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

[wrash]

If you had time to wait 15 minutes for a burger, and contemplate sitting longer and working on a WiFi connection, surely you had time to return your burger to the counter and ask for a new once since yours was overcooked?

And given how crowded the locations are, I don't *want* them to get WiFi - encouraging people to sit longer is exactly what I don't want in Bethesda and Potomac.

The Springfield location had two other tables occupied, so I don't think WiFi would be causing overcrowding there. But it would have been nice to read the paper on my iPad while I waited. I noticed a couple of other people with tablets they couldn't use. I'm not sure if you can tether an iPad to a T-Mobile BlackBerry or not. Next time I'll bring a portable 4G hotspot.

Wayne Rash

[DonRocks]

I get that you have to wait 15 minutes for a burger

I can say with confidence that you didn't wait 15 minutes for a burger at Burger Joint.

[plunk]

Tether? Portable 4G hotspot? Whaaa??? Y'all sure know your technology. I bring a book.

[wrash]

I can say with confidence that you didn't wait 15 minutes for a burger at Burger Joint.

It was indeed about 15 minutes. I got through about 12 pages of a particle physics book, and that's how long that takes.

WR

[wrash]

So tonight I went back to the Springfield location of BGR The Burger Joint after receiving needed intelligence that you have to tell the order taker that you really, REALLY want your burger cooked medium. They'll ask yo twice if your really, really mean it. You have to assure them that you really, really do. So we did. And they did.

And, mindful of Don's doubts, I checked the time. this time it was 12 minutes before the buzzer thingie went off. They do warn you that it will take 15 minutes, so I considered that this was a good sign. And indeed it was.

When I got back to the table with our orders, both my wife's burger and mine were cooked exactly medium. The difference was remarkable. The burger tasted like it should have, the meat was sufficiently juicy that I got it all over one of my good shirts. I could taste the flavor of the beef, the nice char from the grill. And the cheese was melted this time. "This is as good as the hamburgers I make," I remarked to my wife. "Almost as good," she said. Ah, love, ain't it grand.

Anyway, the burger was totally different from the sad, gray overcooked thing of yesterday. It was a joy. This is the way a hamburger should be, and I'm delighted. Too bad I don't have another Groupon, but that's OK. I'm happy to pay full price for a burger this good.

A word of warning about the sides. The onion rings, which we had again tonight because my wife is addicted to onion rings, are in her words, "huMONgus." you only get 7 rings, but that's plenty. I ordered the sweet potato fries. I think this is the first time I've ever had sweet potato fries done in the Belgian twice-cooked method, and they were really nice. The surface was crisp while the interior was well cooked and almost creamy. This is the way fries should be. The warning is that they give you enough fries to feed you and your 11 other friends who came with you. Didn't come with a dozen people? Well, then you'll probably run out of space before you run out of fries. But you'll enjoy every bite of them while you overeat and consume enough beta carotene to turn yourself orange for a week.

Yup, these burgers were the good ol' sloppy burgers that you always want and can never get, and this time they were cooked exactly right.

Maybe they should post instructions for getting the right doneness on the menu?

But it sure was good. I can see why everyone loves this place, but you DO have to know the secret.

Wayne Rash

[mbucher]

Wayne. Im glad you liked it.

[amykaplow]

Went to the Potomac location last night for a second try and happy to report things were much better. Bun was better, cheese was better and the grilled onions were really grilled.

[MTPeter]

Not crazy about the Dupont Burger Joint's grill work. Needs attention. Made me long for my own grill back when I had a yard .. Friendly staff though.

[Destruya]

Just made my second visit to the Springfield location today around noon, just before the lunch crowd started filing in.

Order: Went with a "purist" burger of just the patty, cheddar cheese, and bacon, with a side of fries and a drink. As much as I was tempted, I didn't get a beer this time.

Pros:

- The fries. Dear god, whoever was working the fry station today, give them a raise. They were incredible. This makes two out of two - if you had one closer to Vienna I'd make a meal of the fries alone.

