The Counter Park Place

I’ve been to a ton of burger places in Orange County, being that I’ve lived here nearly my whole life. And as far as Irvine, this has gotta be the best if not one of the best burger places in the city. They’ve got a wide variety of burgers that they’ve combined with different toppings and such. But they also have a build your own burger menu. I personally build my own each time and I LOVE it each time. Service is good, they have a pretty good beer selection. Monday is all day happy hour too

I love this place! My hubby and me eat here at least once a week. Absolutely delicious: brioche style bun, bison meat burger, Gruyère cheese, organic greens+lettuce, red ripened tomatoes, fresh onions, Anaheim peppers, fresh jalapeños, shoestring fries, ranch and house mustard. My fave!!!

I did not order my burger RAW! I did not order my burger Rare. I ordered Medium-​Well. Soooo why was it RAW??? RAW — RAW — RAW!!! I’d rather have burnt burger than raw! I waited for quite a while for my order and was excited about getting back to my desk to chow down! Much to my disappointment my burger was raw… raw, Raw, RAW! WTW? Why??? For as long as I waited, my order should have been 100% of what I asked.
I will admit, the fries were BOMB! LOL! Hence the 2^nd star.
I called twice to speak with a manager to resolve and NO ONE has returned my calls. NEVER AGAIN! Never again, will I waste my time, money, or risk my health by going to this place. Raw burger? Are you kidding me?

Good food and casual dining. This location is very close to my new apartment which can be dangerous since I love the sweet potato fries. Parking can be a little hectic during lunch and after 5pm, but that’s not uncommon for shopping centers. Little tip: If you like your burgers medium, I would recommend asking for it well done.

Food was great!!! Love the whole selection and build your own burger! A little pricy but it was good!!! The build ur own burger can be pricey if you start wanting every toppings and different kinds of stuff!!! If you keep it basic than it can range from $ 9.50 and up!!! So the other options is choose from their own burger selection!!! But, I would definitely come back!!!
Also check in so you can get ur free one topping choice!!!

The food was awesome. The service was really good. The location is right by my work, so walking distance from work. I got there around 11:45 am for lunch and I was out by 12:40pm. Food was little expensive, but I think it was worth it. I will definitely go back there again.

Great place and service. Had a lb. of Tuna. Salad. Lol. Lizz is a hottie with great attention to detail. Ask for her.

Love this place. Great burgers and great service. Had the Buffalo Chicken and it was the
. I come here all the time and highly recommend it.

Awesome service, thanks Liz for taking care of us.
The bison burger is a must! Great spot for lunch! :)

At the counter in irvine. BEST BURGER EVER. LIZ was awesome. We will be back.
Tell all your friends this is a MUST!!!

I heard lots of great things about this place.
I guess I just ate at the WRONG ONE.
I live near the one off Irvine and I wish I went to that location instead.
My server was a total joke.
She had no clue about the food preparation whatsoever as far as allergies are concerned.
We got 2 out of 3 burgers. The third came after well after he first 2 burgers were devoured.
Simply put I wish my water cup stayed empty so that our clueless and RUDE server would just stay away.
I’ll be staying away from this location

We usually are treated well here. Many of the waitresses recognize us, know what we want before we even ask. We are usually greeted at the door and offered a seat «anywhere you like» But when we arrived this afternoon at 12 o’clock a host we have never seen before greater us very loudly, «Have you’ve been helped?» We noticed plenty of tables/​booths open along with the table we always sit was open-(in view of the tv screens) He very loudly said, «We are expecting large groups coming in this afternoon and we want to leave those tables for them!» I thought this was a rude way to deal with us. I again pointed out that there were plenty of spaces open however he said, «You are welcome to sit on the barstool type table against the back wall.“I asked again, «Can we please sit there?» «Sorry, no!» What a jerk, we left and won’t be back.

