It took 22 years for McDonald’s to turn a profit with vegan burgers in India.
Judging from initial reaction to the June 17th opening of The Butcher N Cheese, customers immediately fell in love with Chef Zubin Kolah’s menu of gourmet grass-fed burgers and sides.
This bright, new eatery with a large wall mural of buffalo grazing on the open range is located a few doors east of his popular Bombay Coast restaurant in the Clairemont Town Square shopping center near the Reading Cinemas.
Carol and Rolf Haas of University City ordered a bison burger and a lamb burger. As long-time married couples often do, they cut them in half to share.
Rolf is from Munich, not Hamburg, Germany and predicts the juicy lamb burger with Greek feta cheese will become a favorite.
Zubin takes pride in his culinary skills. “Good chefs can prepare a variety of dishes. I’ve always wanted to open a gourmet hamburger restaurant using the finest meat and cheese.” he said. “From my experience preparing Indian food, freshness is very important. I want to serve healthy food.”
The restaurant’s slogan is “Farm to Table.”
Connie McGrath grew up on a farm near Gilmore City, Iowa. Her family raised Angus cattle and she played six-on-six girls basketball in high school. Two things they love in the Corn State are girls basketball and beef.
“These burgers are wonderful,” she said. She and her husband brought their son and grandkids for dinner. The kids liked the seasoned fries. They got so much food, they had to take some of it home.
Giancarlo Fonseca and Macy Aalito, a very colorful Clairemont couple, are regulars at Bombay Coast. Macy used to be a vegan, but ordered the chicken burger.
“It’s so moist,” she opined with boundless enthusiasm. “Chicken burgers can be dry, but this is great.”
Giancarlo had to have a bite of her chicken burger without realizing there was an egg inside the bun. Both laughed at the yellow drip art on his shirt that added to his already kaleidoscopic appearance.
Inside seating is limited, but the outside table were filled with smiling faces that brightened the June Gloom day.
Zubin Kolah is a most congenial host. He wants everything to be perfect for his customers including his selection of eight local draft beers.
The menu does include a vegan patty with special Indian spices and how many hamburger joints offer a side of crab cakes?
The Butcher N Cheese has a unique menu with many choices to please every palette, including “The Old Fashioned Burger” with cheddar cheese.
As the name implies, every burger comes with cheese.
The Butcher N Cheese
4705 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Email: Bill@ClairemontTimes.com
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