- Mojo sauce. Didn't try it last time, won't forget it next time. Definitely a hell of a lot better than Elevation Sauce and/or the B7 sauce.

- The coke. That machine does a great job of mixing and not "oversyruping" like a 7-11 dispenser.

- Patty flavor. Reminded me of a good backyard burger.

- Using my Groupon, the "extras," fries, and drink only left me slightly less than five bucks out of pocket for lunch.

- Order prep guy. Real nice work demeanor, could tell he liked his job, and had a good attitude.

Cons:

- The bacon, again. Asked for it crispy, and it actually came out WORSE than my first time - whereas last time it was just chewy, this time it took my molars to shred it into edible fragments. Reminded me of beef jerky.

- Meat temperature and color. Per someone's suggestion earlier, I made sure to emphasize my desire for *medium* twice. Even said "I've been told I have to say that twice" to the clerk. The meat came out on the well done side of medium well - what little pink there was, was sporadically concentrated throughout the patty.

- Minor quibble, but I had to hunt around for a ketchup squeeze bottle that was sufficiently full, and I wasn't the only one, as a few "empties" were standing around on formerly vacant tables. Third time was the charm.

- Patty seemed slighty *smaller* than the last time, but that might've been because I didn't have the veggies on top to make the burger look bigger this time. vOv

Also, I'm reversing my attitude on WiFi at the Springfield location. I think you've got a franchise in the middle of a Verizon dead zone.

[jparrott]

Springfield location

Burger may have been too tightly packed, as it seized up a bit. Still had some juice, so it appears at least that there hadn't been a bunch of mashing down by the grill cook. Medium rare ordered had a few pockets of (barely) pink, but no more. I fear the grill doesn't put off enough heat to really do medium rare with any crust at all. And crust is win.

Grilled onions not grilled enough. Not quite raw, but no Maillard or charring and raw-textured enough to not set on the burger.

Sweet potato fries had no evidence of being salted immediately off the fryer.

Excellent lettuce and tomato. Colors on the plate superb.

Despite all the quibbles, it's still a pretty good burger. If it sucked, I wouldn't bother offering my observations.

Would be nice to have a local-or-localish beer on, or something better than Sam or Pilsner Urquell, but I'm guessing Mark has pretty good data on what sells, and on a three-tap system, there's no room for a keg to sit.

[dcs]

I can say with confidence that you didn't wait 15 minutes for a burger at Burger Joint.

It took maybe two or three minutes for a medium cheeseburger and fries to come out tonight in Lyon Village. Every other time I have been there the wait has been much closer to 15 minutes. It was definitely at least partially cooked when they tossed it on the grill and immediately planted the cheese on top. That is not something I have ever noticed them doing before. My teenager had no complaints, however. Of course, it didn't take him but two or three minutes or so to polish off the whole thing, so I guess it all evens out. He was defeated by the fries. They pack a lot of fries to go.

[Destruya]

Both of the times I've been to the Springfield location I'd estimate my wait times at around or a little under ten minutes.

[bookluvingbabe]

Checked out the Potomac/Cabin John location with the little guy on Wednesday after a successful (if expensive) trip to the shoe store.

He loved it and has asked to go back this week.

A few quick observations/requests

1) Having an organic milk box or organic juice option would make the Mom in me very happy.

2) Having a non-chocolate dessert option would make the little guy very happy.

3) The portion of fries that came with the kid portion of sliders was insanely large. I'll ask for a half portion next time.

My burger was quite good and definitely cooked somewhere between medium and medium well. I thought the sliders could have doubled as hockey pucks, but he was happy. I think I'll ask for them a little less done the next time.

Looking forward to our return visit.

[Destruya]

Visit 3 highlights: July 5, ~12:45pm

- Burger was finally cooked medium and was very juicy/greasy.

- Bacon was finally decent, if still not terribly crispy. MUCH better than last time.

- Fries and Mojo Sauce still kicked ass.

Third time was the charm.

[New Foodie]

Finally got to try BGR last night for the first time. Went to the Dupont location before HH. Since we were pretty early, it wasn't too crowded and our food came out fairly quickly.

