The Filling Station

This our first time in and love the place! The décor is old time diner and has a great energy. Despite being swamped, service was good and so was the food.

The food ~ first visit, I ordered the The LAMBorghini (minus the tomato relish) with Tired Treads (potatoes) and this is my new favorite burger. Really good!
The service ~ was so so. Our waitress was far more interested in chatting & laughing with her co-​workers than paying attention to her customers and for being the only ones in there we found ourselves waiting far too long for things.
As for the price, I’m not sure it’s worthy. When I think of getting a very comparable meal for less money (a «more affordable» very delicious lamb skewer with fries and salad at one place or an excellent even «more affordable» burger with fries at another place), this burger and fries is definitely overpriced. If they they want to charge their higher prices they need to have better service to match it.
But again, the food was really good.

Great burger. Fun atmosphere. Good drinks. Their outdoor seating is right on the side of the road, so tends to get a little loud… but the food more than makes up for that. Try the fried zucchini, you won’t be disappointed.

Great place. I love the burger bowl option: any burger can be on a bed of rustic greens. Enjoy and old fashion soda as a treat.

Fantastic service, excellent food! Best bread I’ve ever had on a burger — thanks to Avenue Bread! I recommend the Ferrari Burger (parmesean chicken breast on rosemary garlic bread), holy smokes it’s good! You can choose your sides, bun, or even nix the bun and make it a burger salad. ;-) take the guy in your life — he’ll also appreciate the old-​fashioned-​filler-​station décor. Fun place!

Awesome burgers, the fries rock and the tartar sauce kills! Great little happy hour as well.

The Filling Station has been on my to-​do list for quite some time. So I took advantage of a sunny day in Bellingham to try it out! I love the vintage gas station theme — very creative and whimsical. The servers wear old school gas station uniforms and the bathroom has maps plastered all over the walls. What’s even better is locally sourced beef from Custer, WA and a great vegetarian option! While I personally eat meat, I know many people don’t and it’s nice to see a burger place that actually cares about our animal free friends! My friend ordered the black bean burger and was very pleasantly surprised with how fresh and well seasoned it was. I decided to order the Chevy pickup, which shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve read my other reviews! I’m a sucker for shoestring onions, BBQ sauce and bacon. The meat was juicy and flavorful and the bacon was nice and crispy. The burgers come with their signature «tire treads» unless you ask for traditional fries. The tire treads are just thick potato wedges and as a potato lover, I can’t complain! Their signature «Station Sauce» is also a must try! The meal was delicious but definitely on the pricer side ($ 12). I also ordered an ice cream float with their vintage bottled root beer. I enjoyed it but for almost $ 5, I would pass next time because of how little ice cream I got. Overall, I think The Filling Station is a great addition to the Fairhaven community! It definitely matches the vibe of the area & the food is awesome too! I just wish it was a little more affordable. Additionally, while not a problem for me personally, this place isn’t able to accommodate large groups very well. It’s not a large space so I would say a group of 4 or less is ideal if you don’t want a long wait.

Definitely full from filling up at the Filling Station! It’s more than just a pit stop. From the start to finish felt the theme of a gas station from start to finish.
Ordered the Ferrari with the lack bean quinoa burger (homemade). So dang good. Avocado was huge but wish they gave more garlic aioli. Tire tread fries were da bomb. Onion rings and fried zucchini strips were oily but so yum. Expect greasy fingers. If you want a oil change in your body get the Prius!
The omnivore enjoyed the Clack and all the above! The vegetarian and omnivore friends ordered and loved their thunderbird and the el Camino with black bean quinoa.
Great with refills. Ambiance super hip. Seating inside and outside. Come to wow your out of town guests!

If I could give. 4.5 I would. Great customer service. Food took a little while but still great! Got the BBQ burger and the traditional burger. Atmosphere is laid back and relaxed. Have a decent beer selection. Overall good experience.

This place was terrific. We started out with an awesome float and onion rings and finished with some pretty kick-​ass burgers. The only reason for the four-​star status is because the «burger in a bowl» is slightly under par. Lets just say, a lot of greens was to be had. My son says, I should have given this place five stars, and a great gift idea for any grandson.
The interior decorating is kitchy cute, the layout is great and they have a Bloody Mary station, which we have not tried yet.
Staff is also a good addition to the restaurant — very friendly and speedy.

My girlfriend and I heard many great things about the Filling Station. We decided to head there for dinner.
To start off the place looks great. Old school items all over the place. The wait staff has mechanic outfits and the layout is very open and spacious.
Next the food was amazing. We started out with the carburetor. Toasted bread with cheese and dipping sauce. Everyone should try it. The flavor was great and combining it with the marinara dipping sauce was a perfect match. We each got a burger, she got the thunderbird and I got the jaguar both very juicy and delicious. I have nothing bad to say about anything at his place. Definitely go here!

