San Diego’s Best Burger: Bushfire Kitchen Review
Bushfire Kitchen is an eclectic restaurant with a diverse menu. There are many excellent items that can please most everyone. One standout is their hamburgers. This is our Bushfire Kitchen review with a focus on one of San Diego’s best burgers.
There are three Bushfire Kitchen locations, Carlsbad, Temecula and the one we frequent in Del Mar. Bushfire is an upscale casual place where you order at the counter and they bring the food to you.
A specialty is their bowls and braises. These are meat options served in a bowl over rice or mashed potatoes and topped with the vegetable of your choice. The meats include salmon, short ribs, brisket, chicken, carnitas, lamb, tri-tip and even a chicken curry.
They also serve sandwiches made with the meats they put in the bowls. There is also whole chicken and ribs available as an entrée. We have tried out a wide range of the items at Bushfire Kitchen. They have all been excellent. However, the hamburgers really standout as some of the best in the area.
There are several burgers on the menu that range in price from $10 to $12. We have tried the Bushfire Special and the Brisket Burger. The $10 Bushfire Special is your basic burger with cheese and pickles. The $12 brisket burger comes topped with Bushfire’s excellent brisket.
There is also the En Fuego burger which comes with their spicy millionaire bacon, pepper jack cheese, avocado and jalapeno aioli. I plan to try this burger on my next visit, but the problem I have is I like the Brisket Burger so much I am reluctant to switch up.
One thing we have noticed about Bushfire Kitchen is that the hamburgers come out medium when you order it medium. With most burger places, I have given up on expecting a medium burger to actually be cooked to medium. This included Gorden Ramsey’s famed Burger place in Las Vegas where my medium burger came out well done (this was the only time I actually sent it back).
The burgers at Bushfire Kitchen are on the expensive end. Adding a side of fries is an additional $3. However, the burgers are large half-pound patties. My daughter can only eat half a burger and she takes the other half home for her next meal.
Overall, I would say the quality compares with the famous Drugstore Burger up the street at the Grill at Torrey Pines. I actually have not been back to the Grill since discovering the less expensive burger at Bushfire Kitchen.
Bushfire Kitchen has become one of our family’s favorite restaurants because there is something for everyone. My son loves the chicken bowl and the wide range of Stubborn sodas om tap. The wife is a big fan of the peri-peri chicken and salmon bowl.
We like to sit in the outdoor patio area which has a beer and wine bar. There is even a separate area for dogs. There are also good happy hour specials. One time I tried the tacos which were surprisingly good (brisket and carnitas).
The fact that I requested to go to Bushfire Kitchen for my birthday speaks volumes about my opinion. Of course, I ordered the Brisket Burger. In Fun Diego Family’s quest to find the best burgers in San Diego, Bushfire Kitchen soars near the top.
UPDATE: Bushfire was featured in our Best Burgers in San Diego list.
Go here for more of Fun Diego Family’s best burgers in San Diego.
I’ve heard that the best burgers in San Diego are at The Friendly (debatable) and Balboa (haven’t tried yet). Thoughts?