We split the Ahi Tuna ($12.99 - Fresh sushi-grade tuna topped with grilled pineapple, pickled ginger, a touch of teriyaki sauce, and our mojo sauce. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun) ordered rare and The Wellington ($8.99 - Roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, garlic with a touch of mustard seed and blue cheese all atop our burger. Served on a fresh, buttery-toasted brioche bun with our mojo sauce) ordered medium rare. We also split one order of The Orange Standard ($3.99 -Thin cut, Idaho Sweet Potatoes).

With two drinks as well it added up to around $33 or so, which isn't cheap for a "fast food" dinner, but overall we enjoyed the meal. I especially liked the fancy schmancy soft drink dispenser! I had heard rumors of these things but never seen one in action. Who knew they actually made Pibb, Fanta and Powerade Zero?!

I would say both "burgers" were a step up from what we requested (tuna came out med rare and burger came out medium), but this wasn't a huge deal. I was kind of expecting the tuna burger to be ground tuna like at Central and a couple other places I've had a tuna burger (at least that's what I think I remember there), but instead it was a big ole tuna steak. The pineapple got lost with the pickled ginger overpowering everything else, but I did like the mojo sauce. The Wellington was pretty awesome though. The mushrooms were very rich and earthy and the blue cheese had a nice tang. I think it would have been even better with bacon (although not the limp and chewy kind mentioned above). Although the fries were described as "thin cut," they were a little thicker than I was expecting. Not bad by any means, but my sweet potato fry standard these days is from Big Buns (not to mention the awesome chipotle aioli for dipping there).

Definitely glad to finally try BGR. Would like to go back and give a couple of the other burgers a try and would likely stick to the cheaper beef instead of "splurging" on the tuna or lamb or lobster.

[DanielK]

The BGR lobster roll is good. It's definitely not fresh-from-the-tank lobster, but it's reasonably tasty, lightly dressed, and a substantial portion for the price.

However, other than being lobster and dressing on bread, it's not a traditional NE lobster roll. The bread is all wrong, the lobster isn't fresh, and they put lettuce and such on the sandwich as well.

I'm not suggesting NOT to order it at BGR, but they do a better job with burgers, and it's not in the same class as the lobster roll at Freddy's.

[ktmoomau]

Used my Groupon today. I love the flavor of the meat. It just has a really good beefy essence with just the right pop of seasoning. Got the regular burger with just lettuce and tomato and it really let the patty shine. The fries aren't my favorite style, I like thinner fries, but were good, nice and crisp. And I like the way they package the to-go to keep the burger warm and let the fries release their moisture so they don't get soggy.

[darkstar965]

I only got around to trying BGR this past week for the first time. I went to the Dupont location.

Can totally understand why BGR has been popular and is expanding rapidly. I was there after the lunch rush so, in fairness, the place was slow and maybe not really tested but, nevertheless, I liked that:

- it does seem like a "joint" rather than a fast food place per se.The booths and 70s/80s album covers are cool.

- they make all burgers to order, a requirement for any non fast-food burger place

- BGR flame grills versus griddle frying. The latter is why I may not even try Bobby Flay's place (along with the very mixed reviews that's received)

- they got the temp right! I told the cashier I wanted mine with "just a bit of pink" when he asked how I wanted it done. He said that BGR called that "medium well." Fair enough; so I ordered mine medium well and it came out perfectly. Of course, consistency is the watchword here and all the posts above seem to indicate a fair amount of variability. But I'm 1 for 1 in getting my burger cooked properly at BGR.

- the two or three staff with whom I interacted were nice and graciously proactive in guessing I was a first timer and suggesting just the regular burger to start. They gave me a loyalty card without even asking, confident I'd be a regular.

- my burger was definitely tasty and was reminiscent of a burger "dad would have grilled in the backyard years ago" (or something like that from their marketing collateral). Not sure that's the best image for the modern era but it suited what I got.

- pickles, tomato and lettuce were all fresh and good. Far from a given at so many other spots.

