Grazzy Burgers

I shouldn’t even be writing this review because I’m a vegetarian. Haven’t eaten beef since I was 8 apart from a brief stint of poverty in 2010 when I couldn’t afford to choose what I was eating.
And now I’m 7 months pregnant and have this random Memorial Day notion — call it a craving?- induced by the prevelant smell of lighter fluid that I should at least give my unborn son a chance and get the kid-​to-​be a burger.
So, quietly, like a married man creeping into a bordello, I sat at the bar and ordered a beef burger. My guilt hung so heavy, but I knew that I was at least eating grass fed, organic, pasture raised beef (right?) and that even though we are in a drought, I’ve only eaten one serving of beef in all the years that we’ve been in a drought…
And ok, I’m probably the worst person to ask since I don’t know burgers. But that was one of the best things I’ve eaten in a long time.

Ate here on Mother’s Day. Husband and I split turkey burger and garlic fries on gluten free bun and added mushrooms and avocado. Great turkey burger. Good flavor. Much better than Barney’s. Service was great. Didn’t take long to get our food. Will come back again.

I loved the food — especially the sweet potato fries and burgers.
Service is pretty bad and very slow. Once I forgive, but every time I’ve gone I felt like an inconvenience. But, yes, I like the food.

Ordered a salmon burger… it was mostly breading, could barely find any salmon! Fries were super soggy too

OMG I had diarrhea 1 hour after eating there. got done with it the next day… EEW NO

Great neighborhood burger place! Tried the beet salad with a lamb patty on the side! It was delicious. Only four stars because is so dark inside. But otherwise great flavors and a great menu.

OMG, the flan is the best I’ve ever had! Just had their clam chowder and it was delicious. Just the right balance, not too thick or too thin and a decent helping of clams. We’ve gotten their burgers many times and we like most of them, I’m rarely disappointed.

Delicious. Wish I could have spent more time here. Will definitely be coming back for more.

Burgers are ok, a little heavy on the sauces (I’m not a huge fan of mayo or aioli) but 2^nd time around, I asked for it on the side my burger was tasty! The service in the «Tap Room» leaves something to be desired. It was over an hour between the time of ordering to when we received our food, and the waiter seemed like he would rather be anywhere but at work. But overall, there was nothing horrendous about this place, so they get an A-​OK rating.

This is a combined Taproom — Grazzy Burgers review, because really they go hand in hand. The rooms are interjoining, and whichever entrance you use, you can order beer from the Taproom and food from Grazzy Burgers. If you like a brighter restaurant-​type environment then sit on the Grazzy Burgers side, or if you prefer a darker pub atmosphere then sit on the Taproom side. I’ve been here about half a dozen times (sitting in the Taproom side each time) and have always found the service to be super-​helpful and the food to arrive promptly and exactly as ordered. I’m really surprised to see that Grazzy Burgers is getting a bad rap, with a mediocre average score. To those that quibble about the prices being a little high, I would disagree — $ 9 (or even $ 11) for a burger is not a high price when you consider that the meat is humanely raised, grass-​fed, locally sourced, and served on an organic Acme bun… and delicious. If you want a cheaper burger then you can always opt for factory-​farmed fare from McDonald’s.
The food: I’ve had their black bean fiesta burger, sweet potato fries, Kennebec fries, regular fries (I like fries, OK?!), onion rings, and hummus plate. Tonight it was the black bean burger ($ 9), which came with a side of homemade potato chips (fries is $ 2 extra). There were maybe four things that stood out: first, it was a real, homemade burger and not a super-​dense soy protein or gluten patty (which can be okay too but are sometimes hard to digest) and it was satisfyingly filling without being overly heavy. Second, it had this lemony flavor, not over-​lemony but providing just enough acid, that really elevated it. I checked the menu and this delicious flavor was coming from the preserved lemon guacamole. Third, it was moist and had enough toppings (the guacamole, pico de gallo, and cilantro lime aioli) that I wasn’t even remotely tempted to reach for ketchup or mustard. Fourth — the bun was great. So many otherwise great burgers are let down by their buns — story of my life really. My friend had the Grazzy Classic beef burger (also $ 9) and like it a lot too — good bun and cooked to order (he’s not as loquacious as I am).
Beer: Check the Taproom website for a picture of their chalkboard listing the 32 or so beers that they have on tap. Mostly local –you’ll see some familiar names (Fieldwork, Henhouse, North Coast, Stone, Drake’s, Altamont) but also some very unfamiliar brews, even from breweries that you know fairly well. The highlight for me tonight was North Coast’s Old Stock Ale, aged in rye whiskey barrels (its brother aged in wheat whiskey barrels was also available). It’s a dark ale, almost 14% alcohol ($ 8 for 10 oz) but yet isn’t overpowered by the ethanol or the whiskey flavors — it was well-​balanced, potent, and very, very good. Another good one was Drake’s Unholy Alliance sour ale, fermented with Viognier grape skins from Rockwall cellars (also $ 8 for 10 oz). Yep, beer is getting pretty fancy these days and the Taproom is a good place to find out what’s new — and you can also get pints of well-​made traditional beers and ales for $ 5 – 6. The friendly bartenders were happy to pour samples and frequently checked our table for orders.
Sustainability: I’m also giving the Taproom-​Grazzy Burgers experience ⁵⁄₅ green stars for social and environmental impact. Green stars you say? Why yes! It’s a new rating scale for social and environmental impact — it’ll catch on ;) Grazzy Burgers use mostly organic ingredients, all sourced from Bay Area farms, and again, those excellent organic buns are from Acme. Their meat is grass-​fed (corn-​free), compassionately raised without stress or confinement, antibiotics, or hormones and their salmon is wild. The pasture-​raised beef and lamb comes from employee-​owned Sun-​Fed Ranch and Superior Farms (the latter is also 50% wind-​powered). The Taproom’s beer, as I mentioned, is predominantly from very local breweries and many of these (Drake’s, North Coast, Stone, to name a few) are making good efforts on energy use, re-​use of spent grains, and philanthropic causes. I could go on but I’m outta space!

