The $11.99 double cheeseburger at Sam’s in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
The $11.99 double cheeseburger at Sam’s in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
This is not the correct time for me to be visiting Sam’s Burgers. It’s the middle of the afternoon here in North Beach, and finding a spot inside Sam’s tight confines isn’t much of a problem. If I were to walk in here 12 hours from now, just before the bars close and after patrons of all the nearby strip clubs have no more rain to make … well then, I probably wouldn’t be able to walk in here at all. There would probably be a line going outside the door. There would probably be an ass parked in every bright red leather stool at the counter and in the scant number of booths lining the wall. There would probably be dozens of hungry partiers, some of them quite famous, crowding into the place to eat a cheeseburger at the proper time to be eating a cheeseburger.
That’s when Anthony Bourdain would have come here. In fact, that’s the time of night when he did come here, 14 years ago.
“Tony,” a film that serves as a kind of Bourdain origin story, opened in theaters this month, with “Holdovers” standout Dominic Sassa playing the title role. And if you think the studio was a little bit presumptuous in simply naming the film “Tony” — as if Bourdain were the Tony of all Tonys — this midday nosh I’m having at Sam’s is a good indicator that its decision was more prescient than foolhardy. Because even after his death in 2018, Bourdain’s kingmaking powers in the hospitality industry are still robust. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. The man’s name adorns the main page of the Sam’s website, the front window of the restaurant, and the menu, where you can order the Anthony Bourdain Special: a $23.99 cheeseburger/fries/beer combo meal. Bourdain’s image graces the restaurant’s merch, hanging on the wall behind the counter. And if you’re still hungry and still loaded, you can go next door to the new Legends Café & Creamery to order a Bourdain shake and stare at a mural of Tony that occupies the entire wall behind the counter there. The Shawa family, which owns both Sam’s and Legends, is milking the Bourdain name for all its worth.
Anthony Bourdain’s likeness is shown on a T-shirt at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026. Bourdain famously visited Sam’s during an episode of “The Layover” in 2012.
Anthony Bourdain’s likeness is shown on a T-shirt at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026. Bourdain famously visited Sam’s during an episode of “The Layover” in 2012.
Drew Magary dines at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Drew Magary dines at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Sam’s Burgers, which has been in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood since 1966, is seen on Aug. 18, 2026.
Sam’s Burgers, which has been in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood since 1966, is seen on Aug. 18, 2026.
They’re right to, because that name remains valuable in ways that will likely never be replicated. Consider that Bourdain made Sam’s famous by appearing here, very drunk on camera, for a total of roughly five minutes at the tail end of an episode of his short-lived Travel Channel series “The Layover.” Bourdain stumbled into the place, ordered a double cheeseburger, declared, “That is a good motherf—king burger,” and that was all the restaurant needed to prosper afterward. Bourdain lived the kind of life that made the audience want to follow in his many, many footsteps. To travel all the places he traveled, to sample all of the street meat he sampled, and to savor the kind of greasy dining establishments that he savored so fully. That’s why I’m here. It ain’t after hours, but a cheeseburger suits me at any time of day, so time to get my Bourdain on.
The menu at Sam’s remains spare: burgers, fries, rings, Polish sausage, wings, nuggets, hot dogs, fish and chips, fried shrimp and corn dogs. That’s it. If you want a salad, you have the rest of California at your disposal. If you need to take a leak, well then you better head out to an alley because there’s no bathroom here. If you want a beer, OK yes they have beer, you lush. Otherwise, you come here for a burger, and for nothing else.
The interior of Sam's Burgers in San Francisco, on August 18, 2026.Thick cut onion rings from Sam's Burgers in San Francisco, on August 18, 2026.