But, alas, I'm likely not the target market for BGR and probably won't go back too much. This is because:

- my experience really disappointed on transparency. I started another thread titled "what's in there?" all about transparency. I'd read this BGR thread and way back on page 1 or 2 the owner had told us he was sourcing from a good butcher in Baltimore. But that was before the fast expansion happened so I wasn't sure what the current reality was (we've had other businesses change a key source on the sly) so I asked when I was in.

The nice cashier fielded my "is the beef grass fed" inquiry instantly with "yep, grass fed" and pointed to a nearby wall for me to read about it. So, after ordering, I went over to said wall and saw two things posted, either or which might have been what he'd pointed out.

The first was a framed 2010 WaPo Dining Guide, which clearly said the beef was "from the midwest" and "corn fed". Visions of feedlots racing through my head, I asked the cashier again whether it was pastured, saying that that posted writeup indicated corn. He replied "no, that one" pointing me to the only other thing on the wall with any source info. It was a larger framed BGR promotional poster and, on that, it clearly said "corn and oat" fed.

Now, I fully realize and respect that many people don't care about this. But I do. I prefer grass fed, grass fed/grain finished or at least knowing where exactly the product comes from and that it wasn't from a CAFO.

Either this cashier didn't know or I was given the run around. Maybe it is CAFO beef or maybe it isn't And, even if it is, clearly most or many people don't care. Whatever it is, I was just disappointed that I couldn't get a clear and honest answer consistent with what they'd themselves posted on their own walls.

- the place wasn't that clean. Greasy tables and somewhat dirty floors. Maybe not that different from Elevation Burger that way but at least Elevation uses grass fed beef and clearly states that.

- while I did like the burger's flavor, I didn't love it and think Palena, Rays, Newtons Table and even Saint Ex are vastly superior. Then again, probably says something that none of my preferred places are vast and growing empires.

- bun seemed mass manufactured and ordinary.I had a ton of sesame sides on half the bun and none on the other half.

I like Medium Rare quite a bit. But that's probably targeting a different type of customer. And, come to think of it, I'm not sure I know that beef's provenance. Need to check that thread again.

BGR is, for me, another experience underscoring my belief that ingredients really matter. It all starts there and, if I can't get a clear or good answer on something central to a place's value proposition, I get a bit suspicious that, putting it nicely, maybe it isn't for me.

[DonRocks]

I only got around to trying BGR this past week for the first time. I went to the Dupont location.

Can totally understand why BGR has been popular and is expanding rapidly. I was there after the lunch rush so, in fairness, the place was slow and maybe not really tested but, nevertheless, I liked that:

- it does seem like a "joint" rather than a fast food place per se.The booths and 70s/80s album covers are cool.

- definite props for making burgers to order, a requirement for any non fast-food burger place

- more props for flame grilling versus griddle frying. The latter is why I may not even try Bobby Flay's place (along with the very mixed reviews that's received)

- I told the cashier I wanted mine with "just bit of pink" when he asked how I wanted it done. He said that was "medium well" so I ordered that and it came out perfectly. Of course, consistency is the watchword here and all the posts above seem to indicate a fair amount of variability. But I'm 1 for 1 in getting my burger cooked properly at BGR.

- the two or three staff with whom I interacted were nice and graciously proactive in guessing I was a first timer and suggesting just the regular burger to start. They gave me a loyalty card without even asking, confident I'd be a regular.

- my burger was definite tasty and was reminiscent of a burger "dad would have grilled in the backyard years ago" (or something like that from their marketing collateral.Not sure that's the best image for the modern era but it suited what I got.

- pickles, tomato and lettuce were all fresh and good. Far from a given at so many other spots.

But....

(You could just sense a "but" was about to arrive. )

[Ferhat Yalcin]

Hahhah

[darkstar965]

Wanted to post this here also since directly on point with BGR.

Hm, website states they are grain-fed (and free-roam, no extra stuff added).

Also, Y&H/CityPaper/Tim Carman 2009 interview answers your question.

