Best Burger We Ate Last Night: JJ's Burgers Pop-Up at Mojo Bicycle Cafe

JJ's Burgers pop up every Tuesday's evenings at Mojo

By Meesha Halm

The burger wars are stiff in the Western Addition. Nopa's grass-fed burger racks up the most press, Acme Burgerhaus competes on sheer variety and newcomer The Corner Store is making inroads with its bacon-jam burger. But hands down, one of the grooviest burger scenes in the 'hood goes down every Tuesday night at the Mojo Bicycle Cafe, a rad hybrid coffeehouse and bike shop on Divisadero. It's your typical counter-service hipster hangout on most days, replete with sidewalk tables illuminated with Christmas lights at night making it look like a Left Bank cafe.

But come Tuesday evenings, chef/entrepreneur James LaLonde (whose regular gig entails managing the night shift at Bocadillos) takes over the joint, toting in his own portable stove and All-Clad sauté pans to run JJ's Burgers, a weekly pop-up. The line to get in was out of the door last night as election-weary 20- and 30-somethings commandeered every available table and even spilled over into the bike shop in the back to chomp into their patties while they watched the results trickle in on the TV.

JJ's Burgers are a fine example of that quintessential straight-forward yet on-point indie San Francisco burger - seared-to-perfection freshly ground grain-fed, grass-finished Golden Gate Meat topped with caramelized balsamic onions, melted cheddar, a seasonal-inspired aioli and housemade pickles nestled on a housemade brioche bun (which he enriches with bone marrow) - yours for a cool $10. JJ's Burgers pops up every Tuesday at Mojo's Bicycle Cafe from around 5:30-ish until 10 PM or until the beef runs out.

639 Divisadero St, 415-440-2338, weekly updates about the pop-up can be found online at Mojo or at @JJssf. Follow all of Zagat's burger coverage on social media using the hashtag #Burgerweek.