Tasty Burger Shack

I’m not sure why this place has only 2 stars. I personally thought that this place was very nice. The waitress who helped us was very kind and she knew what to recommend. I tried the Bison Burger out of curiosity, it’s not bad at all! They have unusual meats such as Elk, Bison, Camel, Alpaca, duck, and ostrich, yes! OSTRICH! Over all the place is nice, it’s halal so that’s even better! The Peking in Astoria is a little annoying, but it’s worth the hassle to come here.

It’s alright depending on the burger to be honest. There are a variety of choices when it comes to meats and customers can pick and choose whatever meat floats their boat — from camel to chicken and ostrich to bison, the options seem endless. Regardless of the variety however, the food isn’t consistent. Some days the food is good, while others it is not. It’s kind of like going in there blindly and not expecting how your meal would be, not the best feeling.
What IS consistent though, is probably the fries. Love the curly fries, it’s actually really good. But the milkshakes are terrible. It’s warm, doesn’t have ice cream and tastes very powdery. I have been here about four, five times but only when I really don’t know where to go anymore. It’s that type of place.

So about a year ago, after hanging out at Times square (like regular tourists do). My family and I were hungry, and seeing as there were no halal restaurants near by, we called up my cousin who lives right on Astoria, she picked us up and took us to tasty’s. Though the wait for the food seemed like forever; as soon as I took the very first bite out of my pulled beef burger I SWEAR TO GOD IT IS THE BEST BURGER I HAVE EVER HAD! I have been living in Toronto for over a decade, and I have yet to taste a burger as good as the one I’ve had at Tasty’s. Whenever I hear a friend or a relative is going to New York, I always say ‘When in NYC you must eat at Tasty’s burger shack’ :P

This place is overpriced and has terrible service. The hostess/​waitress services the adjacent restaurant too, so her attention is divided.
I ordered the 16.95 mighty boss burger which the menu indicates has 2 patties. Instead I was served a similar burger and charged the same as her 8 dollar burger.
Avoid these scammers.

Most reviews on here are pretty negative but I had a great experience. I ordered the lamb burger and it was phenomenal. My partner ordered the chicken burger with citrus aoli sauce and it was even better than mine. The beef/​avocado roll was very delicious (but fried, I wasn’t expecting that)
I came during the day when there was nobody here and the service and atmosphere was perfect.
I’d highly recommend trying this restaurant (especially trying something new, they have so many different kinds of meat).

hit or miss. Ordered a medium burger… came out well done. it was like chewing a shoe. the first time i went there food came out ok. Their fries are horrible. They have a nice décor and the atmosphere is nice. Food presentation is also great. The owner needs a better cook.

Not the best burger I’ve ever had. Kind of like a knock off of Bareburger but missing a lot of the charm. I read the Unilocal reviews after I ordered, might not have come in otherwise. The place is way too dark, brighten it up already.
The wait time was too long considering they had 3 tables. I wasn’t asked how I wanted my burger but it came out med-​rare, it wasn’t great. The patty was kind of thin.
Not convinced the ingredients are organic but they say they are!
BYOB though so that brings it up the 3 stars.

Accommodating staff, food was well made and reasonable wait time. You can taste the freshness in all the items. I always pass by here and finally gave it a try, glad I came, will be back SHORTLY!

Tasty burgers but don’t get the steak, it was so horrible we sent it back.
They were nice enough to replace it with whatever else we wanted to eat and the burgers turned out great
They still get 3 stars because presentation is awesome and atmosphere has a wow factor, it looks like they worked really hard on it.
Great potential in this place but they have to pay their game to survive in this neighborhood.
–justme

