Anthony Myint speaks his mind on $15 burgers at Mission Bowl

This comment just popped up on the lengthy thread of gripes about the $15 burger situation at Mission Bowling Club:

Regarding the $15 burger, well, you know, that’s just like, uh, you’re opinion man…

It’s kind of a glass half-full/half-empty thing right? Of course it makes me sad to be the perpetrator of a $15 burger.

But keep in mind, at Duc Loi it was $8, then $9 towards the end. It was available from 12-3pm standing or sitting on a milk crate in a super market. That’s about as low overhead as you can get and it turned out that it was not a viable business model–I think for one two week stretch, I put in 50 hours and made $100.

Mission Bowling Club is an attempt at a viable business model for the owners and investors. If my food program isn’t profitable enough for them, someone else will be taking over the reins. And on the bright side, the Mission Burger IS available for $10 from 3-6pm in a restaurant with a full bar. So thrifty foodies can take heart.

Besides, the whole menu is cheap for fine dining and expensive for junk food, so if you’re one to judge based on labels, it’s a free country. You can rent movies, or go the movie theater. Some of these new fangled beers are kind of pricey too.

Of course our initial inclination is to side with Anthony, since he’s helping bring a unique entertainment option to the neighborhood and you’re, well, writing mean stuff on the internet. But the concern is understandable – I don’t see myself on an average afternoon spending $75 on a burger, a few beers and an hour of bowling.

Let me point one thing out: I grew up watching bowling alleys close. Whatever Amoeba was was gone for as long as I can remember, and the demise of Japantown Bowl just about ruined my dreams of a career in professional between-the-legs bowling. All we had left was Presidio and Serra bowl, so most of the city was without viable options. And the food at Presidio is inedible, so it really doesn’t matter how cheap it is. I can’t speak to Serra Bowl because I’ve never had a car, but that’s gone anyway so whatever.

So maybe we’re just not willing to pay for however much it is a bowling alley costs. But some people are giving it a shot, so should we just see how it goes?

But Anthony, we gotta know: does it come with fries?

190 Responses to “Anthony Myint speaks his mind on $15 burgers at Mission Bowl”

  1. kusfwtf says:

    You don’t need a car to get to Serra, on the contrary BART will drop you off right across the street. They’re open till April 15th if you still want to experience an unpretentious bowling alley.

    • who_the says:

      Love you guys but the no car for Serra Bowl line was pure douche. Shit the Mission is the new Marina.

    • come on. says:

      seriously how long have you lived in san francisco? “need a car to get to serra bowl.” did a bus drop you off from what ever midwest town you’re from directly into the mission? and you write about the city like you even remotely know what you’re talking about.

      • Nick Pal says:

        I was born at Children’s Hospital. I just don’t necessarily like to wave my dick around about it because I welcome people like you who are from Concord and racked up 3 years in SF before turning around and shitting on “newcomers.”

        • come on. says:

          concord? sorry bro i’ve never been there you need a car to get there duhhhhhh
          and dude i’ve “racked up” hella more years than 3! its good you don’t wave your dick around. no one wants that.

        • kusfwtf says:

          Don’t look now, but yer dicks out.

        • KyleM says:

          Yup, that’s the way to admit to a mistake.

          • Wow says:

            Did it ever occur to you guys that people who grew up in the city don’t leave the city for anything? I grew up in the East Bay and went to HS in the city and SFers wouldn’t come visit the EB for anything. Their attitude was always: “Why would I leave the city? We’ve got everything.” Daly City may as well be Los Angeles. They all had Muni passes and ignored BART. BART’s for commuters.

          • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

            I didn’t grow up in the city, and I still only take BART to the suburbs to go to shows at the Fox in Oakland or the Greek in Berkeley.

  2. el jeffe says:

    Sure, bowling here is going to be more expensive than your typical bowling alley, but why is it even more expensive than the Gutter in Williamsburg?

    http://thegutterbrooklyn.com/

    Of course, they don’t have Mission Burgers there…

  3. Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

    The idea that charging $15 for a basic hamburger is what is required to maintain profitability is belied by the fact that places all over the city manage to charge <$15 and still stay in business just fine.

    Hell, even Joe's Cable Car, which is commonly regarded as delicious-but-way-too-fucking-expensive charges "only" $12 for their burger.

