Jeffrey's Hamburgers
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
163 reviews
Neighborhood: Mission
"This burger place is really good. I had the blue cheese burger and it was great, they didn't over do it on the blue cheese either. The…" read more »
134 Reviews for Jeffrey's Hamburgers
Great, consistently wonderful burgers. We always get the turkey meat ones and turkey has a tendency to be dry. But Jeffrey's are always spot-on and juicy! Fries are great too.
Their avocado burger comes with an entire half an avocado sliced on top.
Great classic burgers! My husband wouldn't stop talking about his bacon cheese burger ALL.DAY! I had a turkey burger and it was really nicely done as well. Onion rings are good as well. The salads looked really nice as well. All in all big thumbs up for the food!
Only complaint was the bathroom. Its in the kitchen area so you smell all the dishes getting washed, see them laying out the freshly ground beef for burgers. They would do well to just add a customer bathroom on the patio or something.
This is just a lunch diner, but the food is absolutely wonderful. The burgers are made from incredibly fresh beef, served on toasted buns without any toppings - you can load up everything from pickles & tomatos to jalapeos & sauerkraut at the condiment bar that is always freshly stocked. Jeffries also serves sizeable milkshakes and malts; it's one of those places that gives you a full glass and the metal tumbler that has a bunch more in it.
You can even eat healthfully at Jeffrey's and experience great food. Their salads, the mixed greens in particular, are superb, as fresh as everything else, and can be had with freshly grilled chicken breast.
The hamburgers are good, but I am not a fan of the fries or onion rings.
If someone else suggests Jeffrey's, I'll go, but it's not my first choice for a burger.
I was so surprised that they offer turkey meat instead of just ground beef. You have no idea how often I eat ground turkey in place of beef (I swear you can't tell the difference.) My burger wasn't THE juiciest, but it was still pretty duuuurn juicy. They have a condiment bar where everything looks really fresh and CLEAN. I love that you get to pick how much or how little of everything goes on your burger. I put about four pieces of lettuce, three tomatos, and tons of red onion. AND THEY HAVE PICKLES!! Not the little slices of pickles, but whole slivers of them! The french fries were pretty big to me, and I thought two orders were more than enough. We probably could have done with just one order. But at least you can get a to-go box.
It can get pretty packed, so keep your eye out for a table because you need to seat yourself after ordering. Next time, if I feel like extra indulgent, I'm going to get a milkshake because those were looking TAAAASTAY!
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The cheeseburgers here are tasty. Good old fashioned charbroiled patties, grilled buns just perfectly toasted and classic American cheddar. You customize your own fixings. What makes the burgers so delectable is what I suspect is a high fat content in the burger meat, well distributed throughout the patty, like a poor man's kobe beef. The burgers are juicy and yes, medium is a touch pink in the middle, but that's the way I like it.
Milkshakes are the rage here and are similar to what you would get at Johnny Rockets or Mel's Diner. The shakes brought wide Christmas morning smiles to many a kid's face, including mine.
Now on the bad side... The fries are twice fried and in my opinion, this preparation style is a waste of potatoes and a waste of energy. They are crispy to the point of being tasteless and texture-less in the center . I stared sadly on my basket of fries, mourning the loss of the break-your-low-carb-diet-worthy potato reduced to a lowly deep fried food substance at a not so empty caloric price. The onion rings - while there are many a rave review from fellow yelpers, I found mine to be average and heavily battered. I got a few of the outer rings of the onion, that chewy onion skin where you bite into it and pull the thing clear out of the crispy tube-like shell. A few rings had that highly raw or ready-to-sprout, hot onion flavor. We had a bite of the patty melt which also was laden with many outer-ring-skin onions that were not caramelized or sweet (the mark of a good patty melt).
Play it safe - order a cheeseburger and shake, then waddle out of here.
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Just had lunch here for the first time today. Located in downtown San Mateo the diner style joint is really cute. There were lots of old school pictures of cars and even a few mini old school cars on display. The service was excellent as we finished eating employees would check with us and remove things from our table that we were done with.
We just order a couple of cheeseburgers (medium) & a couple of drinks... nothing fancy. They brought out our order to our table and they had it set up where we complete the assembly of our burger ourselves (going with the automotive theme of the diner it was cleverly called the "assembly line").
Overall:
Cheeseburgers - good meat, cooked well.. tasty (of course we added whatever else we wanted aside from the meat, cheese and bun)
Service - very good
Posted a few pictures of the things I saw there. Enjoy!
Recommendation?
YES, I would definitely let friends know to check Jeffery's Burgers out ^_^
i've only tried this place out once sometime last week...... it was good.... i think i will go back to make a firm decision....
place was clean, had an old school feel to it, and the workers nice.
the shake was off the hook good thoo...yuuuum
A few people have told me to go here so finally my wife and I went after work. Ambiance is a little lacking, but I guess it's typical of a diner-style eatery. The food is pretty good, but a little pricey so I give it just average value. It's good but I have had better burgers for the same price. It's cool being able to sit in the window that look out onto the intersection and people-watch, though.
