Photo: Pexels / Valeria Boltneva
Half-pound prime chuck, open flame, French roll. Twenty-seven years of getting it right.
Photo: Pexels / Valeria Boltneva
I opened Big Mouth Burgers in 1997 because I thought San Francisco deserved a better burger. Not a fancier one — a better one. Prime ground chuck, cooked over open flame, on a French roll from a local bakery. That was the whole plan.
Twenty-seven years later, that's still the plan. We cook over gas grill at both locations — never flat-top. The buns are French rolls, scored and lightly toasted. We tried brioche once in 2019. Regulars revolted within a week. French rolls came back and never left.
People drive from Daly City and Millbrae to eat here. That still surprises me. It probably shouldn't — consistency beats novelty every single time. The Big Mouth burger tastes the same today as it did in 2003. People count on that.
Half-pound prime ground chuck. Open flame. French roll. That's the foundation. See full menu →
Photo: Pexels / Valeria Boltneva
Photo: Pexels / Hana Brannigan
Photo: Pexels / Pixabay
Photo: Pexels / Geraud Pfeiffer
We don't have a manifesto. We just buy good stuff from people we trust, and cook it over fire. Here's what that looks like:
Never frozen. Ground fresh. Half-pound patties formed by hand every morning.
Gas grill, not flat-top. It matters for the char. Both locations, same setup.
From a Bay Area bakery. Scored and lightly toasted. Never brioche — we tried, they revolted.
SF's own since 1953. Real cream, real shakes. No powder, no syrup, no shortcuts.
Best burger in the Bay — and I've tried every spot from the Mission to Mill Valley. The char on these patties is something else. I come back every week and it's the same every time.
We've been eating here since the kids were small. Now they bring their own kids. Abraham still remembers our order. That's the kind of place this is.
Drove from Daly City specifically for this. The half-pounder with bacon cheddar and a chocolate shake — I understand the hype now. Parking lot at Cherry Ave is clutch.
851 Cherry Ave, San Bruno, CA 94066
(650) 871-5237
3392 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 282-6599