I never really complain when it comes to food taking a while to get in my belly, just because i know good food takes time to make but this place was ridiculous! I ordered 2 burgers, one mushroom and the other bacon and blue recommended by what i think might of been the owner, and they literally had the worst service ever. First of all we came here with a couple friends and they ordered a side of shoestring fries that came with dipping sauces when the waiter came he spilled half the sauces on my boyfriends lap didn’t even say sorry or acknowledge what he had just done, I had to point it out and say if he can bring us some napkins at least. One of my friends ordered a kale salad and the chicken was rubbery couldn’t even eat it.
After waiting 1 hour and 10 min we finally had some food on our table and it wasn’t what we had even ordered. At this point we are so hungry we don’t even bother mentioning it’s wrong because we do not want to wait another HOUR! Wish I could’ve had a better experience.

Our shoestring fries were excellent, as were the homemade potato chips and my BBQ turkey burger. The waitress was nice about letting me have goat cheese, in lieu of provolone on my burger. I would have give five stars, but the large salad that we got to share was actually very small, not to mention pricey.

When this chick gets a burger craving, ish gets real. Not only do I want a perfectly juicy burger on a soft, brioche-​like bun with gourmet toppings oozing out with each bite. I also want the meat to be LEGIT, organic, grass-​fed. Not some biohazard piece of industrial flesh from the factory farm. Ya know?!?
Grazzy Burgers is a godsend. All their beef is organic grass-​fed, pasture raised, without antibiotics, hormones, etc. They also offer turkey, lamb, and salmon burgers which are local and quality, too — all their meat & produce come from local Bay Area farms.
Some burger options they offer are: bacon & blue, mushroom marsala, lamb merguez burger, chicken katsu, BBQ burger, black bean burger, and a burger of the day. Prices are $ 9 – 11 for burgers, and come with a side of potato chips (not fries, sadly). The BUNS are no joke, perfectly soft to soak in all the flavor.
Best of all, Grazzy Burgers is next door to Albany Taproom, and they share the same food menu. You can get your burger & beer fix all in one sitting! The beer menu is truly formidable.
I think I’ll be craving burgers a lot more often now that I’ve experienced Grazzy.

Wow. Two «large» salads came in soup sized bowls. I’m sorry, that is SO not large!
And for $ 11? A bowl of roughly chopped raw kale with some shredded carrots and the barest sprinkling of cubed butternut squash. Disgraceful. Please don’t judge me for ordering a kale salad — instead look at the fact that if you’re going to offer something on your menu, make it worthy of being there!
Sweet potato fries were good. Though they did come out before our salads, as seems to be the MO reading through other reviews.
Speaking of, wish I’d read reviews BEFORE heading out tonight. Would have skipped the place.
Sorry for this, since the Tap Room is awesome.

Turkey burgers should NOT be pink inside, ever. I am a loyal diner here and have sent my turkey burgers back 3 times (different visits). Friday night I did not send it back…4-hrs of throwing up.
Chefs, please cook the turkey burgers thoroughly — as with every order I ask the waiters to cook it well done to which they always reply «turkey burgers are always cooked well done»… Nope, they are not.
Kindly get the word back to the chefs to complete the cooking task.
Beers from the adjoining Albany Tap Room — stellar selections.

