| Build your own gourmet burger from this hip Palo Alto burger joint |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 998
Reviewed: 8/24/2006
Rating: 7.5
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The Counter opened up this week in Palo Alto and is the current hawtness for gourmet burgers. Burgers has always been one of my favorite foods and with a new burger joint in the area, a taste run was needed. The big draw to this restaurant was the ability to choose from a gazillion toppings to make whatever burger you wanted. My co-worker Doug and I headed afterwork and I came up with this not-so-brilliant idea to call our orders ahead of time. Little did i know this would cause confusion throughout the entire dinner.
The restaurant is located off California street with plenty of parking structure around. We arrived during the dinner rush and wow there were a lot of people here tonight! I informed the host about our togo orders and wanting to dine-in. Like a deer in headlights, eyes glossed over, she look puzzled, poor girl. My order was probably floating on the togo train and having switching over to dining in required encrypting the data to the flex capacitor, tunneled back through Port 4182, transmitted wirelessly to our waitress, and finally re-routed back to our table. Note to self, don't try to pull the phone in order to dine in switch-r-ru.
Restaurant decor is impressive with the vast alcohol collection, plasma screen, and graffiti urban artwork, one of the nicest burger joints I've ever been to. Noise level was higher than the norm but understandable with a packed house of mostly college students. We waited patiently for our drinks and a short time later, our 50/50 french fries and onion strings arrived.
French fries - shoestring fries and coated with a thick layer of kosher or sea salt. Out of the fryer with lots-o-oil and temperature was less than warm. The fries were overly salty and needed to dust them off.
Onion strings - thin strings of onions in a light batter. Super greasy and it wasn't for the BBQ sauce or ranch dressing, I probably wouldn't order it again.
For my burger, I stuck to the semi-basic burger; 1/3 lb beef burger, fried egg, american cheese, lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, mayo, and regular bun. The burger is served open face on a round plate.
bun - for a 1/3 burger a bit too much bread, a 2/3 lb patty would fair much better. Bread was lightly grilled/toasted with appeared to be butter? Quality tasting bread, I doubt you can get this at the market.
toppings - the messed up on my order and forgot the lettuce. Other vegetables tasted good, red onions could have been thicker but that's just my preference. American cheese goes well with anything, I was tempted with blue cheese but will have to save that for my next visit. The fried egg is does wonders for a burger, it might look funny, but give it a try, soooo good.
beef - advertised as naturally ground black angus beef. The beef quality is much higher than you'd get at fast food places and tasted good. I don't recall a strong steak smell after cutting the burger in half nor did I taste a heavy charring. Definitely on the leaner side and packed more tightly than I'd like. I like the ground beef a little more crumbly. Seasonings are light and I'll give bonus points for that. Served less than medium and on the very pink side. I made the mistake with going with the 1/3 lb patty and would recommend at least a 2/3 pounder for larger appetites.
Building a gourmet burger can get expensive but if you build a basic burger, you can get by at $7. I think for a 1st visit, The Counter did fairly well but still experiencing new restaurant kinks. For starters, burgers and fries weren't hot. It felt like my burger was sitting on the counter for a couple minutes too long. Fries were way too salty. I'll be lenient on the service as 99.9% of the people were new. 7.5 is a respectable score and I believe the rating will continue to rise as more visits will follow. I'm definitely coming back to build a 2/3 pounder as the food has so much more potential.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 171
Reviewed: 8/22/2006
Rating: 7
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If you frequent Jatbar.com, you must have read about The Counter by now. If you love a good burger, you must have heard about The Counter. If you have not heard by now, well here is your chance to read about The Counter.
Prior to setting foot into the restaurant, I looked at their website, read the articles raving about the restaurant, read the blog about the person who purchased a one-pound burger with everything, and heard from my friends friend that the burgers are thumbs up. A bunch of us are planning to get together for lunch at The Counter this Friday but I couldnt wait that long so I left work early and headed out to Palo Alto.