Wow, I’m not even sure where to begin here. I came here tonight for dinner with a friend who loves The Counter and has been to another location several times.
We both filled out our order sheets and waited for our food to come. Our fries came and we started eating them, but our burgers didn’t come for over 30 minutes, which is weird because there were only a handful of tables that were filled, and some had their food and some didn’t. It was an extremely long time for two veggie burgers. On top of that, they somehow combined my friends order with mine and gave us the same toppings when we had clearly marked very different toppings on our separate order sheets. It’s unclear to me how you mess up an order that badly when it’s written down for you by the customer…
I explained to my waitress that there was an issue with our orders, and we went over my order sheet that I had given her and confirmed the mistakes. Because I was hungry at this point, I asked her to leave my plate but just bring the (several) toppings they missed on the side and I could just mix them in. She apparently was unable to understand that, because before I knew what was going on, she had whisked my plate away and I had to wait another 15 minutes for them to literally put my patty in a bed of spinach with some carrots, jalapeños, and other random things.
The waitress had someone else (maybe her manager?) bring me my food after it had been fixed, and she had the nerve to say that they got confused in the kitchen because I wrote all the toppings that I didn’t want. I literally went over the sheet with the waitress and showed her that I didn’t request these things– I’m shocked that they would try to blame me for that! Anyways, they even forgot to add some of the stuff this time, but I was exhausted and I didn’t want to argue. I had them pack up the food for me because now I didn’t even have time to eat it after they had wasted my entire evening.
Seriously, good as the food is, DO NOT come to this location. It is not worth the absolute headache of dealing with the incompetence of the staff. I know it’s not the waitress’ fault that the cooks can’t read, but for the manager to accuse me of writing things down as if it were my fault they had given me the completely wrong order is pretty ridiculous. And they said an annoyed «sorry», but come on– this is a pretty inconvenient mess up, they should have apologized a little more meaningfully. Safe to say, I’m never returning here.

I have to say I’ve been to other «the Counter» locations and the service was much better. The food itself is probably a solid 4 but there are several reasons why i brought it down to a 2)
1) The wait for food was horrendous. We waited almost 45 minutes for our food. Aside from that no one apologized for the food being late. Do the waiters seriously think we have that much time to kill during lunch? I don’t usually mind if food takes a little longer, but no apology just put it over the top. At one point i looked around the room and no one had any food on their table.
2) Our waitress was not attentive. For my $ 20 meal i expect better serve. Was i ever asked if i needed a refill of my $ 3 soda? no. Instead she gave us attitude when we asked to split the check. And when she did, there were things wrong everywhere. We ended up having to do money swaps with others in our party. Also, we put our parking ticket on there assuming we needed validation. Looks like we didn’t but she didn’t mention anything.
As i mentioned, I’ve been to other locations, and even if they are full, etc. it never takes this long. Beyond disappointing. People be ware, you need to have a solid hour and a half between the time you sit and the time you get up, Don’t bother.

Great local food spot – casual, yet nice, with good tasting food!
If you’re looking for a solid lunch or dinner spot, the counter is your place! They have a small, but pleasant interior and yummy food to match! Many options to customize – beef, chicken, turkey, even tuna and bison!
I ordered the chicken on whole grain with brie cheese (SO good – a must try!), apricot spread, mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, carrots. A delicious, satisfying combination. The food was fresh and well prepared. My party also shared the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ regular/​sweet potato fries.

Not worth the price. The food is good and the service is decent but its not worth what yah pay. However, they do have a good variety of options for all dietary restrictions. Many choices for burger patties, toppings, and bums. The décor is average and the plating is simple.

I usually love eating at the Counter and I have eaten in many other locations and have had excellent experiences. Unfortunately, this particular Counter has proven to perform at less than the standard that this restaurant chain usually exemplifies. To be fair, I have only been here when it has been busy but there were multiple issues that led me to dock 2 stars.
First, the food we get here is generally delicious but the service is extremely lackluster. Most recently, I got the classic Counter burger and it was overall pretty good, except for that I asked for medium well and got medium rare. Still, this was not a huge deal for me and I enjoyed my food. My date, however, ordered his burger to be done medium well and got a well-​done burger with burnt edges, which he described as dry and hard to swallow. We had ordered a shake and were sitting by the bar area so pretty quickly we saw that they prepared it and set it aside so that the waitress could bring it over to us… Essentially we were looking at our shake for 15 minutes until we asked our waitress whether our shake was ready. She went over and grabbed it (the same one we had been staring at), then told us that «yeah sometimes the shakes take a long time to get ready.» Seriously? If she hadn’t said anything it was fine because I understand that it’s easy to get lost in the mix when it’s busy, but to make up a lie to excuse not seeing it made us feel very small as customers.
Overall, the flavors here are pretty good but if you want better service (and better parking opportunity since the lot here gets out of control) on a weekend night I would recommend stopping by another Counter location in OC.

