Bistro Burger

Bistro Burger’s signage is gone. Plaza Café is here having a grand opening special: burger, fries, soda (3.95)
friendly people, cheap eats, nice ambience.
didn’t seem true for the bistro.

Is Bistro Burger no more?
I went here once a couple months ago and really liked it but every time I have tried to go back they have been closed. On Veteran’s Day there was a sign saying they would be closed for Veteran’s Day, however I went back on a regular day since and they are closed; chairs packed on the tables and everything, however the menu is still up outside and the inside doesn’t look abandoned or anything. I tried calling but the number has been disconnected.
Does anyone know what happened to them?

Tricked! So my friend said, let’s go to Bistro Burger for lunch! I looked up the menu online beforehand so I would know what to order. Then when I got there, I noticed that everything was cheaper, and they don’t serve Estancia Grass Fed beef like the SF Bistro Burger, but instead Niman Ranch. It is really strange – it’s like the menu is almost the same as the SF one online, but yet different. SO ODD! Like a rip-​off or something.
You know, even Niman himself doesn’t eat Niman ranch anymore. They have really diluted their standards. Anyway, abandoning my hopes for grass fed, I got the «Mexican Veggie Burger». I felt racist ordering it. It has avocado, salsa and sprouts. I said no sprouts since they often have bacteria. Anyway, the burger was pretty flavorless, frankly. The so called salsa had no spice in it, and it was just terrible.
On the other hand, it was not crowded and pretty fast even though we showed up right during the lunch rush.
The fries were pretty good.

I’ll rate this 2.5! I tried the Bistro Burger in SF and it was a lot better compared to this one in Oakland. This place located conveniently in the City Hall Plaza. The décor is friendly to the eyes, they’re seating inside and outside the restaurant.
On to the food — I had their daily special which was the Salmon Burger with a side of fries. Their fries are really good and tasteful. The burger came with a side of mango salsa and it was pretty dry and also missing something. So I just added a bunch of mayo, some lemon, pepper and then some ketchup and it amazingly tasted better. It probably wasn’t as healthy anymore… The price was about $ 9.81, pretty expensive for a burger that wasn’t all that.
It might be better to just go to Burger King down the block and you can have it your way :). Plus its cheaper too.
For all the Vegetarian people — They do have a wide range of Vegetarian burgers. I thought that was pretty awesome. Most burgers range from 6 – 8 bucks without a side.

Mushroom burger is really good i guess i have to order with CHEESE but my mistake oh well. Gyoza were really good
Overall, i will go back

Is it me or did they just put a slab of dried beef jerky in my burger?

It is a convenient place for a meal; however, I would stay away at all costs until they replace the chef who doesn’t wash his hands after using the restroom. I have heard from many people I work with (I work in the neigbhorhood) that this particular employee who works behind the grill NEVER washes his hands after using the restroom and has been reported more than once. Imagine if no one were in the restroom to see this and report him. I will definitely return to eating at this place once they have gotten rid of this thoughtless employee who obviously does not care about the health of customers here… ick.

Abysmal.
If you have had Bistro Burger in San Francisco (Leidesdorf) and had the crap from this place, then you know they share only the same name and not the quality.
A colleague and I went on Friday (05/​15/​2010) to grab a quick bite. Our office had just moved from California Street in San Francisco and so when we saw what we hoped would be a little slice of home in the ghetto hole that is Oakland, we were happy.
However, all of that changed when we got our food.
I ordered the California Chicken sandwich which when later eaten was more like a California Chicken Jerky, dried, flavorless piece of meat with Avocado smeared all over the bun.
My colleague ordered a standard cheddar cheese burger. His poor burger was so dry and desiccated that if it weren’t for the necessity to get back to work we could have played Frisbee with it in the plaza.
Take note, whenever you see the «chef» using a spatula and smashing the crap out of the burger/​meat on the grill, you should ask for your money back immediately and run away.
Quality was cheap and clearly thou shouldst avoid all Bistro Burger’s outside of San Francisco’s Financial District.
I will never go here again.

Great place for its location. Good and fast service.
Nice menu, from burgers to salads.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to go here, but when I’m in the square, it’s one of places I return.

Kudos to these guys for having a VEGETARIAN BURGER MENU OMG! That’s really supercool.
Anyways, came here around 12:40, waited in a line of about four or five people for a few minutes, ordered a California Burger on a wheat bun, and sat down. About five minutes later my burger arrived open-​faced, I assume so that I could add condiments as I like. I did. And let me tell you, it was good. The bun was grilled a little, the avacado definitely present, and the rest of the veggies very fresh and pretty.
My only complaint would be the size, or maybe the price. I know they can’t make the burger larger, it being constrained by the size of the Gardenburger patty, but I scoped the menu and the veggie burgers prices were the exact same as the meat burger prices. Are you telling me that my veggie patty costs the same as the 6.5 oz. Niman Ranch patty that comes with the regular burgers? Or maybe that it’s an extra pain in the ass to have ‘em handy? Not buying either excuse.
So yeah, the six dollars and change I spent was a little much for what I got, but I won’t deny they didn’t do everything they could to make what they did give me tasty. I ended up getting a side coleslaw to tip me over to not-​hungry, and for a two bucks and change I spent on that, it wasn’t terrible. I would call it overdressed, and it lacked brightness, but they did put in raisins and apple pieces that gave it some flavor, and of course, same as the burger, overpriced for the amount I got.
Nonetheless, I will be going back — but I’ll plan on ordering some fries or something so I’m not hungry again an hour later.

