The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Burgers

  • Restaurant review: The Burger Joint

    Restaurant review: The Burger Joint

    One of Arcata’s latest restaurants launched their soft opening on Feb. 1: The Burger Joint.

    Owners Halleh Paymard and Will Hauser have a good thing going. The marquee above the front entrance grabs your attention. Once you’re hooked, you can’t help but scope the scene.

    The front entrance of The Burger Joint in Arcata on Feb 2. Photo by Matthew Hable.

    The decor has a warm industrial chic look. Once you step inside, the ordering counter, lined with about a dozen draft beers, pulls you in. Communal tables and a bustling open kitchen are apparent, too. The spacious patio is perfect for a burger and a beer on a sunny afternoon. As a bonus, two classic arcade games, Street Fighter III and BurgerTime, are located in the back of the restaurant.

    Michelle Pipitone, mother-in-law of co-owner Hauser, is putting together handmade wreaths on the patio. Pipitone says the wreaths are just some of the adornments they plan on adding to the overall aesthetic of the restaurant.

    Burger Joint employee Loren Palmisano suggests one their signature burgers.

    “I recommend The Classic,” Palmisano said.

    The Classic consists of a little over five ounces of grass-fed beef, Loleta cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and house sauce in between Beck’s Bakery buns. The order arrives with a side of coleslaw, as requested, in less than 10 minutes.

    The burger was love at first bite. The juicy, medium-well patty is savory, accentuated by the buttery brioche-like buns. In addition, the vegetables were remarkably fresh. The freshness of the slaw was no exception, but it tasted more like a lightly dressed cabbage salad than your average slaw.

    HSU alumni and lifelong vegetarian Ariana Hendren is impressed with the house-made veggie burger and her side of sweet potato fries.

    “Compared to other veggie burgers I’ve eaten,” Hendren said, referring to the texture of the veggie patty, “it doesn’t feel like it’s about to fall apart.”

    Paymard, who also owns T’s Cafe North in Arcata, looks forward to the grand opening, which will be announced to the public soon.

    Burger Joint is located at 835 J Street in Arcata, right next to Dead Reckoning Tavern and behind North Coast Co-op. For more information, visit facebook.com/theburgerjointarcata.

     

  • Humboldt State Students Missing In-N-Out

    Humboldt State Students Missing In-N-Out

    By | Curran Daly

    Julia Hunt left for the In-N-Out in Redding, California a little after 8 p.m. one night in September, arriving at the In-N-Out a little before midnight.

    “My roommates and I were sitting on our couch all looking at Facebook and we came across a video of In-N-Out,” Hunt said.

    The video sparked an idea. Hunt and her friends decided to drive to In-N-Out. They got in a car and drove for three hours to Redding in the dark.

    “It was a bonding trip, we got to know each other better throughout the car ride,”Hunt said. “We would talk about our families and everything.”

    Hunt and her friends made a pilgrimage to In-N-Out. Hunt’s trip to In-N-Out was about more than food, her and her friends got to share stories and memories from their childhood going to In-N-Out.

    Yvette Valdez-Beas, a kinesiology sophomore, was also on the trip with Hunt.  

    “They were just like ‘be ready in five minutes’,” Valdez-Beas said.

    They all got in a car and began their long and turn-filled road trip along state Route 299 toward Redding.

    “We went to Redding and we took the 299 and I’d never been that way,” Valdez-Beas said. “ The drive was kinda scary because it was at night and I didn’t know how windy it was.”

    Many people make the claim that In-N-Out is the best burger place. Valdez-Beas craves an In-N-Out burger whenever she has a burger from any other restaurant. No other burger can replicate the flavor and simplicity of an In-N-Out burger.

    The round trip roadtrip totalled 240 miles and six hours of driving on dark and winding roads. In-N-Out served as the focal point of a bonding experience that these friends hope to do again in the future. Hunt, Valdez-Beas, and friends are not the only people who miss In-N-Out while behind the Redwood Curtain.

    Alex Hain is a freshman psychology major who found the transition away from In-N-Out difficult.

    “In-N-Out used to be the only thing I ate back home and I abandoned it,” Hain said.

    Hain has been trying to organize a trip with friends to the new In-N-Out in Ukiah. The only thing stopping him from heading to the In-N-Out is finding someone able to drive him on a Sunday.

    The new In-N-Out in Ukiah is about 25 miles farther than the one in Redding, but the drive takes about the same amount of time. The road to Ukiah is much less intimidating especially if it is dark.

    Freshman marine biology major, Carlino San Miguel, misses the In-N-Out by his home in the Los Angeles area. He believes that its simplicity is what makes it so popular.

    “They’re different than other burger place, it’s only hamburgers, you can’t get chicken strips or chicken sandwiches, it’s just straight hamburgers so you go there and you know what you’re gonna get,” San Miguel said.

    While a six hour drive for a hamburger may seem impractical, these journeys done and planned focus more on feeling at home. San Miguel, Hain, Valdez-Beas, and Hunt all admitted to In-N-Out being one of their first stops while heading home.

    Sometimes living in Humboldt can feel distant and isolated from what people are used to. In-N-Out offers that feeling of coming home.