    Most decent burgers in the City seem to be in the $8-$12 range (in my own experience, anyway. I don't pretend to have access to a scientific survey of San Francisco Hamburger Prices. I'm just A Guy Who Likes Hamburgers.)

  4. rod says:

    you’ve never tried leaving town by riding on the BART? serra bowl is just a hop away and they have awesome, cheap, greasy Filipino food.

  5. chalkman says:

    Serra Bowl has lumpia and cocktails, nothing more needs to be said

  6. no.thanks. says:

    “And on the bright side, the Mission Burger IS available for $10 from 3-6pm in a restaurant with a full bar. So thrifty foodies can take heart.”

    chut-da-fug-up!

    its not a case of being cheap. its a case of feeling like an asshole for paying 15 gotdamn dollars for a fucking hamburger.

    ill just keep going to Super Duper

  7. D. Jon Moutarde says:

    You don’t need food to bowl. You DO need drink to bowl Do the math.

  8. oinc says:

    I had the burger, and I would pay $20 for it. It’s that good.

    • chori says:

      I would pay $25. It’s not just a burger. It’s one of the best burgers in the world!

      • Robbi says:

        no you wouldn’t.

      • Tiny Tim says:

        Do I hear $30? Do I hear $35? $40? Sold to that sucker in the back row for $45. And we’ll throw in a hand-cured, organic pickle slice for good measure. (Fries are $18 extra).

        Next up for bid is a pork belly slab, coddled by a fried doughnut, topped with a farm-fresh egg and melted gorgonzola. Let’s start the bidding at $160.
        Ladies and gentlemen: this is hand-massaged pork belly…

  9. trixrforkids says:

    the thing about the $10 burger between 3-6 pm is particularly galling to me as a person who works from 8-5 every day and would just barely be able to get to the cheaper burger in time (if i had any desire to eat it which i don’t.) i know rents are sky rocketing in this neighborhood but if people are willing to pay $15 for a burger, other people will charge $15 for a burger. i often wonder who besides me works in this neighborhood. probably not the $15 a burger people.

    i like big mouth burger. for probably half the cost of the mission burger you get some quality burger and it comes with fries or coleslaw.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Hear, hear.

    • rod says:

      your reasoning that people who can afford expensive things don’t work is not very sound.

    • Snake Plissken says:

      are rents really getting that bad? i told a friend yesterday i charge my neighbors $1900 for a one bedroom and she nearly choked and asked if i could kick them out so she could move in.

      • AttF says:

        In 2002, I rented a 3.5 bedroom Edwardian flat in Upper Haight/Cole Valley for $2100/mth. Over the following 2 years, I negotiated that rent down to $1850/mth due to abundant cheaper rents in the neighborhood. So yes, the fact that people are fighting over a $1900 1 bedroom is indicative of how high rents have climbed in a short time period.

      • Jam says:

        Amongst the highest if not THE highest of any city in the country. Prices have gone through the roof in the last couple of years.

      • POTRERO_BOI says:

        It’ll come back down to earth once Zynga and its ilk fuck off to the great beyond like their forebearers did 10 yrs prior.

        • AttF says:

          Yes…and I am patiently waiting. A few of my tech friends are enjoying the current ride, but having been around for the first bubble means that they expect that the novelty of mobile tech will settle a bit and a lot of the loot they and others are making now will taper off.

      • POTRERO_BOI says:

        Your friend was overreacting, or you like in a hot trendoid neighborhood. That’s all.

        Tell her to calm down when eating, too.

      • Tiny Tim says:

        Chomp on enough of these $15 burgers and you won’t have enough to pay half your rent.

  10. Mazzy says:

    Serra bowl is closing soon too. You’ll have to go to Seabowl in Pacifica

  11. sf native says:

    If u want a burger , go to a burger joint!!! If u want to bowl then go here! Ur paying for the whole thing not Just a fucking burger. Quit whining ! Nobody is making u buy a burger…. The cost od doing business ( for small independent businesses) is astronomical and if u want shit to do in this town then ur gonna have to pay for it.. If u don’t then move back to Wisconsin

    • kusfwtf says:

      You one angry bro.

