Great Plains Burger Company

A solid burger joint, not without its flaws.
I am a HUGE fan of Jack in the Box. I know it’s bad for you and hardly worth dignifying as «restaurant», but I love it.
So I typed it into Apple Maps — 40 minutes away in Ann Arbor? Pssssh. Totally worth it.
So we get there and I see no Red logo. I am accusing and threatening my wife in a manner that’s mostly in jest, but my fear is slowly creeping into reality — Jack in the Box might not exist here.
So I go into the closest thing that resembles it: Great Plains Burger.
Believe it or not, the search wasn’t over. I came back to my car and kids and said, «Let’s check the website.»
One feverish moment later, I realized that
pointed to the nearest location: Indiana.
I. Was. Crushed.
Fine. Whatever. Let’s just go to this stupid burger place and eat «Not Jack».
So my wife ordered the Real McCoy — a basic cheddar cheeseburger. «Really good.»
I made my own concoction and loved it. All the ingredients were super high quality. We had about 6 different items and had them (over a course of 15 minutes) delivered to us in sporadic fashion — and that was my one big gripe. Fresh food is a double-​edged sword that can be too long for comfort: they brought it out to us when they could.
Cost is a bit… «Fair» –for super fresh organic ingredients, but that’s still pricey. $ 38 for two burgers, a hot dog, two orders of fries, specialty chips (great portions, but I didn’t enjoy it), and a milk shake, and the tip — even with a $ 5 coupon that was sitting on the counter.
By the way, I hate it when the POS software makes you tip right in front of the cashier. «Uh… Yeah, I guess you can have 10% for service/​food I have yet experienced.» It’s just cringe-​y and I feel awful if I don’t tip.
Not what I was expecting for Jack in the Box, but decent, nonetheless. If I return to the area, though, I may save some money and hit up Qdoba — it’s right there and half the price.

Really good burger. The beef patty is very flavorful. I enjoyed the Real McCoy burger which is your basic burger: patty, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion on a brioche bun. Mine was minus onion. Fries are great. I like to dip them in the white BBQ sauce. Milkshakes are out of this world smooth and creamy! Delicious! Service could be a bit better but the flavor of the food makes up for it.

As you surely know by now, this place is similar to Five Guys or Elevation Burger. Mostly burgers, fries, chips, and shakes.
For $ 11, I got a cheeseburger (onion, lettuce, pickles, ketchup, mustard… so classic toppings), potato chips, and a fountain drink. Unfortunately, the burgers here are pretty forgettable. I’m not terribly picky about my burgers, but this one was just very ‘meh,’ to the point of being pretty disappointing. Luckily, it’s not as greasy as some similar burger joints, but that’s really the only upside here.
The chips are made in-​store. I am a big fan of home-​made style potato chips, but these were also really disappointing. They tasted like salt and frying oil.
If you’re looking for a good burger, try Sidetracks Bar in Ypsi. If you need something faster or not that far away, Elevation Burger or Blimpie’s is way better. If you’re in this part of town and hungry, stop by Seoul Street.

3 stars because 6 dollars for a shake a little bigger than my hand that tastes similar to a Wendy’s frosty, is to much money, also 10 dollars for a burger is a little much but I do think it’s worth it for how great they taste.

As others have noted, kind of like Five Guys, in that you order from an open choice of toppings, the counter staff are friendly and helpful, they cook and make up your burger on the spot, and your fries (also freshly cooked) are really good.
Differences that make it better:
a broader choice of toppings
several pre-​designed burger offerings, if you want them, some with toppings not on the regular list
Differences not so good:
Ambiance and acoustics of a warehouse. Intolerably noisy, and that’s even without a crowd.
The burgers are GREASY, GREASY, GREASY.

Prices are pretty steep for unremarkable burgers. The fries were great, service was friendly, and my husband enjoyed his beef burger enough (although is willing to drive further for something better) but my black bean burger was simply not worth it. The texture was bad, and there was no flavor at all. I threw out more than half. A true disappointment for an Ann Arbor restaurant, who should have a decent veg option. I’d recommend looking into tempeh since black bean is tough to do well. I won’t be back.

After a long days work my husband and I went and had delicious burgers and fries and to top it off the great STAFF Thank you we will be back

Average burger with below average fries and above average prices. Person taking our orders certainly doesn’t love her job. Had to beg for the small containers for the sauces and the lazy #%&$$# only gave us one. Had to grab a dude that was acting like he was cleaning the dump to get what we needed. Don’t remember this place as being this disappointing the previous visit. Not on my return list.

I really like this place and like that it’s not part of a huge chain. I usually get the beef burgers, which are great, but I decided to try the bean burger last week. YES! It was excellent… not the usual crap that came out of the bottom of someone’s freezer. The fries are good, not the best, but good. Nice staff, pleasant atmosphere.

$ 25 for 2 burgers and 2 fries, I will never come back here. I would rather go to Elevation burger or in and out! Plus the burgers are pathetic!!!
Cold nasty fries, cold sandwich and they didn’t even put sauce on it, they use a huge fry holder where they keep adding new fries to the old (I probably ate a 2 hour old french fry). This place is hands down the worst sandwich and fries I have had in the state of Michigan. I just got so ripped off by this crappy place, I am furious.

