The Counter

Loved the burger, the fries and shoestring onion rings, and the shakes. Great service from Courtney at the counter, some of the best we ever had.

Great food. No matter what you order, it is distinct and tasty! The menu is very diverse, and you can get things here that no other restaurant offers! Bar has a good selection and the beer choices are solid. My wife does not eat meat, however her turkey burger was amazing. Sliders are awesome, but the burgers… wow!
On our last visit, Sam met us at the door and made us feel extremely welcome. She went way beyond what was expected as a hostess, especially when we had my mother with us, 90+ and using a walker. She made it very easy! Then came our favorite waitress, Caitlin. Ask for her! A total PRO! Makes the ordering easy and see’s to it that EVERYONE is taken care of. Ask her when ordering how you want your meat prepared… she will make certain it is perfect! So the food is great, but these two employees make it even better!

I have been here over 25 times – I’m on «The List” – so I am basing this review on a fairly large sample of experiences. This place is very close to my house. I have been trying really hard to like this place. I just don’t.
–Inconsistency: Their idea of «medium» is really medium rare or even rare; their wait staff and their cooks are not on the same page on this, and their cooks are not consistent from one week to the next. One week, a «medium» beef burger was so rare that my son could not eat it. I mentioned it to the waiter as he cleared it away. The guy at the next table chimed in similarly regarding his bison burger.
–Mistakes: Roughly 50% of my visits involve some kind of mistake. Last night there were cranberries on my burger; I did not ask for this. Two visits before that, I received a rare beef burger when I had ordered turkey. One visit before that, they forgot the tomatoes. Two visits before that, they forgot the ranch dressing. I could go on and on.
–Cleanliness: They need to do a better job of washing dishes. Last night, I asked for new little plates that they bring with the French fries because they were not clean. Last week, I asked for a new fork because it was not clean.
–Handling: When food is brought to the table, the person is usually carrying the plates, as opposed to carrying a tray with the plates on it. As a result, there are fingers in my French fries, fingers in my lettuce, etc. This is gross. Last night, the guy who put the little French fry plates on my table (the ones that weren’t clean) had his thumb in the middle of the plate. Most of these guys have a lot of facial hair, adding to the finger-​plate-​yuckiness of the experience.
–Waiting: On a night when only 3 other tables were occupied, the dessert cookie with ice cream took 25 minutes to serve.
–Variety: They used to rotate between monthly specials (ahi, then bison, then something else.) Now we seem to get bison for months on end, with ahi nowhere to be found. (Pescatarians beware.) Even my veggie wife won’t come anymore because the veggie burger is nothing special and because she has observed the same issues with consistency (ie sometimes crispy, sometimes mushy.)
I used to send emails to the Contact Us link on their website. But no one ever responded and nothing ever improved. So here we go.
They do have Ballast Point Sculpin IPA on tap. A plus.
Overall, I think their problems are in the back of the house, not in the front of the house. Operations management; housekeeping, etc. But mainly quality control: food should be cooked the same way, every time, by every cook; food and plates should be handled properly; plates and utensils should be clean.

1 star for having Ballast Point’s Sculpin IPA.
2 stars for offering bison and up to 1lb post cooking weight patty’s.
My previous review kind of ripped them for too much variety, but my views have softened on the choices.
Who doesn’t love a donut sized hand battered onion ring? Even though their onion strings don’t quite equate to a donut they are a plenty on the burgers and the appetizers, very well seasoned makes up for size. Fries are also excellent, sweet potato fries could use something besides the standard salting (I’ve increased my standards). Their sauce sizes are a tad small considering they charge for additional (1 included) and with the fires, sweet potato and strings platter they gave you 3 of a variety. I’d almost just have 2 ketchup and 1 mustard since I’ve been doing a lot of Russian dressing on my burgers.
Once again still a decent burger, but they should use the standard temps used by steaks versus describing pink center versus pink throughout. Granted steaks cook more evenly and are easier to gauge the same principal applies. I know many people think that the ground nature of burgers implies more thorough cooking I would interject this to be true for all cooking, but considering this is a «burger» specialty place and I’m fairly certain their meat is freshly ground and made and proper high heat is used to achieve proper temperature without inherent overcooking.
Service can be slow at times, but more due to understaffing, mostly at the bar where I’m usually found. It does get busy with it’s prime location, but quite a lot of men grabbing beers while their wife’s shop. Crying babies can make it loud on top of the large big screens playing sporting events and the early evening winds coming over the hill bring a large draft when the door fails to close.
Prices are pretty good and once you find your preferred set up and time it’s a great place to come, but with BWW now open down the street I can see some business running over there. I just think that they never reached their full potential and the scene flooded and the year of the burger has passed. Since it’s a popular chain it should stand on it’s own and weather the next few crazes. Especially in Encinitas where being local is almost as important as being organic with the produce they should move that way and use it as a selling point the way other places do.
Where are the sliders? Not a single item seems ingenious or note worthy.
3^rd star is for a general standard and enjoyment.