I started out as a big fan of The Filling Station. With its unique vintage petroliana décor, light and bright Fairhaven location, and friendly service all it needed was awesome food to take it to the level of legend. And that it did — the burgers were phenomenal! Thick, juicy, interesting flavor combos, and served on fresh-​baked Avenue buns. After our first two visits we were hooked!
Fast forward a few months. They’ve been open for awhile and have attracted quite a following — yay! It’s so awesome to see a locally-​owned joint thrive, and especially gratifying to see another good family-​friendly option in town. But when we went there last night (our first visit in a couple of months) the food had definitely changed, and we had a service issue that made me cringe. You see, the menus at The Filling Station are placed under the glass of the table (great idea, by the way) and they also have a rotating «special burger» which is described on a smaller slip of paper also under the glass. The hubby immediately noticed that the special was called the «General Lee» — it sounded amazing and included epic toppings like cole slaw and chili. It was advertised for $ 12.50 for just the burger, or $ 15 including any beer on tap. We happily ordered it but were informed that this particular special was no longer available and had been replaced by a new special, but that they might be able to make one for us.
Our waitress left to grab a man (the manager maybe? I’m not sure) who came to the table and brought a *new* slip of paper for a chicken burger (The Buggatti) which was their new $ 12.50/$ 15 special and said they «might» be able to make us a «General Lee» but since it included chili they’d have to charge us a full $ 15 for the burger (and no beer included). We were a little take aback. If they were still advertising that burger as being available, and had all the ingredients on hand to make it, they 100% should have offered to do so and at the advertised price. That is Customer Service 101.
Not wanting to pay $ 15 for a burger, we opted for The Buggatti which also sounded good. It was described as a chicken burger on sourdough bread with avocado, bacon, and other toppings. We ordered one to split, and our companions (who we had brought here insisting they’d love the place) each ordered a hamburger. Even though the restaurant was busy, the order didn’t take long and soon our food was in front of us. I was at first struck by how tiny our friends’ burgers were — as in, super thin and barely reaching the outside of the bun. I looked back through my Unilocal photos at the burger I’d ordered months ago and it was MUCH bigger than each of the burgers our friends had ordered. Then I turned my attention to The Buggatti. The chicken «burger» inside of it was nothing more than an extremely thinly sliced chicken cutlet that barely covered (and I’m being generous here) half of the inside of the sandwich. This thing was all bread and toppings, with the chicken seeming like an afterthought.
I gotta say, I’m really disappointed after this experience and I hope The Filling Station has not started cutting corners on its previously generous portion sizes. Maybe this was just a fluke; but it seems odd that all three of the entrees we ordered seemed very chintzy with the meat.

Third visit. Open seating area with some high top tables in the bar area. A couple of big screens in bar playing sports. The theme is «gas station cool» with some menu items named after classic 60’s and 70’s cars.
I’ve had the Thunderbird burger (classic cheeseburger) at $ 9.75, the El Camino (think Southwest burger) at $ 11.75 and today’s choice the Chevy Pickup (BBQ with Cole slaw) at $ 11.75… The burgers are generally very good. Perpetration and appearance are the best I’ve seen in B’ham. The real test is their taste: Excellent!
Accompanying stuff (onions, lettuce, tomatoes et cetera) are also first quality. Tire Treads (curly fries) accompany all burgers. They are adequate. I have paid an up charge for onion rings (just $ 1.25) which are OK…
This is another in the growing Avenue Bread ownership. As such, the burger buns are superb.
Drafts include Chuckanut, Kulshan, Anacortes, Wander, Aslan and Boneyard. The hard stuff includes Uncle Val’s Gin and several flavored Vodkas.
I’m really hard on local burger joints, but this one is great.
Give it a try.

This is not my kind of burger joint. I far prefer Fiamma Burger downtown. For fast food burgers, give me the drive up experience of Boomers or the simple and inexpensive Five Guys. At the Filling Station, the burgers were quite expensive, the décor was kitschy in a Red Robin hopped-​up theme park kind of way, and my burger was oddly flat and tasted downright weird. [[Regarding that last point, I will note that I visited on one of their opening days and I know that it often takes a few weeks to work out the kinks.]] Oh well, to each their own. I see that lots of folks have loved their visits to the Filling Station. I may need to try again another time.

Probably one of the best burgers my hubby and I have had in a really long time. The thick-​cut fries were too much for me, but our kiddo seemed to really enjoy them.
Great place for family w/​young kids. Fairly fast service. Friendly hostess.

