The Avenue Bar Allston — Restaurant in Boston

This is a decent spot for casual drinks and snacks because of the reasonable prices, and seems like an appealing neighborhood spot for a college/younger 20s crowd (nothing wrong with that)! The prices are low to reasonable, and it has a comfortable setup inside and outside. However, I wouldn’t go here if you’re looking for more than easy drinks and bar snacks—we would have gone elsewhere with similar or slightly higher prices for a better meal if we had known.

The burgers may start under $10, but the “homemade” buns had parts that were so hard, we had to eat around it. The burger patties were also really dry and a bit tough—not necessarily charred—almost as if it were cooked in a fryer. The waffle fries were still good, however, and since we were hungry and reasoned that it was “cheap,” decided to just finish our food and go.

Lastly, our server was pleasant and brought things out without a long wait. However, when we told her that we hadn’t seen a menu as she asked for our order, she directed us to another table for the QR code before walking away. Once we received our beers, we had to go inside from the patio to ask for a glass to pour a can of beer—even then, the glass she handed me was poorly scratched or permanently cloudy from overuse (hard to tell, honestly). We ended up paying ~$50 (including 2 beers) and a 22% tip, which is the pre-set as the lowest tip amount on the servers’...

Affordable, accommodating, accessible. The Avenue is a bit of a dive and a bit of a gem. The beer selection is as good as you’ll find in the area.

The star of the show is the burger. The kitchen is open late and burgers are highly customizable. The patties are highly seasoned and served on a soft, griddled sesame bun. My personal favorite is the Cry Baby, which comes with cheese, grilled onions, mustard, special sauce, and pickles for $6. That said, even the plain burger ($3.50) is good. Sides are extra, but are fried well and also reasonably priced ($2 for fries, $3 for waffle fries).

The crowd tends to be young, but chill, with spillover from the nearby music venues. The staff are friendly, but somewhat hands off. As in, you’re unlikely to be interrupted by a bartender or server, but you might also need to be on the proactive side to get another beer, especially...

Ordered the BBQ burger and it was one of the most overcooked/dry burgers I have ever eaten. Without the BBQ sauce it would have been difficult to get down. Waffle fries were good at least. Granted, it was only $8.50 but I still expected something much better, especially based on other reviews.

In terms of service, I wasn’t offered a glass for my beer and had to go inside and ask for it myself. The server also never asked how the food was so I didn’t get to report the sorry state of my burger. Not egregious in isolation, but then, of course, they force you to use the digital tablet for the bill so you can’t review the charges and obviously 22% is set as the LOWEST default tip option (with the server hovering over you as you select). Sleazy practices, especially when the service is subpar.

Needless to say, I tried it once and don’t...