Flipper's, A Gourmet Hamburger Place
Categories: Breakfast & Brunch, Burgers, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley482 Hayes St
(between Gough St & Octavia St)
San Francisco, CA 94102 (415) 552-8880
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat 7:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
Sun 7:00 a.m.-10:00 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
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
237 reviews
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
"one of the best burgers and definitely the best fries in the city. They kinda freak out a little if you bring a huge group (like more than…" read more »
323 Reviews for Flipper's, A Gourmet Hamburger Place
Nice hearty burger, lots of interesting combos to choose from (bleu cheese, beets and walnuts - it works!). There's also a wide menu of other offerings, but I don't know how you could go past the burgers. Served with a simple lettuce salad and chips it's not a light snack, but great for those times you just need a burger. At $12, it's not going to break the bank either.
I would probably give it 3.5 stars. I ordered the soup and sald. The soup was potato and was really good! The salad was reallly good, too. I really liked the dressing. My boyfriend got a burger and curly fries and he loved it!
I guess I just thought the customer service could have been better. Not saying that weren't nice, but I always expect great customer service. (especially when that's what they get paid to do)
It wasn't expensive at all, so that's ALWAYS a plus for me. (I'd rather save, thank you :) )
We might go back.....we will just have to see.
I confess to not having sampled the burgers at this place, but the salads are bountiful and the outdoor garden seating is divine.
I must say, one of the drawbacks of moving out of the lower haight will be less time eating at Flipper's. I love this place. I've gone here on numerous occasions, and always left satisfied. Good burgers, hearty portions, outdoor seating, beer/wine, reasonable prices, and good service. i've tried many of the burgers (one of my favorites is the chicken sandwich with sauteed mushrooms & provolone!), and am always impressed. They offer curly fries or steak fries (yum!), but beware they tack on an additional .50 cents for curly - which they don't mention when you order.
They also have numerous other items on the menu, such as breakfast all day!
Flippers is better than 3 stars but not quite 4. Or maybe the other places I've given 3-stars aren't really worth 3 and Flippers truly is 3 star worthy. I mostly have gone to Flippers for brunch and am yet to be disappointed. But Flippers is familiar and yummy.
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Another of my usual haunts, I love this place. This was probably the first restaurant I ate at when I first moved here, and it's still one of, if not my most, favorite. The staff is great, cute and friendly. The food is always, always great. No matter what you're in the mood for they have it or will make it (reasonably). I've had every burger on the menu (there's plenty) and each one is great. Today I finally went for breakfast and the pancakes were amazing, didn't even need syrup they had such a great taste to themselves, but still good with syrup and that other stuff that came with it.
Local, affordable, and down right delicious.
Be warned though, some of the burgers can get a little messy.
Good food, attentive service, and cozy outdoor setup. I had half of a nice eggplant sandwich with pesto sauce. Only note when ordering this sandwich is that the pesto sauce in side likes to seep through the slices of bread making the meal pretty messy.
They hold true to the Kid's menu... you have to be a child to order from it. Don't fret though; they have an Oh La La meal which includes half of a sandwich (from a list) with a vinaigrette salad or cup of soup.
I would definitely give this place another try.
I'm going to preface this by saying that I've been once before for the food (and I remember thinking it was good), but that was so long ago that I'm only going to write about the chocolate milkshake I ordered last night.
I walked in and ordered it to go. About five minutes later--after listening to the happy sounds of a milkshake blender--I received my milkshake in a coffee to-go cup with a straw stuck in it. Yum. It was nice and chocolate-y, and was thick. The only reason it gets 4 stars instead of 5 was that it was so thick, I could barely drink it. But really, it was delicious and it only got better as the ice cream melted a little. This would be the perfect thing to get on a hot day, as you can carry it around with you as you stroll Hayes Street and it will keep you cool for along time.
Milkshake scale: Most of the boys to the yard. (http://www.yelp.com/li...)
My boyfriend and I were looking for a place to eat while walking around this area. We are vegetarians and we were happy to know they had tofu burgers as an option. Well the food arrived and it was delicious. Our burgers came with salad and steak fries. The dressing on the salad was really good. Gets an A+ for me!
Great for nice lunch outside on the weekend!
I had the tuna sandwich, which was melted between 2 delicious pieces of sourdough bread. It came with fries (perfectly cooked and not too greasy) and a side salad (with awesome dressing).
My boyfriend had a turkey burger, which tasted like a normal burger! Again, the toasty buns were delicious and almost the best part!