Do not eat here.
This place is weird and gross. we wandered in the other day and we should have ran right back out. I had a strawberry smoothie and it was without exaggeration the worst smoothie I have ever had in my life. Ok, whatever on to the burger. If you’re in the market for a camel burger maybe this is your place bc that is an actual thing that is on the menu. I ordered a normal burger with caramelized onions and cheddar cheese. The onions were actually just lightly grilled and crunchy and gross. Never a good sign when a restaurant doesn’t understand what caramelized means. I had wanted bacon but there were no pork products, which is not uncommon in Astoria. The burger was basically tasteless so I put a bunch of salt and pepper on it. I would have put ketchup but there is no ketchup available on the tables. Ketchup is a «sauce» that you order.
Also what kind of burger place serves a burger with NO sides? Even a handful of chips would be better than nothing. We ordered fries on the side and they were decent but the portion was tiny.
There is no reason to ever eat here with so many other options in the area. I gave the second star bc the server was trying really hard to be nice. She literally ended every single sentence with sir or ma’am. It was so creepy and weird but it made me fee bad for the entire business. I got called sir like 27 times so I guess that’s worth a bonus star.

Could be and should be a goldmine. Great concept, pretty wild choices of burgers, natural and organic, which explains the prices.
Lamb burger with feta, dry and overall pretty tasteless. Fries, ok, but they don’t come with the burger.
Place was so dark and dimly lit that it was like a 1970s ski lodge, and please turn the music down.
Disappointing to say the least.

Came in the place for a quick dinner. 7pm
Service was fast
Prices are ok
The ambiance is odd, it’s really dark I almost bit my hand eating my burger haha
I ordered the Veggies Mushroom Veggie. It was tasty and worth the money, but it should come with some house Fries !
** No liqueur License So NO Alcohol !!! Sorry Guys

I think this location is a sister location to Smokey Burger in NYC, but it falls short of that location in a few aspects. Though the burgers came out pretty promptly, looked delicious and generously sized, they lacked the taste that would label them a good gourmet burger, especially for those prices.
1. The meat was a bit lackluster, over cooked in our case, could taste the char of the grill on in it
2. the nachos were horrible, bland cheese, ill seasoned beef sprinkled about it (suggestion, if you say nachos consider adding gaucamole, sour cream, beans, jalapenos or something else to it to add depth of flavors/​textures)
3. the wings were not good, they were not seasoned well, fried well, sauced well… maybe we got a bad batch, or old batch, but ours were cold and not good.
4. the burgers were okay. they looked better than they tasted.
5. It was so unnecessarily dark that I had to take out the flashlight on my phone to read the menu. WTH!
because there is stiff competition on Steinway and in Queens in general for good halal burgers/​wings i doubt I will returning here, sorry.

Wish there was a rating for –10 000 stars! I took a large group there and the service was beyond poor. I almost wondered what I paid for? The burgers were delicious though, but a restaurant that charges this much should hire competent folks. Do Steinway Street a favor by skipping this place.

Went to this place for a quick lunch on my own. It’s small and intimate, feels warm (and woody!), but also a bit diner like. The service was good; quick and very friendly.
The menu is actually quite exotic with elk, ostrich, and alpaca burgers but they didn’t have any of those meats today and it kind of made me wonder if they ever have them. However, the bison burger I ordered was perfectly good considering the price ($ 9) and the spinach side salad was pretty good with plenty of walnuts, goat cheese, and strawberries. I wouldn’t order the smoothie again though.

Wish Unilocal had an option for consumers to put 0 starts!!!
Called to speak with the manager about setting a big reservation and was rudely interrupted by a woman with a thick accent who said «no manager here and hangs up» — called again asking her why she had hung up and she replied «I’m busy so stop calling» — I then told her I would report her and she replied «don’t give a shit and hung up again»…how disappointing!
Definitely not taking it personal. But thought the community should know who’s who in the area and avoid places like this.

