BGR The Burger Joint

I love a good old fashioned burger. Meat, cheese, bun, lettuce, tomato. Yes. They do it right here. There’s this really cool bun butterer machine that had me in a trance. I want one at home.
80’s music.
80’s paraphenelia all over.
80’s videos playing on the tv.
YES YES YES.

This chain has been carefully crafted to meet the target demographic of my age group. It’s decorated like a swank bistro with superhero logos on the faux-​mosaic tile tables and 80s music blares throughout. The food is extravagant variations on the theme of burger. Just imagine a gastropub set up more like an El Pollo Loco and you have an idea of what this place is like.
I freakin’ HATE 80s music, so that annoyed the crap out of me. My burger-​of-​the-​month (Italian-​inspired with mozzarella cheese, basil, and balsamic sauce) tasted good, so I was able to focus on that rather than terrible synthesizer sounds. (Why does my age group get associated with 80s music instead of grunge? That’s more the music of my formative years anyway.)
This place is kindof expensive considering they don’t have table service, but it’s better than some of the other burger chains built along the same formula. Looking forward to coming back and trying their basic burger. Fries are excellent, sweet potato tater tots were way too sweet. Tasted like they had added brown sugar, which is not my thing. Oh well. Still pretty good for what it is.

Yes! A solid BURGER JOINT! We got a Groupon (or some such social deal) for this place and my hsuband and I decided to try it out on date night. I believe it was $ 10 for $ 20 worth of food.
Things I loved:
— The sweet potato tater tots. These are a thing. A must have thing. You get a mountainful on your plate. See my picture of this mountain.
— The southwestern burger. I got it protein style in a lettuce wrap. OMG! It tasted like a loosemeat burger made out of chorizo.
— The service. These guys are great. They bring the food to you!
— The prices. Draft beer $ 4.50.
Things I didn’t love:
— The asparagus fries. Meh… they weren’t trimmed properly and had the rough chewy parts on the bottom. But they had a sprinkle of sweet and nutty parmesan. Anything is better with fresh parmesan.
— The beer selection. All they had on tap was Fat Tire, Dos Equis and Blue Moon. I wouldn’t call any of them craft beer.
So definitely worth a visit. Next time, I am trying the Southwestern as a buried burger, where they make any burger a salad!

Location: I love taking my boys here. The ambiance of the whole center is pretty chill. There are always cops stopping by the Starbucks so I feel pretty safe. The burger joint is also conveniently located by a theater and other chains (to name a few: Subway, Chipotle, Baskin Robbins, Jamba Juice). You can pretty much do all your errands here… but let me try not to review the shopping center. =)
Food: We haven’t had a burger we didn’t like. I had the Ahi Tuna once and it was like sushi (ordered rare, of course). Definitely worth a try if you are a sushi lover. I have been ordering the veggie burger (no onions) and it’s prepared/​flavored to perfection. Definitely satisfies my burger craving fix. Instead of fries, I order the asparagus fries sprinkled with rosemarie. Yum! My boys always add bacon to their burgers which makes it extra yummy for them.
Drinks: We don’t normally drink soda, but we order sodas just so we can play with the soda fountain. They have every flavor Fanta imaginable.
* If you’re a fan of the 80s, you can definitely catch lots of videos and music played around that era. It’s crazy to see Madonna not look like a man with her buffness.
Tip: Check out their lunch specials… they have pretty good deals for the lunch crowd. Opt to order ahead to avoid waiting.

We waited over ½ hour for our order. There is very little seating inside so we sat outside. We were given one of those pagers to alert us when our food was ready. While we were waiting, we read the take-​out menu that said to be patient since each burger is custom made. 30 minutes later the cashier comes out to tell us our order has been ready and that she has been paging us for a while — turns out our pager wasn’t working.
Who knows how long it was waiting for us, but by the time we started eating, my Cuba burger had so much sauce that it turned into a soggy mess and I had to eat it without the bun. The beef patty was salty, but the pork and ham slices were ok. My wife had the sliders, my son had a regular cheeseburger, and both said they were too salty. Overall it was very overpriced.
Thankfully Five Guys is opening up across the street soon and we will be able to have a decent affordable burger with fast service.

First thing i noticed was their fancy soda machine! First time seeing one like that. It allows you to select different flavored coke products. You also get to see the different syrups mix with carbonated water.
I ordered a kids meal for myself. The portions are huge, two sliders and an adult serving of French fries and a soft drink for $ 5. The meat was juicy and flavorful, but there was too much bread in the buns. I sample their sweet potato tater tots! Winning idea! Now if they could serve it with a pumpkin sauce like at slaters… I would be a total fatty.

