Bub’s Burger Joint

The burger was pretty good, but the fries were terrible. They were soggy right away. The food was definitely not work the price at all! I wouldn’t come here again.

I like eating local whenever possible. Bub’s is pretty decent. It’s not great. It won’t change your life. It is tasty and edible, though. I’ve had better burgers, but not many. It certainly beats fast food.
The restaurant isn’t the cleanest place I’ve ever been. The décor could use an update. The staff is decent. I would go there again, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there.
My biggest problem with Bub’s is their prices. For the quality of food they serve, I feel overcharged.

Great burgers and fries — competes with the Five Guys of the world quite nicely. Six of us and everyone was happy.
The ambience is modern and casual, food is served in paper bags instead of plates, which is odd, especially since it shows how greasy the fries are.
We showed up at 6:30 on Sunday and they close at 7. They appeared to be cleaning up and the place was pretty dead, but the two employees were both very friendly. The food came out in a reasonable time frame
If we lived in the area, I’d say we’d be fairly regular and probably pretty fat ;-).

If you’ve ever been to Five Guys, Bub’s will seem slightly familiar. They pretty much do the same type of burgers and fries (with the same ridiculous portions). Some slight differences — Bub’s offers way more sauces and sweet potato fries.
Solid place for a better than fast food burger.

Burgers are great; juicy and flavorful — great rolls for the burgers. I totally agree with the posters on the fries. They need to go back to the drawing board on their fries BIG time. The dessert basket on the counter deserves mentioning. MONSTER portions of Scotcheroos, rice krispie bars and brownies. Think Noodles & Company size bars. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, you should NOT pass up the scotcheroo. (Course they are simple to make at home too

I drive past this place all the time since I live pretty close to it and one day decided to drop in. It reminds me of Five Guys downtown but the set up and décor reminds me of a fancier place, it’s set up really nice. The lady at the counter was nice. I ordered the Bona Fide Cheeseburger where you can pick your own toppings, it was very good and ordered a small thing of fries and they filled the bag half full, it really filled me up! I highly recommend this place and will be going back soon! :)

Tried Bub’s for the first time tonight and thought it was very good. Will definitely go back. I was impressed with this place before I even walked in the door. I called ahead to see how long they were open and a very sweet/​polite voice answered and told me 10:00. Great! Plenty of time to get there. On my way there my phone rang but could not answer right at that moment so I let my mail answer. Couple minutes later I checked my the message and here was that same voice telling me that they closed at 9 and not 10. I was shocked and pleased at the same time. Are u kidding me? Who does that anymore?
Couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted so I ordered two sandwiches. Bona Fide Bacon Cheeseburger and a Rib eye sandwich. Also fries. Had half of each and both were very good. The fries were great also. Fresh cut and homemade.
The rest of their menu looked great also.
Veggie burgers, chicken sandwiches, sweet potato fries etc. Very creative menu.
For those who ripped this place do everyone a favor and take your cheap fat butts down the street a couple blocks
to McDonald’s and order off the $ 1 menu. You can have all the cold, dried up dry Quarter Pounders and frozen fries you want. Losers!!!
One last thing. That sweet voice on the phone matched the pretty face behind the counter. What a nice change
from the greasy/​pimple face jerk working at most burger places.

