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Z-Burger, Tenleytown, Glover Park, and White Marsh - Hamburger Mini-Chain Now in Three Locations


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This morning I walked by the place (that has been under renovation for some time) across from the Tenley Mini Market and was heartened to see a sign up for a new place called 'Sandwish' (motto: your wish is our command).

Anybody have any info on this place? It looks like the kitchen and dining area are installed, so they might not be too far away from opening.

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My sandwish is that I can get something in Washington DC that is as good as what they're putting out at Salumi in Seattle, Sarge's or Katz's in NYC, John's in Philly, or even Perry's in Chicago.

I still don't understand what is holding this town back from having multiple great sandwich places.

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My sandwish is that I can get something in Washington DC that is as good as what they're putting out at Salumi in Seattle, Sarge's or Katz's in NYC, John's in Philly, or even Perry's in Chicago.

I still don't understand what is holding this town back from having multiple great sandwich places.

My sandwish is for a good New Orleans muffaletta, with the right muffaletta bread; and then for a drippy roast beef po boy (respect to Acadiana - I just want a divey place), DRESSED.
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I still don't understand what is holding this town back from having multiple great sandwich places.
In a word, BREAD. As Rocks likes to point out from time to time it really is not very good in DC. Sure there are (or were) a few decent examples, but none of those are really great sandwich bread.
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Walked by it today and there is also a place called ZBurger which is connected to it (they just put up that sign today). I am a bit confused because there are two separate signs and two separate counters for the same seating area, but having anything new in Tenleytown is good enough for me.

The guy that I talked to said that they hope to open in a few weeks, so it will either be in mid-April or December of 2009.

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Walked by it today and there is also a place called ZBurger which is connected to it (they just put up that sign today). I am a bit confused because there are two separate signs and two separate counters for the same seating area, but having anything new in Tenleytown is good enough for me.

The guy that I talked to said that they hope to open in a few weeks, so it will either be in mid-April or December of 2009.

Yeah, not sure what to think about the two signs--to me it looks like there will be a burger place with seating, and a sandwich counter for takeaway.

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Anyone tried this place? Or rather the main place - Z Burger? We drove past last night and they were definitely open with customers.

I drove by the other day and noticed Z Burger (how could you not?), but didn't notice Sandwish - are they one and the same?

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I drove by the other day and noticed Z Burger (how could you not?), but didn't notice Sandwish - are they one and the same?

Not sure if they're the same....but Sandwish is a little door off to the side - they had their signage up first, and then Z Burger sprouted all of a sudden.

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Not personal experience, but my daughter goes to school near Z Burger and said a lot of kids went yesterday for the opening, waited 45 minutes for the burgers and are not anxious to return. It will be important to make that high school and AU crowd happy to survive around there.

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Not personal experience, but my daughter goes to school near Z Burger and said a lot of kids went yesterday for the opening, waited 45 minutes for the burgers and are not anxious to return. It will be important to make that high school and AU crowd happy to survive around there.

We went for the first time last night and enjoyed it. Z Burger is clearly in the Five Guys lineage, from the (apparently) hand-cut French fries to the hand-formed patties, and the prices are very similar to Five Guys. Sandwish appears to be cut from the same cloth as Potbelly, with a single price for all sandwiches and a limited basic ingredient palette. Sandwish is not yet functioning, but Z Burger was going strong, with six people working behind the counter. For a Sunday night, they were doing a good business, but the wait for our food was very short (5-10 minutes, tops). Now that they've been open a few weeks, they may have worked out some of the kinks, as they seemed organized and efficient (and perhaps a bit brusk behind the cash register).

I had a single bacon burger with lettuce, tomato, pickle and mayo and it was good. The large fry is truly large and the fries were crispy on the outside and soft and flavorful within. We had the unseasoned fries and enjoyed them--our dining companions went with the seasoned fries and they were similar (but not the same, just to be clear) as those from Ollie's Trolley.

We also tried a chocolate shake and both of us thought that it was similar to what we would make at home, with vanilla ice cream and milk as the base and chocolate syrup as the flavoring. They have a list of about 50 different shake/malt flavors that they make, and while one wonders how they pack that many shake syrups into such a small area, or how long some of the more exotic flavor syrups may last on the shelf (peanut butter and jelly shake, anyone?), it has the effect of substantially broadening the menu to the point that Z Burger can almost function as an ice cream/dessert parlor.

