8610 am see, Uster

A lake side eatery on the Greifensee in the city of Uster. 8610 am See is located right by a jetty on the lake at the crossing of a bike, hiking and roller blade path, on the lake side.  The organization 8610 am See sponsors and supports the local community of people with disabilities. They provide a series of services with education, job training, work opportunities and housing support services. This food stall is tied to a restaurant which is fancier and is for sit-down meals. The food stall attached serves two things, a burger and a sausage, which are made to order right in front of you, in addition there are quite a few snacks, sweet condiments, drinks and beers. The system is simple you go to the main counter make your order, and then walk out to the patio give your ticket and your order is made on the spot. On a sunny day, there can be a decent line and as only one person mans the station it can take sometime.  Remarkably they are quick, and the fresh taste and seeing your own burger made right in front of you gives a nice touch to the experience,

The burger is a fresh patty of locally produced beef from the region, and grilled on a gas grill. The bun is lightly grilled and the condiments are fresh onions, lettuce, tomato and pickle with the option of mayo, mustard, and ketch up. You tell what you want  on the burger and how much, this is then put in a paper food pocket and you are ready to go. The grilled taste is wonderful, and being so freshly made the simplicity of the process gives this a positive atmosphere. I like the grilled bun touch which gives a light crispy taste to the burger and with the combination of the onions, lettuce, tomato and pickle these compliment nicely the whole fresh flavor and taste.  The patty is grilled and not overdone but enough juice to give it a real flavor of being fresh. The simplicity, informalness, and being right there as it gets made for you, adds to the atmosphere. The staff are always patient, efficient and helpful considering how busy it gets. The added bonus is the setting right on the Greifensee, and on a sunny day a good place to take a break from the endless cycling options around the lake and the villages in the region. Restlessburger gives 8610 am see a 9! Simple, to the point, no frills, and what it should be tasty, juicy, and complimented with the counter taste of fresh condiments. A place which I return to on a regular basis.

Gaul Burger Harbrucken Zurich

http://www.zumgaul.ch/  Geroldstrasse 35, 8005 Zürich is tucked under a highway overpass and one of Zurich's main train stations Hardbrücke. With an outside patio, bar and  green awning for when it rains,  The location is right in the criss cross of the bussel of cars, pedestrians, cyclists and train traffic. The setting is quite relaxing and an added bonus is the very friendly staff . There is a good selection of beers. It is self serve at the bar and the menu is small with a focus on local and regional product and an emphasis on bio meats. 

 Their burger served on a sesame bun, with a generous bio swiss ground beef patty. This complemented by a bed of shredded red cabbage, lettuce, spinach leaves, and onion and tomato with a paprika mayo/mustard. Served with a side of shredded red cabbage, carrots, red radish and excellent fries with paprika salt instead of salt. The burger was freshly cooked on order, and the 20 minute wait was well worth it. Sitting in the urban environment, the burger tasted very fresh, and the shredded red cabbage gave a nice crunch taste to the condiments. The sauce was a little to sweet for my own taste, but did not spoil the experience or drown itself over everything else. The portion was decent. The bun did a good job of keeping everything in as the condiments where served fresh so the bun did not get soggy. Throughout the meal everything complimented the other, be it the crispy vegetables or juicy fresh cut tomato. The fries were excellent.

Definitely a great spot for vibe, food, and price. The service and sitting outside in a sheltered little haven, surrounded by urban sounds, brought a lot of atmosphere to the meal and it was fun just hanging there for a couple hours.  The pricing is quite reasonable. Restless burger gives the Zum Gaul bio burger an 8.5. A unique place, unexpected find, and a must go back to. Well worth the visit on a sunny afternoon when you have a couple hours to chill.

The Korner Burger Zurich

The Korner http://www.gourmetburger.ch/ is one of Zurich well regarded Burger Bars and has an outstanding set of beers to pick from. The burger menu is rich in variety and they also have a few option with their fries.
The Burger choices are varied with options of Lamb, Chicken and then a wide variety of extras and combinations. There is of course a vegetarian option.

The burger is served with a nice size sesame bun and I opted for the more traditional burger with the condiments of salad, tomato, pickle and Cheddar cheese. The burger patty was a very generous size and cooked fresh with a nice smokey flavor to it. The one thing that did not rate well for me, was the consistency of the Burger patty, which was beef but with a mix of some pork meat which diluted the beefiness of the taste and gave it more a sausage taste then that pure beef flavor. To me it honestly did not feel like a burger but more that mixed meat patty taste which is nice, but not a burger taste in my opinion. This was disappointing. It is a shame as the atmosphere, decor and service are wonderful. The selection of beers is impressive and the choices of special sauces available was nice, and the straw fries we had were excellent. This issue with the patty is something that I am discovering here in Switzerland that it seems to be the style of the meat patty a more mix cut of ground beef than one single selection.... will have to now try some new locations and see if this is the case or just a one off.
Restless Hamburger gives the Korner a 6 for their Burger.

Zola Bistro Ann Arbor Michigan

Zola  http://www.bistrozola.com/ Bistro just on the edge of Ann Arbor Michigan is a very popular brunch destination and serves a wonderful array of sandwiches, salads, and burgers. They in addition have a great selection of beer and wine, and the fresh juices of your choice.


The Burger menu has a nice range of different options, and includes a couple vegetarian choices too. You can get a Turkey and Chicken burger too.

I went with the classic, cheese, onions, bacon fresh lettuce, tomato and pickle. The burger was made of Kobe beef with a nice sesame bun.

The burger was cooked medium rare and fresh and juicy but not to the point is made the bun soggy. The bacon was crisp on the edges. The bun both sides where toasted lightly, and came with two options of sauces, a BBQ house sauce and Mayo/Mustard  combination. The fries where thin, and freshly cut and cooked with the skins on.

Everything about the burger was of high quality, the freshness of the meat, the condiments, and all set up just before being brought to the table. The meat was juicy and extremely flavor full. What I like too, it was a manageable size and you could easily eat it without everything falling out from the sides. The combination and freshness of the condiments did not even require any additional ketchup and sauces, they held their own.

A wonderful experience, great service, and everything with a fresh philosophy that made the difference.

Restless Hamburger gives this a 8.5. Worth the trip and wait, we had to wait 30 minutes due to some confusion with our reservation. A pleasure and how burgers should be made.