I'll definitely be going back here.
The menu at Flipper's has over a dozen burgers to choose from in addition to breakfast selections that are served all day. I, too, liked that both a salad and fries are served with the burger, but considering this restaurant is "gourmet" I was quite surprised when the waitress did not ask me how I wanted my burger cooked.
I walked in on a Sunday night as Mother Nature was blowing a shit fit outside to find a nice, cozy, very casual restaurant inside. Since I was dining alone the waitress asked me nicely to take a seat at any small table (there are many). After surveying the burger page I decided to go with a Taste of Russia which is a burger with sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions and Swiss cheese. For an additional 50 cents I substituted the steak fries for seasoned curly fries.
My burger came out of the kitchen pretty quickly, and it looked delicious (http://www.yelp.com/bi...). All of the burgers come with salad and fries, and I really liked the crunchy, fresh mixed greens in a slightly sweet, slightly creamy vinaigrette dressing.
The grilled onions on the burger are actually diced so I had to take a fork to it in order to make it less of a mess to hold. The burger itself was grilled well done with absolutely no pink left in the meat. It wasn't very juicy either, but I think the toppings helped in making it not too dry. While not a great burger it was pretty good. For an additional 50 cents I think I would try the turkey burger next time. There are also tofu and veggie options. The curly fries were pretty average.
Despite this restaurant being half full and being held down by just two waitresses the service was very good, and my waitress was pretty nice. Also they have several beers on tap and what looked like a decent selection of wines.
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Consider this a 1.5. I think the waitresses here are downright dismissive! I used to live in the area and would be forced to go with my friend that is obsessed with french fries (ugh). I am not typically one to complain about service, but I have never really been treated to unwelcome, EVER. And it isn' t like I complained or had a difficult order... I basically walkout everytime with my tail between my legs.
I am not much of a burger person, but this is certainly not somewhere I would go for a burger, nor somewhere I would go if I was hungry in Hayes Valley. There are so many other places. I frankly don't understand why people go here. Although the outdoor area is pleasant on sunny days :)
whoa... whoooooooa... hold up! This place is good!
granted I went there with some good friends and their weird looking dog, and the day was wonderful... but DIZAM this place had some good burgers! I got the Taste of Russia, an dthe jonions were grilled to perfection, as was the burger. Next to my juicy wonderful heaven on a bun was a pile the best curly season fries I've had in a crazy long time.
seriously.
The outside seating was nice, and for some reason the wind didn't effect it either... you want to look cool and eat some tasty ass food. Go here, dammit!
Not!
The most arrogant bartenter I've ever encountered. Cheesy place. Com'on much better food anywhere in SF than here!
1 Previous Review:
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07/15/2008
I have never met such arrogant bartenders for such a cheesy greasy spoon. Skip it!
I ended up here on a Sunday morning only because the other brunch spot I was hoping to check out was closed. Too hungover and starved to look elsewhere, my friend and I settled on Flipper's.
There were a number of breakfast and sandwich options, but I opted for a burger seeing as that is what the place should be known for. That said, I was very happy with my meal. I got a burger with pesto and eggplant and the ingredients were fresh and tasty. The actual burger didn't blow me away but it was definitely solid. Curly fries were a nice touch (and much better than the Jack in the Box onces I had wolfed down the night before, yuck).
In all honesty, I don't go out to Hayes Valley very much and if I was back in the area again I'd probably want to try somewhere new rather than coming back to Flipper's. But for what it is, I was pleasantly surprised.
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If you're going to be known for burgers, your burgers better be friggin good, especially for the price. And the burgers at Flippers are pretty damn good. You can get pretty much anything on top of your burger that you could want in any combination as such and you can also have veggie or turkey (my favorite) patties too. It's a no frills quirky place that has outdoor seating so good on a nice sunny day.
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Absolutely one good burger. Gosh can't think of which burger I had...they had quite a bit to choose from. All I remember was bacon and avocado...mmm...bacon. I thought it was nice that they served their burgers with a salad and fries. I also ordered the calamari which I didn't think was too good. My son had the chicken strips and fries....must have been good cuz someone ate them all. I definitely would come back for another burger or maybe one of their breakfasts.
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Burgers are the shit price is right, outdoor seating on a nice summer eve seals the deal. Great little greasy spoon spot quickly turning into a neighborhood favorite of mine.
