Assembly - Santa Cruz, CA

The West Coast Burger at Assembly in Santa Cruz, CA, featuring artfully crispy bacon, cheddar topping and poutine  fries as photographed by the HoosierBurgerBoy.

Assembly in Santa Cruz beckons on a sunny afternoon along the coast. The doors open to a bustling downtown full off pedestrians. A breeze blows gently through the door. Chandeliers fashioned from deer antlers hang from the ceiling. This is a high-end dining experience. The burger is as well.

After being seated, I order the West coast burger with home made brioche bun, cheddar spread, pickled onion, secret sauce, salad and fries. ($13.50) I add bacon for $3. Avocado is $2.50, but I decline. The burger comes with fries, but they also have Poutine with aged cheddar and duck gravy for $8. My server says she can make my fries into poutine. 

Antlers form a Chandelier at Assembly in Santa Cruz, CA.

I order a glass of wine and wait for my burger as the restaurant starts to fill up. The burger arrives with bacon draped artfully around the patty; the smokey slices thin and crisp. The burger is grass fed and grass finished. It comes prepared to medium. Cooked perfectly, my burger tastes salty and delicious. The cheddar mixture gives a nice grace note of sharpness. I don't really taste the secret sauce, unless it's in the cheddar sauce. The bun holds together well under the juice until the last few bites when it falls apart on the bottom. This is a big win of a burger. 

The poutine fries are a work of art. The light duck gravy works as a condiment, not heavy and greasy but airy, salty and delicious it is spread sparingly over the hot, medium cut fries. 

I recommend this burger highly if you have the extra bucks and are in Santa Cruz looking for a great burger. There are lots of great things on the menu besides, so bring the whole gang and everyone can enjoy. 

Burger 4.5 spatulas our of 5

Fries 5 spatulas

Assembly

1108 Pacific Avenue

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

831-824-6100

assembleforfood.com

The front view of Assembly in Santa Cruz, CA. A great place to have a burger.

Burger. - Santa Cruz, CA

The Syd Barrett Burger at Burger. in Santa Cruz comes in a metal pan with Fries. 

Burger. in Santa Cruz is a regular stop for me when I am in Santa Cruz. They have an imaginative and creative offering and a very comfortable and fun bar atmosphere in the restaurant. The moment you come in, you are presented with a huge chalkboard behind the counter with lots of burger combos named after the famous and semi-famous. My favorite name is the obscure Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett whose eponymous burger is the mushroom swiss. The Kim Kardashian ($14.75) is a double Phatty, which is two bacon cheeseburgers between two grilled cheese sandwiches.

I ordered the Hank Williams ($7.75),  a 4-ounce Humboldt grass-fed beef patty, onion rings, bacon, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce. All burgers come with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles.  And shoestring fries. I also bought a chocolate shake ($5.25). The five of us finished ordering our burgers and were given a picture of Ozzy Osbourne as our "number" for our order to be brought to our table. 

 

The Shake at Burger was luscious. 

The shake came first, exquisitely topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. We had five spoons and the shake was quickly consumed. It was cold but still creamy. The shake was made with chocolate ice cream, not vanilla with syrup. It was sublime. 

The burgers came, nicely packed in small metal loaf pans: face up for easy photography with fries nicely tucked in. The burger was very good, the meat nicely spiced with pepper. The onion inside the ring was sweet and soft, bacon crisp, bbq sauce a nice accent rather than overwhelming. All the vegetables were crisp and fresh. The toasted bun was firm and fresh. 

 

The Menu is Considerable. No end of choices at Burger. in Santa Cruz.

The fries were disappointingly cold. We told our server and she cheerfully brought a piping hot mound of fries as a replacement. The hot fries were too thick to be called shoestrings. They were thin-cut, salty and crisp. Good if not remarkable. 

Everyone really enjoyed their burger. We had a good time hanging out. We all agreed we will come back next time we are in Santa Cruz. 

Burger 4 out of 5 spatulas

Fries 2.5 spatulas

Shake 4.5 spautals. 

Burger.

1520 Mission St.

Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 425-5300

http://www.burgersantacruz.com

The interior at burger is well lit and inviting. A bar in the back is quite popular.