Don, you may want to rename this thread after Z Burger, or combine the names to reflect the duality of this place. I'm looking forward to trying Sandwish once it opens, and based on our first visit to Z Burger, we will definitely be back.

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Where is this place exactly?

Wisconsin Avenue and Windom Place (?), just below Tenley Circle. Former location of a spas and pools shop.

I tried it yesterday afternoon, and was pretty pleased with my grilled cheese, fries, and black and white shake. Although the wait seemed interminable until the food came out, now that I think about it, it was probably about the 10 minutes that a previous poster mentioned. Now that I know what to expect, I'll be a little less impatient.

In any case, it was worth the wait-- I really really liked the french fries. Hot, crispy and even the regular was a generous portion for $1.99. But I doubt they would survive even a five minute trip to go - I took them out of the bag and ate them right there.

My grilled cheese was, well, a grilled cheese but it was big and cheap and gooey, perfect for a damp dismal Sunday afternoon.

Clearly they're knocking off both Five Guys for the burgers and Potbelly for the (yet to open) sandwich shop, but given the dearth of options in the neighborhood, I'm not complaining. The only minor complaint is that the food comes out piecemeal (shakes after 5 minutes, rest of the food 5 minutes later). I could also do without the music blasting at 100 decibels, but then again, I'm a fuddy duddy that way.

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Wisconsin Avenue and Windom Place (?), just below Tenley Circle. Former location of a spas and pools shop.

Former location of McDonald's, which moved to its current spot at Wisconsin and Van Ness when Roy Rodger's vacated. Big drawback of ZBurger location--no parking.

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Went to Z Burger yesterday for lunch, it was mildly busy around Noon, but they handled the crowds pretty well. I got my food within 5 minutes and was sitting outside right after I grabbed it from the counter. And, I am sure glad that it was a nice day and there was a table available outside, the volume of the music inside was DEAFENING! No joke, it was like a freakin concert in there, totally unnecessary.

Anyway, the burger was fine, not nearly as good as Five Guys, but good enough for me to return for lunch since Tenleytown is lacking in those venues. The fries I got, however, were pretty crappy. Soggy and cold, which makes no sense for a place that was pretty busy. I didn't have a shake yesterday, just wasn't hungry enough, but I heard some people around me chatting about it and mentioned that they tasted a bit "processed." Since they have 50 flavors, I am guessing that they don't have nearly that many types of ice cream, so I'm guessing that they are using some artificial flavoring from time to time.

Sandwish, as others have said, isn't open yet.

Here is my question...how can Z Burger and Sandwish get away with their blatant rip-off of Five Guys and Potbelly?

I am no legal expert, but the owner clearly saw that Five Guys and Potbelly were expanding and always crowded, so he just opened up clones of each place. Z Burger has the same menu as Five Guys. Z Burger does offer cheesesteaks as well, but the burger sizes, the hot dog options, the french fry options and sizes, and the toppings are essentially identical to Five Guys. I didn't compare the menus side by side, but the differences are minimal. On the other hand, I am pretty sure that Sandwish is even more of a blatant clone. All the sandwiches are the same, all the side dishes are the same, all the soups are the same, even the cookies (one big or twelve small oatmeal chocolate chip) are the same.

I am guessing that there is no trademark/patent/whatever for this type of stuff, but it kind of irks me that someone would do something like this. Just my two cents on the whole thing.

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I was in the nabe at lunchtime, and I found a parking place on one of the residential streets off of Tenley Circle. The place was hopping, but they had a big crew working, and seemed fairly efficient, given that the burgers were cooked to order. I waited less than ten minutes all together. No music playing. My fries were really good--very crisp and hot, right out of the fryer. A tad too salty for Veggie-teen's taste, but they worked for me. I liked the bacon cheeseburger--I mean all fast food burgers are cooked well-done, so I got what I expected. It was much better than Burger King or McDonald's. There was a lot of crisp bacon, lettuce and tomato. American cheese, of course. The bun was standard-issue, and it got gummy by the end of the burger, so I didn't eat all of the bread, but, so what? I got a butterscotch shake (?) Had a few sips and gave the rest to Veggie-teen. It tasted fine to me. I don't often drink milk shakes. It wasn't fabulous, but it wasn't bad. Behind the counter, they had a regular gallon of milk out, so they aren't using a commercial shake base like McDonald's and other chains do. I think it's the real deal, with flavored syrups added. Given the crowds in there, the lack of parking doesn't appear to be a barrier to success. We 'mericans sure do love our burgers and fries, was my thought.

