Burger Up Franklin — Restaurant in Franklin

Last night, I went with a group of friends to Burger Up in Franklin. The space is nice, and a little bit bigger than I expected. The host actually ended up being our server, so that was fun. He had a fun attitude, which is always enjoyable.

Unfortunately, we didn't all arrive at the same time and I believe the slower beginning of service was caused by that. We probably should have been more clear about wanting to order before everyone arrived (because look, we all get hungry and what appetizers when we are waiting for our friends sometimes). We did finally grab him and order appetizers, which came out fairly quickly.

We ordered the nachos and the fried mac and cheese balls. The nachos are gluten free, and I found them to be absolutely delicious. If you, however, are one of those people who doesn't like cilantro, either by choice or by genetics... You should definitely say no cilantro. Those nachos came with tons of cilantro! Sorry for the partially eaten photo... we were hungry 🤣 I didn't get a photo of the mac and cheese balls, but I did eat one despite them not being gluten free. They were also very good, and the small portion didn't upset my barley sensitive stomach.

For meals, we ordered mostly burgers and one patty melt. Two of us got gluten-free buns. The search for the perfect gluten-free bun is never-ending, but this one at least had good flavor. It was a bit dry and crumbly, but really... Not a bad gluten-free bun considering all the ones I've had. The burger itself was good, and it was pretty large. I did finish it, though! I told you I was hungry. I will say that when I ordered the burger with a gluten-free bun, our server mentioned that the burger patty I ordered was not gluten free. This is an excellent point that many restaurants miss, so our server got five stars based on that. A lot of burgers have gluten in them as a binder and restaurants do not advise their servers of this. Excellent knowledge on that one. We honestly didn't talk much about the food because it's been so long and we were catching up on life, so I'm not sure other than the nachos and mac and cheese balls if everyone else liked their food. Nobody sent anything back, and they said it was good when the server came... So I'll assume it was!

Really, the food was good enough and the knowledge about gluten-free just tips the place back into my revisit list. Definitely check it out! Definitely...

It's disappointing to say that I will never return to this restaurant. I've been a longtime patron of Burger Up in Cool Springs, and over the years have had fantastic experiences, even going so far as to consider Burger Up a sort of home away from home. The food has always been great, staff was friendly, and it's close to both where I work and live.

However, I can't justify continuing to support a restaurant that claims to be community-driven, while not being willing to honor my rehearsal dinner agreement that was made with a previous managerial staff. Recently the top brass has changed at this restaurant. Back in December I had worked out a plan, including pricing, to have my fiancee and I's rehearsal dinner at Burger Up, and we were thrilled to share our favorite place with our friends and family. We had negotiated a reasonable rate for 40-50 people to rent out the patio and all seemed well and good. Fast forward to 12 days before the rehearsal dinner date, when I was informed that the rate would be almost double what we initially negotiated, and still a third higher for less time than we had originally been told we could book the patio space for! This was after a month of will-they or won't-they, where we couldn't get any face time with the new GM about making sure that our rehearsal dinner would still be honored. To say we felt avoided is an understatement, as there were ample opportunities to talk considering we dine at the restaurant between 1 and 4 times a week. Now we are sitting less than two weeks away from our wedding having to scramble to find a different scenario.

Burger Up has always been a great restaurant, but considering the recent experience my fiancee and I have, it leads me to question whether the new management structure cares about the community-driven ethos that the restaurant expounds, and how it will treat other customers who have spent countless evenings in their restaurant. I would avoid this place...

Was super excited to try this "farm to table" option after reading such great reviews online. Sadly it was an awful experience from the moment we walked in the door. Was meeting a friend for dinner, with my toddler in tow. Waited in the lobby of an empty restaurant for over 5 mins before being greeted. (We also were never thanked on our way out the door either).

Sat down, was never offered a children's menu, crayons, etc. for my son. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I asked about a children's menu and was told they "don't have one."

Finally ordered the veggie burger sans creme fraiche (clearly told the server my son has a milk allergy). Waited almost 30 mins for our order (veggie burger and salad), only for it to arrive covered in creme fraiche. No apology or explanation. We waited another 10 minutes for a replacement, meanwhile my exhausted and hungry child was over it, and my friend was done eating her meal. Asked for a to-go box and the check.

Meanwhile, another family came in and was seated next to our table with three kids... within a minute of being seated, they were greeted by both managers, their kids were given coloring boards and reading books/menus, and were all given plates of fries with apple slices without even asking... not sure if they were the owners kids, or a celebrity family, but it shouldn't matter.

The only plus of this visit was the outdoor putt putt and corn hole which allowed my toddler to run around and pass some time while waiting for our food.

(Oh, and by the time I got home and actually got to taste the veggie burger - it was just a mushy mound of bland quinoa. Definitely disappointed and won't...