The Burger Place

The burgers here are OK, but are not better than one one would get at Burger King or Wendy’s these days, and a combo with fries ends up being $ 10 or more. The service is what really makes them stand out, though, and not in a good way — It will be telling to see what effect the opening of a Five Guys a few blocks away has on their business.
On my latest visit, I ordered the daily western burger special for $ 8.80, with the onions left off. The somewhat rude Asian fellow at the register (who was eating while working) rang it as a cheeseburger with barbecue sauce for more money than as special without telling me, which I noticed after he gave me my receipt. When I inquired as to why I was charged more than the price for the special I ordered, he said «the special is for people who want everything on the burger that’s on special,» and refused to refund the difference between what he charged and what I had ordered (leaving one item off the special of the day).
If this makes any sense to you, it may be your kind of burger place, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for Five Guys on Nicollet and 6^th to open this summer.

I’ve given The Burger place a few chances but today was the last time. The folks at the register bark questions at you like HERE OR TO GO? in broken English, never any thanks or greeting. The food is rushed and very little care goes into it. Today, my grilled cheese was dripping with butter to the point it was almost inedible. The fries were hard and old. With summer approaching, I recommend any food truck over most restaurants in the skyway but for sure I’m going to avoid this place from now on.

Ordered the Wednesday special, bacon cheese burger combo. The burger was way too over cooked and it cost almost 10 $. Compared to a McDonald’s quarter pounder their burger is a few notches below. Fries were good and had their breakfast sandwiches before which is also good.
Person on the service counter was crabby, didn’t even thank you for your order.

The burgers I’ve had here are great, especially, most recently, the bulgoki burger. So, for a skyway burger place, it would get a 4 or 5 but the cashier dude, is HORRIBLY unfriendly, reminiscent of the Soup Nazi. He literally seems angry and irritated that you are bothering him with your order. I’m not sure what his stress is all about but he shouldn’t be interacting with the public. There has never been a long line there when I’ve been there at lunch, so it’s not because he’s overwhelmed with customers. Look at nearby Chipotle, that always has a line out the door, and VERY cheerful employees!

I came to this place because I kept walking by and seeing it was always super-​crowded with a huge line at lunch. «What is this place all about?» I thought to myself. It turns out not much.
I tried it because it was popular. The result was very so-​so. I just got a cheeseburger rather than their specialities, because that’s a prerequisite for getting a burger right. It came in a cute little box that proclaimed it was the only place in the skyway serving certified black angus beef. The fries were okay but tasted a little stale. The burger came with a bit of lettuce, american cheese that didn’t melt for some reason, and a paper thin tomato slice (I love me some tomatoes). The quality of the beef was so-​so, a little thin and nothing to write home about, and there was way too much bun. The bread had kind of a stale taste too. I’d say it’s better than big chain fast food and costs a little more, but generally not great. I don’t get the lines.

First of all, I’ve been eating at restaurants in the sky-​way several days a week for 15+ years, so I believe that I’m qualified to say what good sky way food is, and this my Friends this is not.
Several coworkers told me that the burgers here were good, so we tried it out.
I ordered the Thursday special, which was the Cajun burger (Dry flavorless burger with American cheese and some generic «Cajun» seasoning sprinkled over the meat.) with a salad (mostly woody white lettuce out of a bag). I had to heavily slather the burger with condiments just to upgrade it from bone dry to being able to swallow it. With each bite I was transported back in time to the hamburger pucks we were served in the high school cafeteria. I was hungry and darn it! I was not going to throw out my $ 9.00 lunch
My friend ordered a burger and upgraded the regular fries to sweet potato fries; the sign at the register said that the upgrade would cost $ 1.00 extra; she was charged $ 2.25 above the cost of the combo-​meal, which brought the total with tax to nearly $ 12.00. When we asked the manager why she was charged so much and pointed out that the sign clearly stated that it was only $ 1 more, he explained that the sign should be taken down because it was old and that they no longer honor that price. No apologies, no offer to refund the difference, nothing.
With a few really good choices for food in the sky ways (Allie’s Deli, Zen Box etc.), I can’t imagine why anyone would waste their money here. And with great burger joints in town (Blue Door, Nook, Matts, Smash burger, Burger Jones etc.), don’t waste your burger craving on this place; you’ll leave with your craving unsatisfied.

