Burger Station — Restaurant in Clifton

2 1/2 stars

If Burger Station didn't have colored buns, there would be very little incentive to come here. I admit to primarily stopping by for the novelty of getting a hamburger with a blue bun, so some of this is on me - you're kind of asking for it if your motivation is a superficial novelty. But it was still disappointing that this place was more style than substance.

I came here for a quick lunch yesterday in the early afternoon. Coincidentally, Burger Station is located in a strip mall that used to boast an Italian restaurant/karaoke bar where I performed an exquisite rendition of 50 Cent's In Da Club years ago. A pleasant trip down memory lane in that regard. When I came in, there was one other customer in front of me, but based on the activity behind the counter (and the subsequent visitors), there also seemed to be some pending online/phone orders as well.

The fellow behind the counter was pleasant and didn't even bat an eye when I requested a plain hamburger with a blue bun, along with a side of fries. I'd say it took about 15 minutes to get my food, which was a little too long in my opinion given what I specifically requested. Yes, there were clearly other orders being prepared, but they also had at least two employees (including the one who took my order) literally just standing around/roaming aimlessly during that period of time. That strikes me as a basic management/work distribution issue that could be rectified easily and dramatically reduce the turnaround time for future customers.

The burger was unfortunately not very good. You can see from my pictures that the bun is super dry and crumbly. It was toasted (which I'm always an advocate of), but the homemade buns just aren't durable enough to withstand that process. The burger itself was almost as dry as its bun neighbor, cooked very well done. I'm definitely not an expert on halal food so I don't know if cooking the meat that thoroughly is part of the process or not, but I prefer medium rare if I get the option (and I wasn't given an option). It also would have helped negate some of the bun dryness.

The fries were just okay; interestingly, they were cooked pretty unevenly - I'd say about 80% of them were super crispy (my preference) and 20% were soggier and not cooked enough. I suspect that that just means someone needs guidance on using the deep dryer properly for even distribution (aka shaking the fries from time to time while they're in the oil). They definitely needed ketchup for flavoring purposes, and instead of having a condiment station where you could get a little cup of ketchup to dip the fries in, you were just provided with a handful of small packets to rip open. That's an area where I think they could immediately and easily improve.

There are a lot of strong reviews for this place, so hopefully my experience was an outlier. But honestly? If your bovine pales in comparison to a chain like the nearby Smashburgers, the blue buns aren't going to keep you in business by themselves...

First time I went in a couple of months ago I received the food and it was cold while dine in. The burger had semi flavor. I’ve discussed that with their owner. I ordered four burgers today with fries and I picked up i live five min away and the burgers are frozen cold. The fries were stale as hell like the first time. It’s like they reuse the darn French fries from two days ago. I ordered three bbq with bacon and two onion ring burger. The burger had one drop of bbq sauce… I couldn’t even taste the bbq. They also provided us with a few ketchups and one chipotle sauce for three meals. No napkins and nothing in the bag. The overall sandwich was dry and buns were so flat and crumbled again. Not freshhhhh!! They advertise good looking sandwiches on the page but it’s not as advertised. The place is nice and clean tho. But they need to fix whoever is making the food and maintaining it. You will lose plenty of repeat customers. Just a tip. Try to use all current buns and fries. Don’t reuse fries please it drops the quality of the food. Don’t be cheap with bbq on burger after all it is a bbq burger!! I want to taste the bbq. The burger gets a 2 star and fries you don’t want a rating. Work on the flavor and quality...

We have eaten here several times since they're opening, even bringing friends and family for their first visits. We have enjoyed several different burgers off the menu and we'll keep going to try even more items.

The burgers have been fresh and delicious along with the fries that we've got each and every time.

There is limited seating here so keep that in mind when going. Also the parking is not the greatest for this little mini mall. There is parking around back however but it can get quite crowded.

The meat for the burgers here is halal. If you've never had halal meat, you'll enjoy it.

Of course one of the best things about this place is the ability to choose your color of bun. They have several choices of colors, but they do run out of the more popular ones by the end of the day.

So definitely stop in and check out this local restaurant, because I am sure it's going to be on a local food station and blow up in popularity. Can't wait to try their shakes next!

#Burgers #Frenchfries #halal #coloredbuns...