Burgers & Blues

Reviews about Burgers & Blues

• 1 / 5

  By Chris Koestler
  I was looking forward to eating a great burger today. My wife set up a birthday gathering for a friend of hers and about 30 people showed up. The manager was informed 2 weeks in advance of our group so there was no surprise when a large group showed up to eat. I have had good food here before so we thought this would be a great place for the party. We had 2 servers for our group and they never told us their names and my wife and I were there an hour before the party started to set up. Our servers were nice and did help us get ready a little but when more people showed up the service started to fall way down the tubes. They would get several drink orders, go to the bar, and would come back to our table with ONE drink in their hand carrying it like they were going to drink it themselves. What happened to "full hands in, full hands out?" They put themselves in the weeds from the start. That made service horrible and 70% of our group felt the same way about the service. We had to go to the servers station to get our own silverware.
  
  Now I was really looking forward to my meal cause I knew what I wanted before we got there. Three of my favorite things to eat are bacon and eggs, hamburgers, and grilled cheese sandwiches. And what do you know, the Big Jack Johnson has a large patty, bacon, a fried egg, and two grilled cheese sandwiches to serve as the bun with ranch dressing! Man my mouth is watering right now just thinking about THAT burger. After the food was served we had to go and get our own silverware and our servers never checked on us to make sure our food was right.
  
  You would think that all of that greasy food making up one burger would be spectacular. Not this time. That was the driest burger I have ever had! There was no ranch dressing on the sandwich nor was it served on the side. The beef patty seemed to have been pressed while it was cooked removing all of the fat, juices, spices, and any flavor it once had. Bland, bland, bland. The fried egg was cooked over well and that made that part of the burger dry also. The egg is supposed to have a runny yolk unless the customer wants it over cooked. The bacon was also dry as a bone. And the last part of this beautifully described burger are the two grilled cheese sandwiches, they were dry as a bone also and you could barely see cheese between the slices of bread and of course no flavor there either. The food could have been made right if just one of our servers would have just asked "how is your food this evening." That never happened. Now I know what you're thinking, there were over 30 people at your table how do they ask if the food is good with a large group like that. Well, you go to the customer who put the function together and at least ask them, then they ask the group if the food is good so you don't have to interrupt all of the guests. But, the guests don't mind if you interrupt them to check on the food.
  
  Tonight the restaurant was not very busy except for our table. So there was no excuse for the non existent service we received. I have had the Big Jack Johnson burger at this exact restaurant with every table inside and on the patio packed with customers and a line of customers at the door and it was fantastic. So there is no excuse for the cardboard that was served to me tonight.
  
  Now to top it all off. The servers knew up front that we had separate checks to make it easier on them when it was time to present the bill. What do you know, we all had to tip 18% for service that was almost nonexistent because tables of a certain number of guests are supposed to have that added. Don't get me wrong, they should be tipped, and would be tipped, but they certainly didn't deserve 18%. What happened to going above and beyond serving the guest to get the 18% PLUS all of the extra gratuity that is paid for excellent service. All servers should do a great job for the gratuity. What I have seen in the restaurant business over the years are the servers thinking that they are entitled to a tip even for lousy service.
  August 23, 2016