Bleus Burger Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Gulf Shores

Staff Gave This Reviewer the "Bleu's"

Bottom Line: Can't Recommend.

We arrived on a Wednesday afternoon, with light traffic. From the entrance and the lobby, the restaurant looked like your typical bar and grill: dim lighting, dark wood furniture, and music festival posters on the walls. There were lots of tables open so I presumed we would be seated shortly.

Our hostess arrived, and she informed me that there would be a short wait. Our confused faces at all of the open tables must have been easy to read, because she quickly explained she had a 26-top party and her kitchen couldn't keep up. She said in 20 minutes she should be caught up and could seat us.

This was a little annoying, but understandable at first. The annoyance was compounded by the minimalistic waiting area with thin, 1 foot deep padded benches being the only seating options.

After 25 minutes elapsed, another family came in behind us and asked for a table. They were told the same thing, that there was a large party and there would be a thirty minute wait for this reviewers party to be sat, and another thirty minutes for them. They wisely left.

I gave the hostess a look because now the wait was an additional 30 minutes longer compared to her original estimate. She apologized again and said the large party was just now getting their orders placed. I took a look around the restaurant, and the large party was the only taking up a small section of the total available seating area, maybe 1/5 or 1/6 of the total seating.

I thought it was odd that the kitchen couldn't keep up with such a small percentage of the dining area, so much so that the hostess was uncomfortable seating us in one of the dozens of empty tables.

This was a complete failure in management - and in hospitality. At no point were we offered to have a seat just to relax, offered a drink from the bar - which was empty- or any such sort of treatment that would be considered acceptable.

In fact, our presence seemed more like an annoyance to the hostess. Each time she told us the new waiting time, she was almost insinuating that it would be better to leave than to wait. Bleu's was on a short list of restaurants we wanted to try in the area, but after 45 minutes, all of that was out the window.

Don't let this seem like a complaint about the time, we have waited hours for a table at other restaurants, but never in an empty restaurant. It just doesn't make sense.

Management...

2 stars might be generous!! My husband wanted a great burger for dinner. Found Bleus Burger searching for best burger in the area. Rating was fairly high and it’s a place that only does burgers so I expect the best burger around. Boy were we wrong. I ordered the jalapeño burger with pink fries and my husband ordered Hwy 61 with homemade tots. I thought my burger was just OK and his opinion was it was terrible. Mine burger was drowning in sauce and while the pink aioli that was on the fries had really great flavor and the fries would’ve been delicious if hot and crispy, the aioli was cold on top of cold fries. The aioli gets its pink color from beets. The tots weren’t good at all. They were way too large making them lose the crispness I love with tots and a mushy texture inside. When I bit into my burger it dawned on me that we weren’t even asked how we wanted them cooked and we forgot to ask. I looked back at the menu thinking it might say on there what temp the burgers are cooked to if a different request isn’t made. Their menu has apparently been updated from an old one and while it doesn’t specify on the most updated menu, the old one says they will be cooked to medium well. No burger should ever be cooked to medium well without someone asking for it to be overcooked. Luckily ours didn’t come out to quite that temp but were very close and just a hair past medium leaving a few pink spots but not much. If I had actually been asked, I would’ve ordered medium rare so this temp was terrible for me. I feel like it would be different if my complaints were about a burger I ordered at a sushi or Mexican restaurant but this is supposed to be the one thing they do best and they can’t even get that right. It was not busy season or crowded at all but my husband said the bathroom was absolutely disgusting. The only thing it has going for it was everyone was very friendly. This restaurant needs some type of rescue. We do not recommend and will never...

(Visited in February 2018) - The only thing good about our experience at Bleus Burger was the jazz guitarist playing in the background...he was very good. As far as the food, we were very, very disappointed.

If you're expecting a normal hamburger, look elsewhere. Their burgers are made from a blend of ground chuck, biscuit and short ribs. I know...sounds scrumptious. And it might have been if they'd left the seasoning out of the meat. First, the burger was not moist and juicy, it was VERY dry and seemed to be very compacted, as if flattened out too many times with a spatula. In our opinions, the taste just wasn't good at all...it had too much seasoning in the meat, sort of like a bad-tasting meatloaf.

The brioche buns were tasty, but slathered in butter, which is probably why there's always a line at both restrooms...people trying to wash their hands when finished eating. Sorry, but I just wasn't impressed with the burgers at all. Mine was a "build-your-own" and I ordered mayo on the side...which never arrived. I finally asked someone to bring me some.

Obviously, some folks like it as I doubt all the patrons were first-timers, and it was packed at 1pm on a Sunday, but there was nothing about it memorable for me. There are many great burger placers in Orange Beach and my advice is to try them and stay away from Bleus Burger.

REVIEWER'S EDIT: In response to the owner...this is not a fake review. I still have my receipt from eating there in February 2018 and you did have a...