The Counter Meridian

I would give them zero stars as we could not eat there. A Saturday night at 8:55 pm we were informed kitchen was closed. Website claims they are open to 10:00. Young man at front was rude and said it did not matter. We came all the way across town for dinner here. So sad for an utter disappointment and horrible customer service.

Had my first bad experience here today. Super slow service, forgot part of my order and was 33 bucks for just my son and I. Was not impressed this time and I had been looking forward to eating here again for a while.

I wanted to like this place… we walked in clearly with our daughter by us and were seated in a booth. The hostess says «oh let me go get you a kids menu» that kids menu never came… then we sat there for 20 min… yes I timed it… TWENTY minutes and no waiter had came to our table to acknowledge us or take drinks orders. Keep in mind there were probably only 4 other tables occupied. I had to get back up and go to the hostess table and ask for a waiter to our table. Ridiculous. We ordered, and ordered for our daughter without seeing any kids menu options. Food took quite a while to come out. It was ok, nothing great. If a manager reads this I think you need to wake your staff up. It was a pretty disappointing dining experience for us. We should have walked out like we had talked about after having to wait at our table for 20 min with wait staff walking bye not even blinking a eye at us. My advice, go to another restaurant in the village.

Unique burgers with great flavor! I tried the four pack of different ones, all delicious. I went back a second time the same week and got the 1lb burger. The only place I’ve been to that offers such a size. A little pricy but the food and service is great!

It’s OK. The appetizers we amazing but the burgers were subpar. The bun on one burger was very greasy and the side salads were limp. Next time we will go somewhere else that cost half the price.

Had a really bad experience waiting nearly an hour for two burgers. Server said we’d be next a few times, but we saw several meals go to other people after that. They claimed the printer broke and our order wasn’t cooked. Other excuses were given so we decided to leave. That’s when they said our food was ready, but we said we didn’t want it. They boxed it up anyway and we left with it. Not surprisingly, they didn’t put fries in the box. We didn’t care as we didn’t pay for anything. The manager didn’t come out to apologize until we were walking out the door. We’ll never go back.

Great place. Great service and great new menu. Love the build your own burgers, salads and shakes. Comfortable place! Fries and onion strings are fab!

My companion and I tried this restaurant on a Thursday during a fairly crowded lunch rush. We wanted and booth and waited less than 5 minutes for the server to clean and prepare a table for us. Great!
The Food: Upon being seated, our waitress promptly put waters on our table and took our drink orders. The perky woman returned in just a few minutes with our drinks, answered our questions and then took our orders. I ordered the Sonoma Bowl. A wonderful delight of mixed baby greens, vegetables, and two petite burgers topped with a basil pesto dressing. Oh, did I mention the goat cheese? So yummy! I also ordered a side of beef chili. It was hot, hearty and was surprisingly topped with craisins. My companion ordered the grilled ham and swiss with a side of french fries. I tasted the sandwich and it was hot, gooey with cheese and quite tasty.
Ambiance: I liked the vibe on that day. The restaurant was light and cheery, the crowd was hungry and I enjoyed looking at their chalk-​art menu covering one wall.
Service: I know a lot of Unilocalers have complained about the service. Being in the food industry, I understand the hiccups and disasters that can occur on a daily basis. From a food delivery not coming in to one or two people out sick, it can de-​rail a small restaurant. That being said, on the day I was there the service was excellent! Our waitress was very friendly, and went out of her way to answer questions that we had. The food came out in a timely matter without a hitch.
Price: Very reasonable for lunch.
My experience with The Counter was very positive. Being located in The Village makes it even more desirable. I can shop, go see a movie and know that this restaurant can satisfy my need for a yummy burger!

Went there yesterday, March 12^th, and was told there was a 20 minute wait due a kitchen backup. What? «Kitchen Backup» What the heck is that? The place was less than 50% occupied! Unacceptable. We left!

Might be the best burger I have ever eaten, mainly because I designed it myself, and washed it down with some excellent local beers.
Go for the bison burger with pepper jack, grilled onions and avo. A winner for sure.
Mike D

I wish I could tell you about the food, but that won’t happen here. After walking in and requesting a table I was told there would be a 10 minute wait. No big deal, of course, that’s pretty standard. We stood and waited at least 10 minutes and finally a spot in the waiting area opened up and we sat down. At this point the staff had cleared 4 tables which we could visibly see were set and ready to go. With one group ahead of us, I decided to run next door to H&M and grab a couple of items. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes thinking upon my return my husband and daughter would be seated and waiting to order. To my surprise they were still in the waiting area! At this point we’ve already invested close to 30 minutes and still weren’t even seated! A couple of minutes later we FINALLY got a table.
After sitting down we spent a lot of time reviewing the menu and at no point did a server come by to greet us. After about 10 minutes I took my daughter to use the restroom. She is 3 so bathroom trips are not quick. When we got back to the table my husband mentioned he still hasn’t been approached by a server. At this point we got up to leave. We told the host we were really upset about the lack of service. He didn’t seem too concerned. 45 minutes of our time spent, with a hungry toddler, and we made zero progress towards getting a meal. We will never try them again. No burger in town is worth that much frustration.
To top it off we decided to then go to Yard House where we knew we would get quick service. We told the waiter about our experience and he brought us an order of free truffle fries to make our day better!!! Now that’s service!!!
Don’t waste your precious time at The Counter.