I came here with a friend while out having a day to ourselves, without the families.
Having never been here before, the girl behind the counter was very helpful at telling us about their menu and how to order.
My friend ordered the «Bona Fide» Bacon Cheese Burger, the «Bona Fide» means double patties, and a regular French fry. As I was looking over their simple menu, I was just about to order the Bison Burger when I saw the words; «Special of the Month Burger.» So I asked about it. The girl at the counter showed me a chalk board with a couple different burgers written on it. One was a Western Burger. As you can imagine it was a double cheese that had pepper-​jack cheese, jalapenos, onions, and BBQ sauce. However, I ordered the «Eggalicious» Burger, which was a double bacon burger with a fried egg put between the two patties. It was a wonderful burger.
I was reading some of the other posts and they said their food was bland and/​or greasy.
Our burgers were well seasoned, and to me, if your hamburger isn’t greasy, well then, your dong it wrong. It’s hamburger, it’s needs a good amount of fat in the mix or it don’t taste right. Now I’m not saying that it was a 100% knockout burger. To me Bub’s need a slightly higher grill temperature in order to get a that nice crispy carmalization on the meat. But the meat itself has a very good fat mixture in it, and has a wonderful taste. The bun was not some ordinary burger bun. These are light and fluffy with a crisp, flake outer crust. And yes it will soak up that grease, but in a good way. My fingers never got greasy until I touched the fries.
Now the fries. I’m all for fresh cut fries. Frozen fries should be illegal, in my opinion. That being said, you can’t just throw some cut potatoes in a vat and get great french fries. And this is where Bub’s seems to drop the ball.
In order to get a crispy home-​cut French fry you need to do a two stage cooking process. First you cook the fries at a lower oil temp. I would say some where around the 350 area, this will cook the potato all the way through. Then let the potato drain fully and turn the frier’s to a higher temperature (around 450 – 500). This quick dunk in the higher temperature will give a nice crispy outer crust while leaving the center of the fries hot and fluffy. I would like to see something other than just salt on fries. A little black pepper, and/​or garlic powder mixed in with the salt can go a long way.
We didn’t try the Sweet Potato Fries, so I have now comment on them at this time, but to say that getting sweet potatoes crispy can be a bit of a challenge.
By the way when you order, your burger does not come with fries and drink so if you want them, you’ll pay extra. Bub’s should put together some basket meal prices that include those items with your burger.
My friend enjoyed his meal so much that he ordered a Chicken sandwich and another regular fry to go. While waiting for his order, I had time to talk to the girl at the counter again along with one of the cooks. I told her about a burger I had seen at a bar in Minnesota. It had Peanut butter and Mayonnaise on it. I know it sounds weird, but I’ve had it and it is very good. I have even made them at home and even my kids enjoyed them. I hope to see it on their Monthly Special sometime.
Oh by the way, my friend’s chicken sandwich, he said was good. But he didn’t go into anything he liked or disliked about it.
I’m hoping over time Bub’s can improve on a few things, but hope they never loss the drive to make a very good burger.

I can say that everything bad that has been said about this place here and elsewhere came true on my single recent visit. The positive reviews gotta be coming from paid-​for bloggers.
It was the middle of the afternoon with only a few customers and still, the wait time for my food was nearly eternal. It’s one thing to «cook-​to-​order.» It’s quite another to «cook-​one-​order-​at-​a-​time.» Perhaps even that would be acceptable if the food justified it; but it does not. The burger was a notch below a McD’s quarter pounder. The fries were inedible — limp, greasy and cold. A whole lot of them is a whole lot of…
Most grating though, was the counter service. Two young women were there to take my order. (Suggestion: substitute one cook for one counter girl.) After taking my order, they proceeded to chat and giggle about the chaos going on with the orders, for example, «I totally forgot what this order is supposed to be.» I guess they thought that was funny.
When I finally got my order, I got the droned «sorry for the wait.» I told the girls it would probably be best not to be funnin’ up the incompetency in front of the customers. One of the girls shot back «We know what we are doing,» just the way, I am sure, that she sasses her parents and teachers.
So, I got it all: Ridiculous wait; rude service; really bad fries; pedestrian burger. It just goes to show, a good idea does not produce a good result without know-​how and hard work. Bub’s shows neither.

Fries we’re great, both Sweet Potato and Regular. I was not impressed with the burger nor the buns. Don’t know if I hit it on a bad night or what but the bun wasn’t fresh and the burger was dry.

Bub’s has the polished look and feel usually associated with big chains, but don’t let that fool you: Bub’s is an independent, locally-​owned business that sources its beef, beer and many other products from local Wisconsin farmers. The operation feels more polished than most indie shops not because of corporate backing, but because the owner has been a part of the Madison restaurant scene for over 20 years. («Bub» is the name of the owner’s son, if you were wondering.)
Admittedly, the setup isn’t entirely original. If you’ve been to Five Guys, Bub’s will seem very familiar. It’s a simple burger joint with a decent, basic variety of topping options, all of which are included in the price of the burger. You order at the counter, then after a short wait they bring your order out in a paper bag. Just like Five Guys, even a small order of fries overflows into the bag, providing plenty to share.
We visited during the dinner hour on a Saturday and the place only had a handful of other customers, but that’s probably because they’re so new. The staff was very helpful and friendly, and brought our food out promptly. Both the burgers and Bub’s one signature menu item, sweet potato fries, were fresh, reasonably tasty and less greasy than similar fare at other burger joints we’ve been to.
Definitely worth trying if you find yourself in the area and in the mood for a burger.

Obviously the main attraction at Bub’s is the burgers. Verdict? Really good. You can watch them form the patty in front of you, which is reassuring. Taste-​wise, they’re very flavorful (thanks to the fact that they’re cooked medium-​well instead of «so-well-done-that-you’re-eating-shoe-leather»). The ordering system is nice; you get to pick whatever toppings you want, but it’s not like you can’t do that at any other burger place. The prices are really good as well; you would expect a «gourmet» burger restaurant to overcharge you since they could probably get away with it, but that’s not the case with Bub’s.
The main problem is the fries. They are delicious when hot, but after they cool down (about five minutes) they get really soggy, limp, and unappetizing. This is probably due to their greasiness, and the fact that they aren’t particularly crispy to begin with. And since you get so many fries in even the smallest size, it’s impossible to make a big dent in them before they go flaccid.
Bub’s would get 4 stars from me if not for the fries. Usually I can overlook the poor execution of a menu item, but when it’s the fries at a burger joint, I just can’t ignore it. I mean, what’s a burger without fries?