I really enjoy the bison burger here. The fry trio is awesome too and the banana split is da-​bomb. I’m a big service stickler though and it is definitely below average. Extremely slow and inefficient. They come off really understaffed for example, it appeared to be 5 staff total in a completely filled restaurant. This location is around the same size to maybe a little smaller than the Woodbury location so I felt crammed in with the crowds on a Sunday evening. I would call ahead before coming if you want a bison burger because I have come and they have not had a shipment that was good. I’ll be back for my burger and shake and would recommend this spot for anyone looking for a good burger. They appear to have a good happy hour as well!

So I’ve been to The Counter at a separate location before and wasn’t overwhelmed. I’m always skeptical about going to places that boast organic and grass fed. Not sure if it’s the extra DNA with the modified vegetables and animals, but the healthier choice is not always the tastier choice. And sadly, for the most part, this was again the case at this location.
I’m giving four stars because the food itself was prepared excellently. The burger was grilled to perfection with charred lines in place on a perfectly done medium burger still juicy to the core. The fries were crispy and tasty. And of course the garnishes were fresh. The thing is, the meat itself, still did not have that nice fatty and smoky flavor that a grain finished chuck wood. (woodchuck?)
yes, I wood chuck.
Thank u

This location of The Counter is located in Park Place off of Jamboree and Michelson. It is a 5 minute walk away from my office, but it took over three years for me to finally check it out. After trying it out for myself firsthand, I don’t feel like I’ve been missing out on too much.
The concept is pretty simple: 6 steps in building your own burger
Step 1: Choose your Burger (between $ 10 – 22)
Step 2: Choose your Cheese ($ 1.25 for additional cheeses)
Step 3: Choose your Sauce ($ 0.50 for extra sauce)
Step 4: Choose your Toppings ($ 1.25 for additional premium toppings)
Step 5: Choose your Bun (additional $ 0.50-$ 1 to upgrade your bun)
Step 6: Choose your Side ($ 3 each)
Okay the base price isn’t too bad but by the time you made your check marks, they really add up! My business associate and I were not too impressed with our burgers or our sides, the onion strings and the fries.
The only thing I really liked about the Counter is their full bar and multiple TV screens. Great ambiance for football season, but their burgers are something I could live without.

I came here to drink my feelings away after I broke my phone screen 30 minutes earlier.
AMAZING beer selection. I got to try a couple local ones that I really enjoyed. Tons of draft options. Plus a great bottled selection too. IPAs, belgians, ambers, porters, something for everyone.
They sell Rochefort Trappistes 8 for I think $ 9. That’s a steal considering Bevmo sells it for $ 7+tax.
Friendly bar staff who recommended some great brews.
Would love to come back here if I was in the area again.

The Counter has some of the best burgers I’ve ever had! And I love how they have a *customize-​your-​burger* option.
Most recently, I tried one of their burgers in a bowl. I think it’s my new favorite. The Southwestern one is to die for! If you like Mexican-​style salads, I would definitely recommend this one.
I love the outdoor seating here! Next time, I’ll have to bring my dog with me :)

The Counter takes a great American concept and makes it even better! Make your own burger, rather than letter the restaurant create for you. Have you ever thought about mixing three cheeses on bison, grilled mushrooms and spinach. You can do that here!
I didn’t expect much this second time around, but I got really creative and it paid off. My burger was perfectly cooked, the crisp on the bun with all the condiments of my choosing combined really well. And how can I not get the horseradish sauce, that was the icing on the bun. Very happy with the service we got as well, very friendly staff, we left them a big tip. They finally did a burger place just right.