Well, when I walked into this spot I was feeling slightly apprehensive due to the overwhelming amount of little league kids and families - not that I hate them, but I knew it'd be loud and noisy.
Luckily I realized there was an outdoor area once I placed my order. The burgers here are really outstanding - cooked perfectly for Medium Rare too! The onion rings were some of the best I've had too - just wish this place was in SF and not all the way down in San Mateo - doh!
i suggest the bacon burger and a thick chocolate milkshake. this place is a really great diner, great for families or dates, especially if you're walking down to the movies after.
I have eaten at Jeffery's many times and it is always good food. Burgers and shakes are there primary items, but they also do soup and good salads too. Place is clean however access to the restrooms is through the kitchen, so you may see some stuff you are not accustomed to seeing in restaurant if you venture there. The air is mostly clean of cooking smells. The only problem with the place is that it is very noisy. So noisy you may as well forget about conversation, mostly from children and adults talking loud.
It was okay. Not the best burger I've had. Wouldn't go back.
What is the big hype on this place? The burgers at Dairy Bell and Fosty freeze is better!! All is ala carte, not even fries come with the burger!
I've been wanting to try this place for the longest time, but never got around to it because I live in San Jose and I only come to San Mateo to visit my folks.
This place has very good burgers. Juicy, flavorful and a good size. The garlic fries are delicious, too.
I had a sip of my Mom's strawberry shake and that was yummy too.
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This place is great. Great burgers, great service, nice ambiance. I even like the little do it yourself condiment bar. Lots of people rave that this the best burger in town - - it's really good, but I can't say it's the best I've ever had. Still, for the Peninsula, it's pretty good and we come here a lot...
It seems like every city has a place they claim has the 'best' hamburgers. Most of the time they are OK but nothing exceptional. Jeffrey's is a rare exception that I was not disappointed. My burger was excellent! Very well seasoned and cooked the way I requested. Jeffrey's definitely made the best burger I have had on the Peninsula.
Located in downtown San Mateo, about two bocks from the movie theater, the inside is very casual, with a 50's diner decor. You place your order at the counter and then take a seat where they serve you your ordered food. You can then choose from their condiment bar which includes my favorite, a mayonnaise dispenser. So if you really want to get wild, you can go do a Mayo Keg stand! I don't advise it but I do recommend checking Jeffrey's out!
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Just finished my sandwich and fries. Pretty good overall experience and quality = 4 stars. I ordered the grilled chicken herb sandwich. The herb part was mediocre in flavor, they could probably step it up a notch = 3 stars. The chicken was nice and moist. I do recognize this is a burger joint and not a sandwich joint and was taken in consideration when rating. I did however; enjoy the grilled soft roll and fresh tomato and lettuce. Fries were great, not greasy or salty, just right. Next time I will for sure order a burger and milkshake.
The burgers here are delish but boy, this place is freaking disgusting. And let me preface the rest of this review by saying that I am all for joints that serve up good grub but slack on atmosphere and service, but Jeffrey's burgers are pricey, their staff are plentiful, and the space is really lovely, so the nastiness that occurs in this restaurant is simply inexcusable.
First off, the burgers yes, they are yummy and made-to-order. That being said, I came here I ordered my burger Medium (pink ground meat still gives me the heebeejeebees) and my boyfriend ordered his Medium Rare. His double-patty came out brown through and through and mine pink in the middle. Hmm.... maybe they got our orders mixed up, but it was strange nonetheless.
As for the eatery, there are napkins and straw wrappers EVERYWHERE, the tables could all use a good wipe-down and their bathroom rivals most public park restrooms that I've seen in nastiness. There's a mysterious puddle that looks like it has been living next to the toilet for a solid period of time and that stale pee smell that no amount of bleach could mask. The worst part of all of this? Their restroom is right next to the dishwashing area.
To be honest, I'll probably be back... but I'd much rather make the hike up to the In N Out in Millbrae since their burgers are just as delicious, a fraction of the price, and their restrooms don't make me lose my appetite.
I've recently just found out how great burgers at Jeffrey's are after living in the Bay Area literally all my life. Not only are they made-to-order but getting to wash it down with Stella Artois on tap made my meal complete.
Try to get there before the real dinner rush otherwise you'll be forced to wait for a table.
Where's my grease? I ate a whole burger and only had a quarter sized spot of grease on the paper lining... What the heck? Where was the grease and juice that is supposed to be leaking out of my burger, onto my hand, and down my arm??? I dunno about you but a burger is supposed to be juicy. I ordered it medium rare and the burger patty was pretty dry. I've had a juicer burger from under the 7-11 heat lamp.
