Sur Burger — Restaurant in Monterey

On our final night in picturesque Monterey, my companion and I wanted our parting meal to be simple and unfussy: we settled on hamburgers.

After a little research, I stumbled on Sur Burger, located on Alvarado Street, which as a first-time visitor, struck me for its relative obscurity to Cannery Row: while overflowing with traffic (IMO, it should be a pedestrian plaza with only streetcars as transportation supported by protected bike lanes, and a healthy amount of disabled and delivery parking on side streets close to the action), it boasted clean streets otherwise brimming with locals and visitors alike. Charming, 19th century buildings lining the broad avenue underscored its aesthetic appeal.

Sur Burger features both outdoor and indoor dining, and is level to the sidewalk, making it easy for wheelchairs to enter. It helps that the indoor seating is generously spaced, allowing for adjustments. Numerous high chairs welcome the waves of families that visit Sur Burger, which itself exudes a cozy, familiar ambience. Sports fans have a home at the bar, which also has cable TV.

At the time we went, it was not busy, and service was attentive, friendly and patient. But more about that in a moment.

I ordered the Works Burger, which is a delightful mess, and the patty itself was cooked perfectly at medium rare, and burst with all the smoky, tangy, and sweet flavors that should be standard for any hamburger. Creamy avocados and crisp bacon added crunch and comfort with each bite, and Sur's Phoenix Sauce provided a pleasing foundation for all the disparate components, binding them together on my palate. My hamburger was wonderfully juicy and rich, and deeply satisfying. My companion's burger, the Classic, was equally good, despite being ordered medium well, a meat temperature that frankly should be outlawed: if I want charcoal, I'll get a bag of Kingsford at Target.

The fries, however, were just faintly acceptable. While alluringly golden brown, they were a little too thin, and just slightly below being well done. We both agreed the fries, for our taste, should be a little thicker and exist in that wonderful space between crunchiness and suppleness.

Overall, the ingredients were of superior quality, making me very happy I dismissed my companion's wish to dine at - UGH! - Carl's Junior. Now hear this: unless circumstances demand it, I will always endeavor to eat at local restaurants and not chains. Red Lobster and Hooters were awful, and deserved to be shut, vile venture capitalists aside. We should not mourn their passing.

Regrettably, I must comment on the service, which having been a server, I am usually reluctant to do. Briefly, it's a very difficult job. Do a little research.

While service started off well for us, recall that it was during a lull in the action. As families with small children, and groups of people began to come in, service instantly became slower, even nonexistent. It did not help that there was a shift change - and the relief crew either didn't show up, or the manager intentionally scheduled only one server to handle the madding crowd. Customers waited. And waited. You get it.

Despite its culinary charms, Sur Burger was consistently pilloried for their slow and inconsistent service, which is a costly liability. Lots of people came to eat; why make their first impression be that the staff are not around? Worse, there was a solitary cook in the kitchen. He performed admirably against the tsunami of orders he received, as each dish that managed to make it to their tables looked scrumptious.

So, Sur is definitely worth the trip - just get there a little early, and depart before things get...

Finding a good, local burger spot is always high on my food plans list when on a trip. A search of "best burger in Monterey" brought several mentions of Sur Burger, and when I noticed it while starting to get those tummy grumbles as we were driving around downtown Monterey, it seemed like a sign to park immediately and grab dinner. We arrived at around 5:15pm on a Thursday, and found a quiet restaurant with a welcoming staff. A quick glance at the menu told me I could quickly be in decision paralysis if I spent much time with it, so I diverted my eyes and ordered a classic cheeseburger (add bacon) before I could do too much overthinking. The Boy ordered a plain cheeseburger, and we both made them combos - onion rings for me, garlic fries for him.

We settled into one of the comfy bench tables and waited just a few minutes for our meals to be delivered. As we waited, I perused the menu a bit more and found they had several tempting sounding burgers, sandwiches, and more and hoped I wouldn't end up wishing I'd given the whole menu more of a glance before ordering. Our food was delivered directly to our table with offers to bring condiments or any other items that we may need. My mind and taste buds were put to ease that I'd made the perfect selection with that first, piping hot bite.

Our burgers had a nice sear, and the toppings were fresh and delicious. The bun was soft and pillowy while still holding up nicely to the burger. I do think the patty itself could have used a smidge more seasoning, but that slight lack of overall flavor may also be blamed on the fact that we opted to sub their special sauce for regular mayo. The Boy had a giant pile of garlic fries that were perfectly crisp and LOADED with garlicky goodness. And those onion rings? YUM! I'm one of these very strange people who loves a good onion ring despite not actually liking onions much at all. Which means I also tend to be super picky about them because done wrong I quickly retreat to my standard onion=bad stance. These had a light, crisp, tasty batter and the onions were cut perfectly to have the perfect bite. No too thick, can't bite through, pull the whole onion out of the batter with one bite here, thank you very much. Mmmm. Now it's 7:30 in the morning and I suddenly have a craving for onion rings. Ha!

With tip, the total for our two meals was $54. I confess that felt a bit steep, but the quality of the food and service made it sting a little less. If back in the area, I wouldn't hesitate to visit again. Especially because as we were leaving, a nearby table was getting their food delivered and I spotted several items that seemed like what I "definitely should have gotten instead," even as I walked out the door stuffed and very, very happy with the choice I'd made...

Spending our first night in Monterey tonight and decided to give Sur Burger a go for dinner, pictures and descriptions made this place sound like an absolute treat. Sadly it was not.

We ordered online to pick up and bring back to our room on this cold and rainy evening. For the price we paid were expecting at least what was described online and for everything to taste amazing. It fell way short of that. Our food was so bland and flavorless, the burgers weren’t juicy or tasteful at all, I couldn’t even taste the caramelized onions on my burger! There was no flavor at all, no salt, and I’m not one to add salt to my food I usually think the opposite of fries etc that they are too salty. Absolutely nothing had salt, fries were cold and the chicken strips and chicken sandwich we ordered were so hard, my mom couldn’t even take 2 bites her sandwich was rock hard. We ordered the Big Kahuna Combo,The Cheeseburger Combo,The Chicken Combo, 6 Piece Tenders only and a side of Onion Rings for $79. None of us finished our food. It was so disappointing and for the price we paid I expect better, way better. The killer for me was tasting the fries and onion rings and being able to taste every different kind of food that has been fried in their oil, the onion rings tasted like fish, and my fries did too, and I’m sorry for me that a sign of dirty oil being used. We gave it 2 stars because of how close it is to the hotel we’re staying at (Marriott) and because the location itself is actually nice inside and has a nice open layout. Sadly its not enough for us to visit again or spend that much on a family dinner that we only...