This joint has the best burgers in the city, I think -- my only complaints are as follows:
1. The owner/manager guy is a totally misogynistic, fat-load pervert who treats his all-female, all-attractive (SURPRISE SURPRISE), all "I am so pissed at this grumpy, sleepy, dopey (any more Seven Dwarf names???), PERSONALLY REPREHENSIBLE manatee of a boss ... but I have to be nice to keep my job with biased hiring practices" waitresses (I feel so bad for them) like shit under his ankle-less feet. Sorry, that was a VERY long rant. Anyway, he sucks and treats the place like some burger police-state.
2. People are routinely forgetting to close the front door, leaving customers in a SERIOUSLY bad draft, so your food gets cold as iced-over Hell. if you want your tasty Eggs Florentine to stay warm, choose carefully your seating space, guys!!!
Other than the aforementioned dumb crap, I DO highly recommend dining at Flipper's; the waitresses are super (despite what the poor darlings have to put up with....damn, I think they are SAINTS or somethin')....AND the food is nonpareil for its genre....delish, yo! Take a gander and GO FOR IT!!!!! They have GREAT vegetarian/vegan options, too. (I'm a veggie-head.) Enjoy! (But watch out for drafts and Fat-Load Boss Guy!!!) :-)
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went there for breakfast. it was alright. i can't really think of anything else to say. it was just okay. nothing too memorable, staff was busy eating and chatting at a table in the back. maybe i'll come back and try the veggie burger. probably not though. if you're looking for a quick bite to eat, but nothing out of the ordinary, check it out.
Not too too far from work for a lunch spot. Don't mind the walk on lazy sunny days where you don't want to go back after eating here. Food coma. I've been here twice. First time, at the recommendation of a coworker. Second, for seconds of course! Both times I had the burgers. It's a burger joint, right? Most recently had the "Taste of Russia" - burger with mushrooms and sauteed onions. Very tasty yum and filling (but people say i eat like a bird, so go figure). I love that it comes with a vinaigrette salad and STEAK fries.
Not one of those frequent lunch spots I would go to, but it's in the lunch spot rotation when I'm craving a big burger.
Had a few out of town friends visit and it was a swealtering day in SF so we decided to look for a place with outdoor seating and I had walked by Flippers a few times so we decided to grab a burger.
My friend's boyfriend loved his uber cheesy burger and said it was tasty. I ordered one with BBQ sauce and bacon and the BBQ sauce wasn't my favorite and the patty was dry and pretty tasteless. I much prefer the burgers a Taylors or the "ground sirloin" at Street. Their curly fries were scrumptions and the people watching at lunch was pretty entertaining as well. Service was lacking but I give them some slack since it was swealtering and I couldn't have done a better job since I am a heat wimp.
Walked in out of convenience, plus the promise of a good hamburger was enticing.
I ordered the chipper flipper with curly fries to go. It had bacon, avocado, and cheese.
The waitress came off as rude the minute I came in. She then tried to charge me $18 for my order (it was actually 10)... she'd given me someone else's bill. She then told me to come back in 7 minutes, and when I lingered around the front she said I could step outside.
Anyway, got my burger. It was way small for a $10 burger. The curly fries were terrible and flavorless. Though, I'll have to admit, my standard for curly fries have been raised since eating Barney's Burgers curly cries.
The whole thing was just really disappointing and not worth my money.
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Their burger's are pretty good. Not sure what else I can say.
Also, their buffalo wings are pretty good.
Finally, I've had their salsa omlette, which is also good. In short, I've been here for lunch a bunch of times and dinner once and I've never had a bad experience here. The service might lag a little sometimes, but besides that, I have no complaints about this place.
Today was supposed to be my day-off. But one of my co-workers called in sick, so I filled in, in his absence.
I really don't mind working in the Civic-Center area, because my work place is near Hayes Valley; in which there are so many good places to grab a bite including Flipper's Gourmet Burger, where I went for lunch today.
Every time I pass by this corner burger joint, this place is constantly crowded for lunch. All areas of the restaurant including the outdoor patio are jammed pack with hipsters and workers from the neighboring area. But today is a different but positive story, because I beat all of these people and got here early enough to get an indoor seating. (ha-ha... I beat all of you!)
From the lunch menu, I ordered a Clipper Flipper burger. Yeah, it was pricey for $10.00, and that burger is customized to my desire with choice of cheese, sliced avocado and 3 strips of thick cut bacon. My meal also has a side of tossed greens with raspberry vinaigrette, and curly-fries for $.50 extra. I haven't had a burger in a while, but my steep burger was a pretty big size and tasted pretty good. My waitress was Irma and she was very friendly and continually refilling my $2.00 glass of Diet-Coke.
