| Food | * * 1/2 |
| Service | * * |
| Ambience | * * * |
| Value | 6.5 |
| Cost | $ |
| Dish | Price |
Value | Rating | |
| Chicken Strips w/ bleu cheese dress. | $7.25 |
* * | * * | |
| Teriyaki burger | 5.95 |
* * * 1/2 | * * * | |
| Big Mary Burger | 7.25 |
* * * * | * * 1/2 |
Hamburger Mary's is located just a few blocks from the Sacramento Convention Center, right across the street from The Beat. We were seeking a restaurant fairly close to downtown, and therefore thought we'd walk to Celestin's Carribean (also on J, but a FEW more blocks!). It was wet and rainy, so we opted for Mary's.
The interior of the restaurant has unique decorations - hanging nubile winged goddesses and small planes bedeck the ceiling. The entryway sign asked us to wait to be seated, and at least 3 servers told us they would be right back after we stood at the front for a good 5 minutes.
The menu is fairly large, but not a lot of different items, mostly hamburgers, appropriate given the name. We decided to start with the Chicken strips, which you could get with Ranch, Barbecue or Honey Mustard Sauce. We asked for Bleu Cheese dressing, and the waiter had no problem with that. He was surprised that we wanted to order hamburgers, too, because he said, "The portions are huge!" J went with the Teriyaki Burger, but substituted Monterey Jack for the Cheddar, because she felt that Cheddar would be too sharp for the Teriyaki flavor to come out. I decided on the Big Mary Burger, which was an everything burger (and I'll leave it at that for now).
The Chicken strips came first - they were of substantial size, about four large strips each, and lots of dressing. Unfortunately, not much flavor for an appetizer, but good beer pub style fare. The hamburgers followed pretty closely behind. The hamburgers were 1/3 pound each and were almost impossible to eat without using the steak knife and fork. They were accompanied by a good quarter pound of spicy french fries as well. The big burger consisted of a creamy bleu cheese sauce, grilled onions, bacon, and cheddar cheese. It was a battle to finish it, because there was so much. I finally prevailed, and vehemently decided against dessert.
Hamburger Mary's would be fun with a group. It is a bar atmosphere, the prices are reasonable and the portions are huge. There are several restaurants in this chain, including a really wild one in San Francisco.