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Burger Joint, An Upscale Maryland Hamburger Chain - Founder Mark Bucher No Longer Directly Involved With The Business


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I think crossfire is pretty lame. I have been in there maybe 1/2 dozen times (my office is across the street and it is quick because they are ALWAYS empty even at peak lunch rush). Their patties are preformed and they remind me of hockey pucks. I would call them a five guys wannabee rather than a clone.

I would love to get a great burger place by my office.

I wonder how it will compare with Crossfire which is the other burger place in the area. Crossfire is pretty much a 5 guys clone for what it's worth.
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That is the correct website..

If the burgers are half as good as the above makes them sound, I'll be there when they open. As much as I like Urban Burger, I prefer a "cooked over an open fire" char flavor.

The Cuban sounds REALLY good. And "The 9 Pounder"? Seriously?!? No wonder it's free if you can finish in one sitting. Kobayashi and his cohorts are probably the only ones who could do it.

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Has anyone heard about "Burger Joint" in Bethesda.
Walked over at lunch today and all of the windows were covered with brown paper so could not see how close to opening they are.

On there window is and ABC notice for on site beer/wine with a hearing date of May 1st. Would this be any indication of opening date or one thing has nothing to do with the other?

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The neon burger on the website, logo, and deli sandwich wrapper reminds me a lot of the Burger Joint in the Parker Meridian hotel in Manhattan, which is my favorite place to get a burger (great burger + great fries + laid back atmosphere = win). The little neon burger behind the curtain in the lobby of the hotel is the only signage, but it beckons you to burger heaven.

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NOW OPEN!

They opened today - Saw they had a nice line and they seemed at least from a distance to be suffering from some first day working out the kinks. Had the girls so did not stop..

Their burgers start at $8?????

Am I missing something - At that price they better be damn good (and only one chance to get it right). - Will check it out for lunch during the week.

Posting under Bethesda Lunch Group - Let's try it Monday!

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I went there last night. Fantastic burgers, fries, buns, etc. I believe their buns are fresh baked. Their sweet potato fries were excellent. One of my picky kids even ate them up.

$8 might be on the higher end for a burger, but I assume their target market (Mont. County) is willing to pay $2 or $3 more for a good meal vs. a mediocre meal?!?! Matter of fact, sounds like a bargain to me...

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$8 might be on the higher end for a burger, but I assume their target market (Mont. County) is willing to pay $2 or $3 more for a good meal vs. a mediocre meal?!?! Matter of fact, sounds like a bargain to me...

I am sure there are plenty of people in MoCo, especially in Bethesda, happy to overpay for even mediocre food. A quick glance at the long-time established places makes that clear.

However, 10 minutes up the road at Urban Burger in Rockville, great burgers start at $5. Are the burgers at Burger Joint that much better?

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I am sure there are plenty of people in MoCo, especially in Bethesda, happy to overpay for even mediocre food. A quick glance at the long-time established places makes that clear.

However, 10 minutes up the road at Urban Burger in Rockville, great burgers start at $5. Are the burgers at Burger Joint that much better?

"Overpay"? I didn't say the food was mediocre. I specifically said it was good.

Anyone who is going to drive out of their way 10 minutes (it's really 15 minutes to Urban Burger from Bethesda, btw- not to mention that gas and wear and tear on your car) to save $3 when the food may/may not be better is penny wise and dollar dumb. We're not talking about a tasting menu here that's $120 vs. ordering off the menu for $70- we're talking about $5 vs. $8- and, as I stated, the product is better. My time (and gas and wear and tear on my car) is worth more than $18 per hour, even if all things are equal (which they aren't in this case).

I think the best BARGAINS at Houston's and Black's are the burgers. And I'm pretty sure their burgers are $8+...

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We we in tonight, as well. I had a cheeseburger with traditiional toppings--LTO--and had them hold the special sauce. Geri had a veggie burger, and we split an order of onion rings.

Verdict? OK, but not as good as Urban. I was hoping that the cooking over a flame would give the burger some char, but if there was any, I didn't taste it. So given the more interesting toppings, cheaper prices, and better onion rings, I throw my vote to Urban.

Funny thing happened while we were eating. An older gentleman came in and, after reading the menu, asked us if the prices were on the level. "Who pays eight dollars for a hamburger?" I didn't know whether to apologize or feel offended.....