Thanks for this. Hadn't seen the Y&H piece and it is clear and complete. Grain (corn/oat), of course, isn't grass as the in-store staffer thought but, more importantly, the interview is consistent with what's on the wall in the restaurant. Whether or not one chooses to eat corn-fed beef is a different question we all have to answer for ourselves. I'd guess most folks don't care so much about that if it's a 'high-quality' or "artisinal" beef (Prime). I'm probably an outlier. I'll sometimes do it but generally avoid it as much as I can.

[Anna Blume]

Edited since I couldn't find information sought, though I'll still note that Peruvian-style rotisserie chickens are sources of greater concern.

[darkstar965]

Edited since I couldn't find information sought, though I'll still note that Peruvian-style rotisserie chickens are sources of greater concern.

I don't want to speculate since I'm not familiar with the rotisserie chicken issues but, if you're willing, I (maybe others?) would love to know more. Maybe best to put anything on that on this thread since not related to Burger Joint, may apply to mulitiple spots and is more about the issues than a specific place? Thank you!

[ktmoomau]

Well this is really one of my very favorite burgers. Went the other night with Hubby, who had never been! (I don't know how this happened, well I do, I go when I am at work.) He got sliders, which he just went gaga over saying it was like a better quality White Castle. I had a regular burger with lettuce and tomato. I like that the burger here is a manageable size. I still had to cut it in half, and I didn't eat a good bit of the bread, but it seemed a good portion of meat for me, not so much that I feel disgusting, but was definitely satisfied. Hubby got fries of which I stole a few. Still not crazy about the fries, but they are ok. We both just love the flavor of the meat here. And I do love the fancy coke machines. I like being able to get grape or peach Sprite Zero.

[Ericandblueboy]

Hmm....look what I found on Washingtonian:

Morning Sound Bite: Bickering Over Twitter with BGRs Mark Bucher

When a DC customer criticizes BGR via tweet, the burgerman bites back.

Easy to see why @bgrburgerjoint is empty. Blaring x-mas music and $15 for dinner is extreme, including $2.29 fountain soda.

Local tweeter @BrianKal documents last nights visit to Mark Bucher's BGR The Burger Joint.

Buchers rejoinder: @BrianKal thx for the note. If you hurry mcdonalds [sic] has a dollar menu. I think you can get dinner for under 5.

And later: "@BrianKal tx. Please don't come back . . ."

I'm sure there will be others that won't be going to Burger Joint or Medium Rare with an attitude like that.

[DonRocks]

I'm sure there will be others that won't be going to Burger Joint or Medium Rare with an attitude like that.

And there will be others, like me, who will go more often.

[ktmoomau]

Got delivery via doctor delivery the other night and burgers were surprisingly still warm and very much alive and fries were crispy and not soggy. Pretty awesome. Oh and the bacon was fantastic, thick, crispy, and good. I don't even like bacon all that much, but this was good bacon.

[bookluvingbabe]

Coming to the Rio Center in Gaithersburg. Location is across the street from Nandos.

[bettyjoan]

I was kind of expecting the tuna burger to be ground tuna like at Central and a couple other places I've had a tuna burger (at least that's what I think I remember there), but instead it was a big ole tuna steak. The pineapple got lost with the pickled ginger overpowering everything else, but I did like the mojo sauce.

When we were in DC in October, I got the tuna burger, and I had the exact same assessment. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice piece of fish, but it just caught me off guard because I thought it would be, ya know, a burger. Also, my particular tuna steak was a lot smaller than the bun and the pineapple ring, so other than a few bites in the dead center of the sandwich, all of the ratios of meat to bun to toppings were off. Hubby loved his burger (some kind of bacon-blue cheese monstrosity), and it was cooked as ordered, so I guess next time I should stick to cow.

[yfunk3]

I went to the BGR in Old Town Alexandria this afternoon and it was literally the worst-constructed burger I've ever received in my life. It fell apart the moment I touched it, no joke. I had gotten the lunch special (regular burger) with bacon added, plus the garlic fried instead of regular fries. They put the soft, cooked, wet onions and sauce on the thinner, bottom part of the bun under the burger, which soaked it with all the juices and the bread disintegrated underneath the weight of the burger and tomatoes/bacon/lettuce on top. I went through about 20 napkins (not an exaggeration), even after trying to eat the burger with a knife and fork.