I have never written a review where I needed a zero star catagory, but this would make it the first time. We recently visited Bub’s and were appalled.
The ordering went fairly easy. But then we had to wait over 20 minutes for our order (2 burgers, 2 fries).
I realize that it can be normal to wait that long for a meal, but this was counter food, on par with Culvers or Mcdonals which will have your food ready in minutes. And with the small menu at Bub’s, you would think the cook would have had hamburgers almost ready to go.
Not so. We watched as only one order at a time was brought out. A table of 4 near us had 3 bags delivered, with the 4 guest sitting and waiting for his.
When we finally got the food, the fries were cold and rubbery. Our hamburgers were supposed to have ketchup and mustard on them, but the amount they put on was so miniscule that we both had to go up to the help yourself bar to add more. We noticed other people having to do the same.
Its possible we caught them on an off day, but we’re not likely to give it another try. I’m only sorry we lost an excellent restaurant like El Pescador for this place.

Mediocre. I had high hopes for the sweet potato fries, but they were not that great. For what we paid, the burgers were kind of small and lacking in anything special. It wasn’t nasty or anything though. I would not discourage anyone from trying it.

Bub’s is «ok.» The burgers are decently good, although not spectacular. The patties are «homestyle» or in other words seem hand-​formed. They were quite moist, slightly pink in the middle (which I enjoyed), but lacked in flavor in their own right. It was pretty much just average beef flavor.
So I’d like to see a bit more savory taste in the burger itself, and less grease on the bun. Please, please drain the patties before putting them on the bun! My bun was partially translucent from oil, and I had to peel it off… On the other hand my companion’s burger was not as oily… so perhaps consistency is an issue here.
Toppings were fine: Mushrooms were good, lettuce/​tomato/​mayo/​pickles all as expected. Fried onions could have been a bit crisper and caramelized, but for under $ 4 not too bad.
Fries: Absolute FAIL. These were probably the worst fries I’ve ever had. Bub’s: What are you doing? The fries were overcooked, mealy, and grey in the middle! They tasted simultaneously burned and underflavored, with no salt added (salt packets are available), and I’m positive I could taste a vague sweet potato flavor (probably from mixing oil or the drip tray).
The only redeeming part of the fries experience was the Heinz ketchup.
Bub’s — I think you may be overlooking what is involved in making a tasty batch of fries.
In sum: A nice, clean, inexpensive place that needs to iron out some new-​business kinks in order to bring it up to 4 stars or better: 1) Make fries better. 2) MAKE FRIES BETTER. 3) Seasoning or better flavor for beef 4) Drain patties after cooking 5) Fried onions could be better.

Great tasting burger, good bun and I love the fact you can customize your buger with various toppings. We were excited to try their sweet potatoe fries however unfortunately they were quite soggy. Overall though, good stuff.

This is a brand new place that moved in to the old El Pescador location across from Walgreens.
The Good:
–The burgers were excellent. They have a few basic options and they do it well. Great buns and all available toppings are included.
–The place was clean.
–Aside from regular french fries they also offer sweet potato fries!
The Meh:
–You order at the counter, which is fine and perfectly reasonable, and when your order is up they bring it out to you in a paper bag. I planned on eating at the restaurant but the food was bagged up I just took it to go. They should offer trays or something for people who’d like to eat there, the bags are wasteful otherwise. Also, the bags get greasy fast and it was raining outside. I almost lost my food to a disintegrating bag.
–The interior is pretty boring. Lame framed artwork et-​cetera.
–You fill out your own individual orders on menu cards. We ordered two separate types of burgers with different toppings on each one. Even though it was written down the orders were still mixed up.
This place could easily move up to a 4 or 5 star burger joint and it’s understandable there may be some kinks to work out since it’s brand new. The details are hard to find out because their website is not up yet and they don’t list any info at the restaurant, but apparently this is a local and eco-​friendly establishment. Or so I’ve heard. The meat was definitely of a higher quality. Ditching unnecessary paper bags would be a big step in the eco-​friendly realm. It’s in a odd spot in town but I really hope they are successful. I’d also recommend they start serving milkshakes. Nothing goes better with a hamburger and fries than a milkshake.