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Nick didn't finish working on his car until 9 or so this evening, which meant we were in Bethesda and tired and had to figure out where we wanted dinner. We'd vaguely thought about hitting up The Diner, but we had two cars and I only have one parking space. Like we were going to find another parking space on the street in A/M on a clear Saturday night. I'd rather have a winning lottery ticket, thanks.

But considering The Diner and what we'd likely order reminded me about the Burger Joint. Of course, there were no hours nor a phone number on the website, but we were going to have to drive through 'thesda on our way home to DC anyway. Was worth a shot.

Found it on our second time around the block; it's on that wedge of land that breaks fairmont at woodmont. And they were open. Both of us ordered bacon cheeseburgers (one rare with tomato and onions, and one medium-rare with tomato). We also got one order of fries, a soda, and after some misdirection, a vanilla milkshake. Total for dinner: $30.

The burgers were... ok. Probably decent. I liked the flavour of the bacon, and they weren't overcooked, but they weren't exciting in any way. They also came with pickle on them, which was an unpleasant surprise, since I'm allergic to dill. Easily extracted though, as they were on the bottom of the bun, and thus not mired in cheese. The fries were possibly saltier than even Nick would have liked, which is saying something. (I usually have to rescue food I intend to steal from his over-salting ways.) The milkshake, once we got it was... light and frothily bland. Also it had gobs of whipped cream on it. My stomach is gurgling and reminding me that it really hadn't wanted such heavy food this evening.

Otoh, everyone was nice and friendly and seemed excited to be working there.

Interesting feature: there is a Purell foam dispenser by the door, above the fire extinguisher.

The proprietor is still futzing with the hours, but he thinks it'll be 11-11, and is considering being open until 2am Thurs-Sat.

phone number: 301-358-6137

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I don't have anything to add to K's review of the food. It was adequate, although, I'm honestly not sure that I'd want to walk past Tastee Diner to go there for a Burger. At least if Spanky is cooking, Tastee's burgers are pretty good. Also, they've committed the cardinal sin of putting the soda fountain behind the counter in a restaurant without table service. (Yes, it annoys me to have to get up, get around the line and ask for a refill. Much better if I can go straight over and take care of it myself.)

Aside from the food, I think they must have studied "Stuff White People Like" (http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/) or something similar when they came up with the ambiance. When we walked in, I was barely able to stop myself from laughing.

Edit: Actually, I do have one further comment on the food - my "rare" burger was medium at best. I'll probably give them one more shot in a few weeks, but I'm not thrilled as it stands.

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I was with the kids in Bethesda today at lunchtime, so I figured I had to drop in and give "BGR", as their logo says, a try.

My son and I both had the Bacon Cheeseburger, and my daughter Grilled Cheese.

The cheeseburger was decent, if unspectacular. They claim "all natural, hormone free, Certified Prime, aged beef, freshly ground and pattied." I am unbelievably skeptical of this claim - the patties seemed perfectly round and fairly dense, and not as flavorful as you would expect. That said, it was cooked perfectly to medium rare, and was a good burger, just not GREAT. My son's American cheese was expectedly bland, but my "Maytag Farms Blue Cheddar" was also surprisingly bland. The bacon was not crispy, and their style of serving chopped rather than sliced does not do the burger or bacon justice. Tomato was seasonably tasteless. The whole thing together was kind of greasy.

My daughter's Grilled Cheese was just a Cheeseburger hold the burger - same packaged sesame seed bun. Zero points for that one, especially since the sandwich was FIVE DOLLARS!

Fries were definitely frozen from a bag, but fried until crispy and well salted. One order was enough for 3 small servings.

A Double Chocolate shake was thick enough, but tasted strongly of Hershey's Syrup.

They were about half full when we got there at 12:30, but quite a bit busier about 15 minutes later. The scene behind the counter was a little chaotic, and the manager snapped at the line staff a little too loudly, but they seemed to be reasonably on top of things, and the orders came out reasonably quickly. I also question the decision to put the soda fountain behind the counter - they had a staffer who just does sodas, which seems silly. The kitchen is also just prep - the grill is actually in the counter area. If they get a grease fire, that dining room will be smoky in 10 seconds flat, and it causes a bit too much dancing in the register area as staffers zoom back and forth - I think there were 5 or 6 people moving around in an area that was less than 20 feet long and 10 feet deep.