      • sf native says:

        im so not angry! just sick of hearing ppl complain about stuff! if you dont like something you dont have to be involved in it! i have a business in the mission and i pay SO much in taxes insurance rent and supplies and then to top it off have to hear ppl complain about how expensive it is and they can go to AB or C and get it cheaper…. so! go get it at costco and stay home and quit complaining. BUT, if you want to be served,get the product, be in a social environment, and be entertained, you have to pay for it! if i want the convenience of going bowling in the city I WILL PAY FOR IT and if i get hungry while im there, I WILL PAY FOR IT! google and twitter get lots of breaks to bring big business to sf but the small mom and pop places get screwed and then have to hear complaints all the time. this is all im saying. if ppl would consider what the business overhead was, and the quality of the product they are selling, maybe there wouldnt be so much bitching. i can dream-

        • Jam says:

          That still does not rationalize paying $15 for a burger. Everyone has choices but it’s ok to voice your disagreement with unreasonable costs. Like a $300 cotton flannel at Self Edge for example. Total bullshit.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Sorry, what’s that? I stopped reading the first time you misspelled “you”.

      • U says:

        if you’re going to be the spelling/grammar police, and you feel the need to bring attention to it AND get off topic, then, in addition to being a DB, you are also petty.

        • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

          If being unwilling to take seriously someone who ignores the most basic spelling and grammar makes me a petty douchebag… well, then, I think I’m OK with that.

          • Gale's Crapa Pelada says:

            +1

          • bummer says:

            “If being unwilling to take seriously(comma), someone who ignores the most basic spelling and grammar(comma), makes…”

          • truth says:

            Dude, the yuppies are fighting back!

          • 94103er says:

            Bummer, you are not correct.

            Signed, a copy editor

          • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

            To be clear, I don’t think less of people for making mistakes. That happens to absolutely everyone. However, I DO think less of people for actively ignoring basic spelling and/or grammar.

            If someone wants to represent themselves like a 9-yr old sending text messages, that is absolutely their prerogative. However, then they shouldn’t be surprised and/or affronted if grown-ups choose to dismiss them as background noise.

  12. scum says:

    I was born in Wisconsin and have lived in The City since 1972. Over the past 40 years I have found plenty to do without having to pay $15 for a burger.

  13. No fish today says:

    There’s also Brentwood bowl in SSF right across from Bart

  14. burger friend says:

    You should read up on the process of making the burger. It’s a pain in the ass and isn’t your standard: grind, shape patty and grill burger. If $15 is too much, don’t buy it. I’ll gladly eat it when I’m jonesing for a kick assburger and glad to pay extra and buy one less drink a week to afford it.

    Heston Blumenthal granulation method: http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/05/the-blumenburger-the-most-laborintensive-hamburger-in-the-world.html

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      He’s doing it wrong.

    • kusfwtf says:

      “Worth the 28 hours they take to make from start to finish? No chance. With that much time, I can drive down from Boston and hit Louis’ Lunch, Shake Shack, White Manna, and Burger Joint, with time for a late night Wendy’s drive-through (and it wouldn’t cost me much more than these burgers cost). ”
      After that way-too-long article he arrives at the conclusion that it’s not even worth it? Thanks for pointing that out.

  15. Skewed says:

    I am amazed that no one has mentioned that $1 of the price of the burger is being donated to youth serving non-profits in the Mission. A locally owned and operated business with a great chef, offering incredible food, full liquor bar, an activity and ambiance that is giving back to the community run out of completely over-hauled long blighted building. What a sense of neighborhood you all have!

    • Stu says:

      Sense of neighborhood!!!! You’re kidding right? How many Mexican families will enjoy this place? Black families? In fact any families not from Noe Valley or elsewhere outside the Mission. What fucking sense of neighborhood? Look around, Skewed. Tight pants white people are not the only ones in your fantasy “neighborhood”.

      • Skewed says:

        Are you implying that the pricing structure is based along racial and ethnic lines vs. labor, overhead, quality of food, taxes, fees imposed by the city, etc? It’s pretty easy to gloss over the fact that MBC is dining and entertainment. I have always considered going out to eat or an event a luxury no matter how expensive or cheap. I’d rather have one amazing night out a week at a premium with some of that money going right back into neighborhood non-profits than bitch. I find it laughable that a group of people turn a rotting building into something and all people can do is complain.