One of my guilty pleasures in the skyway. We used to call it «sweaty burger» at the old location because of the vaguely disgusting humidity problem. The new place is cleaner and has better seating. The burgers don’t rank among the best downtown, but for the price (confession: I get the turkey burger) and for the generous portion of hot fries you get, it’s one of my favorite value propositions when I’m in the burger mood. Don’t be expecting Ike’s burger, or even Culver’s, and you’ll be prepared for a decent experience.

There are a lot of burger and fries in a box places now and this is my favorite. Located in the US Bank tower downtown, this place gets very busy but is worth it. A little more expensive, and definitely slower than the other joints, the win here is that the bun is really light and fluffy, the patties fresh and tasty, and great thick cut fries.

I had written a very favorable review for their previous location, which was pretty great. That spot had a very old-​school diner feel to it that the new location lacks. Certainly, this place took its time in working out the kinks at the new spot, and some of the charm is lost in transition. That said, it probably doesn’t deserve to be slagged off quite so badly on Unilocal as it is. The place is essentially a fast-​food burger joint, except you’re at least getting an independent place’s food and not eating at McDonald’s.
There is a lack of great, quick burger joints downtown. I would recommend the Band Box Diner above all other places for a quick burger downtown, but if you’re stuck in the rat-​tube skyways for lunch, you could do a lot worse than the Burger Place. Its one glaring flaw is that, yes, it’s expensive and if they truly wanted to spike the crowds in here they’d drop the prices a little bit, perhaps offer better values. Even if you get one of their ‘specials’, which come with a soda instead of no drink, it’s around $ 8 for a burger and fries, which comes off as steep. They do use pretty decent ingredients here, however, so you’ve gotta pay for that somehow.
Their fries are hot and fresh 99% of the time, which is way higher than most places. Their onion rings are fantastic, though their cost is sadly prohibitive at something like $ 2.50 to add the onion rings instead of fries or a paltry salad. I still like their tuna melt here, which is two servings of tasty tuna on English muffin, with cheese and tomato. Some people would probably throw up at the sight of it, but I find it to be good, especially if you eat some of the tuna in bites with the french fries. Kinda weird, no doubt, but it is tasty. The folks who work here aren’t always in the best moods, but I’ve found that after getting off to a rocky start in the new location that their attitudes and the general quality of the service has improved remarkably.
Finally, the burgers themselves are pretty good. There’s a lack of real taste with some of them, but they offer many varieties, and I’ve always favored the Mexican, which has spices and jalapenos, along with pepperjack cheese. Those fixings really elevate the taste here to where it should be. Oh, Burger Place: it has its problems, but should be given a little bit of slack where available.

I was really surprised to see that this joint has only a few reviews and that so many are quite «constructive». I’m not sure what people expect out of a skyway joint, but people need to re-​think expectations. This is skyway food, it’s not a 5-​star restaurant. With that said, I’ll proceed with my 5-​star review…
After the relo from Marquette, the new setup is quite a bit larger and definitely updated (LCD menus, etc).
This being my first time, I went with the T.B.P., which a co-​worker mentioned was quite a solid choice. The TBP consists of a fried egg, bacon and pepper jack, a fantastic combination of awesomeness. After a short wait, I was brought a mountain of gloriousness. The burger cooked to a medium, crisp bacon, melted cheese with a large pile of hot fries Wash it down with your choice of bev, which for me was a coke.
Now, some people complain about the burger itself, some complain about the service, some about the long lines. Well, here’s the deal, if you know the food is good and the lines are long, then go early. No one is telling you to go right in the middle of lunch rush; be smart people.
For $ 10, you can’t go wrong. Make plans, grab your co-​workers and GO!

