Paleo Restaurant: Roam Artisan Burgers (San Francisco)

I’m going to pretend like we’re back in San Francisco today and take you on a tour through Roam Artisan Burgers!

Although, before we do, I just want to throw a reminder out there. If you’re in the Chicago area and interested in experiencing one of the prix fixe menu’s from those participating in Chicago Restaurant Week, today is the last day to do so, so you might want to get on that. :)

Now, let’s go to Cali!

While Jeff & I were in San Francisco last month we spent some time working at a coffee shop and then decided to find a place nearby to eat lunch.

Thanks to our nifty Ness app’s recommendation, we stumbled upon Roam and after ordering a little of this and a little of that we stuck around to also work a bit. (They had free wifi!) :)

When you walk up to the Fillmore Street location, if you’re not paying attention you could easily walk right on by.

We walked in around noon so even though every table was filled with people on their lunch break there was one table awaiting our arrival (and no we didn’t make reservations, we just got lucky). :)

There were so many options that I wanted to try. 100% grass-fed beef, turkey, bison, elk…and those were only the burger options! Everything sounded fantastic but I knew better from our past experience at Hu Kitchen, where I pretty much ordered one of everything. :) This time around I decided to go with my instinct and make my order simple.

A little note at the register showed the featured flavor of kombucha that was currently available on tap. While in Berkeley we had already tried a glass of fresh-brewed kombucha served at Chris Kresser’s Your Personal Paleo Code launch party. That glass of kombucha had much tighter bubbles than our homemade version so I was super curious to try Roam’s flavored kombucha.

Just having it on tap gave me high hopes for it’s flavor…and you know what? It was super-freaking-delicious!

West Coast Primal and Paleo Porn at Chris Kresser’s Launch Party. Berkeley, CA

We had previously discussed with our friends Jen & Keith of West Coast Primal what we needed to do to make our kombucha more carbonated (and we’re still working out the kinks here at home).

But ordering the kombucha (or the house-made ginger ale) which you see above are both great options if you’re looking for something more than water with your meal. Side note: Did I mention they have shakes? I was a good girl and didn’t splurge but the girl next to us said her kids-size serving was divine.

We ordered a Farmer’s Market Salad to split. It was made with house mixed greens, rainbow carrots, radishes, persimmons, pomegranate seeds, chives, avocado, cotija cheese and pumpkin seeds. It was my kinda salad, in terms of size (there was no skimping involved!) and it was an extremely delicious combination of flavors.

Unlike when we were in Nashville and could not order the fries at Burger Up, at Roam we ordered the Fry-Fecta! A combination of Russet Fries, Sweet Potato Fries and Zucchini Onion Haystacks – so we could try all three! The haystacks were a fun change of pace and they just melt in your mouth.

I created my own grass-fed burger, added bacon and asked for it on a lettuce bun.

Jeff ordered one of the pre-made combinations, also without a bun.

When the server came out with our food, the plates were balancing all the way up both of his arms. I kindly asked if he could hold on to a few of them for just a minute so I could take a few photos. When he put everything down and filled our tiny table I then turned and asked if he would take our photo. His eyes lit up! He took my camera and started snapping photos left and right. I couldn’t help but laugh at how excited he was to play photographer. :)

When I asked if I could take his picture, he was caught off guard but immediately struck a pose.

Roam gave us fabulous service from the moment we walked in, until the moment we walked out (several hours, and two more burgers, later).

Not only do they have room to accommodate small and large groups, the food is fabulous and comes from local sources.

Their 100% grass-fed beef comes from Pacific Pastures which is located 5 hours north. The free-range turkey comes from Diestel Turkey Ranch which is less than 3 hours east. Roam Artisan Burgers serves free-range grain-finished bison from Great Range Bison, Durham Ranch Elk burgers and their veggie burgers are made using organic greens. If you didn’t read the wall art I took a photo of up above, scroll back up and check out how environmentally friendly they are. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Overall Roam Artisan Burgers offers great food, sources their ingredients locally and everything tasted fabulous. It’s really hard for me to hand out 5 (out of 5) stars but I think they’ve earned it.

Are you interested in more Paleo friendly restaurants? Have a recommendation of someplace we should check out? Let us know!