Bike Trip to Grateful's at Suma Beach

This past summer, my wife and I got really into taking long bike rides, particularly to the beach. There’s a beach about a half-hour’s ride from us (making an hour round-trip), and another that’s a little more than an hour away (making 2-2.5 hours round-trip). Now that I’m FULLY VAXED, TAXED, and READY TO WAX, we went out this Saturday to the closer beach, in an area called Suma. The weather was delicious.

There’s a nice little path that goes the entire length of the beach, and we saw many doggies and some chumps learning to windsurf. There was also a farmer’s market that day where people were selling coffee, beer, curry, squash, aaaaaaand some other stuff I don’t remember we didn’t take pictures of that.

At the end of the beach, where one must turn around because the path ends, there’s a burger joint that I’d always wanted to visit but never had. Since we were having Gregg & Eriko’s Fun Day Full Of Drugs And Murder, we decided to give it a go.

This is Grateful’s. Note the spelling: it’s apparently owned by someone named Grateful-san. It’s the type of place where you order at the counter and receive a little buzzer that tells you when to get your food, and then you can either sit on the luxurious couches inside downstairs, or go up to the second level where you can sit outside and look at the water. We opted for this second option, sitting on comfy cushions at a long empty table next to a tiki bar that apparently just has Malibu rum and some sort of gross yogurt-based alcoholic drink.

Grateful’s has a wide selection, including Hawaiian donut sandwiches in the morning, pizza at night, and both coffee and alcoholic beverages. I almost considered getting ribs, or steak, or Hawaiian loco moco, but couldn’t pass up the chance to get a burger. Eriko went with an apple sandwich and an orange soda ice cream float. I went with just a regular cheeseburger, though they have many kinds, including one with pineapple and some giant monstrosities with several patties and bacon. There’s even a habanero fish sandwich that sounded pretty good. I also got the “set” meal, which included fries, a salad, and a drink (I opted for orange juice because I’m health-conscious).

Now, as for this food: OH MY was it delicious. I realize that due to the pandemic, it’s been at least 18 months and probably much longer since I last had a burger that wasn’t gluttonous fast food, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I ate a burger this good. Everything was in the proper proportion, properly seasoned, properly delicious. The bun was sturdy enough to keep my fingers dry. The fries were crispy and covered in a seasoning that I believe is called “when the school cafeteria got seasoned curly fries remember that.” Even the salad dressing was delicious, and the orange juice wasn’t watered down.

Eriko’s sandwich was in a similar bun as mine and had sliced apple, cheese, honey, nuts and cinnamon. Again: absolutely great. Sweet and light and just the right amount of everything. Her float had good ice cream, and though I usually prefer root bear for my floats, Eriko seemed to enjoy it since I turned to look away for half a second and turned back and it was all gone.

All in all, we were very pleasantly surprised by Grateful’s. I would eat there again in a heartbeat. If you’re ever in the Kobe area during the warm weather months and want to relax, head to Suma Beach and enjoy a meal on the balcony at Grateful’s. Just be sure to get there before the crowd, because it’s a popular place!