I went to the Counter for the first time two nights ago because I was craving a good burger … meat! And I don’t eat a lot of meat… When I do I like organic, high quality and cooked with savvy. And … Yes, this is just what I got there! An organic bison burger cooked med rare with great flavor and the toppings I wanted: onions grilled, sharp cheese, organic greens and carrot shreds and tomato. Excellent! The service wAs also good … not many people there at the time. The music was kinda loud and not exactly my taste so I put in my earbuds and made my own soundtrack while happily munching.
Definitely will go back!

We’ve been back multiple times since my last review and the food is always cooked correctly– whoohoo!!!
Love this place, I must say I’m addicted to their fries! Best skinny fries around!
They also have great kids meal– cooked kid friendly like the Grilled Cheese with American cheese– just like at home.
Lately been eating the chicken burgers, huge piece of grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, veggies and bacon :)
Hubby says the beers are good to.
We are now weekly customers!
A note to management though– fix the duct tape booth seats! They tried to sit a couple (out on a date) in the back corner booth, they were like ‘the seat’s broken’ and the waiter goes ‘it’s taped up’ — No joke– he literally said that. I can assume they won’t be back.

Woo! Finally somewhere to go for my gluten-​free burger fix!
This is a build your own burger place (or you can order a burger off the menu should you not have faith in your burger-​building abilities) but what is particularly great about it is that you can turn any burger into a salad AND they have gluten free buns that are actually bun-​like. They only thing that would be better is if they had In-​N-​Out pricing. Still, for the epic-​ness that I build, the price is as good or better than I’d get anywhere else for something similar. And Bison? Yes please!
A word of warning: the patty sizes listed are AFTER cooking. If you’re not careful, you could end up with a burger bigger than your head (which isn’t a bad thing in my world).

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy a great burger, but the last two times I’ve been to a Counter, I have directed my attention towards their burgers in a bowl: a salad that is.
This time around I went for the one third pound beef patty on a field of greens where I added provolone, roasted peppers, and sauteed mushrooms with a pesto dressing. (
) First, I have express how much I enjoyed the pesto dressing. I learned they did not make it in house, but they acquire it from a reputable vendor that carries high end products. (
) The pesto was packed with pine nuts, and salty nutty grated Parmesan flavor sweet basil and most importantly a high grade extra virgin olive oil. I was literally eating it out of the container with my fork it.
The sauteed mushrooms and roasted red peppers were cooked nicely. They were tender, seasoned well, and had a nice texture. (
) They were not over cooked, but just right. The beef patty arrived, for the most part, medium as I requested, but it was a little unevenly cooked, some part being perfectly medium, but another medium well (
). Fortunately, the meat was still juicy and tender with a good beefy flavor that lingered. I very good salad, especially for those who are cutting back on their carbohydrate intake.
My server Caitlin was great. She had a great sense of humor and personality, good qualities for a person in the the service business. My salad with tax cost $ 11.83.

