KAPAA — It’s easy to pull up to a drive-thru and order a double cheeseburger, but there’s something to be said about sitting down in a restaurant with a comfortable, friendly atmosphere while enjoying a handcrafted, unique burger experience. At
KAPAA — It’s easy to pull up to a drive-thru and order a double cheeseburger, but there’s something to be said about sitting down in a restaurant with a comfortable, friendly atmosphere while enjoying a handcrafted, unique burger experience.
At Street Burger, you get all of that and more.
From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. But after you open the red door, there are abundant tables and chairs, as well as the bar area.
There is also a chef’s table where you sit in front of the chefs as they cook your meal. It reminded me of a Benihana, except without the clattering of knives.
After I sat down, I looked over the menu and found out immediately what made this place so special. Street Burger has the classics: hamburger, cheeseburger, BBQ bacon cheeseburger, mushroom swiss. But if you’re adventurous, look toward the bottom of the menu at the “burgers … something different” section.
I had heard good things about the lamb burger, a Niihau Ranch lamb patty with eggplant caponata, feta and arugula, so I went with that without thinking twice. But there were plenty of options for any type of tastebud, even for the vegetarians out there.
I asked about the veggie burger: a housemade veggie patty with tomato jam, goat cheese, spinach and pesto. The friendly waitress told me that they also offer salad wraps instead of a bun for a non-gluten meal.
How’s that for variety?
I asked for the truffle and garlic fries, only to get stonewalled by the staff in the most friendly, yet stern way possible. At the bottom of the menu, it states “substitutions will be politely declined.”
You have to respect a place that knows what they’re doing.
Because of this, I decided to just order a side of the truffle and garlic fries. After all, I could always box them up to take back to the office to feed the other reporters in the newsroom.
Let’s make one thing clear. Whatever you do — never mind the $10 price tag for the truffle and garlic fries — order them and don’t look back. With most garlic fries, the majority of the toppings are, well, at the top. But with these fries, the garlic and truffle were consistent throughout, even in the middle of the basket.
I ordered the lamb burger medium well but when it came, it looked more medium due to the pinkness of the patty. But besides that, it was delicious. The lamb was very tasty and the feta cheese actually made me put the burger down and savor the flavor. For those of you familiar with my eating habits, this does not happen.
I didn’t order a beer because I still had to drive back to Lihue and back to work, but the drink menu had a lot of interesting craft and imported beers.
I think the next time I go back I’ll have to order Mission Shipwrecked Double IPA and hopefully the next time I go will be on a Thursday, where the bar selects two random beers for 50 percent off from opening to close.
After I boxed up my food, my bill came out to $28. The lamb burger came out to $18, a tad expensive for a burger but worth every penny for the taste.
If you find yourself hungry for a quality burger at a reasonable price, try something different at Street Burger. You’re sure to find something you like.
