Holy Cow! Gourmet Burger Co. ZÜRICH ZÄHRINGERSTRASSE — Restaurant in Zurich

I like the idea, basically the "Epic" burger concept. Conventional fast-food processes but with "mindful" products. While Epic touts organic-ish ingredients, Holy Cow appeals to Swiss-first local patriotism. That'd be fine if they'd first taken the time to learn how to cook great burgers. And what makes a great burger in the first place. A tender, juicy, flavorful meat patty is the core asset of all great burgers, with crucial support from a non-crumbly bun and thoughtfully composed vegetables, cheeses, salads, sauces and last of all garnishes like fruits, eggs or additional meats like bacon. Holy Cow try their hand at this, but get their priorities wrong. The meat is thick, but invariably dry, crumbly and bland. I asked, but the staff doesn't seem to understand the concept of medium-rare. Perhaps their meat isn't good enough for that. The buns are likewise bland, dry-ish and crumbly. Built on that crumbly foundation, all attempts at culinary flourishes are condemned to failure, I'm afraid: wasabi, raclette cheese, pineapple salsa... Nice try, but no success. I can't help but think that if they'd spent less mental energy on enforcing their "Swiss only" policy (even the drinks menu has no non-Swiss choices), they would have had time to learn and design a better burger cooking process. And better fries, too: the ones at Holy Cow are nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, there are worse burgers out...

I painfully realized that everything in Zurich costs about twice as much as the same item in the US.

This sent me on my search for cheaper food while, hopefully, not sacrificing taste.

According to Yelp, this was a good place to eat without breaking the bank.

I was the first customer of the day, but don't let that reflect their popularity. People seem to say good things.

The cashier was helpful and friendly. She told me I was the first burger of the day. I said "that means it will be the best burger of the day." She replied "every burger is best."

Man we're we both about as wrong as Christopher Columbus. I'm really not sure if the Swiss know what a burger is supposed to taste like. Obviously, Switzerland is a small country and full of people who immigrated from other European nations. There's no telling who is in the kitchen.

Pick any M Night Shyamalan movie and there's a 75% chance you'll name one that's as disappointing as this burger.

The fries were poorly done as well.

This meal was not worth 18CHF. That's about $18. Close enough.

Time for some math. Cost of living and wages have a special relationship. If you take into account the fact that grocery cashiers here make $25, this meal would be about $11 in the US. I'd be disappointed then too.

If you see this place,...

Ehm, rather average burgers I must say. The place is like a minor upgrade from a fast food chain. I was expecting more to be honest.

-The bun/patty ratio is horrible (huge bread for the tiny patties).

-Our burgers arrived like 2 minutes after we placed our order, which means they are not cooked on order (was not rush hour). The meat patties themselves were served well done but not much to say on that, since we didn't ask for medium. Even if we did, the patties are kinda too thin to be cooked medium but oh well.

-Fries were nice.

-The caramelized onions (they're in almost every burger) were a bit too sweet for our likings. All 4 burgers were tried were missing some savoriness because of it.

The buns were not warmed up on the grill or something. They were room temperature/cold which was kinda unpleasant and made the whole burger feel like lukewarm.

The prices were ok.

They don't have any cola. No Coke, no pepsi, no sprite, no fanta, no dr peppers, nothing. Just ice tea and some fruit flavored drinks. If cola is a must to eat a burger, you will be severely disappointed

Conclusion: If you are looking for a nice American burger, you should avoid this place. If you are after a decently priced, fast food style burger but with better quality and more gourmet toppings, this...