Bauer's by Sazon por Tradicion — Restaurant in Modesto

The mushroom appetizer was uninspiring; looked like something cooked by a 19 year old college student in a dorm microwave. Crudely chopped crimini mushrooms served in a tiny soup cup, swimming in clear broth with a teaspoon of that garlic-in-a-jar stuff from Walmart. Over $12 for that abomination. The Safeway-caliber bread on the side was also amusing- we get it this is a bar/grill not some snooty Michelin star place but what culinary genius decided on the recipes and the bread vendor?

The vegan burger was simply poorly done; it was cooked fully that was its only redeeming quality. The bun was not very fresh; they toasted it to hide that it was day old but you could tell.

We found a hair in the salad; it was on the bottom of the plate so I had already finished most of it (and half the burger) before I spotted it. They didn't take it off the bill or even apologize but they DID give us a 10% discount for "our next visit" 😂 ... sure! Hilarious service by the way, not even worth discussing here.

We left the place wondering what the heck did we pay almost $70 for??!! We could've gotten two vegan burgers at Burger King for about $18 and they come without human hair (in my experience anyway).

The biggest red flag though? It was about 530pm when we went and the dining room was empty-- one guy was there nursing a beer and after he left we were the only ones there the entire time! We should've turned around and left but... we took a risk. Oh well 🤷‍♂️

Their AC works well, at least...

We came here for a business lunch, requested a table for 5 people. They put us under the flat screen TV and even though we needed to be able to hear ourselves talk/think, they wouldn't turn the TV down until we asked four times! I mistakenly thought they had a reliable vegan section in their menu but they don't. They only have an impossible burger that they don't know how to prepare properly Mine was burned to a crisp and the waitress didn't give a hoot when I mentioned it! Like some of the other reviewers I have to say I was extremely disappointed at how bad and amateurish their recipes are. Their prices are comedically high for what they give you! I mean make an effort, don't insult my intelligence! The jalapeño club came with not so fresh bread and a rubbery piece of grilled chicken. The fries were nothing special, I've way had better at McDonalds and they don't cost as much. Such bad service. The waitress was disinterested and just didn't want to hear any of our suggestions or opinions on how bad the food (that WE PAID FOR!) was. We are not coming back here ever.

P.S. per owners response: we were there three weeks ago. We ordered the jalapeño burger and some mushrooms which were terrible. Two other people got the impossible burger and the fifth person actually left early after having one drink.Your service was...

They had a sign outside saying best burgers in town sad to say when I got here and it was empty.. The food recipes looked ridiculous seems like whoever made the menu tried too hard in culinary school or something.. you don’t always have to put a twist on everything sometimes ol plain and simple does the trick. Just look at In and Out for example. Anyway I had a chicharron burger which was basically a bacon burger with tapatio “aioli” in it. They basically didn’t have most of the items on the menu that’s why my burger just had bacon on it. My patty was still raw so I only took a few bites out of it. Which I quickly regretted because I got pretty sick when I got home. The fries tasted like they were copying Wingstop fries with brown sugar on top. Whoever is coming up with the recipes should read the culinary artistry book showing what foods and spices go with what. I also didn’t understand the theme of the restaurant. Is it supposed to be American? The staff were polite here tho. Our waitress was sweet. Disappointed by the food but had great service so I paid my bill and left. I see their vision and what they’re trying to do but not sure if...