Burger Federation — Restaurant in Jefferson Township

Long story short: Food was okay. Rude staff that are uptight about seating, and reading other reviews shows that it’s a pattern at Burger federation. During my visit the waiter Robert in particular was rude and condescending.

It’s 8:30AM on a Tuesday and the place is mostly empty and quiet. When I walk in Robert asked me if I would like to takeout or dine-in, I didn’t think it made a difference and I didn’t want or need a waiter so I just reflexively said takeout. I ordered a 20 dollar meal (whatever that’s the normal price these days) and the cashier handed me a buzzer. I go to wait for my meal at an empty table, and I couldn’t have been seated for more than 15 seconds before Robert comes back over to me. He said I can’t sit at that table as it’s for dine-in only, and then he says that I could sit somewhere else and pointed in a general direction. So I went over and sat at the long table (shown in the photo) that had plenty of open seats. Same thing again, Robert races over and tells me I can’t wait for my food there as this section is dine-in only. I explain to him that the place is mostly empty and if a sudden stampede of dine-in customers comes in, I’m willing to get up. He’s still adamant and the tone in his voice is getting ruder as he’s trying to tell me to kick rocks. The cashier tells me my meal is ready and I get up to bring it back to the empty long table. Robert comes back over and tells me to go sit over somewhere else, I still for the life of me don’t know where he was referring to. At some point I decided it’s not worth my aggravation and got up to leave, he tells me I can sit over there and looks me dead in the eyes and says “this section is for dine-in only, I asked you and you said take-out, it’s very simple yes?” With a giant condescending grin on his face as I go to walk away. I get being a stickler if the place was mobbed, but there was about 5 patrons and 20+ open chairs with nobody in line to order food. It’s clear from my photo that I took a few minutes later that it wasn’t crowded and they are not short of seats. I’ve never seen a restaurant or food joint that would force paying customers out of open seating. Shows a lack of flexibility and respect for...

I just had the most bizarre experience. I went up to the counter to order (our flight boards in 30 minutes) and the woman asked for here or to go. I said to-go. she pointed rudely at my wife who was scoping the bar and said “then why is she standing there”. I said she was looking to see if anyone was almost done eating so we could grab a drink but for now, would take it to go. She walked around the restaurant and pointed out two chairs that weren’t next to each other that were open. We were sharing a burger and obviously wanted to sit together. I smiled and said that’s ok, that we’d just do takeaway. She then threw up her hands and said we’d need to leave the restaurant once we got it. I said yes, we wouldn’t eat there. She then pointed at my wife and said she had to leave before taking my order (my wife was just standing next to me at this point, not in the restaurant). I told her I didn’t understand why she was being rude and wouldn’t give her my business. She said “good” and waved us off. I have no idea where this came from - maybe she was homophobic and didn’t want to serve my wife and me? We travel weekly for work and go here often, I’ve never had this experience here before. I’m in shock. I’ll never...

We had a deeply upsetting experience at this restaurant. Upon entering and made the order, the front counter lady repeatedly told us we couldn't dine in, even though other customers were clearly allowed to stay. Her tone and body language were dismissive and hostile, and it was hard not to feel that we were being targeted based on our appearance. It felt discriminatory and completely uncalled for.

Eventually, the manager came out and assured us we were allowed to sit and eat. We appreciated his intervention, but shortly after, the same lady returned and continued to glare at us and even pointed at us aggressively, again insisting we were not welcome. We were left confused, embarrassed, and deeply uncomfortable.

This kind of behavior is unacceptable in any establishment. No customer should be made to feel unwelcome or judged based on who they are. Unfortunately, the entire dining experience was ruined — our food got cold during the back-and-forth, and even the quality of the meal couldn’t make up for how poorly we were treated.

I hope the management takes this seriously and addresses the clear lack of respect and discriminatory conduct exhibited by...