Al Mercato Steaks Burgers Sant'Eufemia — Restaurant in Milan

Upon finally being shown to my table, the first thing I noticed when entering this tiny excuse for a dining room was the dead mosquito squished into the wall by my table.

That was pretty much the best thing about the whole experience.

For a burger place inspired by So-Cal-cool fast food it fails to capture the essence in decor (which makes a second rate kebab shop look stylish) and also the food itself (a tasteless greasy mess).

Being frank, it's hard to screw up a greasy burger. But they make the whole process so painful to order, receive and enjoy that any pleasure in the experience is immediately removed. Especially as the food isn't any good to begin with.

I've heard the hype around this place. You have to wait in line. There are long queues. It's the best burger in town. But this supposed rarefied experience is purely down to the fact that it can comfortably seat about 12 people (though they squeeze in as many covers as possible) which makes their reputation entirely self-engineered. In short a clear, hollow and cringe worthy imitation of other limited-seat-type restaurants.

In all honesty this hype probably derives from the relief of actually being sat down and finally receiving a plate of something warm rather than the enjoyment of any form of culinary innovation.

And is it actually worth the wait. No.

Having eaten at a variety of vastly superior burger joints, this place offers cheap knock offs and pale imitations of innovative dishes created in far better kitchens. Case in point - Al Mercato's version of Meat Liquor's deep fried pickles were a turgid, beige abomination to the eyes, nose and mouth.

And what about receiving your food?

If bussing your own plates to your table because the staff have over filled the room and no one can move is your thing, then you'll love this place.

Needless to say the service is terrible. Dishes were bought out piecemeal and mistakes were made at the ordering stage meaning longer waits for some members of my party as dishes were sent back. Unforgivably sloppy service and despite receiving an apology from a staff member, I have the feeling these apologies are offered out to the majority of covers. This makes an apology mean exactly nothing as they have no desire to improve.

Bottom line: with such a small number of people in the room to begin with it should be literally impossible to screw up anyone's dinner.

It's like a terrible knock off of far cooler places catering to a crowd who don't know any better and unknowing lap it up.

There's nothing cool to be found here. At all.

It boggles my mind that anyone could think Al Mercato is anything but a two bit attempt to cash in on the played-out premium wait-in-line greasy fast food joint schtick. It offers nothing new. It's bland. No care or joy is taken in the space or in the presentation or the service. But hey, it does have one upside: it's cheap.

But frankly, so is Burger King and you'd probably be marginally less disappointed by eating there.

I'll leave you with this - as I took the third bite of my burger I noticed a second squashed mosquito on the wall in front of me and I did as the start of this sentence suggests - I got up to...

Menomale non sono vegetariano!!

Scrivo con rammarico questa recensione perché ho una grande stima dello chef Roncoroni e vengo al mercato in santa eufemia dalla sua apertura Mi sono recato con la mia compagna e mia madre di lunedì sera, c’erano solo altri due tavoli. Appena seduti ci prendono subito l’ordinazione: erano due hamburger normali ( di cui uno senza cetrioli) con aggiunta di bacon e cheddar e uno con il plant based con aggiunta di bacon (volevo assaggiare la loro alternativa vegetariana) e una porzione di onion rings Vengono serviti i nachos come amouse bouche, molto graditi Dopo arrivano due porzioni di onion rings, ma facciamo subito presente che ne avevamo ordinata solo una e senza problemi la riportano in cucina. Onion rings dal sapore ottimo come in passato ma peccato per la cottura perché al morso risultavano troppo unti Dopo un po’ arrivano gli hamburger, e abbiamo qualche problema di spazio sul tavolo perché non ci erano stati ritirati i piatti dell’antipasto, dopo un paio di minuti ci arrivano anche le patatine. Il mio burger plant base dall’aspetto sembrava carne vera e addentandolo mi sono reso conto che effettivamente era carne vera!!! Ho provato a guardarmi attorno per chiedere un cambio ma mi sono dovuto alzare per spiegare il problema, dopo pochissimo mi arriva un altro panino composto da solo pane (senza nemmeno la salsa) con il patty addentato di prima nonostante avessi appena rispiegato la mia ordinazione. Ancora una volta mi sono dovuto alzare perché non sono stato visto a rispiegare direttamente alla cucina il mio panino. Nonostante ciò il cameriere ( credo il responsabile) torna due volte al tavolo chiedendo ancora delucidazioni sul mio ordine Al terzo panino l’ordine era giusto ma le persone sedute con me avevano già finito di mangiare da un pezzo. Nel complesso non mi è dispiaciuto, ma le patatine side hanno avuto lo stesso problema degli onion rings, veramente unte.

Dulcis in fundo il conto 96€ per 3 hamburger (22 a panino) onion rings 8€, 2 birre piccole 5€, 2 acque da mezzo litro 2,8€, e 9€ di coperto (3€ a testa senza pane ne tovaglie) Mi sarei aspettato di non pagare il mio hamburger per l’errore fatto, perchè sarei potuto essere un vegetariano che mangia della carne a sua insaputa.

Mi spiace veramente che uno dei posti che ha portato il vero burger americano a milano si sia...

After a disappointing lunch at a tourist trap with surprisingly high reviews, we were looking for something different. We were tired of Italian food and wanted to try a burger place. We found this cute little place with great ambiance and decoration. The food was amazing! The burger, fries, and short ribs were some of the best I've ever had, and I live in Los Angeles! The service was also excellent. We will definitely be back here next time we're in Milan.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of my rating:

Food quality: 5/5 Food taste: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Ambiance: 5/5

I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for great comfort food in Milan. It's a great alternative to Italian food, and the food is definitely...