Taylor’s Automatic Refresher

Hmm, a hamburger wrapped in paper, fresh hot fries, milkshake — you’ve seen this before: it’s the classic California hamburger stand, still intact on the west coast only, in chains such as In-N-Out and Fatburger. Taylor’s Refresher, however, has taken advantage of the Napa Valley and San Francisco demographics to set prices at a yuppie level 100% higher than the fast food drive-ins that inspired it. And I mean that in the nicest possible way, because as a result, they can afford to use local ingredients, cook everything to order, and have beef that’s good enough to leave it pink in the middle.

I’ve been saying for years that American fast food is something that can’t be done right for cheap, and here’s a restaurant to call me on it. That classic burger-fries-shake combo, once promoted by McDonald’s for 47¢, will now set you back about $13 at Taylor’s. Is it worth it? Well, the Ferry Building is full of stores that sell staple foods at prices three times higher than your grandmother would ever approve of you paying. And like its neighbors, Taylor’s really does have very good food. And $13 buys you more than you can or should eat, while at finer restaurants I’ve spent that much on a salad or even a cocktail. Like Vincent Vega, you must decide whether the milkshake (which is perfectly textured and made with Double Rainbow ice cream) is worth $5.

Apart from the culture shock and the Chevy’s-style pagers, there isn’t much not to like. There is a well-rounded menu of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, hot dogs and corn dogs, chili, a few seafood choices, along with a credible selection of beers and local wines, in bottles and half-bottles. It would have been easy to gussy up the food with exotic cheeses or other “reinventions”, but they’ve wisely resisted; everything on the menu has been tested for decades in diners across America. It’s just done better here; the luxury is in not having to cut any corners. The heart of California is in living a shared dream, and this is a piece of it.