Big Buns — Restaurant in Arlington

Update: At the owner's invitation we returned to try this burger place again. They gave us a gift certificate, but we tried to go in at a point when they weren't expecting us to see how things would go.

Things went better this time! It was a weekday and there was a line, but they got through the line pretty quickly. My other half order the same Burger as he got the first time, I tried the Mexican burger, and we tried out the cajun fries as well as the parmesan ones we tried last time. He said his Burger was seasoned this time and the bun was at least warm, although he thinks that the Buns could be toasted a little longer so that they don't cool immediately.

My Mexican burger was really good! It has enough of a kick to it to be enjoyable, and I like the crunch of the corn chips. My bun was toasted and warmer than his.

I do want to give a heads-up to this place probably keeps their buns in a fridge and not at room temperature before they're toasted, so if you are a warm bun Aficionado like my other half you might want to ask them to toast here's a little longer.

About halfway through a meal I think the manager on duty figured out that we were the people who had left the bad review and came back to check on us. We had already gotten the measure of the place again, so I was able to tell her we were enjoying our food this time.

We talked about it on the way back to the hotel and decided that we would come back here. The food was pretty good and the service was friendly. We still haven't tried any shakes yet, but it was such a different experience the second time that it probably was just a shift full of trainees or something the first time we came.

It was also nice that the owner reached out to us and gave us a gift card to try again, which we had not expected to happen.

Original review:

We stopped in here while staying at the nearby Westin last night. It's very convenient to the hotel, and the menu has some interesting, original looking Burger creations. We were excited to see the variety of fries and drinks and burgers.

However, the food did not live up to our expectations. For one thing, the meat in my burger was almost entirely unseasoned. There was no flavor on the meat itself, and it was falling apart within the bun even before I took a bite. The Buns were barely room temperature, in fact my husband's bottom bun was slightly cold. The parmesan fries we got were lukewarm and limp like they had been sitting out.

We had intended to get shakes to take back to the hotel room, but the burgers started barely warm and were already cold halfway through , so we didn't want to order anything else. We walked down the road to the mall and had ice cream instead.

Normally I would give this kind of food a one-star, but it does seem like maybe a training issue? It was Sunday night, maybe they had new people on and they just don't know how to make the food. It is true that the stuff, although nice enough, seemed a little lost.

Either way, I'm very disappointed that we won't have a friendly local burger place to stop for the two weeks...

This is not a review of its food. It's about the attitude of an employee.

I had burger from them before and it was good. So I went there today out of craving for burger. The encounter went like this:

I: do you have Impossible Burger? He: yes. I: do you always have it or just sometimes? He: we have it. It's on the menu. I: oh, I don't see it on menu. That's why I came here. (looking again at my Google Map menu on the phone). He: it's there under Designer Burgers. (I still couldn't find it, and eventually he told me it's on the shop's website.) I: How much is it? He: I don't know. Something like $12. I: okay. Can I order one? He: no. You have to order online. I: can I phone in.... He: no, we only take orders online. I: since I am here.... He: no. I: may I ask why? He (sounding impatient): we want people to order online. That's the future.

I left.

Four advices to the owner (I see your many responses here, so obviously you care about customer's feedback.)

Update your Google Map menu! It's more popular and used more by people than your own website. Train your employees to know the prices of what you are selling (it's not a big menu.) If a customer is already at your door, be flexible and take the business. It's bad time for restaurants. It's a stupid policy to further narrow the source of your business.

No phone order? No business from me. I have other places who will gladly take my phone order, and in person if I am...

first time there over a year ago was excellent on a sunday afternoon: it was quiet, spacious, made-to-order deliciousness, if a bit on the pricier side for fast casual.

visited a couple weeks ago, and the experience was quite different. the first, visibly impatient cashier asked us what we wanted (we were obviously undecided and still looking at the menu boards), then barely waited before leaving to prep orders, as another nicer girl then came and took our order, and offered a frequent buyer card of sorts, but it went downhill from there. the server guy gave our fries to another couple's table (we later discerned it was because the cashier never gave us our table tent thing), and several others who came in after us got their orders first, despite it not being very busy in the late afternoon. the server barely acknowledged the mistake as he finally brought our fries over (after attempting to take the other table's back while they explained they had also ordered fries, and had already started eating them). a man who appeared to be the manager (nicer shirt, walking around asking other customers how things were) made another round near our table but avoided us; and no apology or attempt to make up for it was offered (maybe some extra fries, or even a drink would've gone a long way?). for a second visit, the very solid food was marred by a disappointing...