Valley Burger Company — Restaurant in Eau Claire

2.85 stars would be more appropriate. Not quite three stars (which is "it was ok" according to Google), because I probably wouldn't ever go back.

There aren't any beers on tap, but they have an acceptable selection of craft beers in cans. Unfortunately, I ordered a "Belgium Ale" and got a lemon wheat beer instead. It was ok, but not my first choice. I decided to just go with it as they had opened the can already and poured it into a glass when they served it. They have three burgers on the menu, and a 4th that we were told about while ordering. There were two of us, so we each ordered something different and split them. They tasted fine, but as the waitress warned us, they are smash burgers, so pretty much thin and medium-well to well-done, and they are loaded with sauces then to keep them from seeming dry. They were fine, but too much sauce for my taste, and the two different burgers we ordered didn't really taste that different. I was warned by the waitress that the jalapenos on the Philly steak burger weren't hot, and she was, unfortunately, quite correct. The side of fries had so much salt on them that after a few bites I started wiping off each individual fry before I could eat it. Probably a lot of these things could have been addressed and could be improved upon. I just didn't have the energy to complain.

So at this point I would give them C/C- rating. But then the bill came and it was over fifty bucks for two people, with each person only ordering a burger, a beer, and some fries. (The menu has no prices listed on it.) That's just too much in my opinion for what we actually got out of the meal. I have three kids and we all went to Olive Garden a couple of weeks ago for about the same amount. (Two adult entrees at $15 and three kids meals at $7 each--though to be fair, we didn't order beers there. But we did come home with a lot of leftovers.) The competing burger company in town charges about the same for a bigger burger, and the side comes with it, and the beer selection is bigger and cheaper. Yeah, I know inflation is hitting everyone, but we can get two 14oz prime ribs w/ two sides each and a drink at Texas Road House for that.

Conclusion: The food is fine (I'd request no salt on the fries and salt them yourself), but the value isn't there, especially with kids. With the limited menu and the type of food, I could see this place doing really well as a food truck / food stand at events or at the fair. As a sit-down destination, you have to absolutely love the burgers to make...

We were in Eau Claire for a sporting event and decided to try Valley Burger before we left town. Here’s the good and bad from my perspective:

The Good:

The burgers were decent. Not fantastic, but not bad. Smash burger style, a little greasy for my taste but that is to be expected with this style of burger. Definitely better than a fast food burger. Smaller menu, but good toppings and sauce choices. It was nice to have a choice of sides aside from fries. We got the brussel sprouts and fried cauliflower and both were fine.

We came during dinner time and were given a 20 minute estimate. They were true to that, and seated us promptly. The host was friendly.

The Bad:

Once we ordered, it took us over 45 minutes to get our food, close to an hour. The cheese curds we ordered as an appetizer came after our sandwiches. The curds very mid, smaller in size and nothing to write home about (maybe from a food service company?). While we waited for our food, there was little communication from the staff, and no apology whatsoever for the long wait. We watched others get served who came in after we did, which is always a little frustrating. In my restaurant days, there would have been a comped item or two and an apology for the wait. Even an apology without a comp would have gone a long way.

Prices: this place was shockingly expensive for Eau Claire (or Madison for that matter). $15 for an ala carte burger and an extra $5-$9 for a side? For what you get, fries should at least come with the burger. The cans of Diet Coke we ordered were $4 a piece. The bill for 4 people with 20% tip was over $130, 4 burgers with sides, curds, and 4 sodas. I don’t mind paying more for good food, but this price point is a little absurd. My burger came with a sauce that I asked to be swapped for another (not an extra sauce, just a substitution) and I was told it would be an extra dollar to make the switch. That kind of unnecessary up-charge leaves customers with a bad taste in their mouth and seems excessive given the menu prices.

Overall, I would be very hesitant to return. A little work on customer service and value for what you get would go a long way. Maybe they can get away with their prices due to limited competition in the area, but in a larger market they would get killed for...

First off, the ingredients are top notch. The meat is locally sourced, the veggies are locally sourced, even the buns are from a local bake shop!! The waitress was awesome, friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. The place was clean, nice bathrooms, nice handicap ramp, outdoor seating for a nice day, low key good music playing in the background. That was the good part. Now the bad. When ordering we were informed the patties were .3 pound. I can tell you with absolute certainty that they were not .3 pound. A McDonalds 1/4 pounder (.25 pound) is quite a bit bigger than these patties, which is sad considering McDonalds meat is mostly fat and shrinks, these patties were maybe .15 pound each. So the patties together were maybe .3 pound in my $11 burger. They were the smallest, thinnest patty I've ever seen. If I come back again I'm bringing my scale and will see what the cooked weight of your patties are, my family raises prime dry aged beef, I know how much its supposed to shrink, I cook myself smash burgers all the time at home. There wasn't a seer, which is evidence the grill wasn't running hot enough for good caramelization. Culvers has a larger patty by far with a much better sear, if you're taking notes they set their griddle to about 450 degrees which imparts that great smash burger flavor that you're looking for. The fries are a good fresh cut fry. Worth $5 as part of the a la carte menu? Not in my opinion as they were over salted for sure. So $16+tax+tip=$21 for a small hamburger and fries...it better be a decent size and cooked better for that price, even with inflation. Culver's gives me the same meal for $9.

I'm always willing to come back in and give you another try and give you a 5 star review, respond to my review and I will, I may have been there on an off day for my 1st time (8/13/2022). Maybe you had a new employee and they didn't know how to weigh out the meat correctly. Maybe they didn't want to turn the griddle temperature up or didn't know what they were doing? I can see what you are doing and it could be the best burger in town if it was cooked correctly and was sized correctly, for that I would...