The FOOD is disgusting! Do not go.
My mom friend and I took our young daughters here for some tasty «organic» burgers and apps. With the exception of the Maine root ginger beer, nothing, I mean nothing, here is organic. Nachos are worse than movie theater nachos. Cheese wiz on stale cardboard discs. Seriously. 3 onion rings in an order and they have zero taste. Beef burger was a gray slimy «powdery» patty that did not look or taste like beef. Very very gross. I had a few bites and was afraid to eat it. This is a very odd place. The décor is trying to be hip, but it’s very poorly made if you look closely. I’m normally not super picky, but these folks just got this all wrong.
My guess is that because it is attached to a Chinese food place and the servers are Asian, that this food is a result of what someone from another country thinks is American food. And lying about it being organic? I have no doubt the burgers are frozen and who-​knows-​where-​from. It’s like vending machine food, only worse — even worse than McDonalds. And at gourmet prices. Really lousy. This place is just a big NO.
Servers were nice enough, although slow to bring the check and pick it up.
Do they even read their Unilocal reviews? I sure wish I had before I went in!

I stopped in to grab a turkey burger to get one to go. I have to agree with all the reviews on here. Price is high for a burger with no side and I can make this myself which would be better. The burger tasted like a frozen one they threw on the grill, very bland, no taste the bun was not heated or grilled. I will not be going back here. Not worth the price!

I think that when they were designing this place, they were thinking in bare burger. I like the interior, the hostess is maybe too kind, but when is nobody, what do you do?
I’ve been twice. The burger is good, it feels like organic and grass feed and all that. The location is really bad for a place like that though. Both I’ve been alone eating, it’s always an empty place.
Second time I got the chefs salad, I asked if the small was too small and the waitress who’s also hostess, told me that it was not. Well, you can see it in my pic.
I chose the salad because of the jicama who never appeared on my really-tiny-I-can’t-eat-like-this plate.

My fiancé and I came here because of a living social deal that cost $ 22 for two burgers under $ 19 and two appetizers for $ 4.50 or less. There were some exclusions that were clearly listed on the voucher (no camel, bison, elk, duck, and ostriche burgers).
I called ahead to ask about reservation and the living social deal. The woman who answered said it was fine and we didn’t need a reservation.
When we walk in on a Saturday night, there is one party of two people (two guys) in the entire place. Waitress tells us to grab some menus and pick a seat.
I let the waitress know we have the living social voucher and she spoke to another waiter about it. He then went to the back and a man wearing a suit, whom I presume was the on-​site manager, comes to our table. He tells us that the living socials deal did not start yet and asked when we purchased the deal. I looked at the voucher and could not find anywhere, that it hasn’t started.
The manager proposes we pay now for the voucher price, then we get living social to reimburse us. This was highly agitating. During the commotion, the waiter gave my fiancé and I a salad. We thought it was free, turns out that it was supposed to go to the neighboring table. The manager told us we can have the salad free of charge. The manager walked away then came back and said we can just go ahead and get the deal for living social.
We order, and one side dish comes out first, the cole slaw. It was tasty and different. Fresh strawberries came with it and it was refreshing.
Waiter comes back and tells us that he had the manager on the phone, I ordered the burger shack burger that is supposed to come with a double patty of beef. His boss (on the phone) says I can only have one patty with the living social deal. The burger was $ 16.95 and it was beef. Not one of the listed restrictions on the voucher. I asked about another pulled beef burger and they were out of it.
I am tired of going back and forth with them so I go with the one patty.
We get our burgers, the cabana burger and the burger shack burger. Both were delicious! It truly is a shame that the service is not good. The sauce on the burgers gave a bit of a kick and the meat tasted fresh.
As we sat, we watched the waiters making mistakes at other tables/​not bringing the right order out/​not giving the right thing to the right table.
My fiancé and I asked our waitress where our second side dish was (fries and onion ring combo) and we were told it would be right out…30 min after we finished our burgers the waiter delivers the fries and onion rings to the table next to us!
Then, when I asked about it, the waiter was completely confused and apologetic. We then proceeded to wait another 15 – 20 min for the combo and the check. On the check we were charged for one of the sides when it was supposed to be apart of the living social deal!!! We came close to walking out of here multiple times during our visit.
The décor is rustic and chic. The bathrooms are very clean and designed well.
It is my sincere hope that they work out the customer service issues. Even if the burgers are tasty, no one will want to come here if that’s how the service continues.