Post-hiking burgers.

It was a beautiful day in San Diego. There was a gentle breeze, the sun was shining, the sky was incredibly blue, and the temperature was hovering around a very pleasant 65 or 70 degrees. As you can see, there was only one teeny tiny benign white cloud in the sky...


We took a little hike in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, which was basically a climb up a big hill, and back down to the beach. It was an easy hike, but the view from the top was simply amazing!


Once we reached the beach at the bottom of the hill, we kicked our sneakers off and frolicked in the cold (but refreshing) ocean. Ahh... I love the smell of salt water.


After an afternoon of hiking and frolicking, we worked up quite a hunger! We agreed on burgers. Delicious juicy burgers. One of my friends knew of a place in La Jolla called Burger Lounge, which sounds fancy and expensive, given its haute locale, but it actually is quite casual and reasonably priced.


All the beef is organic and grass-fed, the fries are cut fresh, the onion rings are made in-house, and the buns are baked daily by a local baker.

The Burger Lounge Caesar Salad ($6.95) was huge and delicious! Definitely a good value.


The Grilled Lounge Burger ($7.95) comes with crisp lettuce, tomato, house-made 1000 island, fresh onion, and cheddar or American cheese, on a freshly baked bun. Everyone agreed that the buns were wonderfully soft and tasty, maybe the best burger buns I've ever had! The fries were not as crispy and I would like, but still tasty. The onion rings were delicious and crispy and crunchy, just right! It was clear that they were freshly battered and fried, since the batter/breadcrumb mixture stuck firmly to the onions. Nothing is worse than onion ring batter/breadcrumbs that completely separate from the onion itself. Well done with the onion rings!


I chose to have the Burger Lounge Vegetarian, made of quinoa (a very very nutritious grain), and with the same accompaniments as the regular beef burger. I added avocado as an extra, which they slathered generously (woohoo!). I am not a vegetarian, but often opt for vegetarian selections, especially if they offer more fiber than a meat-based selection (me and my love affair with fiber). I have to say, I wish I got a beef or turkey burger instead. I appreciate that the veggie burgers are made in-house, but it just was not up to par with other veggie burgers I have had. It fell apart and crumbled easily (often occurs with veggie burgers, I have found), and the flavor just wasn't robust enough for me.


Overall, I was pleased with Burger Lounge. Maybe one of the best parts were the heat lamps in the outdoor patio, to which many New Englanders would think, "Those wimpy San Diegans can't handle a 50 degree night!", and they would be correct! People break out the scarves and parkas when it gets to 50 degrees or so, whereas people in Boston would be going out in shorts and flipflops. But, I admittedly was chilly as the sun went down during our meal, and was grateful for the presence of those heat lamps. Call me a wimp!