Hat Creek Burger Company — Restaurant in Rowlett

My first time coming to this place. I checked it out online and the food looked great. The first impression was horrible. The place was humid the ac was off. The poor girl at the front taking the orders was the one bringing the food to the table and cleaning the place. She was red face and sweating. We check the outside patio and surprisingly it was better than inside. The dangerous side of it was that it was so humid that the floors were covered in water. ( but at least had some of the outside wind) that it was a bit refreshing. It was like someone dropped water all over the floors. The ac was also off on the covered patio. It was strange to me that there was no sound in the place. No music nothing. Food. Food was brought fast and we didn't think it was pricey. The pickles were nice and crunchy but extremely salty. The fries were warm, extremely salty, and barely any on my order. I told the poor girl that was cleaning the trash and she told me she can bring some more. My sister's order was incomplete. She asked for vegetables on the hamburger and there were none. She was offered to have it redone but she ask to only have them at least now on the side. I decided that my fries were inedible so I approached the girl that was bringing my sister the vegetables. I told her my fries were only warm and extremely salty. She offered to let me keep them and she will bring me some more. Well, the young man who was taking care of the fries approached me and began talking to me in Spanish. ( I am Latina) He asked me what was the problem with the fries and I told him in English that I asked for a large size. He immediately interrupt me and told me they only have one size. I said ok this is not even a regular size. They're extremely salty. He added in Spanish again that's because we added paprika to it. I ignore him and told the girl that paprika it's not salty. He left and brought back the fries.

No, we are coming back.

Sadly it made me think about the owner. How hard ( or not ) was to have the funds to open a place like this? It is nice. I love the decor. This place is ready for good management to help with the ambiance and food control, and mostly to stop people from being racist there's no other explanation for why I was spoken to in Spanish when I was speaking English. The girl was attentive and...

We recently came to check out the new Hat Creek Burger Company in Rowlett on 66, right outside of the Rockwall County line. The business has a motto of “Beer for Dad, Wine for Mom, Playground for the kids, oh, and really good food.” Sounds for sure like a modern/trendy kind of place.

The place is new as of the time of this review, like super new, and even smells like it. We had no problem with parking or lines at 6pm ok a Saturday, though the place was packed and we did take the last parking spot.

Inside the place is nicely decorated, modern looking and very new. The menu is primarily burgers, but also has chicken sandwiches and salads. I even noticed a breakfast menu.

I’ve heard reports of the place being “overpriced” and although it’s certainly not cheap, considering the quality and the entire experience, I would content that it’s “worth it”. A base, single patty burger is $4.50 and goes up from there.

The food itself was out quick, under 5 minutes. We were given a remote buzzer to know when it was ready. The burger had two patties and was more than filling, very fresh and juicy. This is on par with anything you’d get at five guys, fuddruckers, or mooyah. What this place has that they don’t is a great family atmosphere and large outdoor children’s play area.

Our three year old absolutely adored the play area, and if you’re a parent you know how much of a blessing it can be when a venue truly does accommodate he needs and wants of a child. This place does it. There must have been at least 40 kids playing.

My wife wanted me to mention that if you ask for water, they still give you a normal sized cups which means a lot to her! She hates when they give you a plastic shot glass. lol

I was satisfied with the quality, price and atmosphere. I think this place is great, and I’m happy it’s in the area. I just wish it was inside of Rockwall County proper, but that’s ok....

Pros - Excellent service. The staff is extremely nice, helpful, and upbeat. Small playground. The kiddo loves to play while the wife and myself can eat and relax. I do wish it was a bit bigger though. It gets very packed and the kids can get too high in numbers to really enjoy it.

Cons - Food. The burgers are bland, overcooked, dry, and small. Not good at all. Sadly a number of fast food restaurants provide a better burger. I have been twice and gave it a chance with two different burgers. Unfortunately the problems we're exactly the same. It's such a shame, they are trying really hard with this place but they cannot cook a decent burger. I question the reviews of this place where they say the burgers are fantastic. Are they employees or have they unfortunately never had a decent burger? Fries are ok, not great not terrible.

Price. Very over priced. They do the thing where they separate the price of each item so it seems less untill you get your final bill and it's crazy high. Two regular burger meals and a kids meal was over $35. Insane! You can go to a quality restaurant for less.

Building. Acoustics we're not thought about when this place built. The sounds are extremely amplified and when there's a decent of people in the place, even outside, it's almost impossible to hear the person next to you .

All in all I think we may go to this place from time to time when it's family night and the burgers are half off. Even then though it will still be expensive. The only reason we'll possible be back is because of the kiddo loving the playground. If they can learn to make a decent burger and shave some of that insane price off this place will do really well. If not, they will only get parents bringing their kids and even that might not last with these prices. I hope they can fix their issues. It would be nice to have another place with a...