The Counter — Restaurant in San Jose

Counter Burger is a chain of burger eateries spanning much of California and a few other locations around the world. My first trip was to the Counter Burger in Santana Row in San Jose, CA three years ago. I stumbled upon the place as a new place to try out and walked out wanting to come back at the next possible opportunity. I continue to consider them one of the best places to get a great veggie burger.

Counter Burger has an interesting menu/ordering system. You can order from their set of store conceived burger selections or much better still build your own burger. Unlike most other “build-your-own” setups, here you really build it. You pick from three sizes of burger (1/3lb, 2/3lb and 1lb). You can have the burger in one of many types of buns they offer or have it without a bun kind of like a naked burrito. You then get to choose a sauce, 4 toppings that range from pepperoncini’s to sauteed onions, and one type of cheese from an interesting variety. You can also add more cheese and/or premium toppings like guacamole for an extra charge. But here is the best part about the burger- it is made to order. Where else do you get a veggie burger made to order?. Most times, the restaurant version of a veggie burger is the frozen Gardenburger from Costco’s that is then grilled in the kitchen. Here the burger is made to order and the taste shows. It just rocks. With the right cheese, sauce and toppings, the burger just is out of the world.

And here is where it gets even better. The appetizers offered in this place consist of a bunch of different types of fries. But paired with the right sauce, the thinly sliced onion rings and sweet potato fries, not to mention parmesan fries are just awesome. It is hard to put it down. If you want to watch your consumption and still get a feel for all the varieties of fries, you can order them as a combo plate of 2 or 3 selections. This is what I do all the time.

Finally, if you want to know if there is anything bad about the place, here it is. The wait is pretty bad during weekends. Weekday lunches can also be a long wait and there is just no way around it. Seating indoors is limited and in the winter, chances are you will sit outside. There are those heating poles next to the tables outside but only helps to a certain extent. Otherwise, Counter Burger is a very highly recommended place to get your veggie burger and fries fix. Did I mention that they also carry...

You guys have some rude woman who are at the front to check guest in. I went yesterday with a group of six including my two adult child and a friend and her two teenagers. The woman to check us in was extremely rude. Her eyes are scary with either anger or stress because the power was off. I understand power was off but she should not take it on guest. Her rudeness embarrassed me in front of my family and friends and I did not want to return her rudeness with rudeness as I was out to have relaxing time with family and friends. We went at 8:15 pm and asked for reservations for six. She said power out and she can not serve us. We left. On our way out, the power came back in and I returned and asked her whether she can seat us now since power is back, she said I'm 10 minutes, I said sure and asked whether she needs my name for waiting list for anything. She said no since we are first, I said good, then she acted like bipolar, but we close at 9, so you have half an hour after seated to eat and leave. I said but if I am already seated I can finish my food, she said come tomorrow and she opened her eyes very widely in a mental way. She said she has to serve the people that are already seated. When looked around on my way out, I found the three tables already occupied either had food already on the table or the check on the table which mean they are already served. Given her rudeness and lies, I still didn't want to argue back as a respect to my adult children and my friend and her teenagers that were with me. They need to train their employees to handle stress better and to remember to treat guest with respect. Yikes very negative energy. I was not prepared to meet someone crazy just going to ask for table. Her body language was angry. I would rather she said apology we can serve today. I did not need her rudeness, her telling me to come tomorrow, raising her arms telling me I have to serve all these, telling me 10 minutes to be seated like a popular but leave in 30 minutes after seated because closing. Her face was pure anger and attitude....

The Counter at Santana Row is the perfect example of the importance of first impression. Let's start with the good stuff: food - absolutely 100% tasty. The food is worth the hype. Service by my server and bartender (Chris and Brandon) absolutely 100% friendly and speedy. That's where the 2 stars came from.

Unfortunately, the first 10 minutes, before we even sat down, was quite the eye-opener. We got there at probably 3-ish. Place is busy. There was no host at the front. As we waited, multiple servers walked by and made eye contact with us. No one acknowledged us. No "we'll be with you soon." Our host arrived. Oh, they were one of the servers who walked by and made eye contact. Hmm. No, "sorry about the wait" or "thanks for waiting." Ok. Host offered us the bar, but we had to wait for the area to be cleaned. No problem. As we were waiting, 2 people who were in uniform from another establishment and on first name basis with the staff just sat themselves at 2 of the 5 spots we were waiting for. No one informed them that my party was waiting for those spots. Whaaaatttt...? Thankfully, some contiguous spots opened and were quickly cleaned for us. Nevertheless, bad impression made.

The Counter lost all 5 stars in the first 10 minutes and spent the next 50 earning only 2 back. If I was there alone, I would've walked 20 yards to that perfectly fine looking Irish pub. This is Santana Row, guys, not Skid Row. I've had better service from a vending machine trying its darn best to take my wrinkly dollar bill. The burger may be top 16, the service is easily bottom 6.

This is not the only The Counter in the Bay Area. This is not the only restaurant in Santana Row. I do not yet know where I'll be going the next time I wanna drop $30 on a burger, but I know where I...