San Diego Metropolitan Magazine

Sky Gornik, manager of La Jolla’s Burger Lounge, with a signature burger and some seriously tasty oninon rings. (photo/alandeckerphoto.com)

Lately I’ve been jabbering my head off to anyone who’ll listen about Burger Lounge. First off, it’s located on one of the sweetest corners in La Jolla. Next door to The Coffee Cup, across the street from Karl Strauss and a couple storefronts down from Jack’s is this small and sexy, ubermodern hamburger shop called Burger Lounge.

Tiny but mighty, the restaurant must be less than 800 square feet and seats fewer than 15 people inside, with another 30 or so seats streetside, which is a good thing because there is a line out the door daily.

Although it would be a stretch to call the fare healthy, they certainly have gone out of their way to make it more healthful than most in this genre. Burger Lounge uses all-natural, grass-fed beef, which is said to make it lower in cholesterol and 25 percent higher in protein than grain-fed beef.

The menu is very brief: three burgers, chicken breast tenders, fries, rings and a couple of salads. Everything is made in-house, except for the buns, which a local baker makes for them from a house recipe (and they are terrific).

My companion (a tall skinny blonde) and I each ordered one “Lounge Burger” ($6.95) with cheese for ourselves, and one “Vegetarian Burger” ($6.95) to share. We also ordered the “Half and Half” (half fries, half rings) for $4.95 as well as a diet Coke and a milkshake. We had no problem polishing off every last morsel.

The beef burgers arrived pretty darn close to medium rare as ordered and were tender and juicy. The 6-ounce patty comes with your choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion, is slathered with housemade Thousand Island dressing and laid on a tender, slightly sweet bun.

I was surprised — no, actually astonished at how delicious the veggie burger was. A blend of quinoa, brown rice, carrots, zucchini, portabella mushrooms, onion, garlic and bread crumbs is formed into a patty and cooked on the grill. Seasoned with chipotle, it is served just like its beefy brother topped with Jack cheese and all the lettuce, tomato and onion trimmings on the same delicious bun.

French fries are hand cut from Kennebec potatoes, fried twice (in the French tradition for extra crispiness) and seasoned with salt and parsley flakes. The onion rings are good-sized, crusted in panko and buttermilk and fried in peanut oil.

I can’t say enough about how much we both loved the chocolate milkshake. Hand-scooped, blended with whole milk in an old-fashioned upright milkshake blender and served “dime-store style” in the metal mixing cup, it was so chocolatey and delicious we wished we had ordered two.

The place is done right. Great signage, hip interior design, great graphics and equally good food all come together at Burger Lounge. Owners Mike Gilligan and Dean Loring (they also own Cody’s in La Jolla) have a well-executed concept. A second location opened last month in Kensington (the former Just Fabulous space) and there are plans to open another Downtown this year. I’ll be the first in line.