I paid my $13.00 lunch in "moola". They do accept Credit-cards and also have a ATM machine built inside for needed cash for your meal or to go out hopping around the bars/clubs in Hayes Valley.
Depending on my schedule, I do get mixed reactions for being called in to work on my day-off. But with many fine lunch destinations within the radius, working near Hayes Valley wasn't a bad decision. I've eaten here twice and I know when is the best time to go and not to go to Flipper's.
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They offer a large selection of burgers. These things are huge and come with fries (steak or curly) and salad. I prefer their curly fries, which are perfectly seasoned and crispy. I also love the sauce on the buffalo wings, but they are toosmall (the size of 2 pinkies).
Everything else is blah so I recommend just sticking to burgers.
The breakfast is nothing special and the bacon tastes weird. Its like they used some type of health-food bacon so their isn't enough fat. The crunchiness and texture is off.
The sandwiches are bland. My friend had the tuna melt and complained that it tastes like it wasn't seasoned at all and they didn't add anything else to it (just tuna and mayo). It was very boring. Seriously, how can you mess up on tuna melt?
Their Caesar salad is edible, but it doesn't taste like a REAL Caesar salad, but I prefer it to their regular mixed salad because they add this yucky vinaigrette to it.
Their service is also slow so expect to have to flag down your server every time you need something.
The portions and prices are decent.
I like this place, but getting seated is so weird.
They look relaxed, but in fact are quite cordial and uptight.
Nice people, just the vibe is a bit schizo - and the bill amplifies the uptight side.
I walked in and was all hellos and nice, a bit loud - but hey the room was empty. They just sat back and let the silence linger until I got very close and then they quietly asked me where I would like to sit. No hello, hi, nothing. It doesn't LOOK like that kind of place...
I don't know it is getting expensive to make a burger in this city, but I don't want to feel like an ass coming in "too casually".
Good food though, and that's kinda all that matters.
Decent burger + steak fries + salad for a very reasonable price. I had the taste of russia (sauteed mushrooms + swiss), and it was definitely good.
minuses - they have a sign in sheet that is totally confusing on the random back counter, and nobody seems to know whats going on. the fat guy (manager? or just the joints resident fat guy) is pretty obnoxious and will definitely snap at people in his way. and our server was very slow in getting anything, from water, place settings, and our check (the food came out in decent time after we ordered). a few times, we had to go looking for her, and she was nowhere to be found, so it wasn't due to the fact that it was crowded or anything.
all in all, ive i'm in the area again, and wanting a reliable burger i'd probably hit this place up again. next time i'd sit inside so i don't freeze, b/c SF weather is nice and unreliable.
Whatever that butter is that they use for their pancakes is so good *drool*. For a place that sells burgers as a specialty, it's surprising to see that their pancakes are phenomenal. I have to admit, I have yet to try their burgers. Every time we go, it's in the morning around breakfast time, and who eats a huge burger for breakfast???
Great Burgers! Fast Service! Big Portions! Good seating area in and outside. It was cold today so I ate in. I had the Papa Flip burger. It's a bbq burger with smoked bacon and jack cheese. It came with steak fries and a salad, Not bad for $9.95.
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I heart this place. Great original recipes to make the burger an exciting meal. We had gardenburgers intead of actual meat and loved it. The fries were tasty, the salads were pretty good too. Great service and nice people. We'll definitely be going back. I had the feta and pepperoncini, one, try it!
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A great place for a tasty burger in a casual atmosphere. We stopped in on Saturday night before a night out. I had the Milano Burger with pesto sauce. Very original and wonderful taste. We had good quick service and there was plenty of room. Good recommendation if you are looking for quality burgers.
I loved this place when I lived in Hayes Valley. Sadly, Haven't been there recently. It's pricey, but tasty and worth the short wait. mmmm, burgers....
I love Hayes Valley and Flippers is a recent discovery. Truly a "gourmet" hamburger spot offering many varieties on your traditional patty. BUT everything was tasty. I had the cobb salad which was huge and came with lots of chicken. The dressing was delicious too and I had to ask for a second helping. Nothing is better than sitting outside in Flippers secluded court yard on a sunny day. My lunch was so good I'll definitely be back for brunch on the weekends.