We were soo excited to get a burger at Grazzy Burgers and yet, we never had that chance to even try one. Here is the story…
We came in later on a Friday night. The place was not packed so we were quickly sat… Excellent start.
Our waitress came to our table in less than 5 minutes asking if we were ready to order. Whoops, no menus yet so no, we were not quite ready. After getting the menus, we placed our order (mouthes watering). The waitress explained that they only had one iPad working so she had to memorize our order. Uh oh… that often does not bode well. No paper and pens laying around?
Then we waited and waited… and waited. Healthy handfuls of couples and families came in after us and seemed to all be getting their appetizers of fries and even burgers. Hmmm, we ordered fries so where are ours? We waited an actual 30 minutes without anything (even waters). So, the only person I could flag down we told we still had not received our oder. The explanation was, «it’s coming».
After an hour, yes… 60 minutes, we still had absolutely no food and though we had waters, they had not been refilled. A cook took pity and noticed we had no food so he assumed the next burger would be ours. He came with burgers in hand, eager for us to enjoy their yumminess but unfortunately no, they were not our lovely burgers. They belonged to the couple who came in just 15 minutes ago.
We have NEVER walked out of a restaurant but we did. We walked out starving, pissed and even thirsty.
On the way out, I caught the owner who had been just standing around all night and mentioned our discontent. I did not do this for a discount. I just wanted him to know that we know the wait can be long for quality food but our order had not even been entered in and we were abandoned.
This was beyond torture… it was absolute incompetence on our server’s part. What a shame… we are not sure that we will give it another try. What a freak’n shame.

Came out for dinner on a weds night with my boyfriend and another friend. We found a table immediately because the place was practically empty! *que the crickets*
My friend and I ordered the classic turkey burger and my bf got the BBQ burger. We also got regular fries with parmesan cheese, garlic, and fresh herbs. Everything was really good BUT! The portions were a small. If you don’t order fries, your stomach will not be satisfied. Also, we got scammed into ordering carmelized onions for our burgers. We asked our waiter for grilled onions and he suggested getting them carmelized. Turns out it’s an extra $ 2 for those suckers.
Overall, it was an okay experience. I do want to come back to try the chicken katsu burger but it probably won’t be for awhile.

We decided to stop by after sitting in a little too much holiday traffic on our way into San Francisco. It was around 3 p.m. PST on a Saturday, and the restaurant was pretty empty (which we liked).
We were so hungry that we sort of did not notice that Albany Taproom was directly adjacent to GB-​which was a big bummer, with its outstanding beer selection and all. We would have definitely taken advantage of that fact had we known — but when we get hungry, we are tunnel vision, I guess.
We sat down in a booth and waited for menus. I ordered the regular Grazzy Burger, medium, sans onion, with white cheddar and onion rings. My boyfriend ordered the Marsala Burger, medium rare, with fries. My boyfriend didn’t like that fries and onion rings were extra, but I wasn’t very surprised. There are no free lunches, even in the east bay. But just to note, they do charge for cheese and all sides.
I thought my burger was pretty yummy, overall. I really love a white cheddar option – because it is very flavorful and therefore distinct against the other favors of the burger. My burger was ever so slightly overdone, but that’s being picky. I am still swooning over the onion rings, however. Those were cooked perfectly, such that the whole onion doesn’t come out when you bite into a ring. We asked for ranch to dip them in, but GB’s ranch is lackluster – stick to ketchup. My boyfriend liked his burger quite a bit, although he believed the temperature throughout was inconsistent. He was very impressed with their fries, an order of which is enormous by the way, which he ate with lemon aioli. For house-​made fries, I have to admit they were pretty great, and far superior to say, the fries at In ‘N’ Out – but along those same lines.
I enjoyed the service, as our server politely laughed at all of my bad jokes.
I thought our bill was pretty inexpensive, but that’s possibly because we didn’t order beers.
Overall, it was a good experience, and I would go back for sure. Very glad we stopped by. Next time, I’m getting beer (s)!

Food: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Got the half beets/​arugula/​goat cheese salad ($ 6) with a lamb patty ($ 4). Although a little heavy on vinaigrette, it was exactly what I was looking for, a light refreshing salad and some protein. There was some green onion or watercress mixed in the patty, giving it a nice texture.
The chicken katsu burger was good too ($ 9), the cole slaw in between was moist, but I thought it lacked something (a curry sauce maybe?) to bring the whole burger together. I’d give the fries 4 stars. It was honest-​cut potatoes with no bs, just some coarse salt. Good change from the usual thin greasy fries.
I asked for a black velvet with the old rasputin stout and the cider they had on the menu. The server didn’t know black velvet but asked me to explain, and checked back on me after he served it to me. kudos to friendly service. Pretty good and refreshing for a half pour ($ 3), BUT I think just an ale would have gone better with the food.
Overall, it was a great place to be, the crowd was friendly, World Cup was on, the food was satisfying, the wooden high tables and chairs– the way afternoon sunlight reflects off them, I would come back in a heartbeat.

What’s going on with this place? Bad service? Food is starting to taste bleh? I came here 3 times before making this review because I wanted to make sure they just aren’t on a bad day.
First off… Why change something that tasted so good? And by that, I mean their Chicken Wings. They completely changed the sauce on it. It was more like buffalo and salty taste rather than sweet and mesquite. I got thrown off when I ordered it AND they failed to tell us that they changed the sauce.
Second, what is going on with the service. It’s been terrible lately. The servers are not attentative. They seem to look busy but isn’t at all. In which I found times where they are at the back for minutes on end coming out with nothing.
Third is their skimpiness on their sides which I found to be plentiful times before now it’s like literally 5 pieces of chips.
Completely disappointed. The only thing holding them down now is the beer selection and the bartenders