Boulders on Southern — Restaurant in Mesa

I walk in and sit at the bar. The bartender approaches me almost immediately even though the bar is full. He remembers me, I have been here once before a week prior.

I say "I had to have another of those burgers, I can't stop thinking about it."

He remembered what I had ordered and asked how I would like it done and what beer I would like. I appreciate the attention to detail. So I order a Carver burger, no cheese, and a voodoo ranger and he pours my beer on the spot.

I had sat in a stool and apparently the man that was next to me had his wife coming back from the bathroom and he asked if I could scoot down. I moved my seat after a polite interaction. The clientele of this place always seems to be folks who are perhaps late 20s to early 40s. The people attracted to this place are tolerable.

I go out for a smoke. The patio is large. It is a bit confusing because you can only smoke on half of it. They have heaters on the patio, ash trays, and 2 TVs inexplicably playing the same channel. I finished my cigarette and went back inside.

My food was waiting for me. If you have not had a California Carver burger from Boulders, please correct that. They always cook it perfectly to order, not a half cook and refrigerate like some. The onion straws are crispy, the pico could have a little more spice (arguably) but the arugula and the perfectly seasoned and cooked burger well makes up for such a subjective slight. The waffle fries curiously were overcooked and had no seasoning on a togo order, but this Time they were perfectly cooked and had some sort of salty parmesan sprinkling.

Then came the big problem of my visit. I ordered demon haze and the bartender informed me they were out. This too, however, is a positive. I was actually surprised how much this revealed how knowledgeable they actually were at the bar. First he came back and offered a beer from the same brewery, but I was looking for a specific type. He picked up on this and was able to offer a comparable IPA from Odells which I have had before, but I was happy he knew enough to get me not what I wanted but, at least, a near 2nd or 3rd.

All in all 5/5. Mistakes were made but this is quite obviously an independent place that cares about the product they push. Whether beer or food or just a casual and relaxed atmosphere I for...

I have looked at this place online a number of times and finally decided to try it as a birthday meal. I was super excited to try the Elvis Lives in Patagonia Calzone and went in person to order it to go. Had a hard time finding anyone to help us when we went in and finallly went into the bar to ask the bartender. I placed my order with him and he said it would be only 10-15 minutes. So we walked across the parking lot to Dollar Tree to pick up a few items we needed and walked back to Boulders about 20 minutes later. I asked if I had missed them calling for my order and the bartender said he was going to check on it. We waited another 10-15 minutes before the order was ready! I arrived home within about 10 minutes and opened up the food bag. They included no eating utensils and no napkins, nor did they ask when I picked up my food. Upon opening the food box, I saw a very flat folded piece of bread with hardly any filling. I love calzone and this was not at all what I was used to eating. The flavor was good - it could definitely be a killer of a calzone, but it completely fell flat for me. Super disappointing dinner. The positive? I loved the marinara sauce - slightly spicy and...

We're going to skip the long review on this one. Place smelled like someone put a fish out of the freezer for about a week, just dirty rotten fish smell in the entire "restaurant". Waiter was below the floor when it comes to service. The food was absolutely atrocious, chicken tenders hard as boulders (maybe this is where they got their name from?). Burger was completely burnt. Incorrect food was received, ordered bone in wings got boneless. The boneless wings are as bad as they look on the menu, fatty, no flavor, and as hard as the chicken tenders, not even close to edible. I can see why this place is completely empty, I wouldn't be surprised if they closed their doors next week.

I now see why they request you to order food from a phone app, because the wait staff is completely useless, the "cook" or "chef" is awful. My only recommendation for this place, is to save yourself the trouble and do not waste your money and most importantly your time on this place. We should have left after the appetizers were complete trash.

Want a quick bite I'd recommend anywhere but here, I wouldn't wish this place upon my...