Posts tagged food

Tonight, we had the chance to try out the newest San Francisco restaurant by Chef Hubert Keller. The verdict: not that great.

For anyone who follows Chef Keller you know that he has a reputation as a Chef’s chef. Burger Bar, similar to the Vegas incarnation, intends to be a place where you can grab both a great burger for $10 or go all out and get a luxury burger for as much as 60 dollars.

Unfortunately, for us, the Burger Bar experience was far from outstanding… When we arrived at Burger Bar it was about 7:15 (Sunday) and the place was pretty busy. Being a party of two people, the hostess was actually able to seat us right away near to the main bar and with a view of both Union Square as well as of the main dining room. The view was really actually quite fantastic.

Next, our server took our order for both cocktails and dinner (no substitutions allowed, one of the burgers had to be ‘custom made’ to change the kind of cheese on top; dumb) quickly and we waited for dinner. This, is where the trouble began. First, a server informed us that the two small salads we ordered were no longer available and we would have to get one big salad and split that. Ok, not a problem. We split a salad and drank our cocktails, waiting for our burgers.

And we waited…

And waited…

And waited…

45 minutes later we finally got our dinner. Really? 45 minutes to fire two hamburgers? The worst part of this is as the plate was being set down it burned Marc’s arm.

It BURNED his arm! How long was this plate sitting under a heating lamp that it was able to burn skin? Too long! Also, let me say that if our server was busy and unable to get to our food, I would be able to understand, however when our food was brought out by a staff member who was *just* running food I find myself unable to understand what the hold up could be.

The food (once it came, and, was done burning skin) was actually very good. I can see why Chef Keller has such a great reputation (I’m personally a huge fan) but the service and patience that was required to get our food just ruined the whole experience.

I’m happy to say that once we finished our meal we requested to see a manager who listened to our feedback and comments and we opted to have dessert elsewhere. I look forward to Burger Bar getting their logistical issues dealt with so that I can come back and have another, hopefully better, experience.

The good:
-A tasty burger, fries, and, cocktail
-Friendly and helpful staff (when we could get their attention)
-A nice, large, and, expensive looking space
-A staff that was attentive and understanding of our frustration
-A cookbook by Keller with all the burgers on the menu (If you aren’t able to visit in person)

The bad: 
-Food taking forever (45+ minutes to fire 2 burgers?)
-No substitutions on signature burgers
-Total lack of attention by service staff (glasses of water/cocktails sitting empty for extended periods of time)
-Being burned by a *hot* plate (How did the plates get this hot?)