Yummy yummy! I'm not totally crazy about burgers, but the burger i had at Flipper's really hit the spot. It's a bit pricey (about $12 including tax and tip), but it does come with a good portion of mix green salad and fries (option of steak or curly fries). I had the Taste of Russia burger (mushroom, swiss cheese, onions). Burger was huge and juicy. Curly fries were perfectly done and even the salad wasn't too bad. It's not too bad for a complete meal. It's up there with Barney's if not better.
Today was such a nice, remind me of LA kinda day. We felt like exploring the neighborhoods in the city and we ended up here.
I was craving for expensive or "gourmet" hamburgers after watching Hell's kitchen episodes, so this place was perfect. Nice court yard, fast and attentive service. burgers that are pretty good with good portion.
But I have to take one star off for having a uni-sex bathroom. I HATE when guys pee in toilet and leave the seat up and NOT FLUSH? How fucking stupid do you have to be not to know to flush?
Will be back, will avoid the lunch rush to be able to use the restroom.
Mmm, mmm, good! That's what I was thinking with every bite into my Maui Turkey Burger and Curly Fries. I was supposed to go to the pizza place down the street with my friends, but I wasn't really in the mood for eating pizza or carrying around a bunch of leftovers. I looked at a few menus here and there until I made my way to Flippers. I rarely eat burgers, so I figured, why not?
The guy who took my order was very accommodating to my preferences..I might be a little picky..and the timing of my order. Since my friends were still going to eat at the pizza place, I asked if they could wait to prepare my food for about 20 minutes, so that I'd be able to take mine to go and join my comprades for lunch. I even changed my mind from steak fries to curly fries at the last minute and it was no problem (I'm a pain, I know).
I'm sure the people at the pizza place didn't appreciate me bringing my food into their restaurant, but I definitely enjoyed my meal. The turkey was cooked to perfection and the sweetness of the pineapple and sauce was a great combo. Although I did not dine at Flippers, there was plenty of seating indoors, as well as a very nice patio with several tables and chairs. The man who took my order was also kind enough to make small talk with me while I waited. Basically, the food is good, the people are nice, and the prices are right.. total satisfaction.
Dining Date: March 27,2008
Company: Estee, Angelica & Anthony (my adorable co-workers)
Last night we attended the fabulous grand opening of Christopher Elbow Chocolates in Hayes Valley. After several rounds of delicious champagne, port and all the chocolate you could want we decided it was time to grab some dinner(we happened to have a chocolate tasting at the end of the day at work as well so after our first hour at the event we were all woozy). We realized we needed to eat immediately to balance out the sugar high and so we strolled on over to Flipper's--big mistake.
It went sort of like this:
-sit down, get menus (start getting excited about what to order)
-flustered waitress comes over to ask what we want and when we ask a few questions she replies "ok, I have a lot of tables in front of you so why don't you just wait until you all know what you want"
-all of us sit there silent and awkward and tell her what we want anyway
-she ends by saying "I am assuming you guys don't want anything to drink since no one has said anything"
-more awkward silence....crickets....
To top everything off the food kind of sucked. I still felt like I had that brick of a hamburger in my belly this morning, yuck. Plus--she was the first waitress I have ever wanted to stiff on the tip and it is a horrible feeling. Shame on you crazy Flipper's waitress, your customer service skills are majorly lacking and I hate to be the one to tell you this but those people skills are sort of crucial in your industry.
The reason they got 2 stars and not 1 is that the spot is actually quite nice and their patio would be great for drinks on sunny weekends. It will probably be a long time until that happens.
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Okay, upon a second venture to Flipper's I've decided I effing love this place!
I'm usually hard-pressed to rate a veggie burger (unless it's a Boca patty at Johnny Rockets or Denny's) above three stars but I've now tried both the tofu and garden burgers here and am happily content.
You see, I HATE being a vegetarian...I want my tofu to taste like meat. Since it isn't, I usually have to slather my burgers with mayo and ketchup as I try to convince my carnivorous belly that we're devouring cow.
Luckily, even if the patties here sucked (which they don't) the wild array of burger styles jazzes up my tofu so that blandness be damned! The included salad and fries ensures that even if you hate your burger, you'll be full. I'll be back to try breakfast (served all day--Yippie!)
Minus one star for the thermostat...This place is freezing!
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I love flippers!!! Their menu is extensive! Burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads and more. By far, my favorite is the granny flip burger. Yum.
Whats great is that most of the plates come with salad and fries! Great hearty meal for under $10!
