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CC Life Dinner and a Movie Teri Bayus

Dinner & A Movie

Beach Burger Heaven in Oceano

By Teri Bayus

One of the cool missions I get to do with this job is to promote my column using other media.

My favorite way is to be a guest on The Dave Congalton Show on KVEC 920 AM. Dave and I do not agree on most foodie things and it makes for some lively radio. The quirkiest part is that every time I’m on the air, someone calls in to talk about hamburgers.

I could be talking about a 5-star experience, and somebody will call in about the beloved burger joint. People seem to have strong opinions about cheeseburgers and the passionate way they tote them always amazes me.

I loathe the chain burgers and have strong opinions about where the best burgers in the area are produced. I am excited to say; I found a burger Heaven — Beach Burgers. Located by the entrance to the Oceano Dunes, this burger mecca is going to make numerous folks ecstatic.

Covered with a light dusting of sand on the outside, the inside is sparkling clean and invites you to explore their exceptional food using the freshest ingredients. The theory is that great ingredients make the best food, so they set the standard high. We ordered their specialty, hand stuffed burgers.

I was impressed that they are using premium beef that they hand roll and stuff with fresh cheeses and spices. I adored cheese inside meat. It’s a thing, as I always felt there is never enough cheese in burgers and it melts and hangs down the sides. Beach Burgers has fixed this problem.

Their burgers are charbroiled to perfection and resting in a Dutch crunch roll with homemade pickles that are equally delicious. I started with the red and bleu cheeseburger, which is a bleu cheese-stuffed patty topped with sweet and tangy red onion jam (like sautéed onions on steroids) and a blue cheese dressing.

The combination of the sweet onions and the savory cheese made this a “Best of” pick…”

My daughter ordered a bacon cheeseburger, a cheddar-stuffed patty topped with apple wood smoked bacon, red onions, homemade pickles, ketchup, mustard and the house spread.

When she came up for air, she deemed it the finest burger she’s ever had. We ordered three different kinds of fries — beer battered steak fries, garlic and chili fries, and cheesy fries. The beer battered ones reigned supreme.

The kid’s menu impressed my little “Critics in Training,” with a cheddar stuffed miniature burger, those fantastic pickles (which he exclaimed were fantastic) and seasoned steak fries. His sister had a hotdog and declared it better than her grandpa’s. The staff was nice and the place was so clean, it was a delight to dine there.

Our next trip, I tried the cobb salad with grilled chicken breast, avocado, onion, diced tomato, bacon bits, and a hard-boiled egg, all topped with crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and ranch dressing. You can order this as a salad or a wrap and all the dressings are house made. It was crisp and enormous.

Gary had the pastrami cheeseburger with a Swiss-stuffed patty, topped with sliced deli pastrami, grilled onions, and a spicy brown mustard. He was instantly hooked and vowed to try every burger and hot dog on the menu.

Our friend tried the fish ‘n chips, a delectable offering of premium cod fillets, hand dipped in a red lager beer batter. Served with seasoned steak fries and a tangy cocktail dipping sauce, he worshipped every beer-battered bite.

Next visit Gary wanted to try the ultimate beach burger. It was three patties with 6-ounces of cheddar stuffed beef slabs, with lettuce, tomato, bacon, and red onion topped with their house made barbecue sauce. I pulled the heart attack card and ordered for him the mushroom avocado burger with a Swiss cheese-stuffed patty, sautéed mushrooms, and fresh sliced avocado. He was happy that I was bossy, and loved every bite.

At Beach Burgers, the portions are big, the flavors enormous and you will find fresh produce delivered almost daily, savory cheeses, which goes into hand stuffed burger patties, battered-to-order fish ‘n chips, sandwiches, salads, and more. The focus is the food, and I think you will love what they have to offer.

They are located at 325 Pier Ave., Oceano and are open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Sundays closed at 5) Call them at (805) 473-2383.

 

‘It’ — What Nightmares Are Made Of

I did it. I braved the theater full of middle school kids texting during the movie, the nightmares that I knew would come and the sheer terror of Stephen King. I went to see “It.”

The early reviews of Andrés Muschietti directorial were so good that I had to see for myself. It is based on one of Stephen King’s scariest novels of the same name and has already been adapted before into a TV miniseries. This is It’s first big screen adaptation.

I worked in the circus for five years, and I can tell you there is nothing creepier than a clown. Most of the ones I knew were working in the circus and hiding from something insidious. The traveling and full white face suited their anonymity and their animosity.

Back stage they were the people you did not want to have conversations with, a tiger would be safer. For some, a clown can be both scary and funny. The makeup with funny paint and red nose may look hilarious, but if you look closely, it’s frightening.

The novel is considered by a lot of Stephen King fans as his scariest story, and that is saying something. To understand the premise, imagine “Stranger Things” with slightly older kids and an infinitely more powerful monster.

Calling themselves the “Loser’s Club,” the group led by Bill Denbrough has to face bullies in school, and we all know bullies can be nasty. But no bully can be compared to It — a being that appears in the form of a clown named, Pennywise.

The kids had fantastic chemistry. Out of the child actors, Richie (Finn Wolfhard) was my favorite and his jokes cracked the whole cinema up. Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise scared me more than I expected. I thought there was no way this hot vampire could scare me senseless. I was wrong.

Even the author said the movie was better than he expected. It was terrifying in the way that a good horror story should be. What impressed me was how true the film sticks to the original’s tricks. It isn’t filled with loud, in-your-face jump-scares, in fact, a lot of what makes this film scary is the slick cinematography and intricate shadow play.

The use of lighting and creation of atmosphere is what makes this film so tense, which is why it’s perfectly suited for those who like Horror movies but without the obnoxious gore.

It is the things that nightmares are made of, only the brave should go and bring lots of popcorn for munching and a hand to to hold and dig your nails into.

Teri Bayus is the Host of Taste Buds, shown on KSBY Ch. 6 at 3:30 p.m. Sundays and The C-W Ch. 7 at 11 a.m. Sundays, and are available online at: www.tastebuds.tv, and Taste Buds Channel on YouTube. Dinner and a Movie is a regular feature of Simply Clear Marketing & Media.

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