{"id":488352,"date":"2026-10-07T19:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T19:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488352\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T19:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T19:38:09","slug":"theyre-hot-bay-area-burger-week-celebrates-smashing-success-metro-silicon-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/488352\/","title":{"rendered":"They\u2019re Hot! Bay Area Burger Week Celebrates Smashing Success | Metro Silicon Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday night, there\u2019s a line at the counter. Fifteen hamburger patties, each smashed to the diameter of a small frisbee, sit on a sizzling, smoking grill. One by one, they are dropped on buns. Jalape\u00f1os are placed on top, and another green pepper slice is tucked into the paper pouch folded around the bun.<\/p>\n

I am here to dive into the culinary ascendance of the humble hamburger, which has become one of the hottest items on valley menus. Its variations are endless.<\/p>\n

Sixth Street Burgers co-owner Ricky Hobson explains that smashing the Wagyu-blend beef patties with a metal press accelerates the \u201cMaillard reaction,\u201d the chemical process that occurs when proteins and sugars fuse under high heat to create a dark brown, savory crust.<\/p>\n

\"sixth<\/a>SMASHING SUCCESS Sixth Street Burgers draws enthusiasts with its flavor bomb of orange sauce and jalape\u00f1os, along with milder options and fries cooked in beef tallow. Photo by Dan Pulcrano<\/p>\n

In true San Jose style, the restaurant provides patrons with a squeeze bottle of orange sauce, optimized for hamburgers rather than burritos and tacos. Hobson says it\u2019s made with ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and nine other unnamed ingredients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The burger place across from San Jose City Hall is packed at 8pm, as an old James Brown tune plays, keeping the energy lively. Even the outside tables are fully seated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s Maximus<\/p>\n

From downtown to the burbs, burger culture is on the rise, and top restaurateurs are now entering the mix. Maurice Carruba drops by his Campbell location of Kirk\u2019s, where screaming, jerseyed football fans have packed the restaurant on a Sunday morning to cheer on the Buffalo Bills. They depart as soon as the game ends. In about 20 minutes, he says, the Niners fans will arrive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier that morning, he\u2019d been fixing the water pump on a tractor he uses to tend the Mt. Hamilton vineyards where he grows Sangiovese and Nero d\u2019Avola grapes, the latter a varietal from Sicily. The farm also grazes grass-fed cattle for his fine dining restaurant up the road, The Grandview<\/p>\n

\"ignite<\/a>NEW ADDITION Ignite brings fire-grilled meats to the former Sushi Confidential location at 26 N San Pedro St. in San Jose.<\/p>\n

Carruba and brother Giuseppe collected top-tier brands\u2014the Grandview, La For\u00eat in New Almaden and Palo Alto\u2019s Osteria Toscana\u2014to create a highly regarded local restaurant group. After the pandemic, however, they turned their sights to the middle market, purchasing a 78-year-old valley hamburger chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had the opportunity to take over this brand that\u2019s been around since 1948. Kind of fit right into our group of restaurants that have been around a long time. We pivoted towards fast casual. We saw a lot of positive movement towards that sector of the business,\u201d Carruba explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a good move for us. We\u2019re seeing a lot more diners frequent our locations because it\u2019s more affordable. Not everybody wants to pay for fine dining. But they want good food.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added a bar program, appetizers and healthier options like salmon and veggie burgers. \u201cGiving people the options, I think, is what it\u2019s about right now,\u201d Carruba says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve added a few touches that have come over from the fine dining side. Both on the service end and trying to raise quality across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, though, he sees himself as the steward of a time-tested American culture. \u201cWe just want to keep traditions going. And what really drives us to these types of businesses is tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday night, there\u2019s a line at the counter. Fifteen hamburger patties, each smashed to the diameter of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[182699,18279,190677,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-488352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-burger-week","tag-burgers","tag-hamburgers","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}