BURG'r & BARREL — Restaurant in Johnson City

Original review: The week they opened in 2024: Had heard this is the place to have a burger. Now, I've had a lot of very good burgers since I moved to the Tri-Cities a year ago, but I've gotta say this one is FINE!! Husband and I both got the smash burger. It doesn't even fit on the buttery grilled bun. I love shredded lettuce on my burger and it was fresh as could be along with the ripe tomato slice. It had the perfect amount of mustard and mayo both. The fries weren't warm when they came out, but anything can happen and the attitude of the guys at the grill as well as our server made me certain they would remake them if I were to ask. They were fresh cut, skin-on fries and were delicious nonetheless.

As I was reading reviews waiting for the food to come, I read that they have a great BBQ sauce so I asked to try it. Again, right on! Smokey, which this Texas girl has missed since leaving there 17 years ago! I put that stuff on that awesome burger and it was the bomb!!! When I come back (already on the calendar), I'm having the brisket and onion straws, again from reading the reviews.

Other things I look critically at when I dine out are cleanliness, music type and volume for the crowd size, and whether or not there's any management supervision in the dining room. The place was absolutely immaculate, and someone I assume was a manager stopped by our table to check on the food. Had I not had my mouth full, I'd have mentioned the temperature of the fries just so he was aware, but again, I'm convinced it was very likely a one-off situation. (They weren't COLD, just weren't warm, either.) The tunes were great and the selection was right for the demographic dining at the time. The volume was high enough we could enjoy the songs but without drowning out our conversation.

The food was served on enameled metal trays I'd love to have in my home, and the napkins are tea-towel-sized cloths we were happy to have to keep our clothes clean. So nice not to try to eat a juicy burger with paper napkins! If they ever start selling merch, I'm asking for a set of those trays and napkins to go with the branded T-shirts we'll happily wear to advertise Burg'r & Barrel.

We were seated toward the kitchen and those guys in the back were having a great time. We could tell they really enjoy what they do. They weren't so loud as to be disruptive to the great atmosphere and wonderful tunes.

They were a little understaffed at the time we arrived, about 3:20 p.m. on a Saturday. It took no time to get our beverages but a little while to get our order taken; but our server was excellent once she (appropriately) first serviced the tables that were already eating. She had a lot of hustle and we'll definitely be asking for Emily by name the next time we dine (did I mention it's already on the calendar?)!

Lastly, the only negative thing I can say is that the menu is very limited. I always eat my burger with pickles or pickled jalapenos and the kitchen only has fresh jalapenos. I'd LOVE to see a build-your-own-burger option on the menu -- mine would be that smash burger with onion straws, pickled jalapenos, cheese, crisp bacon and that amazing BBQ sauce!

OOPS -- forgot to say that the iced tea was some of the best in the area, and that we coveted the salads we watched pass by our table. And one more thing: if you have someone in your crowd who watches their calories, they have a marinated chicken on rice with broccoli that sounds great even if you don't try to eat healthy! ------------- Returned 2/9/2025 --------------- I usually WILL NOT eat at a dirty restaurant, but I have to say that the burger is still worth the sticky table top where we sat. Excellent again. Great service but they should not allow their servers to wear colognes and perfumes -- it interferes with the aroma of the food. Lastly, they really need to up their game on the fries. They cook them in advance and serve those beautiful, skin-on fries after they've gotten soggy under...

Came in for lunch on Thursday. I had been wanting to try this place and another burger place I wanted to go to was closed for lunch. I ordered their regular standard burger. It came fairly quick enough and at first I was impressed. Unfortunately the burger only looked good. The fries? They were hot but were what I call "fry scraps". These were little pieces of broken fries that tend to gather at the bottom of a bag. That was my entire fry order. The burger had one side of the bun that was toasted, the other side was not toasted, so nothing like biting into a room temperature cold bun. Unfortunately that was the same side they decided to add all their wet toppings on so it made that side of the bun very soggy. Toppings were skimpy. If there was tomato on there I couldn't taste it. The burger was hot but 100% void of any seasoning ( think they were depending on the mayo and mustard) and the burger had an odd color and was clearly steamed to a large degree which gives it a strange light gray color and weird texture. There was no moisture to the meat at all. The place was dead so no reason the meal could not have been cooked properly. I mentioned something to the bartender that waited on me and I was exceedingly polite and waited until AFTER she brought me the check on purpose because I simply wanted to offer feedback. Well, her demeanor changed quickly, she could clearly care less, she pointed to the manager and said, "the guy in charge is right there" and walked off. I guess that was my que to chase him down since she was busy with nobody at the bar. I still left more than a 20% tip which at this point, was 15% more than I should have left, but I decided to leave it anyway. I left quietly but will not be returning. Five Guys or Chilis has a substantially better tasting burger. Even Mid-City Grill has them beat. Nice place but if they are going to survive, they need to focus on...

While out running errands, my husband spotted Burg'r & Barrel near downtown Johnson City and loved that it is in the old train depot, so after driving around the block a couple of times to figure out where the entrance is, we pulled into the parking lot and were greeted by the deafening blast of some ballgame. However, it was much quieter inside and the interior is really neat with lots of exposed brick. We were immediately seated, but had to wait 7 minutes (I timed it for the purpose of this review) to even be acknowledged by our server. The restaurant was not busy and it looked like they had plenty of servers. He seemed surprised that we were also ready to order our food, so in his defense, he may not have been told we were his table. He brought our drinks out quickly and was appropriately attentive and kept our drink filled. My hubby ordered the bacon burger with half onion straws half fries as his side and I ordered the pulled pork sandwich with fries. Our food came out quickly and was nicely plated. Our sandwiches were on buttered and toasted buns which were still nicely soft on the outside. The fries are the homemade kind and were delicious. The onion straws were to die for - I could have eaten my weight in them. My husband declared his burger one of the best he has eaten since we moved to Johnson City. My pulled pork sandwich was very good and I really liked the BBQ sauce; it was a little sweet and a little spicy. The check came to right at $40 without tip. Overall this was a great lunch and we both agreed...