A few weeks ago my roommate told me that a new, local burger place opened on Beretania. Coincidently right around this time I’d begun to foster a really intense craving for what was, in my mind, the perfect burger. Any issues I have with burgers usually concern the quality and taste of the actual beef, not to mention where it’s from and how it was fed. But the bun can also make or break a burger…more like, a bad bun will not ruin a great burger, but the “perfect burger” is made so, by the perfect bun.
Honolulu Burger Co. serves 100% island range fed beef (not to be confused with some “free range” beef and chicken which is still fed grain but allowed to “live” freely). They also use as much local produce as possible on both their burgers and their sandwiches. Their burgers come in sizes ranging from XL (1/3lb) -XXXL and can also be substituted with chicken breast. You can build your own burger with choices like spinach or lettuce wrap for your bun, gruyere and mozzarella for your cheese, and extra toppings like kim chee and spam! The menu not only lists “HBC Favorites” that they’ve created in house, but also a menu of five sandwiches. Their old fashion shakes are made using local hand made Bubbies ice cream, and their house made fries are hand cut and double fried.
And now for some food…:)
I’ve had this burger twice and loved it each time…XL medium with cheddar, bacon, avo, and sweet chili aioli. All the burgers come on kaiser rolls and sandwiches come on hoagies both are made locally at the Patisserie. I LOVE freshly baked bread…seriously amazing. The burger was cooked perfectly and the bacon and avo didn’t make it impossible to eat. The bun was soft and griddled crispy on one side …all these things made this burger pretty much perfect.
I’ve also had this sandwich twice…I love pastrami sandwiches, and this one is really good. Simply mayo, lettuce, tomato, and CHHEEEEESEE 😀 The pastrami is not made in house or with local beef, but it is reaaallyy good.
The Loco Moco Burger…an XL burger topped with an over-hard egg, bacon, spam, and brown gravy. AKA kanak attack on a bun. I am also really into the idea of Spam on a burger. Yum.
The Korean Big Bang Burger…burger here translating to heaping braised Korean style short rids, HBC sauce and kim chee slaw. Although we expected the short rib to possibly be dry or tough, it was the opposite. Full of flavor and extremely unctious.
The Hot Rod Chicago Style Sandwich…two Portuguese style hot dogs from Hilo, dill pickles, lettuce, tomato, sweet relish, mustard, HBC sauce, and a dash of celery salt. Whoa…can’t lie, I didn’t even get to this, I was waay too full. But it smelled and sounded amazing.
House made fries, these are the bleu cheese style, they also serve them with garlic or truffle oil. As far as hand cut fries go, these are the perfect thickness and texture. They were crispy on the outside but nice a starchy in the middle and did not get soggy quickly = winner.
Really liked the ambiance of this brand new burger joint. Casual and clean with a sense of openness. The staff is extreeemely friendly and the food timely. I was really excited by the variety of sandwiches and burgers at this spot especially since the focus includes supporting local proteins and produce. I ate here twice in a week and what I had deemed the “perfect burger” was exellent both times. 🙂
Honolulu Burger Co. 1295 S. Beretania St., Honolulu, HI 96814 (across from Times)
(808) 626-5202
Open Mon-Sun 10:30 am – 9:00 pm
the road to salivation 