait was 20-30 minutes. We landed at a strip mall that included burger, taco and pizza joints. Good Ol' Burgers was the most crowded and their fish and chips special caught my eye.

There is indoor and outside seating. If you sit inside, you get to listen to some good ol' country music. The menu focuses on charbroiled burgers. with fresh ingredients.

You can watch the cooks whip up your meal through the glass partition, which is always a plus and a comfort that things are sanitary. They take fresh balls of meat and press them into patties with a tortilla press. It's nice to know that they are not using frozen patties from Costco, not that it's not delicious, but if you are paying a premium for a burger, you want it to be as home cooked as possible.

I started with Double barrel ale from Firestone Walker. Firestone is a family owned brewery that started in Santa Barbara but is now brewed in Paso Robles.

Fish and chips, except I substituted the chips for onion rings. The batter was crispy and still hot from frying. The onion rings were huge; a couple pieces were more than enough for me.

Burger and Veggie burger. I like how you can get wheat bun on request. It's good to see American fast-foods realizing the importance of creating healthier alternatives for the public. The patties were juicy, fresh and had that lovely grilled flavor. The burger came with thousand island dressing, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.

Good Ol' Burger is an easy, casual joint to stop in for a quick bite. It is obviously a local favorite; we saw a few Pioneer Day participants having a quick lunch. The place got really packed by 12.30pm.

Hits: wheat bun option!, onion rings
Misses: Nothing really, it is what it is, a casual burger stop. Nothing fancy.
Rate: ***

Good Ol' Burger
1145 24th St.,
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 238-0655

2 comments:

Mark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Better yet, they have Facebook specials every month if you become a fan (or I guess now it's called "Like") on Facebook and print out a card. Worth it, http://www.facebook.com/GoodOlBurgers or menu at http://www.goodolburgers.com