Loses stars due to being pretty expensive. Look to spend around $ 10 for a burger, fries, and a drink. The food is pretty good, but sometimes they overcook the burgers and sometimes they turn out perfect. It’s a gamble. The service is okay — nothing to really write about.
This would be a place to consider having maybe once every couple of weeks or so.

Am hip to the concept of a higher quality burger (Niman Ranch beef!) as these types of joints are becoming ubiquitous in my native SoCal. Found the burger itself to be a little overcooked and in need of a little seasoning. But I’ll take one of these burgers over any fast food burger any day. Fries/​onion rings/​seasoned curly fries were just okay.

This place is aight. Now that I’ve discovered Rico’s, I will probably never get a burger here again. But they do a pretty nice job with their salads, especially the chicken caesar and the chinese chicken. That is, except when they overdo it with the dressing, which is around 50% of the time. But they come with big chunks of cold, grilled chicken, an above average portion of lettuce, and a nice little chunk of french bread with butter.
Regardless of the food, there is something about this space that makes me unhappy. While the interior is bright, clean and well-​designed, it just feels like a continuation of the cubicle culture of the office. The drudgery of the long line out the door, the sadness of the small waiting area for to-​go orders, and the groups of office workers talking shop. It just all reminds me that I have to go back to work in under an hour, and that’s not really what I wan’t to think about at lunch.

My godfather who introduced me to this spot says this place is rumored to have the best burgers in The Bay. Possible, but I won’t commit to that — the outdoor eating in the lovely Oakland weather and God-​dad treating allowed me to just take in the eats and enjoy. When I started paying for myself, I realized it’s more the quality than the taste that draws me.
Though it costs a little more than a typical burger joint or fast food, the food tastes decent and is high quality! It is just burgers (including salmon and chicken burgers) and salads, but with the cost of city lunches, it’s worth spending a little more for the quality. The salmon burger can be a little dry, but simply adding the sauce to the bun handles that. Their salads are some of the few that actually fill me – and I have an uncanny appetite. «Frings» (fries and onion rings) totally appeals to the fat girl who lives in me.

So sometimes you just need a burger. This an outpost of the growing local chain of burger spots. The burgers are fine, nothing particularly amazing about them, but then not screwing up something simple can earn you three stars.
Sometimes, when I am tired, hungover or having a bad day-​well not that often-​I need a burger and come here. Can you get a better burger sure, but then I might have to walk another block or two and that just won’t do when I am tired, hung-​over or having a bad day…

the fries were oversalted.
the burger was overcooked to the point of being tasteless.
even the thick cut bacon and mushrooms failed to save the burger.
there are better burger options in the Bay Area.
save your money for those places…

Burger #47 — Sub Meh.
The only «cool» part of this experience was how I found this place. While at my clients office,
I saw Unilocal open on one of their computers! «Yelp!» I exclaimed, other people use it! I think it was the first time I saw someone I didn’t know on the site. So I ask what’s good within walking distance and Bistro Burger was the answer.
It was about a 5 minute walk and when we arrived I was starving. Lucky for me they had veggie and chicken options for my coworkers. I got the bacon cheese burger with curly fries. I asked for medium and got a blank stare, not a good sign.
We sat at a booth and the food came out really quickly. So here we go again:
BURGER
— Not cooked medium
— Burger was too thin to be cooked to order
— Curly fries are better at Jack n the Box
— Bacon was not hot and crisp
— Bun was too bready for burger size
— Aged cheddar was missing FLAVOR
After a shake of salt and dollop of ketchup it was edible. Really not that bad to begin with, but for the price and fru-​fru names it was all dubbed with, I expected something more.
So just another over priced meh burger. A sad meal to lead up to my depressing time at Eden Hospital.

This place is totally overrated.
I ate at the one in downtown SF recently, and wrote off the mediocre burger as maybe being a product of being in a mall.
When I tried this one, however, I was forced to conclude that their burgers are just mediocre for one as highly touted and semi-​pricey as it is.
In n’ out kicks their ass up and down the block.

FRINGS!!! When I decide to indulge in fast food it’s often hard to decide between fries and onion rings. Here you don’t have to decide. Just order frings, and you get both!
The burgers have a real meat, not reconstituted cardboard flavor. There are a variety of cheese options. Not just cheddar. You can add mushrooms, or avocado, or bacony goodness.

Organic burgers = healthy fast food? The food is quick. You order your food, get a number, sit down and it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes even on a busy day.
The meat patties are high quality (from Niman ranch) and filling. They are cooked pretty well done so if you don’t like it that way, these burgers may not be for you. And they do taste pretty healthy which means they will taste not only well done but lean & maybe even a little bland. They have a number of creative burgers on their menus… even one with brie on it which I’m still not use to.
The sides are excellent — get either curly fries (which comes with amazing horseradish sauce) or onion rings. They taste so freshly greased!
If you want to eat semi-​light, get the grilled salmon burger which is so tasty.