Pool Burger — Restaurant in Austin

I was a big fan. The burgers are good and I like the atmosphere, but there is a bigger problem at Pool Burger and I am unfortunately going to have to stop going. My co-worker, who loved this place more than I did, went with his guests from out of town a few weeks ago. They had three kids, two adults, and paid with one credit card. For some reason they were charged a 20% gratuity for having a group of "five or six."

Keep in mind that at Pool Burger you place your order at the bar they give you a buzzer so you know when your food is ready, you carry your drinks and condiments to your table, you pick up your own food, and you bus your own table. When they asked management about it they were told "maybe this place isn't for you" and "well, you don't have to come back if you don't like it."

I am former service industry so I tend to over tip, but even I wouldn't tip 20% when no one waits on you. The manager might have been having a bad day when he said that, but the sentiment was then echoed by a bartender as well which means to me that it's institutionalized poor customer service. I would also like to state that I routinely take groups of 5 or 6 people for lunch and pay with one card and have never been charged a 20% auto grat. I also went to the restaurant the following week and photographed all of the placards, the menus, and all other signs and notices. There is nothing stating a 20% gratuity will be added to anyone

I reached out to the management company several times, as did my friend. After four or five emails he finally got a call from someone in a senior position. She was very nice and very professional and she refunded his meal. However, when she was pressed on the issue of why there is a 20% gratuity she stated that "sometimes the bar patrons don't tip so this makes up for it." Neither of us understood the reasoning of that whatsoever so I sent additional emails to one of the named owners of the group. To his credit he did respond, which I appreciated, but I find his response unacceptable. He informed me that they are now going to auto-grat 15% on all parties of 6 or more and 20% auto-grat on walked tabs.

I totally understand auto -grat on a walked tab, I'm not sure 20% is warranted given this is self-serve but I can live with that. In reference to the 15% gratuity to parties of 6 or more, I was told that the staff works hard,. I'm sure they do, but they don't wait tables. No one comes out to your table to see if everything is alright, no one comes out and fills your drinks, you are self serve even more so than Whataburger (who at least brings ketchup to the tables). The only interaction you have with the staff is when you go to the bar to place your order and when you pick up your food from the kitchen.

To put this into perspective this is what Pool Burger has instituted for a rule. If two parents with four children come in and each order a burger ($9 to $15 each) they will be auto grat'd at least $8.10 for nothing more than a friendly smile at the bar, if they even get that. No one is going to get your kids napkins, no one is going to get your kids ketchup, no one is going to help your kids carry their drinks or food to the table, and no one is going to clean that table or refill their drinks. If I go in with three of my attorney friends and I pay for the whole meal I don't get auto-grat'd at all. Makes no sense to me whatsoever and I can't support it.

Also, consider this. It's much easier and more efficient for a person taking orders to take orders of six people at one time paying with one credit card (i.e. auto grat 15%) than it is for six people to order individually and pay with six separate credit cards (no auto-grat) Why are they punishing the people who are making it easier for them? Pay your employees properly, or get...

I've always enjoyed this place. Good burgers (overpriced as they are), good drinks, a nice spot to stop at after swimming at Deep Eddy. I've tipped when I've ordered drinks, but not otherwise since the ordering system is basically like McDonald's. Someone takes your order, but you pick up your burger and fries, get your own condiments and napkins, fill your own water, and bus your own table. Nothing fancy going on here.

I had a friend stop by recently, and his party of five received a 20% auto-gratuity. It's not a standard policy at the burger spot. It's not written on any signs or on the menus. My partner has gone with larger groups, paid for the table, and has never received an automatically applied gratuity. I'm not sure if the 20% was applied because my friend had two kids with him. Not sure if the manager was just having a bad day. Maybe he's a racist, because my friend is Korean. But when my friend asked about the policy, the staff suggested that Pool Burger wasn't his type of place, and if he didn't like it he could leave.

After writing to Lawrence McGuire to clarify the auto-grat polity, I've received this information: "Moving forward we will be adding a 15% auto grat to parties of 6 or more and 20% to walked bar tabs" and "This will be on the menus and displayed at the registers."

I disagree with the auto-gratuity. This is an outside burger place that doesn't provide table side service. Tipping for anything other than bar service...

I’m struggling to review this place, because we experienced a perfect storm of less-than-ideal conditions. We were just in the mood for a burger, and this place was close by, with great reviews and we have never been. If I had known that going to deep eddy pool was the whole point of this place, we definitely would have planned better or went somewhere else. That’s my mistake. As others have said, parking was an absolute nightmare. It was extremely crowded, maybe 10 kids running around everywhere, which I understand is not exactly in the restaurant’s control. It was hot, but to their credit they have those mister fans and a small area with a bit of a/c. The vintage vibe is cool, and it’s in a kind of cool older building but I sat directly on a staple on one of those vintage stools they have. We ordered a couple burgers and some frozen drink, which was good. The service is good, the food was good but the portions were very small for the price. It was like P. Terry’s with a much better bun, but we paid $10+ per burger. Again, we both liked our burgers but I can’t say I will ever be back. It’s just not worth the price and trouble. I don’t think it’s fair to base my star rating around things that aren’t in the restaurant’s control, but for anyone wanting to go for the first time, I think maybe they’d want to know the other stuff. If I factored in all those other things, our experience was...