The Barbareño Burger

When we opened Barbareño, we knew we needed a cheeseburger on the menu.  There is something about having a burger on a restaurant menu that puts customers at ease, letting them know they can relax and just enjoy their meal.  With our's, we needed it to not only be delicious, but also to represent our culinary ethos.  First, it needed to be completely from scratch--from the bun to the bacon to the house-ground meat, to the aioli and pickles.  Second, it needed to showcase a product unique to our area.  After much experimentation, we landed on a house made miso made from pinquito beans.  These beans only grow in the Santa Maria valley and they are delightful.  By mixing this miso--which takes about 6 weeks to make--with garlicky aioli, we make a "special sauce," of sorts, which is savory, sweet, tangy, and salty.  The last criteria with our burger was that it had to reference classic Southern California burger tradition.  We wavered between different burger styles--the iconic In-N-Out style double burger, a fancy fig and goat cheese burger, or a smash burger.  But we landed on the bacon, cheddar, and avocado burger that you might find at a beachside burger shack.  What results from this is the Barbareño Burger--something we are very proud of, which we hope you will enjoy to the fullest.