Burger Photo Gallery (click pictures to enlarge)

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THE JOINT

Jim Denny’s is a local burger joint that can only be found in Sacramento, CA. This place is a “joint” in the truest sense of the word. Established in 1934, this small diner style restaurant has walls loaded with nostagic signs and seats a whopping ten people on the inside. You really have to time your lunch right if you want one of the seats a the bar, otherwise, it’s standing room only, or a trip outside on one of their umbrella covered patio tables.

I don’t like to throw the term “icon” around much, but Jim Denny’s is the definition of a Sacramento Icon. I think I’ve seen it featured on a few TV shows and written up in a few local articles about cool burger places in Sacramento. They’ve also gotten to be known for their breakfast that features pancakes that are affectionately called “hubcaps” due to their enormous size. I had been meaning to hit up Jim Denny’s for a few months now, so when National Hamburger Month came around, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally check the place out.

THE BURGER

I ordered the Superburger which is described only as “Jim’s famous half pounder with mayo and mustard”. I added bacon and cheese and since they serve breakfast all day, I asked if they could throw a fried egg on the burger and the nice lady behind the counter gladly obliged. Since this was a diner style joint, I didn’t expect them to ask how I wanted my burger cooked — and they didn’t. However, I did get to watch my burger being prepared on the flat grill not 4 feet away from my seat at the bar. The cook was also making one of their hubcap pancakes for another customer and I sat in amazement as she poured and then deftly flipped the herculean hotcake.

In a short time my burger was stacked on the grill and delivered in one of those cool paper filled mesh baskets with a side of hot fries. I’m not sure how it’s possible, but the bacon cheeseburger actually tasted old fashioned (in a good way). The burger was cooked well done, but still retained some of its juiciness…either from the grease of the grill or through sheer old fashioned will power. The bun was your regular bun, maybe a step or two above a fast food bun, and although the burger was billed at a half pound, it looked smaller than other half pound burgers I’ve eaten. The burger patties themselves were fresh and you could still get a bit of beef taste under the melted American cheese.

THE VERDICT

I’m not sure if it was the cool vintage setting, the great service or some secret ingredient I missed, but eating the Jim Denny’s Superburger took me back to a simpler time when a cheeseburger was just a cheeseburger. No fancy foie gras toppings and proud to call their mayonnaise mayo and not a flavored up “aioli”. I’m a fan of a tricked out burger as much as the next guy, but it was nice to have a simple throwback to take me back to the burger basics.

Have you been to Jim Denny’s before? Let me know what you thought of the burger there in the comments below.

Tags: bacon, featured, fried egg, national hamburger month, sacburgermonth