Food That Wimpy Would Love : 2 Spots Where Humble Burger Reigns Supreme

Popeye’s pal Wimpy neatly summarized the American dilemma when he said, “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

The hamburger, as plump a package of comfort as ever existed, has become so dear to the national psyche that many an American would pale at the thought of a future unbrightened by an occasional burger. Yet the price paid today for this popularity is a hamburger of vastly diminished quality, thanks to the mass-merchandized messes purveyed by the fast-food joints.

One wonders what Wimpy would say about these woebegone morsels of meat sandwiched between pasty bits of bread.

Nostalgia may be coming to the rescue of this degraded national symbol. Out in the Mission Gorge area east of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, a pair of new restaurants, Rory’s and the unfortunately named Camel’s Breath Inn, are specializing in hamburgers prepared the old fashioned way.

Rory’s takes its name from Rory Levine, a young man from Sioux City, Iowa, who tempered his passion for the ‘50s with a desire to build a better burger. His restaurant re-creates the atmosphere of a ‘50s-style drive-in, and the names of his hamburgers pay homage to such Presley-era teen idols as Annette Funicello and Sal Mineo. This combination of style and sustenance is a classic case of form following function, and an enjoyable one at that.

Embellishment seems an essential part of Rory’s style, from the coy decor accents (the photo of James Dean mounted near the kitchen area says it all) to the fact that even the plainest hamburger is dressed with half a dozen garnishes. This basic burger, named the “Eddie” and described by the menu as “clean cut, just the bare necessities,” begins with one-third pound of fresh ground beef brought in from the affiliated Iowa Meat Farms butcher shop next door.

After reposing over the coals for a suitable length of time, the nicely charred patty is sandwiched between a fine, yeasty kaiser roll and finished with mustard, mayonnaise, relish, tomato, lettuce and Bermuda onion, a taste combination that actually is fairly hard to top. This juicy, double-fisted burger may not be the sort of meal to order if one wishes to stay neat, but it is delicious.

Most of the other hamburgers build on this basic theme by adding just one or two extra ingredients; the “Sal,” for example, includes a topping of chili and cheese, and the “Brenda” adds bacon and cheese. Several stretch the imagination almost to its limits, however, such as the “Rory,” which is spread with chunky peanut butter, and the “Dion,” a sort of Hawaiian luau creation topped with Canadian bacon, pineapple and sweet-and-sour sauce. The “Annette” is decidedly steamier than the Mickey Mouse Club heroine it honors, given the chiles, salsa and guacamole.

This restaurant offers a bare minimum of creature comforts--guests may perch on stools at the indoor counters or at outdoor tables that view nothing more than the parking lot and unlovely Mission Gorge Road. But it does take a person’s interior into account with a menu that extends beyond hamburgers to feature hot dogs (Vienna beef imported from Chicago, served on special buns likewise brought from the Windy City), as well as such essentials as freshly prepared french fried potatoes, onion rings and yogurt shakes. The hot dogs come in as great a variety as the burgers, and may be had either char-broiled or boiled. among the best is the “Sandy,” which mimics the Reuben sandwich in its garnish of sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and thousand island dressing. Among other choices are the “Frankie” (dressed with nearly every available condiment, as well as bacon and cheese), and the “Lou,” with chili, cheese and chopped onions and green olives.

Rory’s final devotion to the food fads of the ‘50s is expressed in the beverage list, which includes all the usual soft drinks but also offers Coca-Cola flavored with cherry, vanilla or chocolate syrup.

The Camel’s Breath Inn, a few blocks away on Friars Road, pays homage to an animal (the camel, obviously) rather than an era, and it too serves a very fine hamburger.

This restaurant’s bizarre name was suggested by the proprietor’s father, a fan of television’s “Hill Street Blues” program, one of whose characters has the habit of referring to others as “Dog Breath.” The camel is memorialized in the restaurant’s decor, perhaps most noticeably in a large stained-glass panel that depicts a herd of these hump-backed beasts browsing in a field of pyramids.

But the menu, happily, is unabashedly American, featuring such simple items as fish fillet sandwiches, seafood and chicken salads, steaks, pork chops and the like. Accompaniments similarly are quite simple.

The star of this menu may be the hamburger, a half-pound beauty shaped from freshly ground beef. Charcoal grilled to order and packaged inside a top-quality kaiser roll, the meat is garnished less extravagantly than at Rory’s, allowing the diner to add condiments at will or to enjoy the hamburger in a relatively pristine state. French fried potatoes (cut in a corkscrew shape, which seems to be all the rage these days, indicating that there is a new gadget on the market) are heaped on the side.

To describe this place as informal would be an understatement (there is a pool table in the bar), yet it interestingly offers a good selection of quality wines by the glass, a practice that is becoming more common but that still has not been adopted by many of the dressiest restaurants in town.

RORY’S 6069 Mission Gorge Road, San Diego.

284-3617

Open seven days a week. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, until 10 p.m. weekends.

Regular-sized hamburgers are $2.75 to $3.75; extra large $4.75.

CAMEL’S BREATH INN 10330 Friars Road, San Diego.

584-1141

Lunch and dinner served daily, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to midnight.

The hamburger costs $4.25; other items are somewhat higher.