Counter Cafe

Reviews 3

KI

Kim K

Ok. Let me start off by saying that Counter cafe has a bomb burger. Soft bread with a hint of sweetness. All-natural beef patty. Organic veggies. Fries were good. Nothing outstanding, but not bad by any means. I guess I just like my fries a bit thicker. These were pretty thin. Regardless, whatever the fries lacked, the burger made up for. BUT, alas, the focus of my review is not on the food, but on my seating recommendation. As you might know, Counter Cafe is a tiny little cute cafe crammed into an even tinier building. The left side of the cafe is the kitchen/bar seating, down the middle is a walkway, and along the right wall are 2 person tables. We were seated at the 2 person table, closest to the door, next to the coffee stand. I had my back to the door. We were in the middle of eating when all of a sudden I felt this burning sensation down my back! Like any normal first reaction, my hand flew to my back, I whipped around, and yelped "OW #*$&# What WAS that?!". Once turned around, I saw a waitress who had been messing with the coffee container staring wide-eyed at me. I said, "You just spilled hot coffee down my back!". Her reaction? "Oh." "Oh."?!?! What? Lady. How can I break this down?? YOU. SPILLED. PIPING. HOT. COFFEE. DOWN. MY. BACK. Everyone makes mistakes. Of course. But if you spill coffee down someone elses back, shouldnt you at the very least apologize? Ask if the person is ok? Offer to knock a few bucks off the check? Anything but just saying "Oh."?!? Luckily for her, I was wearing a black shirt and dark jeans, otherwise she would have been able to see the nice brown coffee stains down my shirt. At least I dont mind the smell of coffee, as I reeked of it the rest of the day. In conclusion, the burger is delicious, but if you end up sitting in the chair nearest to the door, watch. your. back.!!! 2 years later: We walked in, saw the “please seat yourself” sign, went back outside and took a seat at an empty table. A few minutes later, the hostess came out and without saying hello, the conversation went as follows: Hostess: “Did someone seat you here?” We answered “No. Your sign says ‘please seat yourself..?’” (If you’re the hostess and you didn’t seat us, I think the pretty obvious answer is “no”.) Hostess: “Well…no. You have to put your name on a list. Us: “Ok, we were just following the sign. Where is the list?” Hostess: “Inside.” So we get up, I go to give her our name and she said “Well, those people whose table you just took I think are now going to leave so just hold on.” Wow. So incredibly rude. And no, we didn’t take anyone’s table. There was a “please seat yourself” sign and open tables, so we followed the rules and sat. Also, there was another open table and no other party waiting, so it seems we weren’t the reason they left. Our waitress was not any better. There were 4 of us all with the same exact priced item, but she refused to split our check and simply had an overall terrible attitude. It’s unfortunate the service was so terrible because the burgers we had were really good. Because of that (and because it’s the 2nd time I’ve had terrible service here - first time I had a waitress spill hot coffee on me and act like nothing happened), I couldn’t bring myself to come back or recommend this place to anyone.

AA

Aaron Arnold

The first time I went here was right after Texas Monthly released its infamous 50 Best Burgers in Texas article. I happened to be living in Dallas in late 2009, so I went to The Grape, their #1, and while it was an unquestionably great burger it left me wanting more. Surely Austin could do better, in burgers as in all things. As luck and editorial caprice would have it, Counter Cafe snagged the #2 spot on their list. At the time I was a big Hills Cafe partisan (quick pause to mentally pour out a 40 for their recent decline from those glorious burgers of yore), so I was skeptical of this tiny place at 6th and Lamar Id never been to. I met up with some friends to check it out. Everything everyone says about how tiny this place is is completely correct. The parking lot is small and a bit tricky (watching someone in an F250 try to leave by going out the back instead of onto Lamar is hilarious), and it seems mind-boggling that theyve managed to survive for who knows how many years with so few tables. Bummer for whoever is in the outside picnic table inches away from car exhaust. But the food is definitely worth it, and that burger deserves its inclusion on that list. As with all top-tier burgers, its secret is the quality of the ingredients. Little details, like really fresh onions, flavorful tomatoes, or actually tasty lettuce (seriously, as a person who generally thinks lettuce is a net negative for anything outside of a salad, I can say that I actually enjoyed the lettuce here), add up to make a big difference, and you can immediately taste its superiority. At $11 its going to set you back a bit, but even if it was just the soft whole wheat bun and the juicy meat, it might be worth it. Other things Ive had from there have been similarly excellent. If youre in a breakfast mood definitely try the crab cakes benedict, its a regular eggs benedict with some of the greatest crab cakes Ive ever eaten replacing bacon, atop some of the best biscuits in the city. $13 is a lot, true, but you will leave the restaurant mentally calculating when the next justifiable time to return will be. Im also a big fan of their pancakes. The service is also good here, possibly because theres literally nowhere for the waitress to hide. Bottom line is that if youre up for spending a bit of money this is a great breakfast or lunch spot. No dinner, because they close at 4pm for some reason, but nothing is perfect.

MA

Matthew Woerndell

This was my first time here.. To start, there is almost no parking and the place is VERY small.. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was completely full, so I would hate to see what this place looks like on a weekday during lunchtime. I was making a to-go order so I could eat at work. They had to check if I could make one before taking my order. I did try to call ahead but there was only an answering machine. Now, on to the food... Lets start with the frys.. Very over cooked to the point of almost burnt. I love my fried foods and to me it tastes like the fryer grease needs to be replaced. Moving over to the Bacon cheese burger... Ive searched a long time looking for that "Perfect" burger in Austin. Unfortunately, this is not it. I ordered my burger Medium well which was done correctly. The burger is very tasty, the bacon is crisp and the cheese is perfect. So, Why cant this the perfect burger? The meat was way too small.. roughly about 1/2 the size of the bun. The bun was overcooked to the point of almost burnt. I just finished this burger while writing this review and I am still hungry. Now on to the cost of the meal.. Here is the show stopper.. This meal, just frys and a bacon cheeseburger, cost me $15.50. Now I normally will tip even when making a to-go order, but the sticker shock on this was way to high. I feel bad for not tipping even after I was allowed to make a to-go order. They could of just as easily turned me away, right? So with all that being said, the expensive cost, the frys being overcooked, the meat being too small and the bun almost burnt I have to give this a Poor - Fair rating. Step up the size of the meat, fix the fry issue and drop the price a little and this would get a very high rating from me and possible a lot of others. But, In the mean time I think I will pass on Counter Cafe next time. Five Guys, you still are number one in my book. On a side note.. the eggs the person next to me ordered looked awesome.. I might come back to try their breakfast.