        • Stu says:

          Yeah, well when a thousand other $15 Hamburger joints and elite bowling alleys pop up around the Mission, where will the rest of the community go? At that point you can have your “neighborhood”. And I guess we’ll see who survives the labor, overhead, quality of food, taxes and fees imposed by the city then.
          And maybe, just maybe, if a group of people turned a building into a homeless shelter, youth center or anything the like instead of an upper class bowling alley that was started at least partially through donations, less people would complain. There is my “sense of neighborhood”.

  16. mazzy says:

    If its good quality meat it is so worth it. Just look at the labor that goes into it. You’ll pay $10. or more for a contain that takes a lot less product and labor. You know what overhead is? There are other options to eat cheaper as well as you own home. But you are paying for more than juts the burger. Stop whining.

    • mazzy says:

      I meant cocktail not contain !!?

    • sf native says:

      no matter how elementary you break it down, ppl will still whine and look for the kmart options- actually, ppl like to complain period; with or without good cause. i think the bowling alley is going to be great and im excited about the new addition to the neighborhood and particularly Mission St. good quality products are always what i look for. just bc its cheap doesnt make it good. rant over

      • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

        That’s true, just because something is cheap does not automatically make it good.

        HOWEVER, when something is ridiculously overpriced, it DOES automatically make it bad.

      • AttF says:

        KMart options? Most, if not all, of the alternatives mentioned are locally owned mom and pops.

    • Mattacme says:

      You’re so right. I’m of the impression that this new establishment has been through a very costly process of permitting, build-out, finishes and the multitude of fees associated with all of that, plus insurance (which a business in a leased space must have) and a $15 burger (that $1 is a donation) sounds about right. If it is a great goddamn burger after all that then the establishment in question is doing the buyer a solid.

      Look, I’m old and a pretty notorious cheapskate, but everything costs so much more to make/build/do now than it did even five years ago that we are all seing things that make us choke on the $ (try buying gasoline lately?). I plan to go bowling and have a burger sometime in the not too distant future but it will be a special occasion. I can no longer afford much of what I used to take for granted and suspect that many of you are in the same boat. No point bitching out the folks who are trying to make a go of it. And as for businesses in a certain neighborhood not necessarily serving the neighborhood specifically please just stop. Does anyone think that Monroe Motors is a douchebag business? I don’t see them doing anything more than try to stay a healthy business. But a bowling alley opens up and all of a sudden this is the death knell of all things Mission? I don’t think so.

      Looking forward to that burger.

  17. sd native says:

    Ur paying for the whole thing not Just a fucking burger. Quit whining ! Nobody is making u buy a burger

  18. sd native says:

    If u want a burger , go to a burger joint!!!
    If u want to bowl then go here!
    Ur paying for the whole thing
    not Just a fucking burger.
    Quit whining !
    Nobody is making u buy a burger….

    im so not angry!
    just sick of hearing ppl complain about stuff!
    go get it at costco and stay home and quit complaining.
    if you want to be served, get the product,
    be in a social environment, and be entertained,
    you have to pay for it!

    if i want the convenience of going bowling in the city
    I WILL PAY FOR IT
    and if i get hungry while im there,
    I WILL PAY FOR IT!

    google and twitter get lots of breaks
    to bring big business to sf
    but the small mom and pop
    places get screwed
    and then have to hear complaints all the time.
    this is all im saying.

    i can dream-
    Ur paying for the whole thing
    not Just a fucking burger.
    Quit whining !
    Nobody is making u buy a burger

  19. Burger Police says:

    Looks like if you want to bowl, eat and drink at the same time you need to be financially stable. Looks like I’ll have to wait a few years until I can enjoy those simple pleasures in the Mission… if Mission Bowling “One Percent” Club is still in business by that time.

  20. no.thanks. says:

    again, Super Duper hamburgers is shitting on everything in this thread.

  21. Anthony says:

    No fries. Sorry. Maybe pickles or greens.

    The place “shitting on everything” is In n’ Out though. Can’t really beat that at that price point (although I’ll pass on the fries). Change the extra cash into quarters for the Musee Mechanique and you’re set for a cheap date.