Average burger, not juicy, flavorful or noteworthy. The horseradish cheese was nice, but I had one heck of a time finding toppings to match. The BBQ sauce is very good and sweet. The dill pickle chips weren’t very «dilly». I was looking for a bit of a dill punch that reaches up and smacks me in the mouth. The chips at the counter couldn’t make a fist.
My husband ordered a milkshake and the server offered to split it – nice one! But when it arrived, we each got disposable plastic cups slightly smaller than our water cups. The milkshake itself was DELICIOUS which is obviously the more important part, though the cups were really off putting. When the owner came around and checked in I let him know how surprised we were that they weren’t in milkshake glasses. He was surprised, too, noting that they usually are served in wine glasses and that they must be out. It was a Saturday, so I get that. Unfortunately, it was also early in the evening still (7:30). First impressions are everything guys and this was not a good one.
Was it worth the 20 minute wait? Sure, for a first time visit. But I wouldn’t wait again.

I ordered the Backyard Barbeque burger in a bowl. It was so pretty to look at! And then I destroyed it. It was deliciousness to the max. I am excited to come back to try other burgers in bowls!
See the photo I uploaded and you will not be disappoint.

I went here for the Unilocal Drinks and it was definitely the best way to top off my work day. $ 5 Margaritas and $ 3 Stella!
Got tipsy as hell, and decided to order a burger and the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀. The food was prepared very quickly and my onion rings and fries were fuckin BOMB!!!
This location is much bigger than the Del Mar location, but the difference was the customer service at both of these places.
This particular one, the bartender was fairly nice to my lady but in a creepily way. Pretty much wanted to cater to her (I understand how phenomenal and sexy my girl is) but customer service… I am a customer too and felt uncomfortable with how this guy was servicing us.
Del Mar location is where its at!!! This is why 3 stars is only given to the Carlsbad location.

There are a few places that meets expectations and this restaurant hits every note.
The wifey asked me which burger joint we should try for my birthday. I didn’t want to drive too far so we checked this place. I been seeing it a lot online and been reading reviews of their burgers. So we checked it out and was hooked. I love their burgers here, I ordered the Counter Burger it was very juicy and the tastes was insanely great. So if we happen to be near one and craving for a good burger we will be there, or is it here :-)

Did I mention Victoria’s Secret is next door?
You have to love a place that lets you build your own burger. Choice, choices and more choices. I like mine spicy and for that, The Counter gives me plenty of options. I also enjoy the half fries and onion ‘thingies’. Those crispy little onion strings which I can damn near eat a whole order by myself of and then hate myself in the morning.
I like this place and found it a few years ago and stop in on days when my scale is nice to me. I go with the ¹⁄₃ burger because by the time you add all the toppings you want, who can take a bite of that thing anyways right? One day I’d like to order the 1lb burger just for the heck of it to see just how big it is. Maybe a dining partner and I can share it because after all — ‘Sharing is Caring’.
If you’ve never been to The Counter come and check it out. Don’t wear your skinny jeans though cause you’ll need room to breath after eating one of these tasty and fun burgers you get to build yourself.

Having been to several Counter locations in L.A. and Orange county I was delighted to find San Diego did in fact have the Counter. Not one but TWO locations. I was also a little dismayed when I realized that they’d been here a while and I wasn’t informed.
Disclaimer:
This review encompasses several visits to this location and is not based on a single trip.
The first thing you notice is that parking SUCKS! The spaces are few and really far between and are of the size that makes the guy in the Smart car think. «I might be able to get my car in there» so people park like crap because they can’t maneuver into the diminutive spaces.
Once you brave the parking lot and enter The Counter you are almost never immediately greeted by one of the host staff that are usually the highlight of the service personnel. Sometimes there’s a wait and sometimes there isn’t… no rhyme or reason to it except peak dinner rush time. IF there is a wait it usually isn’t long and if you have a party of one or two you can usually find two at the bar open. I went in as a single once and sat right down at the bar but it didn’t change the overall experience at all with the small exception of my drink was refilled at a slightly more frequent interval.
The first 15 minutes (more or less) at your table while your server ignores you gives you time to figure out how the system works and peruse the menu to figure out what you want to order.
I take this time to look around to see the staff has new faces since my last visit but the service is the same lame, slow bodies that lack enthusiasm or any sense of pride in their job.
Each visit (4 total) to this location just solidifies my theory that this location is just a dud. The redheaded stepchild in the family that is The Counter chain.
The service is slow and performed by kids (19 – 26 I’d guess) that just don’t give a crap about their job and you’re more of a nuisance than a customer. Drinks go empty and stay that way… They’re in no particular hurry to take an order or bring you anything. Even when it’s slow they wipe already clean tables and hide in the back and you still go thirsty or without a little extra sauce to help wash down the dry burger you’ve been given. (why am I giving two stars again?)
The food… I LOVE the Counter!!! Just not this one. The food sucks!!!
They skimp on sauce and portions of the sides. They put together a sloppy ill constructed burger with meager amounts of toppings (in comparison to the other locations) that really has no flavor. Bland. Boring. Bush league which is SO not The Counter.
I’ve stepped through the doorway of this location for the last time and will drive right past this one to go to the Del Mar location where the service and food are wonderful!
Tip for the Owner of this location: FIRE EVERYONE and start over!!! Someone isn’t training these people properly and they need to go too.
Tip for the customers: Go to the one in Del Mar.