I arrive around 5pm and there are a few tables taken. There are parking in the back and the restaurant is located next to a Taco joint. There are plenty of table seating along the wall and seats all around the bar with two or three LCDs hanging from the bar showing baseball. Upon walking in, you wait for a staff to seat you or walk to your right and pay in advance for dine in or take out. This is great for those coming in a group who want to pay in advance and grab a number to sit without having to split the bill at the end of the meal.
Youre given a clipboard with a BYO burger form, you just check what you want on your burger from choice of meat to type of cheese, to fillers, sauce, buns, and even size of your meat and how you like it cooked. The default preparation for the beef is medium. I option for the 1/3 beef burger with Tillamook cheddar (1 cheese included), tomatoes, and grilled onions (4 standard toppings included and 0.50 extra for each standard topping), fried egg and sautéed mushrooms ($2 more as premium toppings are $1 extra each), sweet BBQ sauce (1 sauce included), all on a hamburger bun. I also order the “fifty-fifty” for sweet fried and onion strings ($5.50) and peanut butter milk shake ($3.95). My total bill rang to $19.92 with tax.
This is one expensive burger outing. Now I was expecting my dinner to be dynamite.
Peanut butter shake: I saw them make my shake. Vanilla ice cream with a spoon of peanut butter, and some milk whipped together in one of those shake makers. The shake was OK, nothing old fashioned or mind blowing. The peanut butter taste was intense as there was no other taste. I probably would not order this shake again, maybe go with the plain vanilla shake or just a soda if I was to dine in. At most, restaurants you get the shake glass plus the shake container, but here you only get the shake glass. If you take it to go, this means you will only get ½ or ¾ of the shake in a plastic cup. They top the shake of with whip cream to present the “filled to the top” cup illusion. (7.5/10)
The “Fifty-Fifty” Sweet Potato Fries and Onion Strings: The box contained three types of sauces, ranch, sweet BBQ, and some horseradish chipolata dip. This was a serious disappointment as the onion strings had plenty of strings of onions with some salty arse batter around it. Dipping it into ranch or sweet BBQ did not help as the BBQ had smoky and salty flavors rather than being sweet. The onion strings were salty, like eating grilled onions with salt for each bite. The sweet potato fries tasted like sweet potato fries. Nothing special about the taste as it is obviously the taste of sweet potato. Actually, the flavor is a lot like the sweet potato chips made by Terra. (6.5/10)
You came for the burger, so just stick to the burger! One third should be enough for anyone, if you brought and appetite and is hungry, go for the 2/3 lb as I would imagine the 1 lb burger is for the Kobayashis.
If you enjoy a nice burger with seasoned beef, buns, and the traditional toppings, well then you are in the wrong place. The Counter serves up some great burgers with the charcoal grilled taste but the beef is not seasoned with salt and pepper. Enjoy your beef with sauce, and your choice of toppings. Do not even bother trying eating beef and buns here as all you will taste is charcoal flavoring. I would have no problems ordering the same burger again. The “Sweet” BBQ did not go well with my starters but it went great with my burger, probably because my burger needed that extra taste from the BBQ sauce. (8/10)
The wait staff was friendly but there were still some minor kinks, such as my orders were all for to go yet the person who made my milkshake poured it into a glass to be served and later was told the milkshake was for take out. In addition, my “fifty-fifty” container was unsealed in the takeout bag rather than sealing the box. As I waited for my food, I observed the room and the drinks topped with lemons and shakes topped with whip cream, oppose to a previous comment on their pre-grand opening.
Bottom Line: It is only about the burger.
Get there earlier to beat the lunch crowd. If you plan to drink alcohol, you definitely want to sit at a table or at the bar, as they do not serve alcohol outside. They take credit cards but get ready to spend around $10 for your meal.
** REVISIT 8/25/2006 **
A group at work decided to hit The Counter for lunch on Friday. My group from work has not tried The Counter burger yet and after showing them the review at Jatbar.com, most were having second thoughts. Most knew the meal would cost around $10 and with some sides or drinks, they were looking to pay $20 for lunch.
