Bill's Place - San Francisco, CA

Bill's Place in San Francisco's Outer Richmond has been around 53 years. According to the menu, Don the owner, took over from the original owner, Bill and then Bill's wife and has been with the place for 43 years. the place has the feel of a local fixture. The bright red awning proclaims, "Bill's Place - Home of the Hamburger" and indeed it is.

The menu has countless burger combos named after local celebrities and local teams the Giants and 49ers. I ordered ordered the Bill's Cheeseburger #01 for $9 including fries. The burger is a 1/3 pound burger made of fresh fresh chuck ground at the restaurant, always a good sign. The also have a #2 at 3/4 pound and a #3. My wife ordered a bacon cheeseburger. My daughter a chili cheese dog. We grabbed an order of onion rings for $3.95.

The onion rings arrived almost instantly, hot crunchy and sweet. They are big and thick and taste great dunked in ranch dressing. It seems like one bite later the rest of the food arrived. I will admit it curious that the #01 comes with only one strip of bacon. The Bacon cheeseburger has three. The bacon was crisp, salty and just the right thickness. The American cheese was nicely melted. The burger is served open-faced with the tomato slice, pickle chips and pile of green-leaf lettuce on the side. The sesame bun was nicely toasted and had a smear of mayo. A big pile of fresh cut fries rode shotgun on the plate.

I found the burger cooked a perfect pink and juicy medium. The meat is flavorful, if minimally spiced. The whole concoction very enjoyable. The fries were a little soggy as fresh-cut fries often are, but they were hot and cooked correctly. They were not greasy at all.

We really enjoyed the ambiance of the place. Lively, full of people of all ages and colors. Everything is a little worn down and tired, looking all of its 53 years, but the place has a friendly, lived-in feel. The couple sitting next to me joked they had been coming there for 85 years, even though it has only been open 53. Same age as me, as a matter of fact.

Burger 4 spatulas out of 5

Fries 3.5 spatulas

Onion Rings 4.5 spatulas

Bill's Place 

2315 Clement St.

San Francisco, CA 94121

415-221-5262

www.billsplace.qpg.com