I didn’t think it could get worse but it did. At 9pm I was starving for dinner and had the man friend drive up here to pick up some burgers and fries. I got the Southwest which is a turkey patty on brioche with guacamole, pepper jack cheese, onion, tomato, lettuce and chipotle mayo. It sounded really good on paper but in reality I couldn’t even tell what I was eating. The burger was essentially complete mush and every ingredient became hard to distinguish. No discernible flavor to be found. I also had some fries with a side of cheese. The side of cheese was nacho cheese essentially which, how sad, was my favorite thing! I got a weird mix of regular fries and TINY bits of sweet potato fries. He didn’t ask for this and I have a suspicion they threw whatever was left before close into the bag. The man friend had the breakfast burger which he described as mediocre. I gave this place a second shot, but will not give them a third.

In general, this is a two-​star place, but it gets an extra star for the Amaizing blue fries which were delicious. I had the chorizo burger and my husband had the turkey burger. Both burgers had nice flavor, but they were very greasy. In fact, I felt sick all afternoon.
We also thought that they were fairly expensive for what you get.

We tried Great Plains when they first opened, and remember liking it, but finding it a bit overpriced. Well, tried it again last night, and how far they have fallen. Still expensive, but not even on par with Wendy’s. After waiting almost twenty minutes for our 3 burger 2 fries order, we received dry, over-​cooked hockey-​puckesque patties (no wonder, I observed the cook pressing down on them with the spatula — a big no-​no), overcooked fries brought to our table by an unfriendly guy who seemed miffed that he had to take a break from watching CNN to actually work.
The only plus would be the guy that took our order was friendly and personable, and the range of sauces for dipping is nice. However, the mayo and mayo-​based white BBQ sauce had schmutz around the dispenser nozzle, and when it comes to mayo — I don’t play that. Gross.
There are far better options in the area. Don’t waste your time, appetite or money on this one.

I was on north campus and really craved burgers so I came here out of convenience. (I used to really dislike the burgers here). However I had a better experience today. I got the mccoy burger and fries. My Mccoy burger was tasty and fresh. (I added alot of ketchup and mayo).
The Mccoy burger and fries didn’t really fill me up however… I was still hungry after. I don’t know if it’s because I eat alot or because their portions are not big enough.
My Mccoy burger and fries =$ 11. I think it’s reasonable considering how fresh their food tastes.

Delicious burgers made with quality ingredients. Staff is always friendly. I enjoy trips here with my co-​workers on Friday afternoons for lunch. Usually share an order of fries with someone, as it’s too much for me.
Decent-​sized dining area. Almost always able to find a table, and don’t usually wait too long for service/​delivery.

Nice selection of craft burgers with a wide variety of toppings and condiments. Strangely, I opted for grilled chicken breast (stupid diet). The food was excellent though, and I like the environment.
/​The guy who took our order was extremely upbeat, knowledgeable, and made the experience very pleasant.
The downsides were: Parking however is a real pain, it’s a little too expensive for what you get.

I always pop-​in here for lunch when I’m in Ann Arbor. The burger options are endless, and they have turkey and black bean options for those who aren’t fans of ground beef.
The options are endless, and sweet potato fries are a must. Definitely worth a try.

I like this place, would definitely eat here again! The single burger was a generous portion and plenty big enough. The bun was toasty and delicious. They have several types of meat to choose from beef, turkey, buffalo, even a black bean burger. Loads of toppings to add including several cheeses and even fried egg. My only real complaint was the lay out. The place felt cramped, possibly because it was packed, but the order line was in a weird place and I felt rushed to decide from the long list of choices. They had 4 burgers put together to choose from, it would have been nice if they put together a few more to make ordering quicker. Parking was a nightmare at noon. The small parking lot is shared with Panera, Qdoba and another place. Good luck with that. Over all, pleased with my experience, will definitely be back here.

After living not too far away for about 6 months, I finally went in to see what the fuss was about and I have to say that the experience was just okay.
The set up is a bit odd as you have to walk around to the side if you come from the front of the restaurant. My friend already knew what to order and so I followed suit. The Curd as my burger was called was a regular burger, no lettuce or tomato with cheese curds because I live in the Midwest now and that’s the life we live. The burger arrived much sooner than the fries that were ordered 10 – 15 minutes before my arrival and it was okay. I’ve made better burgers from scratch honestly. The chili cheese looking fries were only okay also. We didn’t finish them, and my hubs and friend love fries okay — they live off them.
This place just isn’t my vibe. If I want something like a burger I’d rather go to my kitchen, Five Guys, maybe even Elevation Burger and if I really loved myself: Frita Batidos, the Jolly Pumpkin or Sidetrack over in Ypsi. But that’s just me though. I’ve been called Fancy and a downright right snob when it comes to food, but if I’m going to pay for something it better either be on par or better than something I can produce.

Terribly underwhelming.
We ended up coming to this place because Seoul Street next door had a very long wait. I ordered the breakfast burger and a basket of chili cheese fries. The meat was very under seasoned and bland and the bacon was cold. The meat in the chili was very tough and not broken up. There was a huge clump of meat in the corner of our basket. The French fries themselves were nothing special. The only reason I’m not giving this place one star is because the service was actually excellent for a place where you order at a counter and the staff was very polite. The prices were also very fair. They keep the place very clean, too. It’s a good place to study for me.