Cali Burger — Restaurant in Raleigh

A nice cheaper option in this crazy economy, and the food isn’t half bad! The fries remind me of Zaxby’s, they are crinkle cut with seasoning. The burger shockingly looks just like the picture, and the taste reminds me of Meat & Bite’s burgers. They have a “special sauce” on it similar to Mac sauce, and you can tell the toppings (onion, pickle, tomato) were probably hand cut fresh which is nice. The WORST part is the bacon, it was super rubbery and sad instead of crispy, I ended up picking it off the burger I would not recommend getting the bacon. The mozzarella sticks or fried cheese sticks whatever they call them reminded me of something you’d get in bulk in the freezer section of Costco. Their menu is all over the place with corn dogs and curly fries, I’d say they are more similar to a slightly upscale Cook Out than anything you’d have in California.

I recommend going through the drive thru because the building and interior itself is sad, looks like they barely renovated at all or are still under construction. The interior does not give a professional or polished or “newly opened” restaurant feel and did not give us confidence in the food. The server/cashier wasn’t wearing a shirt for the restaurant itself, even though the cooks were, and the server was wearing a giant hairnet over his hair. While I appreciate the food safety aspect of wearing a hairnet, none of the cooks were wearing them so it was weird to see the cashier in one. You can see straight into the kitchen behind the counter, including seeing all the mess all over the kitchen floor by the cooktops which isn’t super appetizing. So again, save yourself from that sight and just go through the drive-thru to experience the...

The food was really good and the staff was awesome. I will be coming back and I want to see this place succeed. However, this place needs some help. Here are some examples:

Betty took our order and was fast, thorough, and friendly. However, she was the only front-end employee. She was expected to take counter orders, man the drive thru, bus tables, keep the lobby clean, and make milkshakes... atleast this is everything I saw her do during our visit. As you can imagine, during the lunch rush, this was too much for one person. Again, she was doing an awesome job, but one person cannot be in more than one place at a time. This resulted in lines piling up and her asking drive thru to hold so she could step away between counter orders and vice versa. Please get this amazing employee more employees!

Our food took a while to get out likely because there was not a lot of staff and orders kept coming in.

The building could use some updates. Aside from being next to an abandoned building, the Cali Burger is obviously an old Arby's with minimal, cheap mismatched updates.

Google Maps location in wrong. It takes you to an apartment complex on the side road that does not connect to the parking lot. Be sure to enter directly from Hillsborough street.

I went looking for a feedback link only to realize there is no website for this place. The best I see is Reddit thread where one employee told people...

Overall Score: 3.9/10 – A hit-and-miss experience with decent food but significant issues in service, ambiance, and overall execution.

Atmosphere and Service: 2.9/10 – The restaurant feels bland and lacks any cohesive theme, brand identity, or unique elements. The space was clean, but the overall vibe was unappealing, with no music and an almost unfinished feel. Basic details like empty napkin dispensers, no lids, and a beat-up ketchup dispenser added to the sense of neglect. Service was slow, with food taking a long time to arrive and cold fries further impacting the experience.

Pineapple Shake: 1.1/10 – A major disappointment. The shake had a bitter, unpleasant flavor, with the pineapple tasting off. This was not enjoyable and fell far short of expectations.

Bacon Cheeseburger: 6.5/10 – A solid burger with flavorful beef patties and an ample amount of crispy, real bacon. The balance was good, though the sauce was barely noticeable. While not extraordinary, the burger was enjoyable and priced reasonably for what was offered.

Philly Cheesesteak: 4.4/10 – The flavor was bold but overly salty, making it hard to enjoy after the first couple of bites. The taste started strong but quickly became overwhelming. While the price was okay, the balance of flavors could use...