There’s a new burger spot in town, and it’s backed by a team with serious culinary chops. Hamburger Project, the latest restaurant from the owners of Michelin Guide-listed omakase destination Ju-ni, opens Wedensday at 808 Divisadero St., a block west of Alamo Square Park. The counter-service restaurant moves into the former home of Hina Yakitori, the owners’ omakase-style counter that closed in August 2023.
Chef Geoffrey Lee, who co-owns the restaurant with Tan Truong, acknowledges that a casual burger joint might seem out of left field considering his reputation for pristine sushi at Ju-ni and sister restaurant Handroll Project. But the reason for the pivot is simple: He’s been cooking — and eating — a lot of burgers. “It started during the pandemic,” Lee says. “I couldn’t find a good smashburger in my neighborhood, so I started making my own.”
Four years later, he’s perfected three recipes that’ll make up the heart of Hamburger Project’s menu. The burgers will have super-thin, 2-ounce patties featuring a mix of 75% lean and 25% fat ground beef. The fattier beef keeps the patties juicy even after they’re pressed into the flattop grill — though the extra moisture means they can’t quite achieve the crispy, lacy edges prized by some smashburger enthusiasts.
For the classic smashburger ($6.89 single/$8.89 double), Lee tops each patty with a slice of American cheese, then covers the stack with a bowl to steam-melt the cheese into a gooey sheet. He adds pickle chips, diced white onions, and a schmear of homemade HP sauce. The peach-colored topping might look like a standard burger condiment, but Lee puts an elevated twist on the usual ketchup-mayonnaise combo, using richer Kewpie mayonnaise and sushi rice vinegar from Ju-ni.
His chef-y touch is also found on the Oklahoma-style onion burger ($9.49 single/$11.95 double), adding not only fried onions but red Peppadew peppers to cut through the richness. The most decadent option on the menu is the Wisconsin-style butter burger ($9.49 single/$11.95 double), which sees the stack of beef and cheese topped with a generous tablespoon of whipped butter. It’s a messy, two-handed affair, but the combination of meat, cheese, and melted butter is undeniably appealing.
For fries, diners can choose from Lawry’s-dusted, cheese, and loaded — the latter will be familiar to anyone who’s ever ordered “animal-style” fries at In-N-Out Burger, bedecked with cheese, HP sauce, and sauteed onions. As a truly luxurious upgrade, diners can add half an ounce of Tsar Nicoulai caviar ($30) to their burger or spuds. It might seem like an unnecessary indulgence — OK, it is an unnecessary indulgence — but the briny little beads add a pleasantly salty dimension to a fatty, cheesy meal.
The Ju-ni crew made a few changes to the former Hina kitchen, but the narrow space still offers just eight counter seats. Lee says they’ve got the lease on the space next door, a former laundromat, and hope to eventually use it for additional seating. Potentially, they’ll turn it into an all-day cafe. They still have the liquor license from Hina, so down the line, diners can look forward to knocking back a beer with their burger. Soft serve and milkshakes will also be added to the menu soon.
After spending so many years breaking down fish flown in from halfway around the world, Lee says, making burgers feels refreshingly low-maintenance. He wanted Hamburger Project to be as simple as possible, allowing him and Truong to focus on another new concept they have coming down the line. But don’t think simple means second-rate. True to his Michelin cred, Lee might be slinging some of the finest smashburgers in town.