Barney’s

Barney’s is a multi-store Bay Area burger chain with 22 different beef hamburgers on its menu plus 9 kinds of turkey burger and 10 kinds of meat-free garden burgers. The garden burgers come on whole wheat buns, the others on sesame buns, unless you want yours wrapped in lettuce. It would take a long time to try everything; my single visit was enough to encourage further study.

Barney’s smells great. That is because the hamburgers are cooked on a grate in an open kitchen adjoining the dining room, and the perfume of sizzling beef fat dripping onto coals is, for carnivores, a sure-fire appetizer. The meat part of my California burger was tasty with a crunchy, gnarled crust, although the interior could have been juicier and more flavorful. What the burger lacked was made up for by the grilled chile atop it, still al dente and with a good capsicum crackle. The chile was crowned with plenty of bacon and enough sour cream to muffle its heat.

I particularly liked the French fries, which are available either thick (steak cut) or thin, and with a dressing of minced fresh garlic in oil, which is delicious.