Bert’s Burger Bowl

Bert’s closed their doors for good the last week of April this year, according to The New Mexican. RIP

Dear Bert’s, What happened?
Did you switch meat providers?
Did you undergo new management and I missed it?
When I worked downtown a few years ago, you were my Go-​To place for a reasonably priced lunch, usually a green chile cheeseburger with fries and a soda…
I visited again after at least a year and the burger patties are smaller, my burger was brunt, the fries weren’t as tasty, and although it was reasonably priced, I’m inclined to go to the burger place across the street (which I will not name here).
And did I have blinders on for the past 30 years? Clean up the kitchen because I can see grease splatter on the window behind the grill.
Luckily, Texans still love you.

Great burgers. The originator of green chile cheeseburgers in Santa Fe, according to their signage. Don’t miss the onion rings, or sweet potatoe fries either. I will wait until warmer weather to add a malt to my order.

We were driving back to Texas from Colorado and ended up in Santa Fe, NM during the lunch hour. Decided to try Bert’s Burger Bowl only because it was featured on Triple D. Sorry to say, but Whataburger is better. The bison burger is frozen, and I suspect that even the beef patties are frozen, as are the fries. The meal was edible; however, we had a meager breakfast and were starving — so that is a large factor. Advice, skip this place. Go purchase some roasted green chilies at one of the many road-​side stands in the area, chop them up, add them to your own home-​made burger or one purchased at another restaurant, and enjoy. I will not be stopping at this place again during our annual trip to CO.

We were visiting Old Town Santa Fe and were wanting a «good» Green Chile Cheeseburger. La Casa Sena and La Fonda on the Plaza were a bit more upscale and pricey ($ 17 for a burger??) than what we were looking for.
I searched on Diners Drive-​Ins and Dives to see what local establishments they had visited and Bert’s looked like the perfect spot. It was a quick two minute drive to Bert’s. The green chile cheeseburger was only $ 4.35, and we added bacon for another $ 0.90. The green chile was perfect, had a nice spice to it that added some heat, and the bacon gave it the right kick. This is a burger I will come back for — great value and very tasty!

Delicious fresh cooked food! I always get the veggie burger with green chile and cheese, even though I am not a vegetarian. It is just that good! Sweet potato fries are delicious and come with a side of a spicy BBQ dipping sauce! Friendly staff!

Learned about this great little locals hang out on Diners Drive ins And Dives, been coming here every since. They have the best green chili cheeseburger in Santa Fe!

Great prices and amazing choice of delicious burgers! You can’t find this many meat choices in too many other places… Everything tastes fresh and the orders come out pretty quickly!

I’ll describe my first bite of a Chile Burger from Bert’s. I pick up said burger and wonder why the bottom of my burger feels kind of frozen. As I go in for a bite, I’m greeted by cold bread on the bottom and then a bed of ginormous, almost icy, lettuce.
Needless to say, I was not impressed. The patty is a lifeless, awkward piece of machine formed meat. The green chiles were good and I’ll echo what someone said earlier by saying, that’s the only reason they have two stars here.
This is indeed a dive, but not the type of dive to write home about. I’d hit up Blake’s Lotta Burger instead.

There are those days when as a New Mexican you rise with the sun. craving a mouth watering green chile burger. Berts is definitely the place. priced right it takes next to nothing to feed to green chile beast!
Burgers are spot on .!

I usually make a stop here or Blake’s every trip to SF. From reading reviews I guess the place gets to hyped up, especially since it was featured on DDD, and folks expect to much for a burger joint.
Technically I guess you could call it a Fast Food Burger Joint but not accurate as all orders are cooked to order. Don’t expect to get your food 60 seconds after you pay for it like McDonalds.
So here is the meat of the review. This is a burger joint that made its name with the Green Chili Cheeseburger. So if you go there order the house specialty with fries and a drink. Order something else and you might be disappointed.
As for the Green Chili Cheeseburger, it is very good and consistent. Don’t expect anything fancy, and if you arrive during peak serving hours do not expect to find a place to sit and eat. Get it to go.

Bert’s Burger ‘Bowl’? Why ‘bowl’? They don’t serve anything in bowls. The restaurant is not even remotely bowl shaped. You don’t go there to bowl. And, sadly, the food is not going to bowl you over.
I had high hopes for Bert’s. As soon as I walked in, I noticed a huge line and an efficient kitchen. That’s good news to me; that means they’re consistently popular. And, of course, the claim plastered on the walls that Bert’s invented the green chile cheeseburger. I guess someone had to be the first.
As soon as you get your food, reality sets in. Seating options are minimal and limited to the crowded interior or picnic tables outside. Could be charming, but none of those tables seem to get wiped down often. And, you’ll be eating those greasy burgers off of their own greasy paper wrappers. It’s messy. You’re likely to get grease on your knees given the metal mesh tabletops.
The food itself is bad. The burger patties are oddly spongy, grey pads that only taste a little like beef. Even compared to big-​name corporate burger slingers, Bert’s doesn’t come out well. I don’t know if they’re from frozen, but they sure as hell taste like it. And the fries are a joke. I’ve had better fries out of a bag from my own freezer. The onion rings fared slightly better, but that’s only slightly. Neither taste homemade and are completely unsatisfying. A very disappointing meal.
Look, I get that this is fast food, and I shouldn’t expect the world. But this is also bad fast food. I’ve had worse, to be sure, and the green chile was admittedly very good (which the reason for that second star), but I still think this place is best avoided. I’d rather go to a chain. A chain! You know how much it pains me to say that? If you want to keep your bucks in NM but also get food worth eating, go to Blake’s.

