What's a Moo Moo?

I never thought that I could find myself exploring the local flavors of an unknown town or city. But if you're looking at the prospect of totally missing dinner because everything would be closing for the night very soon, then there aren't too many options. This brings us to a town called Lodi in California.

We were coming from an all-day volleyball tournament at the nearby town of Galt, and it was running pretty late (That experience deserves a separate post). Finding a place to eat somewhere closer to home would be next to impossible because everyone sleeps early in our neck of the woods (including weekends) and doors close at 9pm. For those not familiar with Galt, this town is about 88 miles north of Fremont, south of Sacramento. And there's nothing interesting there either.

Using the reliable Yelp, our team parent found a non-fast food burger joint in Lodi, some 11 miles south, which was open till 9pm. As we neared the place, I was a bit concerned as we turned into a fairly long residential street. The next thing we knew, we were in downtown Lodi -- right along the main drag. The establishment is called Moo Moo Burger Barn. It's fairly small and narrow, with glass windows along its facade. If you aren't looking hard enough, you will miss it, as we did, because the sign was quite small, too.

Looking at the menu, you would need a few minutes to go over the various types of burgers they offered. Descriptions are short and crisp, but you'd still need sometime to figure out what you want. Typical sides, such as fries, onion rings, and jalapeno poppers, where aplenty. If burgers aren't your cup of tea, they offered other kinds of sandwiches as well. There are salads, too. And their milk shakes are sinfully delicious. But what struck me the most were their prices. I didn't see any burger that was more than $6.00.

I had the Ole' Moo, with Pepper Jack cheese, bacon, green chile, grilled red onions, and their Moo sauce. My son had a Classic Moo (your traditional burger with the usual fixings), while my wife had the BMS Moo, which had bacon, Swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, tomato, red onions, and their Moo sauce, plus a rich-flavored chocolate milk shake on the side. We also shared a basket of beer battered fries and onion rings. Everything was great. Burgers were fantastic, especially for the price. It was a steal.

Unfortunately, I was only able to take one picture. I guess we were all so hungry and tired that, as soon as the food came, we all just jumped in and started eating. We stayed way past the joint's closing time, but they were gracious enough to let us stay till we were all ready to go.

If you ever find yourself in Lodi or Stockton (where their 2 other locations are) or anywhere close by, on any of your trips, do stop by Moo Moo Burger Barn. I certainly will.

Author's Note:  Moo Moo Burger Barn is located at 113 N School Street, Lodi, CA 95240, at 10940 Trinity Parkway, Stockton, CA 95219, and at 222 N El Dorado Street, Suite H, Stockton, CA 95202.