The last two experiences here are it.
The woman behind the counter, if possible, has grown MORE surly. I don’t understand if it’s that she has an uncomfortable mattress and can’t sleep, or is just a generally unpleasant person, but she seriously needs to hire someone else to work the register or she has lost this burger eater FOREVER. I would rather spend the entire lunch hour I have walking over to Burger Jones and back.
My last experience was terrible. She took my order, and after correcting her SEVERAL times on what I believe were simple requests. (Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Mayo, and Bacon), they still managed to get it wrong. Even though I was charged for the additional ingredient.
Really though, it’s no wonder my order was incorrect. The ENTIRE time they were cooking my burger she was yelling at the guy cleaning the other grill, and yelling at the guy cooking the food too. She was yelling at the person cleaning the floor, I wouldn’t be surprised if she went in the back after hours and yelled at herself in the mirror. Amidst all the yelling going on, they screwed up my order and I had to ask for extra packets of Mayo/​Ketchup/​Mustard.
The final straw for me. I showed up at 3:25. Not trying to be a pain in the ass, I get it, you are five minutes away from closing, but I JUST got on my lunch. I walk through the open door, and the guy sweeping the floor YELLS at me that I have to get out and that they are closed. There are even other people in the dining room. There are people waiting at the grill. I argued momentarily my point before he rudely huffed over to me and TOLD me to leave. And shut and locked the door behind me.
So done.

Service was unfriendly and the line was like moving cattle. While the eating area was clean the food was grease ladden and unflavorful. I stopped in for breakfast on my way to the gym and ordered a vegitarian omelet with egg substitute and it showed up with so much dripping grill grease I could not eat it. The dry toast was acceptable. Will not return.

I used to eat there frequently when it was in the Soo Line Building. The food was really good and the service OK… usually. Now, since the move to the U.S. Bank Plaza, the quality has really bottomed out. The service is… ok… usually.
Case in point. I will often order a grilled cheese with bacon. And the product used to be pretty good. Now they’ve changed up how it’s made. They’re using a pre-​made «texas toast» as the bread. The cheese is 2 slices of a generic «American». It spends so little time on the grill that the cheese doesn’t even begin to melt. After it comes off the grill, it sits on a counter getting cold until one of the workers gets to it, opens it up and drops a couple of small slices of cooked, lukewarm bacon that’s been sitting in a pan some 3 feet above the grill. They used to put the bacon in the sandwich while it was on the grill to warm it up. Not very tasty at all.
The fries were ok.
The couple of burgers I had from there previously were ok, but didn’t seem to be the same quality as when they were in their previous location.
One last note, in the last few weeks, the line that used to stretch out the door from 11 to 2 has grown shorter and only lasts from about 11:30 to 1 or so.
Ultimately, I cannot give a good recommendation for the place. It’s ok for a burger, if you don’t want to go to Manny’s, and reasonably priced for Downtown Mpls, but you should make your own determinations.

Great place to eat. Great food, nice atmosphere, love the new location!

Terrible service. Went there on a Monday for lunch with 2 friends. We ordered to go. My order was completed 20 minutes before theirs. We waited close 30 minutes for their food and there is little standing room. Of course my meal was soggy and cold by the time I got to eat it. If you go there with other people, make sure you order the same thing as them.

The burger itself was pretty good… the problem was in getting the burger. The place opened a few weeks ago, and the line was out the door (and continues to be). I was surprised that they didn’t have more of an assembly line going to put the burgers together, and the wait both to place our order and pick up the food was excessive. While I typically wouldn’t ding a new establishment for a longer wait time while they work out the kinks, I WILL ding TBP for the rude manager/​owner. You see, outside of the restaurant where the line began was a sign that read —
GRAND OPENING
Monday This Week
THE BURGER PLACE
Free drink, with
purchase of a regular
priced hamburger.
We are closed Thursday
and Friday for the
holiday.
(Photo to be posted.)
Reading this, I requested my free drink when ordering my burger, which would have made the unbelievable wait for the burger slightly more bearable. The cashier replies that there is no free drink. I mention the sign out front, and at this point an angry manager yells out — «That was Monday only! There is no more free drink!» Her tone read — F-​you and your need for hydration.
Look, the diet coke would have been awesome, but at the end of the day it didn’t matter so much. It does, however, piss me off that 1) TBP kept out a sign that was confusing at best and downright deceptive at worst and 2) gave me attitude about it. I heard a few other people ask about the free drink as I waited for my burger, so it wasn’t just me that got duped.
Moral of the story — be less jerk-​like your first two weeks of business. I like hamburgers, but won’t be coming back to this place.