This is my favorite upscale premium burger restaurant. The food is outstanding and there are so many choices when you build your own burger.
The price is expensive but it is a premium burger. About $ 20 for a 1 LB (After cooking) burger not even counting fries and a drink.
You pick your meat and the size, your bun, the cheese, the sauce, the toppings (about 30+ to choose from).
The 1 LB burger takes about 30 minutes to prepare. I had mine with pineapple, onions, tomato, lettuce, brie cheese and I forget which sauce. It was oustanding.
The sweet potato fries are my favorite and worth the $ 3.
I recommend this place to anyone who wants a premium burger that they get to design themselves.
The place can be packed and the service a little slow, the staff is friendly enough and it is worth the wait and the price.

Forgive me, this review is long overdue since I haven’t been to The Counter in several months. Details might be a little hazy, but I definitely still remember how great it tasted!
The Counter is located in a trendy, outdoor shopping center. By the kind of stores in the area, it almost seems like this shopping center should be a mall. On a corner sits The Counter. The interior looks like a diner. Very clean, mostly white, and pretty casual. You walk in and somebody seats you and hands you a clip board with about a hundred different things to do to your burger. For someone like me, this was a little overwhelming. I usually have a basis of what I want in a burger first, then add or take out what I want. Nope, here at the counter you pick everything. You customize your burger from the outside in.
I forget what exactly I put in my burger, but I know I put an egg on it. Why do things always taste better with an egg? I dunno, but that enhanced my love for this burger 10-​fold. The meat is extremely flavorful and juicy. You can really tell that the quality of meat they use compared to other places is way superior. Our server brought us a bunch of different sauces on the side too, so I remember just trying everything. The sweet potato fries are also really good… I mean, you can’t ever really go wrong with these. Shoot, I love them even more than regular fries.
A great gourmet burger like this obviously comes with a price tag. You can easily spend almost $ 20 on your one burger if you add enough things to it. The bigger your patty, the more expensive it is as well. If you don’t really eat a lot, you may be able to split the 1-​lb patty. Overall, it’s a great burger joint. I didn’t realize that it’s actually all over the country.

I was running around doing stuff and wanted to get something to take away. I had just been at Jimbo’s next door so I stopped to get a veggie burger to go.
In retrospect, I have to say the veggie burger was fantastic. Cooked just right, they make their own veggie patties on site. I added grilled onions, roasted red peppers, salad greens, cheddar cheese and mayo. When I got it home the smell was so good even Joey ate some veggie burger. A really really good burger, served on a multi grain bun that was very tasty. The menu also offers a «bowl» selection, without the bread. (Lucy Y., take note)
So they actually get 4 stars for the burger.
They get 1 star for the service. They told me when I got there it would be 10 – 15 minutes. There were people there but it wasn’t mobbed. I waited almost half an hour to get my burger, staring blankly at the TV which was tuned to Little League World Series Baseball. I was getting really ticked off and was just about to leave when they finally brought out my order. The waiter plopped it on the counter and said, Here’s your burger, and turned and walked away. No apology or comment about the service. I threw my money on the check and walked out.
So I actually give this place 2.5 stars. They really need to focus on their attitude and service, and even though it’s convenient, there are plenty of other places to get a burger.