We arrive at 11:40 and asked for a table for four. The person at the front said to let him know when our fourth person arrived so he could seat us. I guess seats are a premium here and they do not want to waste one seat. Turns out our group ended up sitting at a table for six as more people decided to come along. The other three arrives to show their face then leaves again to head to the ATM for some cash. The person up front then decides to seat us having proof of the numbers. If you plan to dine here in a large group, make sure everyone shows their face so they will seat the group.
A couple of members in our group orders beers, some order sodas, and other waters. They decide to try out the Fried Dill Pickle chips as I suggested against the fries, onions strings and sweet potato fries. Our drinks are first to arrive and then our starter arrives a few minutes later after we order. They serve these fried dill pickle chips tongue burning hot. Our waitress also brings these small plates so everyone on the table can share the starter. The chips are decent as they are sliced dill pickles, battered, then deep-fried. The pickles themselves are salty and the batter was a bit crunchy upon arriving at the table. I would not personally order this myself.
About 20 minutes since arriving, we order our burgers. I order a ¾ lb beef burger cooked medium rare with jalapeno jack cheese, grilled onions, tomatoes, fried egg, and caramelized onion marmalade on hamburger bun ($9.95). One of my friends tried to order a cheap burger by choosing some strange combination of grilled onions, sprouts, roasted chilies, and tomatoes with Tillamook cheddar and sun dried tomato vinaigrette. ($6.95)
We waited what seemed like an eternity. This one couple sat at the counter next to our table, they showed up about 20 minutes after us but their meal arrived 20 minutes ahead of us. The service here is probably not first come first serve but based on the head count. Finally, after everyone received their second round of drinks, waiting an hour, our burgers arrived one by one. From that point, the service drifted off. Maybe it was the place being busy with customers, but our sodas and water remained empty after we received our burgers. It took us a whole 10 to 15 minutes to polish off our burger because we were so hungry.
From experience, you definitely need the right combination. Do not try to get all the healthy toppings or cheap free toppings because your burger will not taste good. Only certain combinations will work so there are actually less choices than you think. The Counter offers four free topping choices; you do not need to select all four toppings. If you scared of the cost, you should not even come to The Counter. For a good burger, order the basics or add a premium topping or two and splurge a little. Forget the starters so you have more money to add the premium toppings.
My medium rare turned out perfect, pink center and juicy. The medium burger I had earlier in the week was a little over cooked. If you option for medium you may or may not get some pink in your meat. My burger was great once again where as my friend complained about his burger due to his funky toppings he picked. Again, I was not able to taste the cheese. The onions and my sauce were about the same as both contained grilled onions, except the sauce was a bit sweeter. The fried egg definitely did the trick again.
You can get a basic burger for about $7 but most likely, if you top it off with some premium toppings and add a drink, you are looking at around $15 with tax and tip. If you add a starter, you are looking into $20 for your meal. My lunch turned out to be $15 with several others paying $25 since they ordered beer. Our finally tally for six people was over $100 with tip.
One of my friends observed the lunch crowd and commented that the restaurant is only able to serve one lunch shift as the wait is too long and most people decided to order out. I would not recommend a group outing unless you can spare an hour and half to two hours for lunch break. Half the people in our group tossed in their money and split after they finished eating to get back to work.
As stated before, the burger is the only item you should consider here. Save your money by avoiding the starters and shakes to build a phat burger for your enjoyment. I would rate this between a 8.5 to 9 if rating strictly on the burger alone, but unfortunately the price, service, and value for the extras brought my final rating down.
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Reviewer: Lainie
Total Reviews: 41
Reviewed: 10/19/2006
Rating: 5.5
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The burger I had was alright, nothing special. I had the fries and they weren't anything special either. I've certainly had better.
However, the horrid service is enough to prevent me from ever going back there again. The owner is the male host that seats everyone and he was distant and unfriendly. He gave preferrential treatment to all the people who had just left the Stanford football game and my friend and I were totally ignored. We had to wait 20 minutes before we got a waitress to even come by our table!
Like I said the food was okay but with service like that, I suggest you get a better burger almost anywhere else with service that would make you feel more like a patron and less like a nuisance.
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