The fries were good, though. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but they tasted like they had been sitting out for a few minutes, not fresh out of the fryer, because they got cold mighty quick. Or maybe just more time passed than I had thought while I was wrestling with the sloppiest damn burger on the face of the earth. Could barely taste the "roasted garlic" flavor, but it was there...

The thing is, the burger wasn't half bad, taste-wise. I just couldn't enjoy much because it was akin to eating chunky stew with my fingers. Really hope this was just a one-off for them, or maybe just at this branch. Burger construction should be...common sense?

[ad.mich]

The fries were good, though. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but they tasted like they had been sitting out for a few minutes, not fresh out of the fryer, because they got cold mighty quick. Or maybe just more time passed than I had thought while I was wrestling with the sloppiest damn burger on the face of the earth. Could barely taste the "roasted garlic" flavor, but it was there...

This is weird, because when I have ordered the garlic fries at BGR what I have received is an order of fries tossed with whole cloves of roasted garlic. Lots of them. Like, enough to make my girlfriend roll her eyes at me when I order them. Wonder what happened with your order.

[jandres374]

I went to the BGR in Old Town Alexandria this afternoon and it was literally the worst-constructed burger I've ever received in my life. It fell apart the moment I touched it, no joke. I had gotten the lunch special (regular burger) with bacon added, plus the garlic fried instead of regular fries. They put the soft, cooked, wet onions and sauce on the thinner, bottom part of the bun under the burger, which soaked it with all the juices and the bread disintegrated underneath the weight of the burger and tomatoes/bacon/lettuce on top. I went through about 20 napkins (not an exaggeration), even after trying to eat the burger with a knife and fork.

The fries were good, though. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, but they tasted like they had been sitting out for a few minutes, not fresh out of the fryer, because they got cold mighty quick. Or maybe just more time passed than I had thought while I was wrestling with the sloppiest damn burger on the face of the earth. Could barely taste the "roasted garlic" flavor, but it was there...

The thing is, the burger wasn't half bad, taste-wise. I just couldn't enjoy much because it was akin to eating chunky stew with my fingers. Really hope this was just a one-off for them, or maybe just at this branch. Burger construction should be...common sense?

I have stopped going to the Old Town location - slow service, overcooked burgers and sloppy assembly on nearly every visit. On the other hand I was the Bethesda location on Friday and everything was spot on.

[yfunk3]

This is weird, because when I have ordered the garlic fries at BGR what I have received is an order of fries tossed with whole cloves of roasted garlic. Lots of them. Like, enough to make my girlfriend roll her eyes at me when I order them. Wonder what happened with your order.

There were a couple of bits of garlic (literally less than ten tiny pieces) and nothing oily on my fries so... I guess that was the tiny amount of garlic I was tasting. The Old Town location just seems to be a problem, apparently. ::sigh:: It was only 50 cents extra, I guess... [

[Night Owl]

BGR burgers vs sliders: a study in contrast...

Have eaten at BGR in Bethesda and mostly Dupont Circle. Regular burger -- cheese, sometimes bacon, lettuce and tomato, nothing out of the ordinary. No matter which place, the burgers are always sloppily excessive -- tasty, but too much -- to the point of ruining the lovely brioche bun that BGR goes through the trouble of serving them on. I have no problem with a good, messy burger -- that's part of enjoying the whole thing. But when the burger is so huge compared to the normal-sized (already large) bun and the extra "stuff" is so piled on that it's all just a jumbled wet, squishy mess, it kinda takes the fun out of it.

Today, went to the Potomac BGR for lunch (almost empty) because I was in the neighborhood. I thought, OK, let's try the sliders, which are a more respectable portion. So we got one order of regular sliders (you get 4) and one order of the kids sliders (2+soda and smaller order of fries). Both orders were grossly (in both senses of the word) overcooked. Instead of a nice little juicy beef patty in a nice slider bun, each slider of both orders was more like a hard, shriveled, burnt cow pie overwhelmed by a comparatively large (cold) slider bun... and a half slice of cold, unmelted cheese on top to boot.