At $30 for lunch for 3 (before tax and tip), it's not outrageously priced, but it's not a bargain either. If I was craving a quick burger in Bethesda, I'd probably go back, but it's not worth going out of your way for. And if you're on the Pike north of Bethesda, heading north to Rockville and Urban Burger is a much better (and somewhat cheaper) meal.

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No one else found this item for $79.99 worthy of note:

THE 9 POUNDER

Actual weight after bun and condiments, 15.4 pounds! Two heads of lettuce, 6 tomatoes, 2 red onions, 4 whole pickles and a river of our mojo, ketchup and mustard. Also comes with a bottle of Maalox. If you can eat it in one sitting it's free.

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Hi all Donrockwell bloggers. Im one of the owners and yes i must be honest, the crazy dude/manager "yelling" on the cookline over the weekend. Im glad we got through it. I'm also glad to see your honest unfiltered opinions on this site. You guys should start a professional "restaurant pre-open food testing service" because your comments are honestly spot on. So here's the honest facts and details surrounding our opening this past weekend. Never in a million years, could we have planned or anticipated for the incredible reception we got from the residents of the surrounding areas. Frankly we were overwhelmed, and again truthfully we ran out of food twice between Thursday at 6pm and Sunday by 9pm. So indeed, we had to substitute a bagged fry on Saturday and Sunday morning, until our potatoes fully soaked overnight, so I forget who caught that but indeed it was true for a few hours this weekend, over salty also true, based on who we had "learning the fry station. It's a tough station as fries ar dropped in the fryer to order. Hopefully we get points for no "fast food" fry holding station where they sit under heat lamps. you'll never see that here. As for the burger meat, indeed it is certified angus, prime , dryaged ( the time period a secret, sorry);) and freshly ground and pattied daily. It is processed for us in Baltimore at a Glatt Kosher processing house " that was just a coincidence", but we were impressed with the committment to cleanliness and the humane standards. The buns are delivered warm, every morning by a great french baker in DC. As for the char taste, thats a tough one, it couldnt bee clearer that we use a char grill, i think burgers are like coke and pepsi, some like one way and not the other, and when is it too much. Now to talk about the "doneness" scale. My intention was to cook burgers to temperature as all purists will know the only way to enjoy a fresh burger is medium rare. with a room temperature sun ripened tomato. Unfortunatley 99.9999999 percent of our customers were groseed out by ordering a fresh medium burger and seeing pink inside. I'm guessing we got back 50 burgers on friday and saturday, with folks saying they were undercooked, when I tell you they were spot on.So i guess we can thank the chains for training the general public to now enjoy burgers cooked well done! Identify yourself to us, and let us know that you "for real" want a true medium or medium rare burger and you will love it.

As for pricing, we have woodmont grill (houstons) up the street at 14 bucks, blacks at 15 for a bacon cheeseburger Incl a small portion of fries, plus tip on both of them. Tastee Diner is up the block ans they are about 5 bucks, they have also been there for a gazillion years and own their land and bldg, so they have no rent. Dont blame us for the burger prices, blame the landlords, and the suppliers, for making it very very very hard to make money in the restaurant business. Here are the facts, wholesale prime beef is a fortune, and we dont and never will use fillers, like soy. i bet none of you know that there are two local popular burger stores. that add soy to their patties, to cut down the cost, ( you can never tell) by eating it, but its dishonest in our book) you see some chains hold their price point at say 5 bucks, and when the price of beef goes up they simply up the soy, not the price. its absolutely 100% true. As for the "cardinal sin" of putting the soda behind the counter, we offer free refills, and even cherry and vanilla flavoring, problem is we are on a publc park,and it was cokes suggestion, as it hopefully will cut back on line jumpers trying to fill their starbucks cup with lemonade.

Lastly, I actually remember one of you in, after the car repair story. I remember asking you if things were good with your meal, next time you come in, know we are Don Rocks fans < and really lay on the criticism, or the praise, when your here. We are really working to be the absolute best at what we do and remain true to burger purists around the area. Lastly, as for the place being "white enough" there's Jimmy Hendrix and Prince on the wall, cmon dude.... :)

So next time you're in ask for Nate or Mark, and we'll make sure it's perfect. life's too short to have an average burger......

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I was in tonight, watched things being cooked for several minutes, and left without ordering.

As for the burger meat, indeed it is certified angus, prime , dryaged ( the time period a secret, sorry);) and freshly ground and pattied daily. It is processed for us in Baltimore at a Glatt Kosher processing house " that was just a coincidence", but we were impressed with the committment to cleanliness and the humane standards. The buns are delivered warm, every morning by a great french baker in DC.

