Grill'd Burgers - Toowong — Restaurant in Brisbane City

We visit this Grill’d restaurant in the Toowong Shopping Village quite regularly, and we’ve never been disappointed. Our latest visit on a Saturday evening in August, was no exception. We arrived at 5.45pm to find an empty restaurant, but that didn’t bother us. We chose the nicest table in the upper section, where we were quite comfortable. By the time we left, an hour later, there was a reasonable turnout, and the place was about half full.

We ordered a couple of our favourite “Mustard & Pickled” burgers ($14 ea), a bottle of Stone & Wood Pale Ale ($9), a cold drink and a so-called “large” serve of sweet potato chips to share (actually quite small for $9). That all came to a hefty $65, including an extra $3 for two “low carb” buns, which is a bit of a waste, as it tastes no different from the other buns. Not the best value for money, but I guess it’s a sad indication of how our little Aussie peso has sunk to “Weimar Republic” levels. Think about it: Three little burgers, two drinks and a few chips for $65. Crazy.

Putting that frustration aside though, the burgers are consistently tasty, fresh and delicious. The Mustard & Pickled burger has a nice juicy patty, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion and tangy dijon mustard.The fluffy sweet potato chips with a crispy coating, were the perfect accompaniment. As it says at the bottom of the receipt “Made With Love”, and they aren’t exaggerating, because the food here is made with love, care and attention to detail. It’s always of a high quality, which is why we tend to come back.

But what really makes this place one of my faves, is the fast, friendly and efficient service. Ordering and payment is done at the front counter, and within a few minutes, the food is delivered to the table by one of the staff, always neatly turned out in a smart uniform. The whole place hums like a well oiled machine, and it’s a pleasure to dine here.

Furniture is fairly utilitarian, mainly wood and steel, but tables are large and easily able to fit all the drinks and the food. The ambience is relaxed, casual and laid back. To add to the convenience, there’s ample parking in the centre, where the first two hours are free. And, given the quick service and small portion sizes, you won’t need more time than that. Toilets are clean, well provisioned, and easy to find either in the nearby food court or behind the Flight Centre, a bit further away.

There’s ample seating, inside and outside, so no matter when you go, you’ll always be able to find a table.

This is a cool place and perfect for a last minute get together with friends or family. But they need bigger plates, more serviettes and a bottle of liquid hand soap on each table, to clean up afterwards, as it’s inevitable that some of the fillings will squelch out...

Despite being overstaffed, I had to wait an unacceptably long time to receive my two burgers. It's perplexing how the restaurant always seems to have an excessive number of staff members, yet they fail to provide efficient service. When I placed my order, I noticed that about eight employees were just chatting amongst themselves while only two people were making burgers.

My frustration grew even further when I had to wait for 30 minutes just to receive my "Simply Grilld" burger. To make matters worse, someone eventually approached me and handed over my burger without offering any apology for the wait. They casually mentioned that my food had been sitting above the grill all this time. It was disappointing that none of the ten staff members noticed a takeaway bag sitting there and failed to consider giving it to me. This has occurred multiple times, and initially I thought it’s just been an off-night for them. However, it's frustrating to see that this...

I'm actually really disappointed with this Grill'd. I went here yesterday and I ordered a gluten free burger for takeout at around 8pm. They were about to close, so I did takeout. When I got home, I took a bite of my burger and it tasted really good. That's not until I realized halfway through that I the bun was indeed not gluten free. I ended up getting a stomach ache and mild hives as I consumed alot of gluten. Normally contamination and little amounts of gluten are fine with me, but considering this was a whole piece of bread, that was not okay. I'm actually really angry because I would've gone back and asked for the gluten free bun that I specifically ordered, but they were closed. I had to throw out the rest of my burger. Extremely poor service I received as they didn't give me the gluten free bun and although this could be a kitchen accident or miscommunication, Grill'd should know better than to make mistakes...