    • Jam says:

      I felt the same way about the fries then I found out that you can request that they cook the fries a little longer so they’re more crispy.

  22. k-mack says:

    i had the burger and everyone at my table just about lost their shit over it. it truly was the best burger ive ever had. anthony killed it on the food. killed it! sooooo good. the chicken and dips were kick ass too. props. i love this place. so many local people involved in it and rad ass local ladies opened it.
    every element of this place killed it- from the drinks to the food to the bowling:)

  23. stencil says:

    It’s a big city, do what you want, ignore the hype, we don’t all have to hang out together at the same place at once. If MBC ain’t yer bag, there are plenty of equally great burgers for cheaper (or more exclusive and expensive if that’s your thing). As for bowling, you can always hop on BART or drive south (suck it, anti-car peons) and go to bigger bowling alleys with cheaper rates and shorter waits. Yes it would be nice if there were classic lanes in SF proper, but it’s been proved time and again that that business is not viable.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      You’re absolutely right on the burger front, but I would point out that there ARE classic lanes in SF Proper — Presidio Bowl kicks fucking ass.

  24. Wow so many comments for a frickin burger! It’s a free country dont buy it if you can’t afford it! Pack a pb&j and bitch about something else!! :)

  25. two beers says:

    Mission 2012 = Marina 2.0

  26. dave says:

    Change happens.

    The Mission is changing into the Marina.

    If you want hipster versions of slumming it at a bowling with $15 designer burgers, the Mission is your place.

    I wonder how the hell Artists Television Access still manages to stick around, bless ‘em. Maybe they should stick in a ‘Berlin style’ ping pong table and start selling frog legs for $30 a pair.

    • Jam says:

      Hahaha, completely agree, except for the ping pong thing. Those guys seem alright, and I’ve never seen a $15 burger at one of their gigs.

  27. Daryl F. says:

    I wonder how many of the crybabies in this thread will be clogging up the place in a week . . .

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      I dunno, but hopefully lots of them… on the theory that the more feebs that go to overpriced-Burger-place means the less feebs that are filling up all the places that *I* want to go to.

      They get their overpriced ground beef, and I don’t have to deal with quite as many people clogging up the venues that DON’T overcharge. Everybody wins.

  28. KyleM says:

    Places like this ruin the neighborhood. Affordable entertainment and food dressed up in some kind of dot-com tempting, hipster vibe to make it unreasonably expensive. I’m tired of the Mission turning from an artist and immigrant refuge to an expensive shit hole. Everytime I walk down 24th and see another neighborhood grocery or bakery shoved out in favor of another place that sells gross donuts with bacon on them or a wifi cafe I want to cry. There’s no where for someone making under 300k a year to go in the town anymore.

    It’s fucking bowling and burgers in an area filled with drugs, gangs, and theft. Get your head out of your ass and make this the family place it should be. You’re a goddamn blight.

    • two beers says:

      I concur.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Yessir.

    • mission local says:

      neighborhoods evolve and change- thats just the way it is! the mission is NOT the marina and never will be! the mission is the best, most eclectic neighborhood in the city! if you would rather see the mission stay as you described “filled with drugs, gangs, and theft” with empty store fronts and crappy $$dollar stores (is that artisan or immigrant centric?) rather than to see a family style entertainment facility who will be employing locally and stimulating the local economy than i think you need to get “your head out of your ass” keeping things the same is counter intuitive and the ppl you SHOULD BE ANGRY with and speaking to is THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO who make it nearly impossible to operate a small business NOT the small business trying to stay alive- justsayin

      • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

        On the contrary, the strong worker protections and regulation within SF are a big part of what make it one of the best places in the world to live.

      • KyleM says:

        Yeah, fuck those affordable, local businesses called “dollar stores”. What do we need that shit for when we can buy everything we need at Whole Foods?

        What kind of elitist asshole are you? Family style entertainment? They’re not even allowing kids in yet. And good luck feeding your family of four $60 worth of burgers. Just admit your a brain-dead, trend following hipster who doesn’t want any poor brown people in your neighborhood.

    • thefrederale says:

      All those donut shops, new Jewish delis and ‘wifi’ cafes you speak of consist of good people trying to make a dream come true.