This detailed response is humbling. In all honesty, the reason I left without ordering is because (as DanielK said in this post), the patties looked so perfectly round and dense that I was under the impression they were machine-formed and frozen (are they?). One of the things that impressed me about the buns is that they're apparently delivered uncut - one of the cooks took a matrix-full of them, and sliced them before my eyes.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, and I very much look forward to coming back - maybe in a couple of weeks when you've come up for air - and enjoying a burger, cooked to a "for real" medium, with a side of fries made from fully soaked, fresh-cut potatoes.

Cheers,

Rocks.

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This detailed response is humbling. In all honesty, the reason I left without ordering is because (as DanielK said in this post), the patties looked so perfectly round and dense that I was under the impression they were machine-formed and frozen (are they?). One of the things that impressed me about the buns is that they're apparently delivered uncut - one of the cooks took a matrix-full of them, and sliced them before my eyes.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, and I very much look forward to coming back - maybe in a couple of weeks when you've come up for air - and enjoying a burger, cooked to a "for real" medium, with a side of fries made from fully soaked, fresh-cut potatoes.

Cheers,

Rocks.

It's very interesting, when you come in i can show you in person a few interesting burger things. when the patties are hand formed and char grilled, ( the flat top method of cooking allows the cook to "press" down the patttie as it cooks to get a good meat spread" for a char grill we cant press " it's be a cardinal sin to squeeze the goodness out"" so the result is they "puck up". visualize a pattie, that is 1.5 inches in the center and very thin around the edges, makes for a hard burger to eat. This only happens with super fresh ground beef. so our processor ( recently, like in the last 4 weeks) worked with us to develop a new pattie system, that actually makes the patties vertically, meaning the beef is never "pressed" into a pattie, it merely gently falls into a ring then is cut horizontally. ( we applied to patent the system) all patties are hours fresh, never cryovacked or frozen. And yes the buns come in un cut, and we cut them all , one at a time. Trust me the temptation is to have them pre cut, ( which would mean they'd have to have a preservative added), but we will stay true to the promise of hand crafted all away around our place. Point in fact, tomatoes are another issue. everyone in the world wants to sell us a tomato slicer that will slice a tomato into wafer thin slices, like you'd see in a prison food line, we ripen every tomato in our place and hand slice them. each and every one of them. I cant look at a tomato the same way again. ask for mark or nate when you're in. well make sure is exactly right.

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mark-

thanks for your detailed replies! As for not commenting at the time- our energy levels fell rapidly and you were wrapped up in something at the time we finished, so we deemed it prudent to go home and get some sleep ;-)

best of luck in everything!

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mark-

thanks for your detailed replies! As for not commenting at the time- our energy levels fell rapidly and you were wrapped up in something at the time we finished, so we deemed it prudent to go home and get some sleep ;-)

best of luck in everything!

Im kind of new to this DR thing. BUT YOU GUYS ROCK! (that should be your slogan). I cant believe how many of you came in today, identified yourselves, and we had great chats. I think about 40 folks came in and simply stated "Don Rocks" to me. It was awesome@! Im in this biz because I enjoy people, and making people smile. You guys are awesome! I look forward to meeting more of you!

YOU GUYS ROCK!

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So, I wandered in this afternoon to give the Burger Joint a second shot.

I forgot to mention that "I'm from the internet and I'm here to help you," so there was a little confusion about the definition of "rare," but that was sorted out quickly. The net result was completely different from what K and I had late Saturday night. The burger was juicy and tasty (although I still wish the bacon was a bit crispier), and the fries were completely different. I guess we got the bagged emergency fries Saturday evening.

I have this sneaking suspicion that they're using lower fat content meat than most places do, and as a result the burgers suffer more when they're overcooked. All in all, I'll definitely be back every now and then and I'm well pleased to see another good option for lunch and/or a fast dinner in Bethesda.