Ok went back to BGR and this time I was not enticed in to one of their unique burgers. So this time I got THE BURGER with grilled onions and extra mojo sauce. This is what I should have had that first time I can here. The service was friendly and quick. Ryan took care of us well. Are burgers came up quick and done just the way we asked for them and wow it was great. There sweet potato tots are off the chain a must try. We will be back thanks BGR

A good place to get a burger or a sandwich.
I’ve only tried the turkey burger and the seared ahi burger. I enjoy the seared ahi burger with garlic fries on the side. The turkey burger was good enough to do the trick, but didn’t quite compare to my other favorite turkey burgers at Karl Strauss or Burger Lounge.
The people working here are friendly though, and a great bunch of people.
And, I like the old school music thing they got going on.

Maybe it was the burger I got but I didn’t think this place was that special. I ordered the beef wellington and only after did I realize that was a terrible choice for a burger. It tasted a little chalky (?) and was too overloaded for my tastes.
I’ll probably head back in the future and try one of the more traditional burgers.
On the plus side, they do have a frequent buyer card, a real card that they scan, not punch holes in, where you get a free burger after 8 (fixed).
Not only that but they do have lunch specials and it’s not a bad place to dine in at.

You can earn points towards your purchases here. I have a frequent buyer card.
The burgers here are so tasty and they have such great vegetarian options. You can get away with eating fairly healthy (low fat/​carbs) as you can order a chicken breast and any burger as a humongous and tasty salad.
On another note, their freshly baked chocolate chip cookies are SINFUL.
I love this place. Also, they have AN AMAZING fountain drink station –the kind with over 100 flavors of soda! Woot!

Locals may give this place 4 – 5 stars, but those that have experienced the most epic burgers in San Diego would rate this place 1 – 3 stars. There is in fact a scale of epicocity among the SD burger industry, and joints such as Hodad’s or Burger Lounge rank high… well, unfortunately BGR is not even on the scale in my opinion and that’s okay, this world is big enough for mediocre burgers too.
I am going to admit, I did not get a bun, I got a «lettuce wrap» which was a mistake, because they don’t have the technique for this. And that’s ok, its not for every business.
The beef patty was over cooked and very salty, but they did have fresh lettuce, tomato, and onion. Onion rings were ok. The sweet potato tater tots were horrible, they had a freezer burn after taste, bottom line they were not fresh. They do have a fun soda fountain with many beverage choices. I left wondering why my Friday had to end on an unfulfilling food excursion.
Aside from not caring for the concept or décor of this place… there is little seating.
I wouldn’t come to this burger joint again, I tried it and that’s enough. If you need a mediocre burger and you don’t want to go outside of North County I’d suggest going to the Habit Burger in Carmel Mt instead of BGR.

I’ve been on a burger kick lately and when we passed by this place after a 6 mile hike we decided to stop and refuel with some protein!
I love love love mushrooms, so I ordered the Wellington and was not disappointed. The flavor of the sauteed mushrooms in that thick yummy sauce was intense and delicious. Yes, it makes for a bit of a messy burger, but who cares when it tastes that good!
I’ve been there twice now, thank goodness I don’t live any closer. Both times I’ve had the Wellington and both times it was amazing. The first time I had their onion rings… these were delicious as well. The 2^nd time their sweet potato tater tots. OMG, those are my favorite and I have no idea why someone didn’t think of them earlier!
I’ll definitely be back whenever I am driving thru Poway. I hear there are plans to put one in Hillcrest as well, which would be more near my hood and would make me so happy!

We tried this place the other day and while ordering with my husband and 4 year old, the employee overheard me saying that I would share with our son. When they brought our food, there was a tiny cheeseburger on my plate for my son. It was so generous and thoughtful! And a wise investment for them because now I will absolutely be a repeat customer!
Oh and the fries were really good.

I compare this place with the likes of the Burger Lounge or other moderately priced restaurant that serves burgers. This is not the regular cheap and quick fast food burger joint like Five Guys or McDonalds.
Burgers we have had to date: Cheeseburger, The Wellington, and the Triple D (special):
. Cheeseburger — Good burger all together
. The Wellington — Delicious! It’s probably best eaten with a fork and knife… but who cares… it’s that good. *BGR* — I would recommend to toast the bun just a little firmer so that it doesn’t fall apart so quick. I was only able to eat ½ and saved the other half for later. The next day I warmed the leftovers in the toaster oven and I swear I loved it more this time around because the bun was firmer.
. The Triple D — Their burger inspired by the FoodNetwork show «Diners, Drive-​in, and Dives». I wish this was on their regular menu!
All side orders are made for sharing:
. Fries — Your standard french fry… no complaints
. Onion rings — We might have to try these again because our order seemed a bit stale
. Sweet potato tater tots — Holy smokes! By far my favorite side order yet. I want to go back just for these babies! *BGR* — I recommend offering this side with honey or a caramel sauce… it won’t disappoint.
I feel like the price is reasonable: 2 burgers, 2 sides, 1 drink, 1 milkshake = $ 30
If you had a less than 3 star experience, I recommend you give it a 2^nd chance.

