The Counter Toluca Lake

I don’t write many reviews. The experience has to be noteworthy for me to do so. The experience I had with The Counter this evening was noteworthy.
I started writing a long, detailed review, but I’m abandoning it in favor of the short and sweet.
Nothing gets under my skin more than the feeling of being ripped off. The Counter offers the worst value proposition I have ever come across. Two low quality burgers and fries, one beer, and poor customer service for $ 45. No thanks.

Great place to have a healthy avocado turkey burger, and skewed vegetables. So if you are in the mood for a burger, but don’t want to over do it — The Counter is the place. The waitress recommended an Alagash White to drink, and it was perfect. At the time I was there, it was free parking in the back.

This place has really good burgers and if you get served by Augie you are in luck! I love how you can customize your own burger. Next time I’m gonna try the Bison. I’ll be back very soon.

Amazing. I love The Counter. I haven’t been in a while and was looking forward to the tuna but I’m not sure if they discontinued it or it’s only available downtown but the food was amazing nonetheless. Service was awesome. Our waiter was super nice! Will return!

Terrible customer service. Came in, sat at the bar, and sat there for a good 5 minutes and no one even acknowledged my presence, smiled, said hello, or we’ll be right with you. This despite 3 people being behind the bar, one guy directly in front of me making s milkshake. Nothing. Completely did NOT feel welcome, so left.

I absolutely LOVE this place. I started coming here about 4 months ago and now you can for sure call me a regular. The service is on point and the atmosphere is very relaxed and chill. They always take care of me and make me feel right at home. I’ve never felt this welcome at any food establishment before. The burgers/​salad bowls are beyond amazing. Great quality meats and veggies.
If you sit at the bar top Augi and Danny are your go to guys! Great service and extremely friendly.
If you decide to sit at one of the tables ask for Shelbi she is always on top of it and makes my dining experience that much more inviting.

This is my go to burger place and this location has definitely gotten better. The service used to be very slow and our orders were always messed up but I came here Friday night and had a great experience. I really enjoyed my veggie burger salad and like the newer additions to the menu.

I didn’t like my burger but I think I can talk myself into giving the counter another shot. First the place was packed, like no open seats. Second, I got a ½ pounder, that’s a lot of meat. And maybe too much meat to be properly seasoned? Last, I asked for it to be cut in half and I’m guessing because they we SO busy they cut the burger too fast, putting it on the bun too fast leaving me with a blood soaked bottom bun. That was sick so I left it off.
I got the chili cheese burger. It has a southwest cheese spread that I couldn’t taste and chili that you could barely see. The meat was bland, I had to really salt it. But the smoked jalapeños were dynomite! Not what I was expecting.
Thing is, the fries and onion rings were awesome and so were our shakes. I had a Nutella, marshmallow, peanut butter and my dad had a fox’s chocolate, malt powder and marshmallow. Both were incredibly flavorful and creamy.
So I want to come again when it’s not as busy, get a smaller burger, not have them cut it and get sliced cheese and maybe bacon and BBQ sauce.

Reply to Christina A:
Thanks for replying, Christina. It’s not pleasant to write a scathing review, especially one aimed at an establishment that I normally enjoy very much. For me to bother taking to the internet to get my message across, the experience has to be a very negative one, and it was, unfortunately. It was bad, Christina. I mean, really bad. Like, never-​go-​back bad.
I’ve nothing else to add. Just thanks for acknowledging my beef. You’ve got a stellar establishment with great food, but service is everything and there was none the night we came in.

We were in the area late last night and arrived about 30 minutes before closing. The location near us closed last year and we missed it. There was a couple of other tables in use along with a group outside and they let us choose our seat. There were 3 employees working and they seemed to be working as a team to help out the guests.
The food was good and what we have came to expect, and they were very friendly. The price for 2 ¹⁄₃ pound burgers and a side of fries with 2 waters came to $ 31.70 which is a little pricey, especially the $ 3 charge for the fries. The place was clean and there was a little bit of miss communication with paying, but they friendliness of the staff over looked it.
A bit of advice to management, when we went out the back we tripped over the what I think are umbrella plates on the patio and it wasn’t very well lit.

I don’t often spend 20 bucks on a burger but when I do, the Counter is the best option. (hint of sarcasm)(but respect for all the gluten free options)

Massive, build-​it-​yourself burgers and delicious sweet potato fries. I had a huge craving for a burger one night after work and was happy they were open later. The birthday cake shake is also very good.