I’ve been to The Counter a few times now and I must say that the food is excellent. Burgers can be completely customizable with more toppings, sauces, bun options and sides than you can possibly imagine. Watching your carbs? You’re not limited to just lettuce wrapped burgers — you can also have your burger in a large, fresh salad.
What is not excellent about The Counter is the service. Every time I have been here, the service has been the same — terribly slow. I’m not sure why it takes 45 minutes to an hour to cook a burger and fries, but that’s the consistent timing at The Counter, no matter how busy the restaurant may or may not be.
I’m sure I’ll be back to The Counter in the future — I’ll just remember to bring a book with me for the wait and make sure that I’m not starving…

Lots of bad reviews, kinda surprised.
I took my family here on my oldest daughters 15^th birthday.
Received good service and the food was great. Lots of options to choose from and not terrible expensive; 4 adults 3 children $ 90 w/​tip.
We will definitely be going back.

Another burger joint to add to my quest for finding the best burgers in town.
The counter is positioned well with a great location in the Meridian Village. The area its in is low density compared to the other sides so parking and availability are good. The location itself is clean and modern. I dislike the booths for size, but I’m a big guy.
The burger options are great and I like that you can build your own. I appreciate the selection in sauces ect, but I feel like anything I actually want on the burger costs more (bacon, ham, eggs) I have never tried the pre built options but I’d like to see them to compare prices.
The staff is ‘meh’. Nothing that surprised me, but did leave me wondering where my food was. 30 minutes from order to placement is too long for a burger and a salad.
Will I go back? Yes, but isn’t my first choice.

A unique experience that was also so fun. We made custom burgers that didn’t disappoint. Fries are also very good. Beer selection was diverse.
Will return. Highly recommend.

The counter deserves every bit of 4 stars if not 5. I waited a long time to try it because everything NEW at The Village is usually packed for the first several months of being open. Now that I’ve tried it I’m going back ASAP!
We had company in town and decided the counter would be a good fit for everyone on our way to see a movie. Unfortunately it was a Friday night and it was pretty busy. We sat at a long counter type table with 2 girls sitting at the end. I honestly felt bad for tagging on to their table because they seemed to be having a quiet girls night out and we were a larger group of 6 enjoying some adult beverages. For that reason they didn’t get the 5 stars but I am willing to update my review upon my next visit :)
Holy OPTIONS! If you are a picky eater (like myself) this is the place for you. You really can’t go wrong with the Build Your Own option; however, you might be a little overwhelmed by how many choices you have. They also offer several suggestions on the menu such as the BBQ burger that was AMAZING. The meat is top quality and hormone free and the bison burger was a HUGE hit at our table. I split a grilled cheese with 3 different cheeses and an order of ½ fries ½ onion straws with my mom. We wished we had added avocado and bacon but we had more than enough to eat and left several fries and onion straws behind.
I definitely feel that the QUALITY is worth every penny of the extra few dollars you would spend on a burger at The Counter vs. Red Robin. You get your food EXACTLY the way YOU want it!

The Good: burgers were outstanding and being able to pick all the toppings and type of protein from a huge selection is awesome.
The Not So Good: as many others have mentioned, it’s pricey but you know that ahead of time and it is good food. To feed a family of 3 $ 60. Nothing exotic either. Burgers, fries and shakes.
The Bad: the service. Our server just sucked: another server had to being out our food, never checked on us, didn’t smile, and it took us almost 90 minutes start to finish on a slow Thursday night. Really unfortunate because we would go back for great food but the crummy service ruins that.
2 stars and only because the food was delicious.

I ordered the contradiction and my wife ordered the chicken. I was afraid to build my own because there were too many options and it overwhelmed me. We also ordered fries and onion rings. The place wasn’t that busy yet it took 15 minutes before we got our fries. It was around another 10 minutes when we got our burgers. I got a ½ pound and found it to be very tasty. The vegan patty was definitely made from scratch and had a really good taste. It was late in the evening on a Sunday, so it might have been understaffed, but the food is pretty good. My wife had southern chicken burger which she found over cooked and not filling. I’d recommend not having the chicken and make sure you order ½ pound to be full.
The atmosphere was very nice. We were outside with the optimal temperature and had a very pleasant evening and enjoyed walking around the Village afterwards.

I wanted to love this place. A build-​your-​own burger bar with sweet potato fries and a ton of other treats? Love the idea.
However, the service makes this place annoying, and for the price, takes it down further. My friend was asked if she wanted anything and had to remind the waitress of her malt order placed 10 minutes prior. We waited for 10 – 15 minutes before being served in general.
I find it a little absurd that they charge for mustard here (I get the extra sauce charge, but it feels like they’re going to a la carte the silverware next.) They didn’t have the vegan cheese that was on the menu, but waited to tell me about 15 minutes after my order. My receipt was jacked up as well. Nice people, but the service is just not organized at all.
The burger itself was good and juicy, and the fries were decent as well. I’d say the burger itself gets a four, and the service elements a two.

You need to tune the front of house. Two staff, who are overburdened at the lunch push, is not their fault. They are performing well.
This is the most common issue reported about this space.
I’d be happy to help optimize the place.
However, am I going to bring our business group ten top back here after waiting 40 min and still no food? No.