Chester's Hamburgers — Restaurant in San Antonio

I love Chester’s burgers, but had a horrible experience at this location yesterday. Me and my friend ordered two burgers, two fries, and two onion rings to go. Traffic was really bad, so we didn’t get to this location until almost an hour later. When we finally came to pick up our food, we asked if we could have fresh fries and onion rings, since we knew they were cold. The person checking us out, who was very nice, misunderstood us and thought we asked for the whole order remade, and asked the manager that. The manager, a blonde women who seemed frustrated before we even got there, said “no, we’re not doing that. You were supposed to be here a while ago.” We clarified we just wanted the sides redone, and she threw her hands in the air in frustration, as if our request was the biggest inconvenience to her. We would have completely understood if our request was not possible, so I don’t understand why she didn’t POLITELY, tell us such. After throwing a fit in the kitchen for a minute, she came back to us and said “ok, we can do the fries but if you want new onion rings you’ll have to pay for them. We’ve already wasted $4 worth of food.” At this point, I was getting upset and just wanted to leave because I was uncomfortable, so I said “that’s fine, just do the fries.” She leaves again, and storms back informing us “they already dropped the onion rings, so we’ll just give them to you.” She assembled the fresh sides, and we left. Her entire demeanor and tone of speech were unbelievably rude from the moment we walked in. My friend had never had Chester’s before and she was very upset at the way we were spoken to by this manager. I have never been spoken to like this anywhere ever and don’t appreciate being spoken to like a child when I’m a paying customer. Overall, I’m very saddened and upset by my experience. I’ll stick to the...

Stopped by this restaurant for my first time. I don't understand how this place is celebrating a 30 year history given the underwhelming cheeseburger and fries I tried today. I hate to dog on a local business, but I didn't see much innovation or variation on the menu to make me feel like this experience was due to my selection. The return customer/nostalgia factor should be near the end of its course.

Fries- People begin to eat with their eyes, but these fries tasted as bland as they looked. Flimsy, soft, barely passed the undercooked threshold--I understand the au naturel draw that may come with displaying the huge Idaho potatoes sacs, but I prefer almost every style of homemade fries that I've ever tried over these. Some people might find pleasure in these, but I feel confident in stating that they likely lack widespread appeal. I recommend at least having a version of better cooked/crispier/seasoned fries.

Cheeseburger- For a place that doesn't offer much variation (i.e., fried egg, sauteed onion/mushrooms, different cheeses, etc.) you'd expect the burger to be tastier. The bread was too thick for the meat which negates most of the beef's flavor. The black-caraway seeds on the bun are excessively/unevenly spread and they offer no additional flavor on a burger yearning for such. I'd consider a thinner bun or thicker patty and an attempt to flavor with...

Update 04-21-24: Reducing rating due to consistently poor quality food. The most recent burger was underdone by a lot, even by Chester’s standards - not pink, red! The meat also had a gamey flavor to it that was similar to odorous raw meat. The fries were still cold in the center, as well, making this at least 8 times in the last couple of years that has happened.

This is not a one time problem, it is a sharp decline in the quality of the food, yet the prices have not declined similarly. I will not ever eat here again. Left me hungry and grossed out.

Edit in response to owner: I have lived less than a mile away for 20 years and have been a longtime very regular patron for that entire time (and then some) so I’m not misremembering or waxing nostalgic. That’s quite a dismissive attitude to take with a customer who has spent A LOT of money at your establishment and knows well what the quality used to be versus the current much lower quality food you serve.

Original review: Still good but going downhill a bit. Food isn’t quite as good as it used to be. And portion sizes on fries and sides of chili are shrinking. Also some of the the staff aren’t on their A-game and not so friendly at times. Used to be able to count on every employee getting it right every time. Now it’s a little...