I loved it. Quinoa salad was simple and yummy. Thank you for the good service and good eats.

I came here with my boyfriend who had a hankering for a burger. He got a bison burger and a large chocolate shake. I got a grilled veggie press. We also shared onion rings and sweet potato fries. The fries were barely warm, which was a bit disappointing. I did like the different dips they offered as they made the fries taste more interesting.
Everything tasted alright. Nothing was a knockout for the price you had to pay. The restaurant was clean and bright, and the service was good. However, if you are looking for a knock-​your-​socks-​off burger, I would not recommend this place.

Great burgers! Definitely get the fries and the garlic aioli! Love the atmosphere and the people. Has beer too!

Counter burger joints are pretty standard. Lots of different options to customize your burger; if you have trouble making your own decision they’ve got some ready-​to-​order creations that can satisfy just about anyone’s desires.
This location is perhaps no different from most other Counter locations. When we visited, however, it seemed to suffer from a lack of attention to detail. One person ordered a half-​pound burger and was given a ¹⁄₃ patty instead. I, on the other hand, ordered the ¹⁄₃ burger and I’m pretty certain I got something considerably larger. A couple kids ordered grilled cheese sandwiches and, strangely enough, the cheese on the inside was burned. To the establishment’s credit they rectified the situation promptly.
Lots of beers from which to choose; however, on this occasion we did not partake of their offerings. Prices are about standard for this kind of premium burger; expect to pay around $ 15 – 20 for your food (alcoholic beverages excluded). Kids’ menu options are decent sized but older kids will definitely want to order from the adult menu.
Parking in the back is a plus, but when busy I can imagine that it would be scarce.
Overall, this was a satisfactory experience of a known quantity. Despite the problems with our orders, the staff was very friendly and accommodating.

I was thinking I really want a good quality burger and thin cut fries! I came here and that’s what I got. I got a custom burger wth a friend egg, and bacon and gf bun. It was amazing! It was a little pricey but once you taste that it, it’s totally worth it! Absolutely I will be coming back here! Really happy I discovered this little jewel. :)

The burger is amazing. I’ve been to this place about 6 times and I crave it so much.
I generally eat healthy and each time I crave a burger I think about Counter Burger.
The wait staff is very friendly and polite.

The Service: Our cute server, Augie, is AWESOME!!! Super friendly and entertaining~ Great customer service! He gives great recommendation on the menu. He knows the menu very well. Lucky to have him as our server!
The Food:
Knife + Fork burger — hormone and antibiotic free beef, baby spinach, oven-​roasted tomato, parmesan fries, signature steak sauce & brioche style bun. The bun is a little bit dry. But the beef is super super juicy!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE the parmesan fries as topping!!! One bite, so much flavor inside my mouth~
Fried Dill Pickle Chips — with apricot sauce. Very crispy outside and soft pickle inside. Good side order.
Caramel + Chocolate Brownie — with vanilla ice cream. OMG! Warm chocolate brownie drizzle with caramel sauce top with vanilla ice cream. Man~ can’t go wrong with this combination!!! Perfect ending for the meal.
The Parking: Parking lot behind the restaurant (1 hour free with validation); street parking (2 hours free) but very challenged to find a spot. I found plenty of parking on Forman just one block away (free).

I like the Counter and have been to the Pasadena location a few times in the past. However, this was our first time at the Toluca Lake location. The location seems a lot smaller but they do have both indoor and outdoor seating which is great if you’re trying to bring a fury little friend with you. We opted for indoor seating. They were able to accommodate our party of eight without reservations on a Wednesday night which was pretty odd in my opinion.
The service was pretty good. Whatever we wanted, whatever we needed– they took care of it for us. I loved that they were able to bring out all our burgers at the same time especially since we had a fairly big group.
For the most part we all built our own burgers. My burger was alright and my guess is that it could’ve been a lot better if I made some better choices and when I say choices I’m really referring to the sauce. I do highly recommend that you get the garlic fries as well as the sweet potato fries both are delicious and pretty addicting. They also do a fairly good job with their fried pickles if you’re in to that kind of thing.
Overall
Solid option.
Tip
They have a burger and beer pairing which looks to be promising at $ 14 – 16 for four specialty sliders and four beers.