BurgerFi — Restaurant in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea

I wish I could say we had a good experience because I was so excited to eat here. I've heard how they wax lyrical about how amazing they are on all fronts, but it was actually quite a shocking experience, for a food joint anyway. I thought getting the order wrong was the only issue until I sat and observed what happened next. I ordered a BurgerFi cheeseburger. When I opened it I was presented with a piece of derelict meat slapped on a bun with some cheese. Looked very unappetizing. When I went to ask where the rest of my burger was ie: lettuce, tomato, BurgerFi Sauce, you know, like in the picture, the young woman at the counter said, "Well that's what you ordered", um... noooo! Then the manager Max popped up... well I have compassion for him and maybe it was a rough day, but Max gave me 100 reasons why the order wasn't wrong before admitting it had been messed up. Um BurgerFi... management training 101? It was quite clear and obvious it was incorrect. A very defensive approach from your manager. I was surprised. It's okay to get it wrong, giving me 100 reasons why you think it's not is simply not a quality I would expect in a BurgerFi manager. First I got "that's what you ordered." Nope. Then I got a culmination of verbosity purely to try confuse the situation in an attempt to avoid admitting it had been messed up.

But I realized a bit later why the manager may have been so defensive ~ I think he'd had to deal with a ton of complaints that day because in the 40 minutes or so I sat there, there were three other complaints. We realized they had got my partners beer wrong. Got Shocktop instead of Bud Light. Max INSISTED it was correct, despite admitting he doesn't drink and even though we said it tastes like oranges, you know, Shocktop! We do drink and we know what Bud light taste like. The manager even went as far to say that sometimes when you eat certain food, drinks taste different. What? How about change the beer, which he eventually did. So why all the arguments?

After I received my new burger, I sat eating it, and I witnessed a man come up to the counter being served by the manager. There were others waiting around, and there was a clear situation going on, getting too heated for a store. The customer was very annoyed and the manager was visibly irritated, obvious to all customers in the store. I was quite shocked to see the manager take these issues so personally. The transaction ended and the manager and customer went outside, where the customer walked away from the manager. Then a young lady (10 or so) with an older young man, perhaps a brother, came up as their burger was not what they expected.

In my opinion, this manager needs additional training because he has potential but BurgerFi has not trained him correctly. I certainly hope I see a new and improved manager if I ever go back there again.

I thought twice about writing this review, but when I realized we had spent almost $40 on that experience I couldn't just say nothing. BurgerFi ~ You can blame the manager, but at the end of the day it's your management that needs attention, especially when one of your "top" stores is pumping out such unsatisfactory experiences...

Four of us decided to stop in for a treat of ice cream. When we arrived it was fairly empty. We started to place our order and we asked where were the toppings on the menu above. The cashier tried to tell us what they have, but none of us could hear nor understand what she was rambling off so we just ordered plain custard in a cup. She gave us a beeper and we sat down. After which seemed forever, about 25 minutes+, still the beeper didn't go off two of us got up and asked why we didn't get our ice cream yet. That's when the blame game with the employees started. No one seemed to know behind the counter what was going on. Then one of them finally opened the freezer and there were the cups that someone had made and put in there. One guy pulled them out, then put them back in the freezer. We couldn't hear what they were arguing with each other about so I said aloud, how long does it take to draw ice cream in a cup. Another employee finally went back into the freezer and gave us the same 3 cups. Yes I said 3, because they didn't make the fourth cup. I asked for a manager and two of them said they were managers. The one manager behind the counter offered an apology and a gift card, BUT the manager walked away, and he pushed doing the gift card onto another employee that had no idea how to add value on a gift card. While the guy was trying to figure out how to do the gift card, he stopped doing it and started arguing with another employee behind the counter about making another customer a shake. The two kept going back and forth arguing of not wanting to make it or finish what each was doing. Finally another cashier said to the guy trying to figure out the gift card...finish with this customer. What was supposed to be the end of a nice evening out, soured our evening. I'd hate to see any business close, and no one is that big where it can't happen. The owner needs to get in there and straighten management out. It always falls back onto management. At one point there were more employees behind the counter than guests. After all this location used to be a very mismanaged...

Great location, but tough to park. To start with, we came with a team of about 25 teenagers & parents, but other than us, it didn't seem very busy. That seems unusual for a burger place near the beach on a Friday night. We should have taken that as a sign. They acted like they had never seen this many people before & it took forever to get through the line. Many people behind us eventually left without ordering. Several of our kids had Burger Fi coupons from a school fundraising coupon book. 3 were able to use them for their orders, and then the manager said they couldn't take any more coupons. Really, you can't take a Burger Fi coupon at Burger Fi? We had lots of restaurant choices, but the kids chose BF because of the coupons. So if the coupon is what brought you business, you should honor it.

While waiting for our food, we had to clean off our own tables, only to discover that their AC system drips dirty water from the ceiling vents onto the table. While moving a drink out from under the drips, a kid accidently knocked it over, so ice & soda spilled all over the table & floor. An employee delivered 2 trays of food & walked away. When he came back with more trays, we asked if there was a mop to dry the floor & something to wipe the table. He walked away. (In case you think the staff was ignoring a group of disruptive teenagers, they are actually well-behaved honor students & athletes.)

I finally walked up to the cashier & asked for someone to help clean up. She came out with rags & a mop. I wish I caught her name, because she seemed like the only one who was actually working hard. She had taken our orders & coupons (until she was told to stop), cleaned up the spill, refilled the drink station with straws & lids, & delivered food orders.

The food was fine, but it's hard to mess up burgers. The team travels a lot, & we've never had these problems at other Burger Fi locations... Or Shake Shack, Chick-Fil-A,...