If you are ok with Frozen Patties and Excuses from who knows where. My Wife and I was very disappointed. Guy would be very disappointed that they use frozen patties, and not good frozen patties. Please go back too Fresh, frozen is blah.

Hit up Bert’s for lunch during a trip to Santa Fe for my wife’s work. Picked this local joint, because the other reviews seemed good and there was a pretty good line of folks during lunch time. One of my tips when trying to find food in a new place, is if the line is long it must be good. Plus how can you not try a green chile cheeseburger!?!
I had the Green Chile and Cheese Burger with fries and a strawberry shake. The burger came out hot and fresh. It was loaded with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, and a HUGE handful of whole green chiles that had been diced. Good flavor to the meat, but the kicker was the green chile, which had perfect heat and rockin’ flavor. The fries were pretty good, nothing too special, just the standard crinkle cut. But they were hot and salty. It was definitely a good choice to go with the strawberry milkshake, as it helped to take the edge off the green chile heat. Pretty good flavor on the shake and nice chunks of strawberries in it. Overall a great lunch in a great town.
I would recommend giving it a shot the next time you are in Santa Fe. You can try a green chile burger anywhere, but why not try it where they know how to do it right?

It is what it is. Fast food, nothing more nothing less.
Just OK

This place has been around since the foreveragos. It’s filthy, they sell powerball tickets and there are flies out the yahoo. However, when I’m hungry for a greenchile cheeseburger I almost always come here. Even though it takes a long time, the fries are always soggy but the strawberry limeade is delicious.

This place is awesome!!! To start we went 5 minutes to closing (which we had no idea) the very friendly owner and cook stayed late to feed us. Very friendly service and awesome food! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone! My family and I will be back for sure!!!

Just had my first visit ever to Santa Fe, what a fantastic town! Good thing I read the reviews before going; my dad had seen this place on food network diners show and couldn’t get the look on Guy Fieri’s face when he bit into the burger out of his mind. Because of the reviews I decided it shouldn’t be one of our main meals, but rather something we try on the way out, hungry or not. Turns out we were ready for a quick lunch on the way out.
I have to agree with Martin’s review 100%. I am always a little skeptical of reviewers with no picture and few reviews, thinking they may be biased one way or the other. But his review describes our experience exactly! I had more green chile on my burger than my dad, who was so annoyed and disappointed.
I made sure to order the exact one that Guy Fieri ate, and I find it very hard to believe they served him a thin frisbee burger like we received. It tasted good, it’s not a total waste. It was like in n’ out burger, or Burger King, yummy fast food burger but not something that will wow you or be even the best mediocre burger you ever ate. It’s just one burger in a sea of burgers that is utterly forgettable.
the fries were pretty disgusting. Half were yummy and half looked like they had been fried a few times and were literally inedible. I did not put those yucks in my mouth.
Don’t eat at the restaurant if you do choose to try the burger because the flies are unbelievable; would it help if they cleaned better? I didn’t see any other outside restaurant in Santa Fe with such a fly issue so I’m wondering why we only saw them here.
I didn’t feel sick after, so that was good.
My seven year old nephew said his burger was really good, as was his chocolate milkshake. My dad’s vanilla shake was really good, I stole a taste. very vanilla beany
Anyway, my nephew also thinks McDonalds is the best restaurant on earth, sooo…

Green Chili Cheeseburger, onion rings, and a cherry coke (you can put just about any flavor ya want in yr soda). enough said.
Yeah, Bert’s would be better if it was under the old management (back then, the burgers were each made to order-​or so I’ve been told), but the combination of delicious that I just described is still mighty tasty with the run-​of-​the-​mill burger and bun that it’s made on. It would also be sweet if more onion rings came in the order or if the sweet potato fries didn’t bite the big one, but I guess I can’t have everything. For now, I consider it to still be worth stoping by. Faults and all, it’s still damn good.

Bert’s Burger Bowl is the real deal, as reported by Guy Fieri.
The haters on Unilocal crack me up. Is the food always perfect? No! But is authentic and delicious and 40 years of fans CAN’T be wrong!
There is only one Bert’s green chili cheeseburger and it isn’t like others so trying to compare it is ridiculous! There is no green chili cheeseburger standard in New Mexico, so all you visitors don’t listen to the others and try to find «the best». Try them all and decide for yourself what you like– it’s a delicious way to learn!
Missing Bert’s while in Santa Fe would be a shame.
Recommended!