The Counter
| Address: | 50 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA |
| Phone: | +1 602-466-3411 |
| Site: | thecounterburger.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 12–6PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
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Shadi Mirza
My custom-made burger was good (on the second attempt - more on that later), but some glaring issues made me question whether Id come back here. First, the server was a flake. He struggled to keep our orders straight, didnt bring out a kids menu initially, despite the clear presence of a preschooler in our party and seemed baffled by the idea of splitting checks. But the real issue was my burger - the first one that came out. My sister-in-law ordered a rare burger. I ordered mine medium rare. When the food came out, my sister-in-law had a burger that was slightly pink, while mine was completely raw. No ring of grey around the outside. No pink. Just cold raw meat. When we alerted our server to the fact that our toppings were correct, but my patty had probably been switched with that of my sister-in-laws, the server balked, claiming that burgers at The Counter somehow follow a different scale of doneness. If I had wanted a burger that wasnt cold, raw and completely inedible, I should have ordered medium. The manager came out from the kitchen and insinuated the same thing: The burger was done to The Counters notion of medium-rare, which goes counter to that of every other burger place on the planet. They decided to remake the burger. The kicker? When it came back out, it was flawlessly medium-rare. Ironically, this made me more upset. Why blow smoke up my ass? Clearly, my first patty was rare. I knew it. They knew it. Their second attempt at my burger was delicious. I should have gotten it the first time. Im giving another strike for the restaurants location between two light rail tracks and the crappy parking. I came here for a school fundraiser. I doubt Ill be back.
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Janelle Tassart
My colleague and I visited The Counter for lunch today (February 3, 2016), as it is conveniently located near our office and we had not yet tried it. We arrived just before noon and were told it would be about 5 minutes before we could be seated. Of course, this was no problem and they seated us shortly thereafter. We placed our order right away and unfortunately, that is when the experience went downhill. It took over an hour from the time that we ordered to get our food. When our food did arrive, the burgers were not prepared properly and they were not even very warm. The waiter only came by one time in the hour we were waiting to see if we needed any refills. Admittedly, we probably should have left and went somewhere else, but we kept thinking that it could not possibly take much longer (we were wrong, obviously). While we waited, we saw other tables also experiencing ridiculously long wait times. One larger group eventually had to get some of their orders to go, considering most people can only take an hour for lunch. Food was coming out to the same table at different times and customers were very clearly frustrated. The staff half-heartedly apologized for the wait, and blamed the larger group for the delay. However, even with the large group, the restaurant was not filled to capacity, so it was hard to buy that excuse. I will never return to The Counter, and I would not recommend it to anyone. The food was mediocre at best, and the horrendous service made it a complete waste of time.
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Don Rawson
Once seated at our table, numerous servers walked by without assisting. After 15 minutes of waiting, we were able to waive someone down who took our food and drink order (Water, a draft beer, and a shake). The beer was delivered after another 5 minutes, but we were told the shake would take longer. After another 10 minutes, we waived the server down and asked if I could at least get water? (Had been seated for 30 mins). Finally got the water but again was told the bar was busy and the shake would come out eventually. After another 15 minutes another server (which to his credit, was very friendly) asked of anyone was helping us. I asked again about the shake and he went to check. When the server returned, he asked what shake we had ordered....apparently they had not entered it. Understandably this was enough to cause us to leave. 45 minutes of my life that Ill never get back. When we were leaving, we asked to speak to the manager. Honestly she was probably the owners daughter because she knew nothing about managing a restaurant and only escalated the situation with her snide attitude and overall lack of care. Lengthy review but you should be prepared. A restaurant can have the best food and fail due to poor training and management, which I feel is the case. Its a fancy burger joint...without service, thats all you have.
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Andamo Purvis
Arrived about 10 mins after noon today 7/10; we had to wait about 10 mins for a table. We got our drinks quickly but, @ 12:56 our order still had not arrived, so no idea if the food is good. I had to ask for it to go; needed to get back to work. The rest of the other people in our party were still waiting. Guess Ill find out later if food was worth it. Likely it will be cold, so... Finally got to eat about 2 pm, Yes, it was good; will I go again? Likely not. This is not a "lunch time" restaurant. This wasnt the servers fault. (Kudos to 1056. Leon N.) Its a Management issue. If you cant handle the business, let customers know. We would have gladly come back another time. 7/27 Re- rated my experience as the store manager contacted me the next day; we agreed upon some of the problems and discussed solutions. Hes also offered a return lunch to compensate for the mishap. Thanks R. Hahn Oh, and Kendra; some of us work for a living and dont have the fortune to take a 2-2.5 hr lunch. The time factor was one of the things discussed with the manager; he agreed that their restaurant needed to improve upon this and hopefully things will improve.
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Angela Colabucci-English
Okay so I used to go to The Counter in Cali, and liked their food then too. The food is good, well cooked custom burgers and salads and average prices drinks. If adult milkshakes are your thing, they have some cool boozey dessert shakes too. The problem is how understaffed this place is, especially when you have a groupon to bring in more business. The hostess was really friendly, but when we arrived she told us there was a 10 minute wait. Mind you, the restaurant was empty and there were maybe 5 seated tables outside- on a Friday night at 6:15. Once we were seated, our server took quite a long time to take our order, bring us our drinks, and when he did being our order- no utensils until we asked another waiter 10 minutes later. I really want to like this place because the food is good, the location is prime and the staff were all friendly- they just had too little of staff so they couldnt give attentive service. I hope they step it up. I am routing for the place to do better, but there is no way to do that is you dont have any bussers, enough servers and more than one bartender on a Friday night.
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Erin M
I recently visited this restaurant for the first time and I have to say that I was completely dissatisfied with the service. The restaurant was very nice, clean and very inviting. The host that greeted us was very professional and welcoming. We were served by the worst waiter that I have ever had. Server 1029 Dwayne N. was very rude, condescending and the most unprofessional waiter. He was very irritated with me asking questions about the menu. It was my first time there so I had a couple of questions on the menu. When I paid with a credit card and he brought the receipt back for me to sign and give him a tip he came back to get it before I was even finished with my meal so he could see how much of a tip I gave him. I paid almost $20 for a burger, fries and a drink. The fries were terrible but, the burger was very good. Due to the experience that I had with the waiter, I will not be returning to the restaurant ever again. Terrible experience.