Okay, so it is expensive and fries do NOT come with your burger! But, really their food is good. I think so good, that I would drive out of my way to bring a friend.
I tried their half and half of sweet potato fries and onion rings! MUST EAT IT W/​THE RANCH! WOW! Soooo good… my girls and I finished it in a heartbeat. Definitely before our burgers came out.
What to choose as a burger topping? I really liked the sun dried tomatoes and grilled onions! My burger was juicy and just really good. The buns were really soft and good too!
Any burger you create on your own should turn out good. If not, just ask for a side of Ranch!
Service was good evn though it was pretty poppin’ for a Tuesday night. Wanna come back soon!

My family of 4 went here today for lunch after the gym.
We’ve been wanting to come, especially since seeing that will be opening another one up near Del Mar Heights too next to Jimbo’s.
They attended to us quickly to sit us down, but we opted for the counter since there were 4 seats available.
The service was pretty good, they were ready to give us drinks, and talked directly to the kids as well, which the kids love taking part in.
Hubby and I ordered a couple of beers for $ 4.95 from the tap, I noticed how they have Pear Ale as well (great gluten-​free option). The wine per glass was pretty pricey, nearing $ 8−10/glass. They also had a full bar, some people were ordering Patron Tequila Shots.
They took our orders shortly after, I ordered the Turkey Burger, in a bowl, and chose pepperoncinis, Hot Wing Sauce (they said it was Frank’s Hot sauce base, cooked in their own way, super delicious), grilled as well as raw onions, and tomatoes. This cost $ 9. I ordered the sweet potato fries, I think $ 2.00 for a small plate, they were super amazing. The hubby ordered a 1/​3lb burger, and loved it. He ordered it Medium, and it was cooked perfectly. (He usually gets medium rare in Filet Mignon).
The kids ordered the Mini burgers, and the grilled ham/​cheese. They both came with fries, even though I ordered one with fries, and one with applesauce (I didn’t make a big stink, the kids loved the fries as usual).
Overall we had a very fun experience for our first time, and will definitely come back.
Pros: Super Delicious Burger in a bowl, great ambiance, very open and spacey. The kids had a great time and loved their food. Full bar is nice to have depending on your company.
Cons: The reason the establishment didn’t get 5 stars, was because of the kid’s meals. The kids’ meals were around $ 4.50 each, which included fries (or applesauce). BUT they charged an ADDITIONAL $ 2.50 for lemonade and $ 3 for apple juice. Basically, the kids meals were the cost of an adult meal, just because of the drinks, which I thought was a quick and dirty way to make money. Kids meals should always be inclusive, period, end of story. There are plenty of places, with superb burgers which are reasonable for kids, and they don’t make their extra bucks on the kids meals.
I really hope management changes this, as it is a little over the top to charge $ 7.50+ for a kids meal/​drink.
Overall: Great time, great ambiance. We may not come back as regularly as we could have just because of the kids meals, since we are a family that loves to take the kids out to new places. Maybe with our adult friends at times. Or maybe we can just give the kids water, and they can whine and whine and whine (doubt we’ll put them in the predicament :-)

I read about the place months ago on the Orange County Register fastfood site
. Now it’s here in North County. The restaurant is located in the same snooty Forum mall that includes Which Wich.
I ordered the Southwest Burger in a Bowl. If this was the only thing I tried at The Counter I wouldn’t be impressed with the place. Unless you’re on a low carb diet, it was just plain boring and the «salad» was very dry .
I did sample the wife’s custom Swiss, Sauteed big onions, and pineapple… Wow! Now that’s a burger. The BBQ sauce that was included definitely took it to another level. I’ve been to several other «build your own» places (Cheeburger Cheeburger, boomerangs, and galaxy diner) but this tops them all.
Sauces — We had a few sauces with each of our meals. All were tasty and memorable. I still had that lingering tang from the BBQ sauce an hour later.
Kids Meal (Burger).
Hmm, I think it was almost 5 bucks and included two petite sliders. Yawn.
Despite the misstep with the Burger in a Bowl, these guys craft serious burgers.