      They are all barely making it.
      This city government makes it insanely expensive for a small business. Especially for a food business. Owners often make much less than their employees while working ridiculously long hours.

      Stop shitting on them.
      They are at least trying to do something other than sit around and bitch about it.

      • mission local says:

        thefrederale: THANK YOU SO MUCH! for saying something that isnt whiny and complain-y! you speak truth! amen-

      • KyleM says:

        That shitty deli? I’ve been. Like this bowling alley it’s a shadow of what the real thing is covered in BS terminology like “organic” and “artisan” that nouveau-riche, Zynga douche bags eat up. That’s not a dream, that’s monitizing a trend.

        You know what makes it expensive for small businesses? Assholes bidding up the rent in a trendy neighborhood and then crying that they have to make their burger $15 to recoop their bad business decision.

        • Jam says:

          “Prices are going up, and if you can’t afford it, live somewhere else!” ..this rationale doesn’t make me a cold, entitled yuppie asshole does it? I’m still a good person, right?

    • D. Jon Moutarde says:

      Serves you right for trying to live on a peninsula, crybaby.

    • Stu says:

      You said it all right here my man.

  29. tonny says:

    As for $15 burger, it isn’t even high quality beef??? retarded. This is coming from someone who loves $2 nasty chemical pumped Popeye’s chicken. What a rip off.

    The marina is starting to take over the mission, one designer burger at a time.

  30. EverythingSucks says:

    I honestly cannot comprehend why people are getting so upset about this? Do all the butt hurt people commenting on here just go around critiquing food prices in the Mission? Why isn’t anyone crying about the $17 spaghetti at Locanda or the $14 egg at Commonwealth? If you think something is too expensive there is a simple solution DON’T BUY IT. I wasn’t aware MBC was holding a gun to everyone’s head demanding they eat this $15 burger.

    And before people accuse me of being angry, I’m not. Just sad there are so many whiny, self-entitled, cry babies in the Mission.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Blah blah blah.

    • truth says:

      Whenever anyone uses the phrase “butt hurt” I think “thinly veiled homophobe.”

      • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

        Concur.

      • EverythingSucks says:

        When ever I see the phrase “thinly veiled homophobe”, I think this person doesn’t have a real counter argument.

        Why, because only homosexual men have butts? Why don’t you just critique a commentor’s grammar when you disagree with them (a certain vegetable loves to do that too), and leave the homophobe accusation to something that deserves it.

        • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

          Yes, because I never, ever, tell people I disagree with them. I’m a regular shrinking violet.

          • truth says:

            Yo, Everything Sucks, sorry you got called out for using homophobic language. If you’d bothered to read anything else on this comment thread, you’d see that I’ve addressed your position in previous comments AND you should be called out for using that language.

            We’re critiquing MBC because this blog won’t stop hyping them non-stop and we think it’s fucked up how expensive it is. Why do we think that? Because if you’re not making a ton of money MBC is expensive in a neighborhood that was known for bringing value in businesses. It used to be a neighborhood where no one would dare charge that much for a hamburger or beers or an hour of bowling.

            I think it’s interesting that you characterize people who think rising prices in a traditionally working class neighborhood as a bad thing. It sounds more like you want to conspicuously consume without anyone criticizing it.

          • hipster jesus says:

            That phrase “butt hurt” doesn’t mean what you want it to mean.

    • mission local says:

      thank you!!!! and ps, if the people who want 1997 prices are all butt hurt about the cost of running a business then perhaps they should go back to the midwest or the south or where ever it is they hail from- i usually don’t comment, but this whole thread is REALLY pissing me off. if you dont like it, DONT GO!!! but shut the hell up already! and move to orinda where you can get cheap eats and affordable houseing. and Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable ur helmet wearing idiot.

      • piprip says:

        Have a hard believing someone is a mission local if they think Orinda has affordable housing.

  31. Da truth says:

    They dont discriminate but their prices do.

    Ps. It’s a 6 lane bowling alley. How else do you make money, dipshits.

  32. hipster jesus says:

    Waaaah boo hoo = these comments.

    There’s so much presumed entitlement to a piece of something none of you had any hand in establishing, and apparently couldn’t afford to patronize anyways. ($15 is quite average for a plate of anything around this city, especially if you’re sitting down and getting options of drinks and entertainment, instead of waiting in line for a burrito.)