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I walked in today right when they opened at 11 AM and walked out very satisfied with my meal. Before I ordered, I mentioned that I was from DR as mbucher requested, though I generally try not to talk about DR in a restaurant unless it's in a quiet, conspiratorial tone (then I feel it's fair game). I ordered my burger medium rare with bacon, blue cheese, and sautéed red onions and it couldn't have been prepared better: Char-grilled on the outside and pink to red throughout the middle. The burger was very juicy, as my wet stainless steel platter could attest. My only quibble with the burger was that I thought the bun was too dense (and I mentioned that to the counter person when he asked about my thoughts). Palena has a big, high caloric bun, that stands up to its messy fillings without being overly firm. If I hadn't read on here that the buns are made and delivered fresh daily, I'd have thought it was stale. Otherwise, the burger is the best I've had in Bethesda, and I would even say [ducking] I liked it better than Colorado Kitchen's.

Before I run away from poison darts about to hurtle in my direction, I have to say that I'm not a real fan of the fries here, but that's b/c of my own strong personal preference for thin, crispy fries. These are like thicker steak fries. Personal preference, I know, but I try to avoid ordering fries unless they're so phenomenal I'm impelled beyond my will power. These don't do it.

Otherwise, a very good lunch and I will be back.

Pax,
Brian

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Hi everyone,

I just wanted to report back on my first visit to Burger Joint last night. My sister and I walked over there for a burger and fries and we were not disappointed. the burgers were juicy and well cooked and I loved the char flavor of an actual grilled burger. and the buns were wonderful as well. when is the last time you saw a burger place actually cutting all the buns?

but the fries... now I rate fries on the worth the calories or not worth the calories scale. These were most definitely worth it. they tasted like Belgian fries- thick cut and fried twice. they were fabulous.

I know this sounds like an unequivocal rave- but I am just so happy that this place opened in my neighborhood. We have so much mediocrity and expensive eats- I'm excited to be able to walk down the street and get a great burger and fries and not be walking into a steakhouse.

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Before I run away from poison darts about to hurtle in my direction, I have to say that I'm not a real fan of the fries here, but that's b/c of my own strong personal preference for thin, crispy fries. These are like thicker steak fries. Personal preference, I know, but I try to avoid ordering fries unless they're so phenomenal I'm impelled beyond my will power. These don't do it.

I am generally a fan of thin, crispy fries as well but thoroughly enjoyed the ones here. They reminded me of the Blue Duck Tavern version and were every bit as good but at a small fraction of the price and in a much larger portion.

The burger was pretty good. The quality of ingredients is certainly evident, and my medium-rare version with blue cheese was appropriately pink. But I thought the meat needed more salt/spice. It's probably slightly better than Urban Burger but still not nearly as good as Palena or Colorado Kitchen.

My sister raved about her shake but would not order the sliders again -- apart from the excessive bread-to-meat ratio, she said that because the patties here were much thinner than the regular burgers, they were prone to being overcooked.

Next time, I will try the Cuban version.

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Read this thread yesterday, and couldn't wait to try it.

My wife had a stressful day at work, and hamburger/fries is a favorite comfort meal, so I suggested it.

We each ordered the regular burger, one with fries, the other with sweet potato fries. The burgers had a great grilled flavor,

and were sloppy fun to eat. Definitely very pink in the middle, which I like, but can understand why people may be put off.

Fries were great too - crispy outside, soft inside, good potato flavor. Also liked the chocolate milk shake.

The only negative was that he music was very loud.

Nick.

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Last night, boyfriend and I tried out Burger Joint--it's in a FANTASTIC location, facing Veterans Park (which means lots of great outdoor seating). We got there at about ten to six, and we were the only customers in line (but not for long). I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, medium rare, with pepper jack cheese and fries. Boyfriend got the Cuban burger with onion rings. We both got sodas, as I couldn't convince him to split a shake with me. Boo! Everyone behind the counter was very upbeat and friendly.

We ordered at 5:57 and were given #2148. As the minutes ticked by, we heard numbers 2149, 50, 51, 52, etc. At 6:17, when I heard #2153 being called, I approached the counter and inquired as to the status of our order. Apparently, our ticket had been lost--I worked in "the biz" for many years, and that kind of stuff happens quite frequently, so when the grill cook apologized very sincerely and said he'd have our food to us as quickly as possible, I returned to my seat and awaited the deliciousness. No worries!

Well, not long after I sat back down, the manager came over to our table. I was expecting a reiteration of the apology and nothing more. Instead, he said, "So, what's the deal here?" and asked us what we had ordered (the grill cook had already started working on our order, so the question seemed strange to me). The manager walked away while I was in the middle of a sentence, came back with our food, and slammed two brownies on the table, indicating that they were on him. No one approached our table again for the remainder of our time there.

