Burger City Grill - Old Torrance — Restaurant in Torrance

Food Order: #8 City Slicker (bacon, bbq sauce, swiss cheese, spread; added lettuce, tomato, pickles, grilled onions, avocado for $3) Combo with Zucchini Fries (sub for $2) & Fuze Raspberry Ices Tea $22.00 Fries $4.00

Tip: If you like this place, or even visit occasionally, they're on "Local By Toast" app; sign-up for a 25 point bonus & 50 points gets you $5 discount (10%). Earn 1 point for every dollar spent, excluding taxes & tips.

If this is the same Burger City Grill that was formerly located 2064 Pacific Coast Hwy., Lomita, 90717 (taken over by Fantastic Cafe aka Burger City, not sure if it's a nod to BCG), the menu hasn't changed too much. A little background of its establishment: BCG was established in 2008 by co-owners Abe & Themios with a local following that led to a 2nd location off Artesian Blvd. & Yukon Ave. (coincidentally taken over by Eat Fantastic).

I frequented with my family often that I was their Duchess; leading up to their closure, I wasn't happy with the food or service, taking away the Coke Freestyle Machines didn't do any favors, though it was more broken than usable (refer to Review #106).

Fast forward to this Old Town location, the staff is welcoming & friendly. My order was ready faster than I'm able to drive a couple of miles even though I arrived on time. It's a smaller space with limited parking & probably enough spaces to fill the dining room capacity if you carpool. There's 3 large communal dining tables, 6 bench/booth tables with an outdoor patio, but not sure if you want to sit out with the constant traffic whizzing by (cough, cough).

By substituting the fries with zucchini fries & adding an order of fries, I saved a buck. I had a couple bites of both before I headed back to the office. The zucchini fries were good, but I had better; they were warm, somewhat crisp, but soggier than expected. The fries were lukewarm & also ok; didn't have the crisp, golden brown like back in its heyday. It was a short drive, but my burger was barely warm. It was cooked a medium well than medium, & the bun was mashed & soggy from lettuce, tomato, bbq sauce &/or spread; the lettuce was wilted & old, not fresh & crisp. I also paid an extra $3 for avocado & it wasn't on my burger. Taste seems similar, but BCG Old Town missed the mark, nothing like its former glory (see 09/27/14)... sigh.

This newer menu is slightly condensed (no Brunch Burger, Yorker, or Mamba Burger, Waffle Chips, Sloppy or Poutine Fries, Ice-Cream Burger) with less added/paid topping options like fried egg, grilled jalapeño, house-made chili, pastrami; price points are moderate & in-line with other fast-casual burger joints. I ordered what I remembered most/best & it didn't register any fond foodie memories. What I don't get is their upcharge for garlic fries at $9 vs. $4 fries; a sprinkle of garlic is not worth the value of a fries order, nor justifiable. Yikes! ＼(｀0´)／ It should be $5 or $6 at most. Friendly, attentive service, but the menu execution needs work. And without a Coke Freestyle, not sure if I can entice my family to Burger City Grill.

Recommended: Dine-in for City Slicker (might taste better & you can return the burger if you're missing paid add-ons), Fries, & Zucchini Fries; hoping eating onsite will be a...

Food: We ordered a cheeseburger, crispy chicken sandwich, and garlic fries.

The cheeseburger is your standard fare. Seasoning is good. No option for type of cheese as given in other BCG franchises.

The crispy chicken sandwich had a good seasoning but it really wasn't crispy at all. The chef did a good job of costing it but all the breading was non existent. Basically, it was a grilled chicken masquerading as crispy chicken. Poor execution of cooking this sandwich. Would not recommend. They can learn a thing or two for crispy chicken sandwiches from Chik Fil A or the local Korean chicken places.

I was excited about the garlic fries (they have a hefty premium of $4 more than regular fries). My goodness. There was no garlic taste to these fries. In fact, the oil it was fried in had the majority of the taste. The chefs could check out Red Robin garlic fries and see how much garlic is actually put in. Also, the fries weren't as crispy when served. They became mushy in about 10 minutes. Definitely do not recommend.

Bathroom: one of two bathrooms were out of commission. The bathroom in commission had a working urinal and toilet. The sink was a whole another story. There is a bucket located beneath the sink to catch water as it drains through the pipes. The problem is that it splashes anything directly below when traveling through the pipe. Other than that, bathroom was clean but had not been maintenances in a while (evident by all the paper towels just lying all over the floor).

I've been to other BCGs and haven't seen one quite as bad managed as this. If it stays this way, this BCG will be on its way out five years from now. If you have a craving for burgers, try out other local places such as Local Kitchen or even...

Went to a favorite for burgers, stood at the register the girl looked up and said what do you want?,do you need a receipt?, I said I would like to order, she pointed to the condiment area, I repeated I haven't ordered yet. She pointed to the other register (where the was nobody at) another girl came to take my order. I asked for a Maui burger by its self and a Maui combo. I ran my card and redeemed my $7 rewards and left a tip. They called my name for someone else's order. I told them what my order was a day waited my name was called again got to the table my wife looked at her burger and noticed it had no pineapple or bacon, I returned and told her it was not correct I said you can just add the ingredients to that burger and it would be fine, went back to my seat and waited she returned to the table and said I needed to pay $5 more to correct the burger. I said I should not have to pay more for their mistake. She dug in and said that was the only solution. I said that is not how you fix your mistakes. I then pulled out $5 and said I would like to see the manager she stated she wasn't available, I said I will give you the $5 in exchange for the manager business card they told me they couldn't disclose that information. I then told them I want all my money back and would visit the store the next day. So the staff obviously are not good with math. They choose to throw away over $28 of food instead of throwing a slice of pineapple and two pieces of bacon on the original burger, and lose a regular customer ,Brilliant, Maybe it's new math. I will miss the great food. I went to Habit Burger and had great food...