My 2nd question is that with all the selection of toppings they have for their burgers, there is no choice of cheese. WTF? Gimme some cheese choices! They only have American cheese. Gimme some cheddar or some jack. American is not cuttin' the mustard for me.
Also, don't make a lazy fat guy drag his own fat ass to a condiment bar! Just leave the condiments at the table and put my lettuce and tomatoes on my plate. After you get your burger, you have to walk halfway across the restaurant for condiments. Not fair. I don't want a workout before eating my burger.
Besides my few qualms, the burger was "meh". The avocado and bacon was good. The selection of toppings was nice but the burger quality was sub-par. Service was good and the food came fast (LOL)... Nice little retro (remodeled) burger joint feel. I don't think it's anywhere close to "Top 5 in the Bay Area" like the sign out front claims.
If you are looking for an awesome burger, I recommend Val's Burgers in Hayward. Check out my review here (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). It blows Jeffrey's away. Hands down.
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Really GREAT burgers, but for half the price I could go to In & Out and get something almost as good.
Great burger! Only been here twice but love the place. They offer both turkey meat and beef. I've tried both so far -- the beef is pretty good, and the turkey is better then I expected.
The onion rings are awesome! Cripsy and hot and there's actually an onion inside. The garlic fries are pretty good too, but watch out if your on a date. I could smell garlic all night after eating the garlic fries.
The condiment bar is exceptional. Well stocked lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickels, relish, sour kraut, and a few other things.
Will definitely come back for more.
Good selection of different types of burgers using beef or turkey. There are other options besides burgers...fish and chips and salads to name a few. I like how you're not tied down to ordering just burgers here. There's also a wide selection of toppings to choose for your burger. The fries were okay to say the least. I'm just glad they have malt vinegar on the side. :-)
I was impressed by the speedy service despite the fact that it was a pretty busy Saturday evening. They got our order down even though we had a large, 11-person group. It definitely makes eating out with groups a whole lot easier because you don't have to worry about splitting the bill and calculating tips.
Overall though, I wasn't too taken back by this place. Sure, it's a nice neighborhood hangout but something is missing for me. Maybe a lot of it has to do with the food...it was pretty average IMO, and I've come across a few other burger joints that would top this one.
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If you're eating at Jeffrey's instead of next door at O'Neill's I feel sorry for you, deeply sorry. In fact, my sorrow is like a black pit of despair. No light shines there, no sounds carry in the bitterly cold air.
The food comes from Jeffrey's no matter where you choose to sit. Why wait in line in a crowded diner with flies hitting you in the face and no seats? Your salvation is right next door my brothers and sisters. See my review http://www.yelp.com/bi... and repent.
As for this location, sadly I was dragged here even though I am on a diet. I ordered a turkey burger with avocado and a side salad with lemon vinaigrette.
The turkey patty was probably the best tasting I have ever had in my entire life, it was singularly tasty. As such I chose to only eat a small portion of it because if it tastes good it must be awful for you. I'm sure it's made with 7+% fat turkey.
If you're not on a diet, my favorites are:
Double cheeseburger, double bacon
Hot link (this sounds small, but it's huge)
Onion Rings
They're not gourmet burgers, you're getting American cheese (yuck) but they're pretty tasty and if you have followed my advise you'll be sucking down a Guinness.
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My co-worker and I had an early lunch. And so did other people working in the neighboring area. It was crowded for a holiday weekend.
We were in the "long" line ordering our meals. Looking at the menu, everything on the menu is sold separately. My co-worker had a simple cheeseburger and I ordered the mushroom cheeseburger (Look at my profile picture). Our $5.39 cheeseburgers are very similar with our burger being customized to our liking, except I paid an extra $.80 for my sauted mushrooms. The burger doesn't come with any condiments or addtiional toppings, but they do have a mini salad-bar for all your necessary fixings.
We also had a side of fries each. The $1.39 fries were in a basket and thickly cut with a good crisp. Our Cokes were refreshing with the self-serve dispenser, although technically, you're not theoretically to have extra refills. But we were dehydrated and dire need of fluid to sooth our arid throats.
The restaurant was packed during the midday, but we found two counter seats. We took pleasure in watching the men working hard and sweating behind the kitchen preparing our food. Just as long their beads of perspiration doesn't land in our food.
San Mateo has just got to have a burger joint for me and I'm happy that I found a pretty good one.
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Great speedy service but average burger joint. They have some things that other places dont, like malt vinegar, and everything here is made to order...but its nothing you cant get anywhere else. Its was packed when we were there and they went out of there way to accommodate our large party which was awesome and they were really personable too. Cant beat the price, I had dinner and had a great time for under $15! To me, I honestly wouldn't know the difference between here and say Johnny Rockets or any other typical burger place if it werent for the signs...nothing special here just good ole American burgers.