The food was EXCELLENT--our burgers were perfectly cooked, and I really enjoyed the amount of char taste that was present. The bacon was whole (not chopped, as referred to earlier in this thread) and quite flavorful, and the bun was substantial enough to handle the meat and toppings without being overly dense. The lettuce, tomato, and onion all tasted fresh, and I really enjoyed the "mojo" sauce. Boyfriend loved his burger as well, and his first comment was, "Wow, I can really taste the quality of the ingredients." The onion rings were good but not great (a little greasy for my taste, but definitely hot and fresh), but the fries were outstanding--the double-frying makes it so that they can be thicker cut AND crispy, and the soaking of the potatoes really enhances the taste. All around, I found that the quality and quantity of the food were very much in line with the prices.

So why did I leave with a bad taste in my mouth (so to speak)? I just couldn't shake the annoyance that came with the manager's handling of the situation. I didn't want anything to be comped (after all, we ate a lot of food, and it was gooooooood), I didn't want brownies, and I certainly didn't want my rear end to be kissed all evening--I just wanted a sincere apology for the mix-up and some indication that my repeat business would be appreciated. To be honest, it probably would have been better if the manager hadn't approached our table at all.

Again, the food was wonderful--but customer service is an important aspect of the dining experience, especially as the price point increases. I hope that Burger Joint works hard to keep the quality of its staff in line with the quality of its product.

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Something doesn't add up here - the manager went out of his way to talk to you directly after seeing you'd been waiting for a while, dashes off to get the food you'd been waiting for and brings it to you HIMSELF, and comps a couple of brownies, and this is considered a bad thing???

Unfortunately, I can't say "where I'm from, that's considered good service!" because I'm from Bethesda, but I will say that I'd say you walked outta there with a pretty good example of an establishment trying to do right by their customers.

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Something doesn't add up here - the manager went out of his way to talk to you directly after seeing you'd been waiting for a while, dashes off to get the food you'd been waiting for and brings it to you HIMSELF, and comps a couple of brownies, and this is considered a bad thing???

Unfortunately, I can't say "where I'm from, that's considered good service!" because I'm from Bethesda, but I will say that I'd say you walked outta there with a pretty good example of an establishment trying to do right by their customers.

1) The manager didn't see that we'd been waiting for a while--I went up to the counter after 20 minutes and inquired about our food, and then one of the cooks yelled for the manager to come over and comp our meal (which I'm glad he didn't do). They responded to my complaint, but it certainly wasn't as proactive as your comment suggests. And, in my original post, my problem wasn't that they didn't anticipate the problem or read my mind--my issue stemmed from the dose of attitude we were given with the manager's response.

2) I definitely agree that a personal visit and some free brownies are both nice gestures. As I already mentioned, I didn't want anything for free. I was simply expecting a sincere comment, such as an apology for the mistake or a "we hope you come back and see us" sort of thing. Instead, we got an annoyed "So, what's the deal here?" (which seemed strange because he had JUST spoken to his staff and had been apprised of the problem) and a "These are on me" as he threw two brownies on the table. It was like he couldn't get away fast enough.

I get that he was trying to do right--the delivery just missed the mark with me, that's all, and it affected my experience enough for me to mention it. If my post came off as too whiny or critical, that wasn't my intention--I really did love the food, and I would recommend Burger Joint to others.

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1) The manager didn't see that we'd been waiting for a while--I went up to the counter after 20 minutes and inquired about our food, and then one of the cooks yelled for the manager to come over and comp our meal (which I'm glad he didn't do). They responded to my complaint, but it certainly wasn't as proactive as your comment suggests. And, in my original post, my problem wasn't that they didn't anticipate the problem or read my mind--my issue stemmed from the dose of attitude we were given with the manager's response.

2) I definitely agree that a personal visit and some free brownies are both nice gestures. As I already mentioned, I didn't want anything for free. I was simply expecting a sincere comment, such as an apology for the mistake or a "we hope you come back and see us" sort of thing. Instead, we got an annoyed "So, what's the deal here?" (which seemed strange because he had JUST spoken to his staff and had been apprised of the problem) and a "These are on me" as he threw two brownies on the table. It was like he couldn't get away fast enough.

