Burgatory — Restaurant in North Fayette Township

This place is GREAT! Shout out to our server, Nicole--we are new to the area and she was happy to spend time with us and give us the skinny on what neighborhoods to explore, and which ones to avoid. Some people project such confidence, smarts, and common sense that you decide to hire them for their raw talent and figure out how to make use of them later. Unfortunately we're not hiring for anything right now, but Nicole is one of those people. If you go to the North Fayette Burgatory, ask for her. She's fantastic.

Burgatory is a gem. Interesting, well-mixed cocktails, genuinely creative burgers, local beers on tap, lovingly crafted shakes--there really aren't any things that they take for granted, and the attention to detail is palpable. No element of our experience was taken for granted. They even have a flow chart to help indecisive people figure out what to order! At first I thought the floor chart was just a joke, but once I saw just how much choice they offer, I saw how smart it was.

The cocktails have fresh fruit, fresh herbs, and default to high quality spirits. The Strawberry Basil Shag was delightful, and even came with a wide mouth straw so that the berries didn't clog it up. Attention to detail. The Blue Bramble with fresh blueberries and thyme was similarly refreshing. Even the Hot Take Honey was a less in-your-face take on a margarita.

In so many burger joints, the veggie burger is an embarrassing excuse for an attempt to accommodate non-carnivores but NOT HERE! Burgatory's veggie burger was wonderful. I'm not a vegetarian but I ordered the veggie because it was a genuinely intriguing and enticing option, and it didn't disappoint. And they have not just one but two options for non-meat-eaters since they also serve the Impossible burger. Bravo!

There are no "throw away" items on the menu. We also ordered the peppercorn crusted horseradish cheddar Morty's Steakhouse Burger that was perfectly medium rare, but it was a difficult choice because there are so many interesting options. And if you still can't decide, you can build your own burger, choosing from like six different patty options, and a dizzying array of toppings. Even the French fries were amazing.

And the shakes. Oh boy. Unique concoctions that start with a base of homemade vanilla, and you can even "adult it up" by adding a shot of flavored vodka or bourbon. We got the strawberry pretzel shake, and even though my partner insisted she didn't want any, I'm pretty sure she drank at least half of mine.

If you couldn't tell, I love this place. It's rare to find a restaurant outside of a "fine dining" establishment that puts so much care into every aspect of the experience. Burgatory is such a place. They have nine locations in the Pittsburgh area. Nicole told us that when the owner/founder shows up, he pitches in washing dishes. I'm very curious to see if they can continue to expand while maintaining this level of quality. It's clearly a labor of...

It was fine. The atmosphere is fun and casual and I enjoyed reading the items on the wall. Great concept.

The food was fine too. Nothing great. My sister and I shared a Nutella Pretzel milkshake. We did not add liquor. The shake was thick, smooth and had a wonderful taste. It was big, plus we were given the metal blender cup with some extra in it, so there was more than enough for the two of us.

I had a double stack patty burger and upgraded to fries (from chips). Because they were patties, they were cooked medium/well. No problem. I did not realize that they were patties. The toppings were not memorable. I know there were onions and pickles, but cannot tell you anything else. The meat had a odd taste to it, so I don't know the seasoning. In contrast, the fries were under-seasoned and bland. I had to add salt, which I rarely ever do! FYI- $2.50 upcharge to get fries instead of potato chips that come with burgers. The burger was $16.00.

The staff was underwhelming. When we came in and asked for a table for two, we were seated right at the door, next to a larger party with children. Most of the restaurant was empty (7:15 PM Sunday night) and there were at least 30 other tables available. I asked to be moved and were given one of the MANY empty booths, not next to another party.

The server appeared nice, but was dumb and not really attentive. She said she'd explain the menu to us as we had not been here in several years. She proceeded to read the heading on each page. No mention of any details. She then pointed to the notepads and said we can always design our own burger. That was the explanation. Thank goodness she read the headings! She left. We read the menu, had questions, and waited. She eventually returned with our water, and took our order. We had to ask +/- 100 questions to get any information out of her about the fries upcharge, like pulling teeth. We got our burgers, she checked back once. Fine. We did not really need anything except more water. When she came back, she asked if we wanted desert "like a milkshake"? Seriously, our empty milkshake glasses and metal cup were still sitting right there on the table! I said "we already had a milkshake, but you can take it off our bill since you don't think we did". She did not understand and said "Okay. I'll get your bill". Then we waited. Went to the bathroom. Ran a marathon. Built a house. Gave the credit card and waited. Finished the neighborhood amenities, competed in an around-the-world balloon ride, got the receipt and left. Major time waiting after the meal made much more noticeable because now most of the people were gone, with two other tables and a couple people at the bar. We like the atmosphere and generally like the food, so we will return. I ranked this below some of the other specialty burger places that we go to, but was not impressed. Total bill was...

I almost feel bad giving a one star review because Burgatory 8 out of 10 times is fire, but the staff management and food here on my visit were all absolute trash without exaggerating. I’m gonna be completely honest and not embellish anything we went in and waited bare minimum of four minutes to get seated. (As did everyone else we saw come in) no hostess at the hostess stand she was just in back and then every few minutes would come up and put someone in the seat. Not a big deal, took longer to get a drink order in. Again, not a big deal.. waitress had zero energy zero customer service skills but again whatever maybe she was having a bad day. Ordered two chicken burgers.Took well over 30 minutes to receive the food, (not busy at all) the appetizer came out about 90 seconds before the food. Still not that big of a deal I guess, hey I’m grateful to be able to go out to eat… but then the two chicken burgers came and were actually chicken breasts, even though on our build your own burger sheet it was clearly marked chicken burger. At this point, we were getting into a time crunch so we asked if we just have our actual order to go. The waitress was not apologetic or friendly and actually didn’t even say anything when she took the food back. I’m not gonna cry a river over bad service and messing my order up I guess.. But the Manager never comes over at any point in time. Then they bring the food out and it is a sloppy mess and they also put our salads in the same container as our hot burger. Again, I’m not exaggerating when I say it look like they threw the burger in there and then shook up the whole box. so not only was it a messy disgrace of a burger, They also put it with a cold salad which was already hot by the time it got to the table. I asked to speak to the manager, and I absolutely refused to let them take any money off my bill because I wanted them to understand that I was complaining because they suck at their jobs, Not because I want to get a discounted or free meal. The managers explanation was that the Server told her everything was fine so she didn’t feel the need to come over and talk to us, and that’s just how they do to go orders. They put cold salads in the same container as hot food? If that’s the case then, that is really poor decision making on the part of the restaurant. Being in restaurant general management and an executive chef for well over 20 years, I understand the industry can be rough, but this was just a total failure and they should be ashamed of themselves. Again, I refuse to have them discount my meal whatsoever which they did offer to do in all fairness but again the point is that this what happens when you have poor management that doesn’t actually care about the guest that lady should not be a restaurant manager, and that server should be...