Hops n Drops — Restaurant in Maple Valley

Well. I gave Hops n Drops a week to respond after I left feedback on their website. Since I never received a response, I decided to leave a review.

Last Friday, my wife and I ordered two hamburgers to go. We wanted to enjoy the sun in the backyard and treat ourselves. Both burgers were VERY mediocre, but my Jalapeno Burger was next level disappointing. Both of the patties themselves were so overcooked, dry, tough, and under seasoned that they were borderline inedible (see the picture). My wife's Steakhouse burger was saved by the toppings, but my Jalapeno Burger, because the meat was so flavorless, just tasted like pickled jalapenos. Not even the bacon could save it. Not even the bacon! The other disappointment was the onion rings. I decided to pay the extra cost, but, as you can see in the picture, I received five "average" size onion rings.

I understand that food costs have risen over the last year, but these are roughly $20 hamburgers! I understand that they are hand-formed and made to order, but those selling points don't excuse poor execution in the cooking. This isn't fast food, so I don't expect a "value," but when a fast food value burger can be better executed and ultimately lead to a better tasting meal, then I feel doubly ripped off.

If we were eating in the restaurant, I would have sent this burger back. I'm sure the staff would have been accommodating, and I could have ended up, eventually, with a decent meal. (I still think the prices are way too high for what you receive -- even with increase food costs.) Since this was a to go order, I was not about to drive back and complain, so I angrily ate what I could and immediately left feedback on the website. All I wanted was an apology. I wanted acknowledgment that they messed up and that my order wasn't indicative of their goals of service. We are dying for good food in Maple Valley. Hops n Drops could be a valuable member of our culinary community. From what I experienced, they have...

Ordered the steak salad for my girlfriend who claimed it was her favorite dish from Hops n Drops. We were very disappointed by the final product which was far from the salad she remembered so fondly. Advertised as a dinner salad at over $17 after tax but the portions were a glorified side salad. The worst part was the "steak" which was so dry, overcooked and mishandled it might as well have been hamburger meat. On top of all that I was appalled to see how packed the restaurant was when I picked up the salad to go. Clearly no attempt to adhere to social distancing mandates as I could see, just from the curb, that there were two separate groups of about 5 people seated very close to each other. No attempt to keep parties more than 6 feet apart and in the short time I was waiting for my food at least a dozen or so people exited the restaurant with no mask on. This means the staff clearly disregarded the necessary measures to prevent the spread of covid. Every one of those people who exited the building without a mask clearly walked past other unmasked guests in very close proximity. Shame on you Hops n Drops, not only for disgracing steak in such a tasteless fashion, but more so for blatantly ignoring pandemic protocol. [Not one to waste food or money she ate the salad but picked around the "steak" as you can see from the picture.] One could say they didn't HOP to it when it came to safe pandemic practices, and they clearly DROPPED the ball when it came...

My wife and i were pleasantly delighted by this place. We had saw a sign on the freeway for it and decided to try it out. (were not from maple valley or anywhere with these restaurants) Its nice and open, it was about 5 when we went on a weeknight and it had decent decor. What impressed us was the unique menu and delicious food! We had these "Molly's tots" which are basically tater tot nachos on sterroids! They were incredible! If that didnt fill me up enough i also had a western burger which was unlike any "western" kind of burger ive had before, it was really good and the best burger ive had in a very long time. The downside of the restuarant is the prices, both our main meals were about $11-12 a piece and our appetizer was about $7 (on happy hour) and sodas were a bit pricier than other similar restaurant chains. It was definitely worth it though and i think we might make another trip (about an hour drive). It was that good. Overall id give it a 4.5/5 star, just because the prices are a bit steep for a burger, but im giving it a 5/5 since some people on here dont know how a 5 star system works lol. Oh, also my waitress was an older woman, maybe 50's, i wish i got her name. She was excellent and a female manager checked in on us aswell which is always welcome.

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