I get that he was trying to do right--the delivery just missed the mark with me, that's all, and it affected my experience enough for me to mention it. If my post came off as too whiny or critical, that wasn't my intention--I really did love the food, and I would recommend Burger Joint to others.

hi guys, its mark, the founder.... ugggh, these things keep me up at night. I dream of tickets printed in numerical sequence, and then one goes missing....... im so sorry for that experience. I cant promise it'll never happen again, but I can promise the approach will be gentler. On the other hand Im soooo glad you enjoyed the food and as you can see, the comments on these posts do have an impact, we switched the bacon presentation, to the strips instead of the chopped, im pysc'd you dig the fries. I cant tell you how backbreaking it is to prepare them, everyone in the world thinks we are crazy, but my committment to quality is unyielding. As a matter of fact I sent back 9 cases of tomatoes today, because they were "mealy" the produce rep told me that they are "good enough" for a certain high end hotel in town, I said god they can have them all! ;) next time ask for me! thx Mark

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hi guys, its mark, the founder.... ugggh, these things keep me up at night. I dream of tickets printed in numerical sequence, and then one goes missing....... im so sorry for that experience. I cant promise it'll never happen again, but I can promise the approach will be gentler. On the other hand Im soooo glad you enjoyed the food and as you can see, the comments on these posts do have an impact, we switched the bacon presentation, to the strips instead of the chopped, im pysc'd you dig the fries. I cant tell you how backbreaking it is to prepare them, everyone in the world thinks we are crazy, but my committment to quality is unyielding. As a matter of fact I sent back 9 cases of tomatoes today, because they were "mealy" the produce rep told me that they are "good enough" for a certain high end hotel in town, I said god they can have them all! ;) next time ask for me! thx Mark

Thanks for the response--you could really taste all of that work in the fries, so I'm not surprised to hear you call the process "backbreaking"! I never tasted the chopped bacon, but the strips were great and I'm glad to read that customer comments make a difference in your business. Best of luck!

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Love the burgers, fries, shakes and all...really looking forward to the lobster burger. A killer location! A great addition to Bethesda, now its time to take over the closed Pumpernickles in Kensington and start the franchise game, which my sense says the owners have some experience with ;)

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Unfortunately I must report a poor experience at this establishment (5/26, 7 pm or so). Once my friend and I ordered we waited for a good while until his order came up. Unfortunately my burger order had disappeared into the ether and I had to wait further until my burger was done--not too long, I must add.

Once we got down to business, my friend thought his burger tasted odd, and it turned out that they had put pickles on it despite his specific request that only lettuce and mayo should be on the burger. He was also a little disconcerted when the garlic fries had garlic powder poured on them instead of something more creative (my interpretation).

My burger was ok and my plain fries were fine. I wanted to point out the problems to the folks up front but they looked so busy--I counted 7 orders up--that I didn't feel like interrupting them.

My friend probably won't be back, but I'm going to give them another chance 'cause they sound dedicated to their craft here on DR.

rob t.

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Unfortunately I must report a poor experience at this establishment (5/26, 7 pm or so). Once my friend and I ordered we waited for a good while until his order came up. Unfortunately my burger order had disappeared into the ether and I had to wait further until my burger was done--not too long, I must add.

Once we got down to business, my friend thought his burger tasted odd, and it turned out that they had put pickles on it despite his specific request that only lettuce and mayo should be on the burger. He was also a little disconcerted when the garlic fries had garlic powder poured on them instead of something more creative (my interpretation).

My burger was ok and my plain fries were fine. I wanted to point out the problems to the folks up front but they looked so busy--I counted 7 orders up--that I didn't feel like interrupting them.

My friend probably won't be back, but I'm going to give them another chance 'cause they sound dedicated to their craft here on DR.

rob t.

Rob, come see me next time, this was the first night I took off and we got buried. I appreciate the comments, and we'll make it right by you! THX Mark

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I visited Sunday afternoon with my daughter - a major critic - and we both had perfectly cooked, medium rare, well seasoned, delicious burgers. For the quality burger I had I have no problem paying $7.50 - 8.00. I look forward to returning often.

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I visited Sunday afternoon with my daughter - a major critic - and we both had perfectly cooked, medium rare, well seasoned, delicious burgers. For the quality burger I had I have no problem paying $7.50 - 8.00. I look forward to returning often.

We went last weekend and my burger was even better than the last time, including the bun being much softer. Luckily both times I've gone the environment was rather calm, which certainly helps attention to detail. I'll keep going back.

Pax,

Brian

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