The Counter Walnut Creek
| Address: | 1699 N California Blvd, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, USA |
| Phone: | +1 925-935-3795 |
| Site: | thecounterburger.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11:30AM–9PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
LL
Lloyd Silver
I left my original review for The Counter about a year ago. I gave them a 3 star rating - good food, good environment, bad service. Today Im downgrading that to a 1 because one year later service has gotten worse, not better. Over the past year Ive been to The Counter probably 25 times. Every time I go there I wonder how long its going to take to get served. Its almost a game. With a couple of exceptions, the service is just slow. Yesterday was the final draw. I told the waitress when ordering we were in a bit of a hurry. 25 minutes later - and not a single visit from our waitress or offer of a refill - I asked a different server to check on our food. Our waitress then came by, looked at our empty table, and said she would see what was going on and blamed a large party for the delay. Sorry, but I dont really care if you have a large party. It shouldnt affect my experience. 15 minutes later (40 minutes total) the waitress still hadnt been back. I spoke with the Assistant Manager who was surprised it had taken so long. Other customers were also complaining so I dont know why he was surprised. But frankly this is the biggest issue at The Counter - if management doesnt know how slow the kitchen is, there isnt a true culture of good customer service. Systemically, The Counter (at least the Walnut Creek location), simply provides poor customer service. At this point, Broderick Roadhouse has opened up a couple blocks away and when in the mood for a burger Ill head over there. Its just not worth it to deal with The Counters ongoing issues. ORIGINAL REVIEW ~ June 2015 They are slow. I mean slow. Its a shame because their food is great (although a bit over priced) and the waitstaff is usually on top of things. But their kitchen just takes forever to get food out. Ive waited in excess of 20 minutes on numerous occasions. But, I keep going back. Partially because its across the street from my office, and they have a nice patio. And partially because the food is good.
YO
Yoshika Hedberg
Whats interesting about The Counter is that you can customize just about everything! Do you want your burger in a traditional bun or bowl more like a salad style? What kind of meat? Cheese? Toppings and sauce galore! So here is my beautiful custom creation: Beef 1/3 lbs Burger in a bowl with Seasonal Lettuce Blend, no cheese, Dijon Balsamic Dressing, Organic Mixed Greens, Alfalfa, Kale, Cole Slaw, Ripened Red Tomatoes, Onion Confit, Dill Pickle Chips, Sliced Cucumbers, Green Beans, Sliced Radish, Niçoise Olives, Quinoa, Hard-Boiled Egg, Marinated Artichokes, Corn + Black Bean Salsa, plus one free premium topping via Yelps check in, which I chose Crispy Onion Strings. I ordered Housemade Chili for the side. I ordered my burger medium rare. How was it? It was really good. The burger really came out medium rare, nice, thick and juicy (which is not usually the case in most of the burger joints). The lettuce mix was nice and crunchy, all the salad items were really great. On a hind thought, I probably put too much toppings on the salad. Next time Ill do less. I also want to try it on their brioche buns, as that looked great. But hey, this is the new year... got to work on loosing few pounds for sure! I wasnt really crazy about their chili -- good flavor, but its basically ground beef in chili. It was just too much meat for me after the burger, I think. Oh and the Crispy Onion Strings on the top of the salad... yummm.... I probably blew whatever calories I saved by putting the burger in a salad bowl... but hey, it was worth it. Do try their Crispy Onion Strings! Overall, its a really good burger place, and will definitely go back again!
CO
Corey Strock
Stopped in here for lunch, and it was really good. The decor is pretty standard, the bar and table all seem to have decent amounts of space around them, so thats good. The service was fair, our waitress was friendly for sure. The food was pretty good, not the best Ive ever had, but Id definitely recommend them. We ended up getting the following: Beer - The Draft list was about 10 beers long w/ a decent selection. I ended up with a Scrimshaw Pilsner and it was enjoyable Fried Pickles - Well fried with a little salt on em. Pretty good pickles imo. Fifty Fifty - We got Sweet Potato and Shoestring Fries. They were both pretty good, the shoestring were thin, crunchy and salty. Just want I live. Custom Burger - The Custom burger options were immense and has nearly everything I could think of. I especially enjoyed the Chipotle Aioli and the Pretzel Bun Fried Chicken Sandwich - My wife sad this was very good. I tried the Chicken on its own and it has nice flavor and good crunch.
MI
Michealle Nope
A server struck my daughter in the back of the head with a plate, spilling bright orange sauce into her hair, all over her jacket, and spattering other members of our party. The poor man was very apologetic, but that was it. No partial or full comp. of her meal, no checking back after the immediate excitement to ensure her head was okay (though he did apologize again). They didnt even bring a fresh cup of sauce until wed asked twice. Kid went to bed early with a gnarly headache after we got home. My veggie burger was okay. Nothing to write home about, but it got me through a meal with my meat-eating friends. I wouldnt bother with the cherry pie filling shake: its barely pink, and you can do better at home with a jar of pie filling and the vanilla ice cream of your choice.
MI
Mickey Olson
Great burgers, even my wife who isnt a huge fan of meat really likes the beef here. Lots of options including some I dont see at other burger places. GREAT chipotle aioli. I really liked the multigrain bun I got. We (party of 2) showed up at 7:15 on a beautiful Saturday night, paid for 1 hour 21 mins of parking around the corner ($2.50) and got back to the car with 14 minutes left on the meter. Service was good, quick and attentive. The places was very busy and loud but in an energetic way. Lots of tvs on the walls with sports playing. Nice horizontal wood paneling and "hip" artwork on the walls. It was $36.35 after tax pre-tip for 50/50 fries/sweet potato fries, 2 burgers (with extra cheese and bacon on mine $2.50 extra I think), an Arnold Palmer and a Coke.
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Chito-Joyce Ordonez
Cute place, not too big, just the right size. I ordered pineapple iced tea --- something different but it tasted like a lite beer, server was nice enough to replace it with raspberry iced tea but I was surprised it wasnt sweet at all, you have to add sugar to sweeten it a bit. We went during lunch, we were curious about the mini burger "sampler" but it was only available during happy hour. Our server was so nice to let us order a regular burger and a crab burger and cut it up in 4 which made it very easy to eat (esp for a mommy with a baby). Crab sandwich/burger with coleslaw was sooo good. Its real crab and tastes fresh. We also ordered the fries with Parmesan cheese and garlic which was very yummy.
OZ
Ozzy I
I loved the counter when it first opened around the corner from my house in LA, and I still love it here in Walnut Creek. This pleasure is not cheap though, but funny enough it is about the same price as any bar burger in SF. Pick your meat, pick your bun, and choose the insane amount of toppings you want. You want a hardboiled egg on that burger? Sure. Kale? Toss it on there. Sliced Almonds? Shine on you crazy diamond! Cranberries? Enjoy it while you can you heathen. This aint yo daddies In-n-out burger, you get fancy and enjoy (or yak) at your marvelous creation.