    Or maybe you’re fetishizing the proletarian Real People Owned small businesses that got kicked out… oh wait they started this in an empty abandoned space, didn’t they.

    I wouldn’t gamble on establishing my business in a storefront in this neighborhood, instead of running it on the internet. I’m happy it lets me avoid dealing with your kind of butt hurt, plus no problem with tossing in an extra $15 for food with a night out.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      *shrug* If you’re cool with being ripped off, that’s absolutely your prerogative.

      I just have a pretty fundamental objection to anyplace overcharging for, well, anything.

      • Daryl F. says:

        your attitude of ‘i wouldn’t pay for that, therefore anyone who does is getting ripped off, and i will talk condescendingly toward them’ makes you look extremely foolish.

        instead you could just think to yourself ‘i wouldn’t pay for that, so i won’t.’ and not make anyone sit through your dozens of comments.

        i know, ‘blah blah blah’, you have 1,000 other comments to work on composing today before your check comes in the mail.

    • scum says:

      “($15 is quite average for a plate of anything around this city, especially if you’re sitting down and getting options of drinks and entertainment, instead of waiting in line for a burrito.)” $15 for just the burger, no fries, slaw or salad. The”options” will bump up the price.

      • scum says:

        Also I went to Sunflower and got two huge bowls of Pho and two Vietnamese iced teas for $21.

        • Daryl F. says:

          you got ripped off. there are places in the city where you can get better Pho waaaaay cheaper. cry about that for a while.

          • scum says:

            Less then three blocks from my house, and two more to the 500 for drinks makes perfect sense to me. And I don’t cry, I weep.

          • Daryl F. says:

            wait a minute, you are willing to be overcharged for something if it is more convenient to you???

            a beer at the ballgame is $8, a burger in a swanky new bowling alley is $15, who gives a fuck.

          • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

            Well, people who don’t think hamburgers should cost $15 give a fuck, I guess. And that’s fine.

            People who are ok with hamburgers costing $15 give zero fucks, I suppose. And that’s also fine.

  33. mazzy says:

    I think $15 for a great burger is actually more cost effective than a 3.50 latte.

    • hipster jesus says:

      And how about paying $6 or something for some bullshit “hand crafted root beer” at the Summit when that place existed?

      That was an astute observation that leads to the vegetarian/organic/michael pollan line about the true cost of a pound of beef being like $25.

      This sense of the big picture of a hamburger’s supposed fair price is distorted by pucks of processed beefslime at the local burger king costing $2, due to agribusiness subsidies for meat production.

      I have no idea if this $15 burger is some grassfed foodie approved shit but still. Arguing about deserving cheaper burgers? Then go to Costco. You can get all of that you want any other place, this country throws out half of the food it produces.

      We should be arguing for LESS cheap meat and eating less meat altogether. If I’m going to have any at all I’m going to pay for quality once in a while.

      Can you handle that moral trump card, you whiny bitches?

  34. Tshilumba says:

    Thank you all for the entertaining comments! Have you all ever eaten at Commonwealth SF? If so, then you know this burger will be well worth it.

  35. no.thanks says:

    It’s a great burger, the prep is very labor intensive which is why it doesn’t come cheap. When it was being served for $8/9 at Duc Loi it was worth it. I’m sure many people will find it worthwhile for $15 at a bowling alley.

    Don’t know why it’s worth anyone’s time to complain about it. Like it or not, there are lots of people in this city with good jobs who make decent money and will pay for it. While you spend your hours squabbling over a few dollars they will be enjoying life and eating one of the best burgers in town.

    • truth says:

      Yes, and those people all work for Google and FB and are responsible for this bullshit.