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Went by today. Yeah, pretty much just like Five Guys. The onion rings and milkshake varieties seem to be a copy of Cheeburger, Cheeburger. The service was extremely friendly with the manager coming to check on us and paying a lot of attention to us. Though I think the lack of customers was probably why.

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Had a pretty good burger for lunch on July 4th. It was similar to Five Guys, but the 2 onion rings on the burger (you can request it for 75 cents extra) were crispy and good. Also, the chocolate peanut butter shake was excellent. The 50 or so kinds of shakes on the menu will probably be a bigger draw for me than the burgers. Hmm Hmm good.

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Had a pretty good burger for lunch on July 4th. It was similar to Five Guys, but the 2 onion rings on the burger (you can request it for 75 cents extra) were crispy and good. Also, the chocolate peanut butter shake was excellent. The 50 or so kinds of shakes on the menu will probably be a bigger draw for me than the burgers. Hmm Hmm good.

We've enjoyed it the three times we've gone--nothing spectacular, but we've had good burgers, okay onion rings, and good shakes. The service seems to have really picked up in tempo as well, even with a good crowd and a lot of business. I'm happy to see this place (apparently) thriving in a formerly derelict location in Tenleytown.

Last time we were there the guy working the cash register told me that they were planning on expanding to other locations within the District, but wow that seems premature at this point, and I took the news with a grain of salt.

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We've enjoyed it the three times we've gone--nothing spectacular, but we've had good burgers, okay onion rings, and good shakes. The service seems to have really picked up in tempo as well, even with a good crowd and a lot of business. I'm happy to see this place (apparently) thriving in a formerly derelict location in Tenleytown.

Last time we were there the guy working the cash register told me that they were planning on expanding to other locations within the District, but wow that seems premature at this point, and I took the news with a grain of salt.

Yeah, the burgers to me are okay, nothing great, similar to 5 Guys. But I do like their shakes and the 50 or so flavors of them.

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I found an ad on the floor at work today that said free burgers on April 2, I think from 5 to 7. Can't find the ad now, and they don't appear to have a website, so any other details can probably be found in the restaurants.

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I found an ad on the floor at work today that said free burgers on April 2, I think from 5 to 7. Can't find the ad now, and they don't appear to have a website, so any other details can probably be found in the restaurants.

The city paper had an ad for this on the cover of their issue last week. It says that it is all day and that no coupon is needed. At the bottom it says "code word: yowza".

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Stopped by and had a burger last weekend with my wife and daughter. Tasted like Wendy's. I like Wendy's compared to other fast food burgers, so this was an OK stop.

My expectations were low as we just were simply hungry and stopped there (on the way to Wagshal's) because we were starving. Everything was decent enough, but nothing to write home about.

I did get to watch some creepy guy on the patio very audibly (and visibly) vomit a few bites of his burger into his drink cup then continue eating, though. So I had that going for me....

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Grabbed a mid-afternoon lunch here yesterday (Tenleytown). It's hard for me to comment on the burger itself because it was so buried in condiments that I couldn't really taste the beef. Still, that has its own kind of weird satisfaction of just sticking a big pile of foodlike stuff in your mouth. Fries are okay, certainly better than Good Stuff's, and the regular portion is pretty hefty for $2.39. I didn't need to eat the rest of the day, but nothing here makes me want to rush back for a return visit.

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Had to run an errand in Tenley today. Had planned on stopping at 2Amys but my dining companion saw this place and wanted to go. The burger was decent -- better than typical fast food. The fries were a tale of two stories. The regular was an enormous portion. You could have fed a family of four for a week on the amount of fries they gave me. The regular cup was full and then there was more than another cup's worth in the bag. Which brings me to the two stories. The fries in the styrofoam cup quickly became a soggy, inedible mess. The overflow fries in the bag stayed crisp thanks to not steaming themselves and the having the bag to blot the oil. These were fabulous. Were I to return, I would order the fries just dumped in the bag and ask them to hold the cup.

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The regular cup was full and then there was more than another cup's worth in the bag. Which brings me to the two stories. The fries in the styrofoam cup quickly became a soggy, inedible mess. The overflow fries in the bag stayed crisp thanks to not steaming themselves and the having the bag to blot the oil. These were fabulous. Were I to return, I would order the fries just dumped in the bag and ask them to hold the cup.

