It’s so unlike me to wait years to go to a raved-about, local burger joint. But somehow, I had never made it to Hodad’s. So when I realized that I was graduating, and leaving San Diego, it became clear that such a travesty be righted. So I called Katie and said, “we are going to Hodad’s.” She had no qualms about this plan.
The original Hodad’s is in Ocean Beach, but we didn’t feel like waiting for a table, so we went to the 2011-new downtown location. It was an early dinner, so we had no trouble parking. Our order was promptly taken, and food was served quick.
The restaurant itself is a fun environment. I think the OB location is dive bar-ish, but this one is more of a restaurant-style burger joint. I always love the out-of-state license plates on the wall – sure to keep me distracted from my NEED FOR CHEESEBURGER NOW!!!!
We shared a half-basket of “frings” and a chocolate malt milkshake. The half-order of frings were easily big enough to share. So was the milkshake. And two of my burger-joint pet peeves were avoided at Hodad’s:
Pet Peeve #1: Frozen, store-bought onion rings.
Nothing is like a hand-breaded fresh onion ring. The rings here were clearly homemade, and clearly delicious. The fries were thick wedge-cut, and full of potatoey goodness.
Pet Peeve #2: Milkshakes that cost $5-$6, barely have any milkshake in the refill tin, and are lacking in the ice cream department.
This shake was almost entirely ice cream – just how I like it. Although my go-to shake is a vanilla-malt, I was willing to switch it up with a chocolate-malt shake on this occasion. It had good flavor, but I think I just prefer vanilla to chocolate.
As for the burger, it was served pretty quickly after the frings and milkshake. I had really high-hopes for this juicy bacon-cheeseburger.
The verdict?
Well, the burger itself was delicious & full of flavor. What a great cheeseburger. I could eat here over and over again if I had continued to live in SD.
There was only one shortcoming in the burger. The bacon, which abounded on this burger, got lost in the rest of the meal. I think the issue was that there was just too much ketchup and pickles on the burger, so the bacon flavor didn’t really come through (my burger was pre-served with ketchup – I didn’t do this ketchup-ing myself! And I realize that this revelation may come as a bit fantastical, given my oft-voiced opinion that ketchup should be included as its own food group!)
To clarify, though, I had a piece of the bacon separately, and it was simply delicious. This discovery leads me to believe that the cook was a bit too heavy-handed with the condiments.
I think the burger was about $7.00, and the frings and shake were about $4.50 each, all of which seemed more than reasonable.
I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here, and while my arteries are thanking me for waiting this long to go to Hodad’s, I regret I did not go sooner. When I next visit SD, this will be my first stop.
The Last Bite:
Burger rating: A- (fix the condiment ratio, and it’s an A)
Overall experience (sides, service, cleanliness, price, etc.): A
Never stop nomming!
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