I love a good burger. I walk past the counter everyday on the way to my office and I've yet to try it. A coworker said the same thing, so we made plans to give the Counter a tray.
The Counter is a West Coast chain of Build your own Burger Shops. Located on Times Square. The space is an open air modern industrial design. There are floor to ceiling windows so you sort of feel as if you're in a fishbowl, since it's in a high traffic tourist area.
We arrive at the Counter at 12:20pm. It's packed to the gills. We check in and are told it will be about 15 minutes, but we can sit at the bar right now. We opt to wait for a table. While waiting we notice this location is doing a brisk take out business. You can order online and schedule a time to pickup your order.
Luckily, we didn't have to 15 minutes, we were seated in a 3 minutes. Our server comes over with a clipboard, being a first time customer, I thought she was handing me a job application, only to find out that you use this to build your burger.
It's a process. Although the menu states its a six step process, it feels like a 50 step process.
- You chose a protein, on a bun or as a salad.
- A type of cheese
- Four toppings
- A Sauce
- A bun
Seems simple, but you need to choose the size of your protein, ⅓ lb., ⅔ lb. or 1 lb. Then you have to select a cheese, four toppings and a sauce from several options. It's too much.
After filling out my tax return, er, order, I commented this is like the Fruddruckers chain on steroids. Too many options if you're indecisive like me. Luckily there are some pre selected signature burgers.
It was quite a busy day and our server wasn't very attentive. It took 15 minutes to get our servers attention.
Once our orders are in, the sides came out first. We ordered the onion rings and the "Fifty-Fifty" - Fries & Sweet Fries.
The sweet potato fries were much better than the regular fries. The onion rings were spot on. The accompanying sauces were delicious.
20 minutes goes by....and no burgers.
25 minutes later our burgers show up.
@vonti_Victorius order a ⅓ lb burger, with coleslaw, bacon, american cheese and avocado with chipolte aioli sauce. I order the ⅓ lb. burger, with grilled onions, bacon, pickles, lettuce, mayo and steak sauce. We both chose multi grain buns.
The burger was cooked as ordered but bland, thank goodness for the sauce. We didn't try any drinks or deserts but they "looked" tasty.
Overall for a $9 hamburger I was underwhelmed. The sides were the best thing I ate. In a city like NY this is just a marginal burger joint. The service was unbalanced and there were long waits in between ordering and receiving food. I'm sure it's busy based on its location.
I'll give it another try.
The Counter
1451 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 997-6801
No comments:
Post a Comment