Yay! My all-time favorite Burger place on the peninsula. We've been coming here for years and they never let us down. Burgers are cooked to order; I hate well done burgers and they always get my swiss-cheese burger perfect. Good fries too, and their shakes really are wonderful. Friendly staff, too.
During peak times expect a line, but its worth the wait! You WILL get a perfect hamburger at Jeffrey's!!
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FINALLY! A burger joint that offers yummy turkey burger alternatives to the traditional beef burgers. Hubby had a very tasty turkey burger that made him realize he didn't miss the beef! I had the fish n chips...fish was wonderfully crisp and battered (who wudda thunk they'd have fish n chips at a burger joint??). Upgraded my chips to the garlic fries that were great b/c they weren't soggy, topped with shredded parmesan cheese and loads of GARLIC so get ready for some hummin breath. Word of caution though, I'm with the other reviewer(s) about the no paper in the plastic basket for the fries (thank goodness my upgrade of garlic fries was on the paper with my fish).
Came here for lunch yesterday. I was expecting something superb, but alas it wasnt. I ordered the hamburger, fries and neopolitan shake. Honestly, after eating my meal, I could have done w/o the fries and shake, and stuck with the burger, onion rings (perfectly fried), and coke. The shake was overwhemingly chocolately, not blended as well as In n outs, where I can taste all 3 flavors. The fries were too dry. Service was fast considering the crowd.
Not particularly creative for a restaurant that only serves hamburgers. Nothing on the menu jumps out at me as a must-have burger. It's just the usual faire of burger, cheese burger, bacon burger, bacon cheese burger, mushroom burger, mushroom cheese burger, mushroom bacon burger, mushroom bacon cheese burger, etc. The burgers were cooked decently, but eh. Whatevs. The patties could've used some seasoning. Nothing special to write home about.
The garlic fries... again. All about the blah. Take one mediocre basket of friends and put a bunch of shaved garlic on top. Blah blah blah. Maybe if it was fried together or something, dunno. It was just blah.
Blah de blah blah blah.
This place is delicious and on par with the much more expensive Taylor's Refreshers in the city and in Napa.
The onion rings are a must get, and they let you add as much (or as little) condiments and sides as you like with the beautiful bar full of gorgeous tomatoes, fresh lettuce, jalapeos, picklets, sauerkraut, etc.
I can't wait to go back and try their fish and chips.
They would get 5 full stars from me if they were a little bigger and a little cleaner looking.
Finally, a solid burger joint for your all American favorites including sandwiches and sausages. This diner on the corner is reasonably priced for getting your quick fix of meat along with your typical sides of chilli cheese or garlic fries and breaded onion rings. This place doesn't need bells and whistles to attract people back again for some good eats.
If you are in San Mateo this is the place to go for lunch. It has a traditional American diner menu. Definitely not diet fare, but the food & service are great. I usually order burgers or salads, but I hear the chili dogs, fish & chips, onion rings and tuna melts are just as good.
For a fast food joint this is pretty damn good. The hamburgers are freshly ground every day and come out great. The prices are reasonable. I'd come back any day.
I ordered the mushroom burger and ordered it from the bar next door, O'neill's. I was the best burger I've had in over a year. garlic fries and onion rings were good as well.
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The best onion rings in my opinion!!! Love the Mushroom Turkery Burger, Avocado Burger is good too, and for a healthier option, Chicken Sandwich (not a huge fan but ok). Chicken Caesar and Mixed Green Chicken Salads are good too. Caesar has this pasty dressing so instead of pouring the dressing, I dip my greens on it. Mixed Green has blue cheese (standard but you can opt if you don't like moldy cheese), candied pecans, and fruit (usually honeydew, cantaloupe, and strawberries), dressing is a lemon-oil type which is light and good. I can only give 4 stars since I've heard several ppl at work say their salad had bugs...hence we coined the Mixed Green "bug salad". Maybe a little bit more washing guys!!!
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One of the best burgers on the peninsula. I live in San Bruno and make the drive down to San Mateo when I'm in the mood for a great burger. They also have a few non beef items. My girlfriend Sandra tried the turkey burger and said it's ab fab, yet not as great as hers. Great milkshakes and they also have a few beers on draft in case you would like to quench your thirst with an adult beverage.
If I am ever in the mood for a good burger then Jefferey's is where I go. They've got a good diner atmosphere going, and their cook station is out on the floor so you can see what's going on.
It can be a little pricey if ya want the whole package. A burger alone is over $6 and that doesn't include fries or a drink. But the taste makes up for it. I love the mushroom burger they have, or on a rainy day an old fashioned grilled cheese on sour dough. The perfect little spot to hit up after the movies which are right down the street!
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it's an ok place...pricey for a burger joint, but you get to load up on goodies by yourself...lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pepper....their french fries and garlic fries are great!
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