Burger Photo Gallery (click pictures to enlarge)

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THE JOINT

The General Store is a restaurant and bar in the Old Town area of Elk Grove, CA. For years it was called The Elk Grove Brewery but the new owners decided to take the restaurant back to the town’s roots and rename it The General Store. The restaurant is located in one of the city’s historic buildings that used to be an actual general store when the town was first established.

I have probably driven past this building 100 times but have never known what was inside. I think I always assumed it was an old hotel that was now a real estate office or something like that. It’s a beautiful building, but for some reason I just never assumed a restaurant was inside. Even with the name “The General Store”, it’s easy to forget that it’s a place that serves food.

I ended up at The General Store because I met some fellow Elk Grovians at a Twitter based networking event in Sacramento called #sactweetup. I think they knew I was a fan of food and asked if I had tried this place called The General Store. Even when they mentioned the name, I couldn’t place the restaurant, but I vowed to try it since I heard they had burgers on the menu.

After a friendly reminder from @SwankDevotchka that I was supposed to check the place out, I got my 3 year old daughter ready for a little daddy/daughter lunch time.

THE BURGER

I was feeling adventurous that day, so I went for the burger they call the “1 pound Awesome Cheeseburger”. They describe it as being stuffed with jalapeños, garlic & sauteed mushrooms; smothered with 3 cheese, grilled onions and topped with lettuce tomato and onion. That all sounded pretty awesome to me, but I still asked for bacon to be added to exponentially increase the awesome potential.

I don’t remember them asking how I wanted the burger cooked, but I figured for a burger weighing in at 1 pound, they probably want to take extra care to make sure it’s cooked to the proper temperature.  Although we were the only ones in the restaurant at the time, the burger took a while to prepare (did I mention it was one pound), and when it arrived, I could see why. It was huge! They actually had to bring the burger out on a mini forklift and power lift it onto the table like an Olympic weightlifter.  OK, I made that last part up, but it was a pretty mean looking cheeseburger.

With a burger that big, you really need a bun that can hold its own, and they picked a brilliant bread buddy for this sandwich. Instead of toasting the bun, they left it soft and chewy and I had no problem getting through it on my way to the cheesy, flavorful burger.  While the burger wasn’t overly juicy, the jalapeños, garlic and mushrooms infused in the patty gave the burger the perfect seasoning.  I was happy that they used the jalapeños only to enhance the flavor of the beef, but not to heap on the heat just for the sake of making a spicy burger..  The LTO toppings were fresh and the bacon was an awesome ally.

THE VERDICT

I could see myself checking out The General Store again. What sounds almost like a novelty burger when you see it on the menu, actually turned into a burger worth returning for.  I think next time I would ask if they could cook the burger to medium or maybe even give their Texas Burger a shot. Overall I was pretty stoked to find a non-corporate chain restaurant nearby that served a good burger at a decent price.

Tags: cheesy, featured, national hamburger month, sacburgermonth