Joe's Cable Car Restaurant

Really Dissapointed. I am a huge fan of Triple D, so much so that I have started a Triple D destination wish list of food adventures. Whew...that is a mouthful. After watching the episode featuring Joe's Cable Car I got excited because it was only a short day trip from my home. The burgers looked yummy and the atmosphere fun, so I added it to my list.

So when I was invited for a weekend getaway with some friends to San Francisco, I jumped at the chance to visit the city and told them that we absolutely had to go to Joe’s for a burger.

After a long day traversing the warf and sampling other local food favorites, we hauled our weary bodies off to Joe’s. When we arrived at our destination, we were a little thrown off by all the tow-away signs posted around their parking area; we were not really sure how to take it. So not taking any chances we parked in the only spot that wasn’t marked with a tow-away sign, and made our way into the restaurant.

The atmosphere was everything they showed on Triple D, and the waitress greeted us with a smile and seated us; eight total mind you, three adults and five kids. So we get our group settled and open the menus and all three of the adult’s have the collective bugging of the eyes. The cheapest burger was $9.95, for THE burger, the fries were extra. So we thought what the heck, we’ll all share burgers since we were not that hungry anyway and at the very least we could say we tried it. Well you can share a burger alright, for a $6 split plate fee, and if we wanted to split the check it was going to be an additional minimum of $15 per person, or at least that is how we took the waitress’s explanation. She also told us that they discouraged sharing because Joe wanted everyone to have their own burger. Hmm... We knew the kids were not going to eat their own burgers, even if they were rather small, and at that point we were too far in to just pick up and leave, and rather embarrassed to boot. So my friends didn’t order anything and we argued with the waitress over the split plate fee for the kids and won. As for myself I ordered my own burger since I made such a fuss of coming here and had one of my daughters order her own as well. We also ordered a large plate of fries for the kids to share and they each ordered milkshakes at six bucks a pop…ouch.

When the food arrived I was hugely disappointed. The burger was good, but certainly not the best I have ever tasted, (Hodad’s holds that honor) and certainly not worth the $111 bill I had to pay when all was said and done (They charge an automatic %15 gratuity on parties of 5 or more btw). I can at least say I tried it and marked it off my list, but had I known before hand of the price gouging, I most definitely would not have drug souch a large group here, and we could have treated ourselves to a nice dinner on the warf instead.…

The Worst Food (Burgers & Fries Included). Our expectations for a good hamburger and fries dinner were dashed at Joe's. Despite the fuss about the home-ground beef, etc., the beef did not taste any better than most burger joints. However, the French fries and the fish (in Fish & Chips) were definitely straight from the freezer and both unpalatable.

At $17.50 a pop for each, which included two shakes, for food which was hugely disappointing, only added insult to injury.

Do yourself a favor - stay away from Joe's.…

Best Hamburger Ever. Truly lived up to Guy's Recommendation. Joe is outgoing and enjoys his patrons. The chefs put on a show with the meat trimming and grinding. No hamburger can match these, truly the best I have ever had.…