I guess that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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Was driving up Wisconsin on the way to Sur La Table and saw Charlie's Angels parking in front of Z Burger. {Charlie's Angel's parking = a parking space at the front door with time on the meter!} so I stopped off for a burger: double with no cheese, raw onions, pickles, tomato & mustard. They had just been hit by a tour bus full of what looked like college students so they were understandably a little dishevelled. But I owould say that their system is a little strange with too much help on the burger making part and too little on the packing up part. By the time my burger got made it went straight fromt he grill mans spatula to my bun to a bag to me in about 30 seconds.

The burger itself far better tham my experinces at 5 Guys. For what I would call a hand crafted fast food burger, it was quite good except, and here is a big except! The darned thing did not have any salt & pepper on it. A good burger needs to be hit with S&P as it is hot and sizzling. They also only have salt and pepper in those impossible to use paper packets where the salt doesn't come out until it all falls out and covers a 1/3" diameter circle 1/16" thick. Can you PLEASE go to Restaurant Depot and buy some cheap assed salt and pepper shakers so it doesn't matter if they get stolen? In any case, I was able to spread around the salt by using one patty for blotting the other and the burger went from bland to quite decent for what it is. With change back from my $5.00, I'd stop by again when in the immediate area.

It was a little weird sitting on the sandwish side, a fully built but not at all operational sandwich line with two, count em, two captive air hoods!

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Z burger depresses me. It's true that they don't season their patties at all, but on top of that, whether it's due to a lack of sufficient firepower on their griddle, or just general ineptitude, the burgers I've had there have been closer to steamed than grilled. Wet and tasteless prove to be good descriptors both for the meat and the mushrooms and onions I got on my last burger there, which were drowned in oil, but completely lacked flavor - no seasoning and no sear/char/any semblance of color from cooking. I'd gladly pay double for a burger from BGR or Rays. In fact, I just tried The Wellington today at BGR (but only because they didn't have the Thanksgiving on a Bun burger of the month), and the combination of well seasoned and properly cooked meat and toppings may explain my heightened distaste for Z Burger at the moment.

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Well played, sir. Well played.

I can now concede defeat and head home.

Of course, not to be confused with this, the way that someone might be confused with one business owner opening a Twitter account under the name of his competitor and using it to post fake twitters.

Now this is how you do it if you want to do it right (taken from the Hell-Burger training manual).

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The problem with

shit

like

this

is that three years from now, you guys will have long forgotten your little chuckle, and all I'll be left with is a bunch of broken links.

As opposed to the wing of the Library of Congress dedicated to snOdes and ping pong challenges?

And the best meal I'll ever serve and the hours of work that go into will be nothing more than shit in a matter of hours. Does that means I should stop my guests from having fun?

Now matter what, you're my hero for being in the New Yorker!!! In fact, you are so much more than that!

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They just opened up a branch up near the movie theater at White Marsh. Stopped in after seeing Piranha 3D.

I kind of wish the beef patty was just a little bit bigger, and the onion rings were a little overcooked. I did like my black & white milkshake though.

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I'm making a rare exception in cutting and pasting this press release because it involves free food. :)

***MEDIA ALERT***

Have A Cheeseburger On Z-Burger Before Your New Year’s Resolutions Kick In

Free Cheeseburgers This Monday from 11am-2pm with Secret Password “Rezolution”

What:

Z-Burger wants to end 2012 in a delicious way by giving away Z-Burger’s famous Cheeseburgers before everyone begins their 2013 New Year’s Resolutions. On Monday, December 31st from 11am- 2pm, Z-Burger will give away free single cheeseburgers as a great way to end 2012. Customers just need to say the secret password, “Rezoulution.” The offer is valid at the Z-Burger Tenleytown, Columbia Heights & Southwest locations in DC and the White Marsh location in Baltimore. Only one free cheeseburger per customer. Customers are also, of course, welcome to purchase extra rich milk shakes and delicious french fries and onion rings to top off the meal.

Date/Time:

Offer good Monday, December 31st, 2012 from 11am until 2pm

Locations:

Tenleytown location: 4321 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC

Columbia Heights location: 3301 14th St NW, Washington, DC

Southwest location: 1101 4th St SW, Washington, DC

White Marsh location: 8145 Honeygo Blvd, White, Marsh, MD

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