The Smokehouse — Restaurant in Berkeley

With shrinking portions, rising prices, and a changing demographic, one that includes vegan options, oat milk, and taro root gluten substitutes, this place still holds some loyalist fascination for me, as a place where I would get a burger anytime I happened upon a few bucks in the 1970s. The Smokey char flavor is definitely the appeal here, and on a 1 to 10 I'd rate the burger a solid 6, (they simply cannot, and will not, ever hold a candle to Big Al's on San Pablo across from Albany bowl, currently The most consistent, and high quality hamburger in the East Bay hands down). The outdoor seating is nice especially in the evenings, and I'll give any newcomers a couple of solid tips.

1: if you're eating in the outdoor area anytime after 6:00 or when it's slightly cooler, your food, particularly your fries, will get cold faster than a bad date.

2: several of the tables in the outdoor area are slightly angled and have plastic tops, which when you place the plastic milkshake containers on them, might give you the impression that there are poltergeist or evil spirits moving your drink around! There are not. It's simple physics. Two slippery plastics make for one moving drink. You have been warned.

3: on the weekends, and after work, this place can become a rambunctious, zany, loud, explosive corral of toddler rugrats making more noise than a Republican who just got voted out of office. Pick your slot carefully.

4: if you can, we'll leave the oat milk, and taro root gluten substitutes alone. They are disgusting and will ruin all your positive memories, and they will also remove any good flavor memories that are on your hard drive, so that you never taste anything good again. They're disgusting. I'm currently appealing to the attorney general of California to strictly control, and punish the supply of gluten substitutes and oat milks. So far I haven't heard back from them.

All in all, though it's a really solid burger experience, if you eat your food within 5 to 10 minutes of getting it, and when you want to sit outdoors, it's still a nice spot. The people are super cool, and the cooks are super hard working, and I have a lot of respect for them.

That is my review. Mr 27...

Edited review, was 5/5; check bottom for update

Food is great. Nothing fancy, but if you're in the mood for a good burger and chili cheese fries then this joint hits the spot. Pretty cheap too, considering how much nearby places cost. Service isn't special but it gets the job done; you get the impression they just care about serving customers good food.

The atmosphere is so-so. They're definitely going after the young person/young family vibe, aka some sports in the background with wooden tables and chairs outside and inside the restaurant. It doesn't stand out to me but I don't really care about that stuff very much anyways. Still a 5/5 for me.

Here's a pic I took of my food; see how glorious it is?

Update: I came back a few weeks later and some of the staff seemed to have changed. No worries. Took a minute or so for someone to attend to me. It was raining when I went in so I took a seat inside to wait for my meal. As soon as I take a few steps in my nose is assaulted with the smell of urine. Very gross, that wasn't there before.

Maybe they're super busy. I wait for my meal, takes a bit longer than usual (~15m). I get the grilled chicken burger meal and it has a ton of lettuce on it... even though I asked for the opposite, no lettuce. What? I take it up to get remade and the staff is a bit confused; broken English so it seems it wasn't their first language, even still I'd think "no lettuce" would be clear at least. They remake it and I get it back after a minute or so of waiting, annoyed now but whatever.

The chicken was overcooked. Not burnt, there's that at least, but cooked long enough that it's hard to rip apart the grilled chicken. Maybe it's not supposed to come with cheese but the last time I went I got cheese on it. The pee smell was overpowering enough though that I decided to just scarf down the meal and go on my way. ~30 minutes later since I walked in and it's still there...families out and about in the restaurant as well.

If I had to guess it seems like their staff from before quit or got laid off, maybe switched shifts because food and service sucked. Pretty...

For $19.28 I got the double cheese dog, chili cheese fries and a large fountain drink. I think this is reasonable.

PROS; they purposefully leave the bathroom door propped open which I LOVE, it is hard to find places where you don't have to ask to use their restroom, I give this place 5 stars for the value in that alone, as I am an uber driver. hot dogs are large and grilled, not boiled like caspers plenty of seating inside and out free refills with their fountain machine, yes!! CONS; the dogs best flavor is the fact they're grilled, i do wish they had a bit more variety and kinds of dogs. personal preference; I don't like fat fries, I prefer shoestring fries. So if you're not into the fat fries then these will be underwhelming. fries portion, I suppose the price was fair, but I wish there were a large option, because I don't exactly want a whole 'nother order, but this wasn't very big alone either... @ $20 I am leaving barely satisfied, not at all full. parking, costs $0.25/10 mins, it took 41 mins for me to order (no line), recieve my food and finish it. So expect to keep at least 4 quarters for parking if you're eating in. 3 quarters if you're taking it to go.

Overall the food wasn't anything terribly special but, It was still edible, the free soda refills and bathroom access alone will likely make this a common stop for me while I'm Ubering the area. Next time I'll...