Juno’s Burger – Juno’s Kitchen and Delicatessen – Sacramento, CA
Price: $9.50 | California, Sacramento | Restaurant Burgers
Burger Photo Gallery (click pictures to enlarge)
Find this Burger
Address: Juno's Kitchen and Delicatessen
3675 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95816
Phone: (916) 456-4522
On the Web: http://www.junoskitchen.com/
THE JOINT
I originally heard about Juno’s from a flurry of Facebook posts from local foodie friends when they opened in October of 2011. All rave reviews and then Sacramento Bee reporter Blair Robertson penned a glowing First Impressions piece about the burger there, and I knew I had to give it a try. Located in East Sacramento, this quaint cafe is probably about the size of your first college dorm room, but the food quality is anything but sophomoric.
Run by Chef Mark Helms, this J street gem serves up some of the best dishes in the Sacramento area. The first time I went, I tried the Wagyu Burger and my wife had a Cabernet Salami sandwich and immediately we were enamored with the place. The food shines and every time we’ve returned to try a different dish (or experience a repeat performance of a few of our favorites), the service has been fun, and although there are only about 4 tables inside, there always seemed to be room for us. One time we dined there on Valentine’s day and just as we were about to take our food to go, they set us up at a cute table in their private back room.
THE BURGER
Juno’s Kitchen serves several sandwiches, but just one burger. It used to be simply named “Wagyu Hamburger”, but they’ve since changed the beef used to Angus from Preferred Meats and now it’s just called “Burger”. Usually, I get a little worried when there’s little fanfare around the title or description of a burger on a menu, but since this burger came highly recommended, I didn’t give it a second thought.
I ordered my burger medium rare (as all great burgers should be cooked in this burgerjunkie’s opinion) and it came out nicely cooked. Maybe a little more medium than medium rare, but ask 10 people what the perfect medium rare burger looks like and you’re likely to get 10 different answers.
The burger was topped with caramelized onions, Manchego cheese, pickled cucumber, Heirloom tomato and “aioli”. The pickled cucumbers were crisp, the melted Manchego cheese was a little sweet and a little nutty which went nicely with the caramelized onions. Don’t let the plainly described “aioli” fool you though. This isn’t some tricked up mayo in aioli’s clothing, the aioli on the burger at Juno’s reigns supreme. There was such a melange of flavors going on in that aioli that it’s hard to describe it. It was not quite relish-y, definitely not mayo-y, and 100% crave-worthy. Anytime I’m on J street, I think about that aioli calling for me like Lionel Richie from the bottom of his heart.
The bun on this burger isn’t the traditional fluffy burger bun. It’s slightly crispy on the outside, but not too crunchy. The inside is soft with just the right amount of chew, but it’s somehow super thin. The beef on this cheeseburger was premium Wagyu from Preferred Meats and it had me convinced that every burger should be ground Wagyu. I’ve had Wagyu burgers from other restaurants and it is consistently one of my favorite food flavors to bite into.
THE VERDICT
Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, Juno’s is one of the best restaurants in Sacramento. I’ve tried their sandwiches, their pasta, (and of course their burgers) and every dish has been outstanding. Outstanding to the point where I wonder why there’s not a line around the block every time I go there. One unfortunate change has been the switch from Wagyu beef to Angus beef, but the burger’s brilliance still holds up as the Certified Angus is still a top quality breed for beef. Honestly, if you haven’t tried the food at Juno’s yet, you owe your mouth an apology.
BurgerJunkies Rating
- Burger Juiciness (because a dry burger is just wrong) 8
- Bun Goodness (a quality meat holder is essential) 9
- Burger Flavor (is the meat itself extra tastilicious) 8
- Burger Value (you can pay too much for a .99 cent burger and an amazing burger can seem like a steal at $20…and vice versa) 10
- B Factor (this is that super subjective thing that makes each review unique. That gene se qua, that something special about the experience. Could be the special sauce, could be the atmosphere of the joint, could be the ridiculous shakes that you paired the burger with, or it could be some french fries that make you wanna cry) 8
Total Score: 43pts
Tags: aioli, bun, featured, sacramento
Great info. Lucky me I discovered your site by chance (stumbleupon).
I’ve book-marked it for later!
Risqué-Diário de Viagem-Taciele Alcolea.
hello there and thank youu for your info – I have certainly picked up
something new from right here. I did however expertise some technical issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the
web site lots of times previous to I could get it to losd properly.
I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I’m
complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will very frequently affect your
placement in google and could damage your quality score
if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for
a lot more oof your respective interesting content. Ensire that
you update this again very soon. https://Bp7.org/gebzeanalescort442724
Good article! We will be linking to this great post on our site.
Keep up the great writing.
I don’t know whether it’s just mme or if everybody else encountering
problems with your website. It seems like some of the texxt within your content are running off the screen. Can someone else please provide feedback and let mee know if this is happenig to themm too?
This might be a issue with my browser because
I’ve had this happen previously. Thank you
I savor, result in I discovered just what
I used to bee having a look for. You’ve ended my 4
day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day.
Bye