Because of the prices… I would say that it wasn’t as good as expected.
Everyone kept raving about their garlic fries and I was not impressed. A few little garlic chunks on top, but other than that, no garlic flavor throughout.
The burger was good, but not what I expected.

As far a burger places go this place is A-​OK. I ordered the basic regular burger which costs $ 6.99, without cheese, it comes with lettuce, tomato and grilled onions and a special sauce. I ordered the fries $ 2.89 and had them add roasted garlic an extra $ 0.49 and a fountain drink for $ 2.29. So all added up it’ll cost you about $ 13.64 with tax for a meal for one. So it can be a little pricey. If you want cheaper eats, then go to In-​N-​Out, but if you’re hungry then come here and you won’t leave hungry that’s for sure!
The meat is prime beef and nicely flavored, they cooked it medium like I asked. The size of the patty was really good sized and it will fill you up. The bun tends to fall apart especially if you have a lot of moist toppings. Maybe they could work on a different type of bun (they use a brioche bun) that doesn’t fall apart? Just saying! Also the fries were nice and crisp on the outside and had a nice texture inside. They have one of those fancy Coke machines that you have hundreds of choices so that people get all confused and take way too long on making a decision. Hurry up already! Make a choice and push the button. A regular order of fries is enough to share with two people as the burger is big and you’ll barely be able to finish your fries. I give the burger a 5 napkin salute! You’ll use at least that many napkins by the time you’re done.
I think they have a 15 pound burger that if you can eat it all then it’s free. I’m not even going to try that.
Cool look inside with all the different music artists album type pictures on the walls and cool classic rock music playing on the teevee’s on the walls.

First, it’s pricey. 3 orders and nearly 50 bucks. The sliders were cooked well done and little taste, but the prime burger was really good. The «lobster burger» had a few small chunks of cold lobster, no seasoning and they were «out of sauce» for it, so it was quite disappointing. So, food as hit & miss.
When ordering, we received (3) «scratch to win coupons» which each offered free fries. The kids really wanted to try the fries, so my wife and kids went back to the counter after we ate and bought a shake and asked to use one coupon for fries… only to be told «sorry, you can’t use that today… you need to leave and come back another day for that to be valid». C’mon…I just spent $ 50+ for burgers for family lunch, and I don’t «qualify for one order of free fries». Not sure if we”ll be back…

Good all around burger place in Poway. The onion rings are thick cut onions.
Ingredients were fresh. Basic burger was good. The veggie burger was also good. And they have cheerwine soda.
Loved the décor. Clean.

Looks like the BGR has finally hit their stride! My initial review of this place was just mediocre. I visited a couple of times right when they first opened and the burgers and buns were overcooked and dry, but I gave them a few weeks to settle in and returned to find that they have definitely improved.
The burgers are well cooked, buns seem fresh and toasted slightly and it tastes delicious. I also am a fan of their sweet potato fries and tots! If you’ve never tried sweet potato tots before, I encourage you to. They also have one of those new soda machines which allow them to provide a HUGE selection of drinks from sparkling water, flavored water, iced tea, diet soda, and soda.
One thing I have to mention, as I did in my first review, is the lunch special. For $ 8.99 you get The Burger, fries, and a drink. Great deal! (especially considering the large portion size).
And to top it off, the décor is trendy and modern, and for those who grew up in the 80s, you’ll love their choice of music. They constantly play 80s music videos on two flat panels they have in the restaurant. The staff is also friendly and energetic.
Very nice to finally have a great burger place in Poway!

This is the best burger I’ve had in San Diego (and I’ve had tons!)
The Great — The burger was actually cooked how I ordered it! (Med-​Rare)
The Good — The fries are thick and crunchy
The Bad — The price was a little steep, but I saw they do offer lunch specials
The Ugly — They aren’t my next door neighbor :(
The burger was good size, the mushrooms were huge and they didn’t skimp! One order of fries was enough to share. I love this place and I love their service.
I’m part of the lunch crowd, they weren’t crazy busy and my hour lunch was more than enough time to eat, talk, and enjoy