Katsu Burger/カツバーガー, a place I wanted to try for a while, is a Japanese katsu sandwich place with an American flair on Santa Clara's Real and Alpine. This is believe it or not a batch of Seattle Japanese burger spots. So, the staff decided to open a location here in the Bay Area. As for why here and not Los Angeles, it must be because our rappers don't have the lyrics "The Warriors beat the Supersonics!" in their songs unlike some artist we know who said "The Lakers beat the Supersonics!" now. I don't know. While we're on the subject of the return of the Sonics, if you wonder why Santa Clara and not Glove's Oakland, Oakland has plenty of Japanese spots, but there aren't a lot in Santa Clara.
You'll notice how tight the place is right off the bat. You'll also notice the adorable art of the mascots. (Clothes, when?) There's a touch pad, but if you're paying with cash, there's a cashier, and thank goodness there's a sanitizer bottle. One trait to keep in mind is that like Shiki's, the place is closed on Sundays. (If you wonder why you often see Japanese places closed that day, it's because Sunday's the only free day for a number of Japanese folks.)
I ordered the Tokyo classic with beef and cheese (there are so many choices), fries with their 12 spice blend, the mushrooms, and a Calpis drink bottle. (Yup, I still use the original name because it's been stuck with me.) You also see items like a matcha milkshake, vegetable croquettes (which I would have ordered if I didn't have some earlier in the day at Frisco's Kizuki), and their "Gochiusa" name flair item in "Banzai Bites", which are bite size bits of karaage style chicken. Instead of lettuce, your green here is cabbage. Keep in mind that you pay an extra dollar if you go from chicken or tofu to beef or pork. Also, the gloves they give you: use them, as the dining experience can be messy.
The place does a good job at grabbing my attention. The Tokyo classic sandwich gives me the familiarity of a classic cheeseburger with cheddar, tomatoes, onions and mayonnaise although it's Japanese instead of American and something unusual in the katsu touch on the beef, tonkatsu sauce, and cabbage. For some reason, I feel like I'm getting a Super Duper burger when consuming it, which is a good trait for me. The mushrooms are a-okay, but I wish I got a safety net for the 12 spice fries, as consuming them felt like playing with "Puzzle Fighter" version Morrigan. (In other words, they're exciting initially, but late in the dining period, they became harder to consume.) I would so not recommended them to a typical Japanese resident unless they're fighting a cold.
Flaws I can recall? Not counting the mistake I made by not asking if the 12 spice blend's hot, having a second non-guilty drink outside of water would help. Maybe Qoo drinks. Normally, I would have typed "No dessert", but it's in the same plaza as Matsu Matcha along with Sulbing if you want a Korean dessert instead. The other flaw I can recall is not being able to add certain items on your sandwiches (like mushrooms for example).
Katsu was worth the wait. While it does need a second less guilty drink, it does a good job at being a meal place if I have trouble deciding on where to eat in Santa Clara. I'll try hard to come by often, but with so many Japanese spots in the Santa Clara-San Jose-Milpitas triangle, it will become a challenge. Go try the place yourself anyway.
+/Katsu is a killer spot that's brilliant because of the cute mascots, good food and having the bases for my good spot covered.
-/It could use a second low guilt/guilt free drink, and I twitch how I can't properly customize an item by adding an ingredient. read more