Downlow Burgers - Grafton — Restaurant in Waitematā

I visited here with my colleagues since the Grafton branch was new.

While waiting, I observed a customer who came later and received an order before another customer who arrived first (This customer's order number was 5, later arrived one was 12). It was obvious that there was no such working ordering queue system in place.

Since we were in a long queue, I asked the staff if we could come back. The male staff member told us that our order would be ready 20 minutes later. Therefore, we returned after 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we found out they gave my order away to someone without checking their receipt... The staff did not apologize and were busy making excuses, blaming us because we were not at site when he called out order. (despite he told us to return after 20 minutes. I had to ask for tomato sauce for my side order; if I had not asked, he would have forgotten it. What a horrible customer service!

I ordered a fish burger($13.50), an O.G. Triple Smashed ($18.50), and mini onion rings and fries ($6) from the bargain bite menu. After such a long wait, I was disappointed by the quality of what I received.

Firstly, fries and onion rings were overcooked. (dry and crumbling hard. see photo)

Secondly, buns for both burgers were mediocre and fishburger was plain, nothing special about it. I would rather get McDonald's fish burger since that tastes better and would not be waste of money down to trash bin! Its quality did not worth $13.50.

Lastly, I did not even receive the correct order for O.G. Triple Smashed cheeseburger! I received cheeseburger with two patties only instead of three (refer to photo). It was a double cheeseburger, not a triple. Apart from the fact that they overcharged me $4.00 extra by giving me wrong ordered item. It would have been ignorable if at least taste was worth what I paid for. However patty was bland, did not meet minimal expectation. (price for burgerfuel! yet less tastier than McDonald, Burger King, cheese burger sold during primary school disco event tasted better. It is a comedy for my colleague and family to laugh over tonight.

Finally, I will conclude by commenting on staff's lack of hygiene awareness. The male staff who prepared food did not wear a uniform, and long hair was not tied or covered with a cap. I could see sweat dripping down staff's face and brow. When I presented the receipt paper, the male staff took it and did not return it. I could observing entire process of my food and other foods' preparation, while observing I noticed that this staff never changed glove once (depite that this staff touched receipt with glove, staff did not bother to change it and just continued prepare food with same glove).

Phone for store was ringing, and the call was also ignored by both staff (2 were present at store at time of my visit, perhaps they were expecting call of complaint?)

To summarise, I will have to warn anyone who is hungry and works around the Grafron area, "Avoid this place at all cost for the sake of your physical, mental and financial well-being!!!!" You have better options, which are more cost-effective, tastier, and also have friendlier...

ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE EXPERIENCE - 2 HOURS FOR A PRE ORDER MEAL

We are beyond disappointed with our experience at Downlow Burgers in Grafton. We placed our order online the day before – thinking that would save us time and hassle. Instead, it turned into a complete nightmare.

Despite receiving a EMAIL confirmation, when we arrived, not only was our order nowhere near ready, but we were left waiting nearly **TWO HOURS! Nothing was prepared . That's right: two full hours for food we ordered in advance. No communication, no sense of urgency, and absolutely no accountability.

The manager offered 2 extra burger and would obviously extra wait. No refund, no real apology – just an insulting offer that showed zero understanding of customer service.

If you're thinking of ordering here, especially online, THINK TWICE. This experience has completely turned us off from ever returning. An appalling lack of organization and respect for...

To be honest, my experience at Downlow Burgers was far from what I expected. The biggest letdown was the burger, it arrived with an undercooked patty that was still pink in the middle. I’m not exaggerating when I say I felt uneasy after eating it, look at the mold in the picture and it completely ruined my appetite. But that wasn’t the only issue; I also noticed that the buns had mold on them, which is simply unacceptable in any restaurant.

As if the food wasn’t bad enough, the service was just as disappointing. There was only one staff member working, and honestly, they seemed overwhelmed. I waited nearly 30 minutes for a burger that arrived cold. It felt like the place was understaffed and poorly managed, and I ended up feeling frustrated and let down by the whole experience.

It’s hard not to notice all the fake five-star reviews flooding the place online. Like this review so more people...