Mo's Grill in San Francisco, California: A Restaurant Review

Mo's Grill is basically a Red Robin with way better quality food. The specialty of the house is definitely burgers and they have a comparable selection to that of Red Robin, but they also do breakfast and a number of other lunch/dinner items.

The downside is that you'll definitely pay for the quality. The least expensive breakfast choice is two eggs any style (with potatoes and toast) for six bucks. Adding bacon or sausage ups it to eight, or smoked ham or a spicy pork chop can be had for 8.25. Three pancakes sets you back 6.25, banana or blueberry pancakes 7.00, and French Toast the same amount. The king of the menu here is the Salmon Florentine which is basically a sliced English muffin topped with poached eggs, salmon and spinach. There's also various omelettes for about 7.50 to ten bucks depending on what you get. Breakfast here is definitely good quality, but it's basically just slightly better prepared diner food for nearly 2x the price you'll pay at a little Chinese place or greasy spoon, and I don't think the quality is enough of a jump to warrant that (unless you're rich and it would be so gauche to be seen in a donut shop dining on the plebian fare.)

I do think the burgers here are at least worth one try, though. The two staple choices of the house here are the Best Burger, a 7 oz. chuck broiled over "volcanic rocks", and the Mo's Breast, a hefty 8 oz. chicken breast served with Thai curry sauce. Every other burger option on the menu is available in beef or chicken form, with chicken being slightly more pricey. You've got your choice of a BBQ Burger, simple cheeseburger, mushroom burger, California burger, chili cheese, Tex-Mex, the Western Burger, Bleu Cheese Burger and something called the Alpine Burger. If you've been to a Red Robin you can immediately see the resemblance to their staple menu. Mo's doesn't offer the bottomless fries, but the burgers definitely are a cut thicker and tastier. The basic Best Burger sets you back only $6 with $2.50 extra for fries, slaw, chili or salad, and with the big portion sizes you can get away with a pretty decent burger lunch or dinner here for just a little over ten bucks on the whole. The Sloppy Moe at $8.25 looked intriguing, with slow roasted barbeque pork topped with cole slaw, but asking $9.00 for a toasted bagel with smoked salmon just seemed out and out ballsy.

About the least you'll get away with spending here is about twelve bucks and if you want dessert, shakes or drinks you're looking at more like $20 a head. That's a lot to ask for a burger joint, but if you live near the water in San Francisco you've probably got money flying out of your pockets like the Monopoly guy so you don't give a damn anyway. For everyone else of more modest means, a trip or two to check out the burgers will suffice. It'd strike me as a much better value if they offered all-you-can-eat fries ...

Mo's Grill
1322 Grant Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94133
# 415-788-3779
http://www.mosgrill.com/