      • Jack Walker says:

        Guess what I worked at both FB and Google last year. They feed you and they ply you with drinks. I both quit eating out and quit drinking out while I was there. I was slaked and satiated. I didn’t spend a dime. I did work doubles for 10 months straight. But all in all I was happy, working, eating, and drinking, and I lost weight! My god the food turned out to be healthy. Don’t blame this shit on FB or Google. It’s been a long process. In 1990 San Francisco and the Mission in particular were rough and tumble. True to its 49er roots. There were blue collar workers, whores, drug addicts, doc martin wearing pierced punks, immigrants, wholly locals, and me. Oh and the pigeon man of 16th st. By 1998, many old buildings were torn down and flap-doodle condos erected instead along Harrison. (Thanks Willie! you rocked!) 2000 and 2008 killed any remaining hope for the past. We’re Throttle, accelerating into the next century and beyond. I don’t care so much about gentrification, I’m hoping to drop out to Costa Rica or the Keys — maybe Cuba if the US can get it head out of its ass, but I do wonder how the idiot Nortenos and Surenos will last. I find it very humorous that the Norteno’s main corner serves $14 pastrami. It’s like on the Sopranos when the made guys went into the new Starbucks demanding protection money and the manager sort of told then to fuck off, he had no discretionary money. The old ways are gone, long live the new ways. $15 burgers for all, if not let them eat fucking cake.

        • truth says:

          So, I shouldn’t blame rising housing and goods prices on the third dot com boom because you’re getting rich and going to the Caribbean?

          • Jack Walker says:

            dude. I ain’t rich. I’m a wage slave. Most of the folks riding the FB bus from 25th and Valencia to Menlo Park are. Most of the folks working at FB are contractors like I was. The few FB employees about to turn rich will not settle in the Mission. Most are building homes in Palo Alto. If there are any who want to live in SF they’ll live next door to Metallica in Pacific Heights. I also think prices have other drivers, I really don’t think FB has much of an influence on prices as compared to long term development plans, rent and tax policy. But what the fuck do I know. I only got B in in econ.

          • Jacob says:

            No, bro. You should blame rising housing and goods prices on supply and demand. There are tons of places in the US that you can live cheap and get a burger for way less than $15…the problem is, nobody wants to live there. You could start a trend, though. Think about it–I’ll bet that if enough of you guys that are crying about the prices here moved, demand would go down as well as the prices. You could be doing the rest of us a favor!

            OR, you could live in one of the greatest cities in the world and pay the fucking premium to live and play here.

            Side note: I went to Lucky Strike Lanes in SOMA last night and everything was about twice as much there as what the MBC menu is showing.

      • Ben says:

        I’m not convinced that “if none of us had good paying jobs then everything would be really cheap and we’d have a utopia inside a city that has ridiculous demand for housing because people from all over the world want to live here” is such an ironclad strategy.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      *shrug* And the rest of us will be paying less for equally delicious burgers elsewhere. Again, everybody wins.

  36. Tuffy says:

    Where’s Ron Swanson when we need him?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw9QzjtyI8A

  37. be says:

    the real question is, why is everyone pissed at a $15 burger but $18 pizza (delifna f+ w, and beretta) don’t cause riots…..

    • EverythingSucks says:

      THANK YOU! If you think the $15 burger at MBC is the first overpriced food offering in the mission, you need to get your head out of the sand. Honestly, there could be an entire blog dedicated to overpriced food in this neighborhood. That is why everybody freaking out over this burger price blows my mind.

      Anthony, I will 100% be over there soon to try your TEN DOLLAR vegan burger as I hear it’s epic. Just another reason why begin vegan is awesome, you save money!

  38. Person who lived here before you says:

    Peeing out of bus windows is neither funny nor cool!

  39. Fact Checker says:

    I nearly posted some charts about rising hamburger costs and consumer price indices, but really this is about Danny Bowein moving to New York.
    Also, HDPDV is right, as ever.

  40. no cal says:

    The Facebook millionaires club special.

  41. mike says:

    those silicon valley doucehmobiles will pull up right in front of this place to unload

  42. Cbo says:

    Try the burger before indescriminately blasting the price. Ya, it’s not cheap, but think of all the specialty sushi rolls you’ve ordered for $10-15, the pasta plates with such and such for $10-17, or delicious yet paper thin margharita pizzas $13-20. You likely didn’t bat an eye at the sticker price of those items or ones similar, but shit all over the idea a good ol fashioned burger could be prepared in such a way to warrant an extra $3-5? Try it…

  43. scum says:

    Got the corndog and the chicken last night. Corndog over cooked, chicken under cooked and over greasy. Will give it another shot though because it’s new.

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