· 2 min read

California at Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers (Shattuck)

Beef patty, grilled ortega chili, bacon, jack cheese on Burger Bun. Sandwich Score 50, solid. At Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers (Shattuck), Berkeley.

A burger at Barney's Gourmet Hamburgers (Shattuck), a sandwich shop in Berkeley, California.

Burger BunMonterey JackBaconPepper (bell/hot)BeefBurger Bun
50
Sandwich Score
out of 100 · solid

Solid, with one move worth +14.

Uncharted, three of six roles, few layers have a partner.

Holding the summit: a finished composition

Balance
65
Harmony
69
Contrast
60
Structure
88
Focus
100
Composition
30
Quality
100
Envelope
100

Each bar is one pillar of the score, 0 to 100. The tick marks what a sandwich at the summit needs; an amber bar is the one holding this sandwich back.

Burger Bun (bread not stated on the menu), toasted: beef patty; grilled ortega chili; bacon; jack cheese.

Balance

salt1.7 · 79thacid0.1 · 24thfat2.8 · 73rdsweet0.3 · 44thumami2.1 · 80thheat0.2 · 70thbitter0.1 · 42nd
Flavor axes
AxisValueCatalog percentile
salt1.779th
acid0.124th
fat2.873rd
sweet0.344th
umami2.180th
heat0.270th
bitter0.142nd

71 Balance, out of 100

The seven flavor axes of the whole sandwich, each summed across its layers. The shaded ring is the catalog's middle 80%; the small number under each axis is where this sandwich falls in the catalog. A shape that sits inside the ring is in the range most sandwiches live in; a spike past it is where this one stands apart.

What each layer brings

LayerRoleFlavor and texturePoints
Burger Bunbreadsweet 2 soft springythe frame
beef pattyscored as Beefproteinfat 3 umami 3 juicy chewy tender−2
grilled ortega chiliscored as Pepper (bell/hot)textureheat 3 crunchy juicy+2
baconproteinfat 4 salt 3 umami 3 crispy chewy−2
jack cheesescored as Monterey Jackproteinfat 3 salt 2 umami 2 soft creamy melty0

Points: what the Sandwich Score would lose if that one layer were left out, everything else the same. A negative number means the sandwich scores higher without it. Flavor runs 0 to 5 on each axis.

Build this sandwich

Load its stack into the Sandwich Builder. Swap a layer, watch the score move.

Open in the builder

Read next