A Polish sausage on a French roll, left, and an order of onion rings, lower right, from Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
So I order a double cheeseburger. And a Polish. And some fries and rings, because they have them. I take a seat in one of the booths and rest my back against the warped wood paneling. Behind the grill is a framed photo of restaurant founder Mike Shawa, who died 10 years ago and left control of the restaurant to his surviving family members, with son Emad ElShawa controlling the day-to-day operations. The back walls are covered in old front pages of the San Francisco Chronicle sports section, including one from the 49ers’ 55-10 Super Bowl win over Denver back in 1990. The linoleum flooring is worn and dirty from decades of foot traffic. And the sign hanging outside the restaurant still boasts “burgers and pizza,” even though Sam’s no longer serves pizza. I would’ve ordered the pizza too, but 3,000 calories worth of other food will have to suffice.
It does. The Polish arrives first, split open on a thick roll and topped with the usual peppers and onions. The sausage tastes like sausage. The bun is good, but there’s too much of it. I save my appetite for the coming burger, which is a smart move because the Sam’s double is thicker than a dictionary, with two all-beef patties topping the lettuce and tomato underneath. I take a bite, and yep, that’s a good motherf—king burger. It’s not the best burger I’ve ever had (that honor still belongs to Hyphy Burger across the bay), but it tastes homemade. It tastes like something I would rhapsodize over if I had a dozen drinks in me. Meanwhile, the fries do their fryly duty, but the real winner is the onion rings. These might be the only good thick onion rings I’ve ever eaten. I normally prefer onion strings, because thick rings are always over-battered and have the texture of infected skin. Sam’s rings are crunchy all the way through, with visible onion in every bite. A miracle. This is very much the same Sam’s that Bourdain showcased all those years ago.
Drew Magary, left, and Gabe Fernandez dine at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Drew Magary, left, and Gabe Fernandez dine at Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
The Big Mike and the Bourdain milkshake from Legends Café & Creamery in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
The Big Mike and the Bourdain milkshake from Legends Café & Creamery in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Owner Emad ElShawa poses for a photo outside Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Owner Emad ElShawa poses for a photo outside Sam’s Burgers in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Legends, situated right next door, probably wouldn’t be the man’s speed. Legends, which Emad ElShawa opened just over a year ago, boasts much newer decor, with clean black walls and countertops. But it still exploits the lingering Bourdain brand name to the fullest extent, even if Bourdain himself probably wouldn’t have looked twice at this place. In fact, he almost certainly would have scoffed at its signature dessert, the Dubai chocolate cup. Dubai chocolate is the kind of foodie trend that Bourdain would have resented, started or both. Probably both. But he’s no longer here to object, so I order one. Plus the Bourdain shake.
That shake that bears Bourdain’s name — which includes Biscoff cookies and Biscoff syrup and is topped with Biscoff cookie crumbles — would definitely please his audience. But it’s the Dubai cup that ends up being the best thing I eat at either Shawa establishment. It’s a plastic cup filled with fresh cut strawberries and then topped with Belgian chocolate, pistachio cream and shredded phyllo dough. I had to fight with my digestive system to make room for this thing, but I end up bottoming out the cup in minutes. Dubai chocolate may be a cliche at this point, but this cup isn’t. And if Tony wouldn’t have liked it, that’s not really my concern. I get to do the Sam’s Burger journey my way, which Bourdain himself would have gleefully encouraged. There’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation, and I know which of the two he preferred.
Drew Magary eats his Dubai chocolate cup in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Drew Magary eats his Dubai chocolate cup in San Francisco on Aug. 18, 2026.
Bourdain died eight years ago and has remained beloved ever since. But enough time has passed now for his immediate memory to begin fading from the public consciousness. In place of the man and his work — his books, his television shows, his restaurant recommendations — there’s a lasting, eat-drink-and-be-merry philosophy that his name now connotes. As such, you and I are living through Anthony Bourdain’s transition from mourned celebrity to something closer to an icon: the kind of historic figure who endures more as an ideal than as anything else. Tony, to use only his first name, is posthumously becoming the Elvis of food and drink. You can see that transition happening for yourself at Sam’s and at Legends. More importantly, you can taste it.
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