Malone's Grille SV

The best burger in Scotts Valley? I aim to find out, so we are starting with Malone's Grille. They have been around since 1980 and is always full of locals at night and on the weekends. Let's see how their lunch is...

Malone's website

We met at noon and we walked into the outdoor patio. It's nicely spaced out with tables, umbrellas and chairs. The waiter said we could sit wherever we'd like and then asked what we'd like to drink. Two iced teas later ($2.50), we were scanning the menu.

They have fish & chips, pasta, chicken, French Dip, etc. but we were there for the burgers. The Cobb Burger ($10.95 - half is $2 less) with bleu cheese, bacon and avocado. I found my target in the Italian Burger ($13.95) and we chose fries for both.

Big steak fries! As you can see, the burger is topped with many nice things and a soft Ciabatta roll. The bleu cheese was enough for some in every bite. Even at half, it was a good sized portion.

Mine also had tons of goodies: arugula, mozzarella cheese, bacon, tomato and pesto. It wasn't too oily and every bite was very flavorful. Now I know I will get some flack for saying this, but I don't think the Italian burger needed bacon. I know, I know, bacon is good with everything, but I mean the other ingredients held their own. The cheese was smooth and creamy and the arugula gave a nice peppery crunch. The fries were done well and weren't greasy.

The place was about half full on a weekday for lunch, so I guess people know about them. We didn't make it inside where the bar is, but they have karaoke and wine tasting in there during the week. Check out their website for more info. This was a good start to find the best burger in SV!

Scores out of 10:
Food: 8
Service: 7
Atmosphere: 7
Value for price: 7
Overall: 7.75

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