Maybe it's just a Potomac-specific BGR thing. And I'm sure some snarky smart-ass here will make some remark about Goldilocks/too big, too small, just right. My point is: Having tried both the regular and the sliders, which are polar opposites of one another, I guess I'd have to go with the regular burgers... because the sliders are downright inedible. I'll take excessive and messy over inedible any day. But it would be nice to have a smaller option to enjoy -- I'd probably be much more of a regular customer if so.

[bookluvingbabe]

The sliders at Potomac often resemble hockey pucks even after I ask them not to overcook them.

The little guy is eagerly awaiting the opening of the Rio Center location.

[DC Deb]

I have tried BGR in Bethesda twice after my sister raved about the onion rings at the Springfield location. Both times, the onion rings were really greasy, with a pool of oil on the bottom. My burger was overcooked and the whole thing was greasy/messy like Night Owl said.

Does the quality vary that much between locations? Have others compared the locations?

[ktmoomau]

Was at the Clarendon location a few weeks ago. I had a standard burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato. Hubby and I split fries. When it came it was lacking bacon and our fries didn't have rosemary. Went in and they graciously cooked me up some bacon and put it on my burger, sprinkled rosemary on the fries, and gave me a brownie for being very polite and letting them fix the error. The customer service at this location is so immensely gracious and wonderful that I really enjoy my visits. I am not sure quite who owns this location, but they have done a very good job and have some very wonderful employees who just couldn't be nicer.

[DonRocks]

Was at the Clarendon location a few weeks ago. I had a standard burger with bacon, lettuce, tomato. Hubby and I split fries. When it came it was lacking bacon and our fries didn't have rosemary. Went in and they graciously cooked me up some bacon and put it on my burger, sprinkled rosemary on the fries, and gave me a brownie for being very polite and letting them fix the error. The customer service at this location is so immensely gracious and wonderful that I really enjoy my visits. I am not sure quite who owns this location, but they have done a very good job and have some very wonderful employees who just couldn't be nicer.

I agree. The customer service at this location is particularly strong.

[mdt]

I agree. The customer service at this location is particularly strong.

The Springfield location has excellent customer service as well.

[DanielK]

Are there some locations where the customer service is NOT good? I've mostly been to Bethesda and Potomac, and also feel they have excellent customer service. Quick to act, quick to fix problems, and super friendly.

[jandres374]

Old Town Alexandria is a disaster - slow service, overcooked burgers, not very friendly.

[beachgirl54]

Used a Groupon/some deal at Gaithersburg location last week - didn't have any demands for staff but they were friendly. And the most important thing - my burger was cooked to the temp that I like and almost never get - medium rare. Plus, I love their soda machine contraption - I rarely drink soda but liked that they had root beer.

[DanielK]

Posted on facebook today from Mark Bucher:

After years of prodding. BGR Cabin John (only location) now has a gluten free bun alternative that we are trying out.

[DonRocks]

I'm not going to track down the thread but didn't you campaign for that burger recognition (BGR)?

Good gosh I hope not (the first time I heard anything about it was here), but I didn't complain when it happened either. In fact, I took my mom in to see it and she was beaming.

[darkstar965]

Good gosh I hope not (the first time I heard anything about it was here), but I didn't complain when it happened either. In fact, I took my mom in to see it and she was beaming.

Truly priceless.

[mbucher]

I'm sensing a moment of "more cowbell"

[DaveO]

Stopped by in Clarendon today. First of all perfect AC and temp. Perfect. comfortable, relaxed, nice music.

Oh...and btw: they sell burgers. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH......the juciest burger around. and even more btw.....the ingenious 127 flavor coke machine. Coke and burger heaven. Now if only there was a live Nats game going on.

@mbucher can you fix that last part???

[mbucher]

Heels clicked..

[Dr. Delicious]

I stopped by the Tyson's location the other day. They would not help me load the Coke machine into my car. I'll never go back.

[mbucher]

You forgot the license plates !