For the overall experience, Filling Station’s definitely worth coming back. Feels like an industrial diner without the breakfast as for sure, it’s a burger joint from a blast in the past, with its cool automotive antiques, that seems to be the menu theme with burgers named after infamous cars, Thunderbird and Mustang.
The winners:
Deep fried zucchini: tasty winner, lightly seasoned & battered, with 2 dips.
Rumble Special: instead of bun, their own sourdough very nicely breaded with cheese on the outside, amazing sauce; more avocado than patty, great combo though
Just OK:
Chocolate milkshake: definitely more vanilla, nor sweet enough… would’ve been nice if server asked if I wanted whipping cream & chocolate sauce… wouldn’t recommend if you’re a true milkshake connossieur (Wendy’s Frosty is even better)
Mustang: while more meat, the bun was way too soft. But plenty of swiss, mushrooms & onions…
Fries:meh.
Came during a slow Sunday around 1:30 on a Easter weekend, maybe I got lucky but Donald was really helpful, and fast.
Great atmosphere, get my table facing the water.
Great, clean washrooms.

Heck yeah I’ll come back here just for the humor and burger bowl!
Pros?
Service was friendly, efficient, and non invasive
Even though they were busy, we never felt neglected
The converta bowls are such a good idea! Hamburger on top of a salad! Why didn’t I honk of that?
Burger was one of the best I’ve had in Bellingham
Lots of beers on tap and a Bloody Mary station
Fun décor
I love that they were so sanitary– something I find rare at a burger joint
Cons?
Not the biggest burger patty ever, but that’s okay! I was full and happy
The name isn’t fitting for the place– I expected greasy food and it was so much better than that!

Gave it another shot after they had been open for a bit & have a new experience. Took some friends for burgers & also had 2 children with us. 6 of us & we all got to sit at one table. Everyone had burgers, I had a «Converter Burger» which is a Burger in a bowl, all the fixings, no bun, & no sides, it was fantastic! Like a Burger salad! Kat was our server, was very busy, however, she was on it! She was attentive, wasn’t distracted by the children & made sure they were included in ordering & it was really appreciated.

My newest favorite burger restaurant in Bellingham.
We went in around 6:30pm on a Saturday night and it was busy. There wasn’t a table available so we sat at the bar, which was nice.
I ordered the Chevy Pickup burger which is their BBQ burger with BBQ sauce, cheddar and onion straws. I took the option to add bacon also. This was simply the best tasting burger I have ever had in Whatcom County.
How do the burgers at The Filling Station compare to other Bellingham burgers? Well here is how I would rank them from best to worst:
#1 The Filling Station
#2 Red Robin
#3 Fiamma Burger
#4 Web Locker
#5 Five Guys
#6 Bobs Burgers and Brew
#7 Boomers
#8 Wins
#9 Morries Drive In
Just posting the list to show where The Filling Station compares. Certainly a much better burger than I have had anywhere else in Bellingham.
Talking with the staff, I learned that The Filling Station is owned by the same owners as Avenue Bread in Bellingham, which explains the great buns on the burgers. The Filling Station is locally owned, and this is a single restaurant, not part of a chain or franchise.
The service was good, not spectacular. When we arrived they were super busy, and it appeared that they didn’t have enough staff to keep up with the demand. By the time we were done eating, the restaurant was about 30% to 40% empty as the rush was over. Once a few people cleared out we had great service, If we had that level of service during our entire visit I would have given it a 5 star.
The interior decorations in the restaurant are really well done. It looked very polished like a larger chain
Will I go back? Absolutely, no question about it. I look forward to trying their other burgers, specifically the Lamborghini burger which is made with lamb instead of beef. The chicken plates look worth coming back to try also.
Based on the quality of food, and how busy the restaurant was I expect The Filling Station will be a very successful restaurant.

Had dinner here with my husband a few days after they opened. The décor is great; kitschy but not overwhelming. The staff were all incredibly friendly and excited about their new venture. We ordered the Junkyard appetizer of onion rings, french fries, and «tire treads» (sort of like curly steak fries, but better). These are without a doubt the best onion rings I have ever had! The tartar sauce (a must have in the Northwest) was excellent, and the Station Sauce was impressive as well (1000 Island, but better.) For dinner, I had the «Chevy Pickup» bbq burger and it was absolute perfection. Truly divine. My husband had the classic «Thunderbird» burger and was equally impressed. By far the buns are the star of the show, light and fluffy and they don’t drown out the flavors of the burger. Seriously good food, can’t wait to go back!
Note for Disabled: I didn’t see a parking lot, but it was raining and dark. Street parking in Fairhaven, HUGE hill next to the restaurant. Some steps on the sidewalk, but the restaurant itself is quite accessible.