American Burger Bar

The service is polite and friendly but a touch slow. The burgers feature excellent meat but just okay wheat bread. A really high quality bun would make these pop. I love that they offer a full variety of potato items including fries thin and waffle, tater tots, chips AND really good onion rings. The build your own burger feature is good, with numerous protein types including vegetarian. In typical downtown St Paul style, two orders of burgers and fries still managed to be nearly forty bucks pre tip but that’s normal. A solid place to get lunch in Downtown St Paul.

Terrible service, great food!
Second time here, and both times the food has been amazing, but the service has been terrible. They always forget something (first time was the appetizer, second time was the bacon), and from what I hear of others around me, it is the same (forgetting the sauce, or the correct side). Out waitresses always spend an incredible amount of time in the kitchen, though there aren’t many customers. Makes it hard to get a refill. However, the food is great! Love the pretzel bits, and every burger I have had has been fantastic

Stopped in here for a snack and beer before an event nearby & was pleasantly surprised! The atmosphere was inviting and cozy, and they had a nice looking menu for burger lovers. I hit happy hour (thankfully) and chose from their ½ off appetizers. The pretzel bites with beer dip were delicious! However, outside of HH pricing, they and all the appetizers would have been a little pricy in my opinion. I had a Surly ($ 1 off I think for HH?). All in all a good trip. :) I’ll be back!

Seriously, this place is fantastic. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Made to order delicious goodness. Next time I’m in town, I’ll be back!

Been there twice now and the food is amazing! The Burgers are so big, for me I got at least two meals out of one. The burger w peanut butter and bacon, O’Mazing! The Cap’n America Burger, O’Mazing! He Cobb Salad, O’Mazing! Bad news is that the hot bartender is married. He’s attentive, smart, & he knows he menu. I didn’t know I’d like the jalapeño jelly was so mouth watering and I wouldn’t have known if Steve (hotender) hadn’t told me about it. Go there, it’s O’Mazing!

The food was pretty good– but them mirrors were freaky clean. 4 stars for food, 4 stars for the chill server, 9 stars for dem clean mirrors.

I came home to discover that the restaurant overcharged me by $ 2.00, so now I’m going through the hassle of reclaiming that money from the credit card company. It’s not the money, it’s the principle. Very disappointing.

Fantastic bar and restaurant. We had amazing service from Steve, and the manager Sara even stopped by to Check on us! Everyone was helpfull and there was great team work. The food was great the cob salad was amazzzzze the ingredients were so fresh and flavorful. Everyone in my party was happy (7 of us) we were celebrating a bday and we had amazing yummy chocolate cake. The atmosphere was fun and trendy! I will definition go back with friends!!!

Great place, beautiful place. The staff is very friendly we arrived 10 mins before they opened and they allowed us in. The inside is clean, the food was good and the drinks on point. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the music I had fish and fries my friend had a burger.

Even for a pretentious California girl… excellent burger! Very flavorful and juicy patty. I ordered the Bootlegger. Whatever that sauce is, it’s AMAZE. I want to bathe in that stuff. And that bacon, yes, give me extra of that heaven. The burger was one of the best I’ve ever had. I would compare it to a burger place back in Orange County called the Riders Club which has won best burger in OC for the past few years.
Five stars for the burger, 4 stars for the service. Maybe the server was having a bad day. Let’s give her the benefit of he doubt.
They even offer gluten free buns if you’re into that! Which I am and it didn’t taste like cardboard. Just a soft yummy bun.

Don’t listen to M. M — we brought our toddler there and it was perfect accommodation! The staff was friendly and prompt with everything. Go there now!
And order the Mad Totter burger, you won’t be let down!

Mario is a top notch and phenomenal bartender, we will definitely be coming back because of this! The food was good, however the place could use a pool table or a shuffle board at the very least! Awesome place though.
Oh and Hank is a good time wink wink ;)

Don’t go here with small children! They have only 1 high chair!!! We were told that only AFTER we waited 20 minutes for a table! We had to leave. But they did hand me a booster chair for my 12 month old baby!
The manger Sarah could have cared less and said that they only «were sent one high chair» and then walked away.
I have never been to any restaurant with only one high chair.

Stopped into American Burger Bar on a Friday night, and had a great experience. There was no wait when my husband and I arrived, so we got seated right away, and the service was FAST, including the food and drink service. The drinks were strong, the pretzel bites app were killer and both of our burgers were good as well. Our server was a funny dude, and the prices were in line with other burger places in the cities. I really liked the décor, and you could hear the music, but it wasn’t overly loud. I’m definitely planning on going back again.

While my Jack Daniels wings were tasty, the service was ‘meh.’ Long breaks in between first begin sat, ordering water, and ordering food. We were a hungry bunch and were ready to order very shortly after sitting, but had to wait even though it was after normal lunch rush and the restaurant was not very full anymore. I do wish I had had more time and funds to explore more of the menu options (Drunken Burger! Boozy milkshakes!), but at least the wings left a good taste in my mouth.

It’s another burger joint of which there are numerous types in the Twin Cities. I went there when it was two weeks after reopening. The burgers and fries are really good, and the bartender who served us, since we sat at the bar, was friendly, amicable and informative, The kitchen service however was very slow, be prepared to wait for your food until they get the place running more smoothly.
Now onto the ambience of the space: if you were ever at the old McGoverns, or here after they moved into the space, you remember the plethora of woodwork in the old high-​end restaurant design of the place. There is a fireplace, the library, big comfortable booths, it was a beautiful space which worked great when it was a full restaurant for a classic night out, but it didn’t work for ABB. Then there was the fire which destroyed the place, so they gutted it, I meant wall to wall… there’s nothing of the old design left. They put in a large boxy industrial chic style burger bar with lots of TV’s…and horrible acoustics. It probably works for the type of place it is but I don’t know if I’ll be back. It’s all the hard surfaces and the acoustics that kills it for me. The place was maybe half-​full and the sound pressure was deafening, I’d hate to be in the place with a full house, let alone if they have a DJ playing loud music which the staff mentioned they were going to do.

I like the atmosphere but the
Service was really really slow. I’ll probably try a different place next time I’m in town.

Wow, we did not have the same experience as some other Unilocalers. Overall — good food and service at the American Burger Bar.
When we walked in it was oddly empty for a Saturday evening. It never really filled up, even though downtown was relatively happenin that night. Like mentioned in other reviews, we did have to wait a moment for someone to appear at the «Please Wait To Be Seated» sign, but the service was just fine after that. In fact, as we were being seated, an employee walked up to us and asked if we’d dropped a glove on the way in. Our server wasn’t super great or anything, but he wasn’t terrible at all.
The menu is pretty simple, which is not surprising given the straightforward name of the restaurant. There are a few appetizers and non-​burger options, but I can’t really remember any of them. In addition to the basic beef burgers, there is also a turkey burger, bison burger, grilled chicken breast, and vege patty if you don’t do red meat. My boyfriend went with the build-​a-​burger option, while I ordered a predetermined burger item. My BF loved his Kobe burger! Said it was one of the best burgers he’s had in a long time. I also loved my Thai burger, even though it was really, really messy to eat. The sauce that comes with it is delish. My BF subbed tater tots for the skinny fries. OMG they were sooooo good! I was trying to be healthy and I got a salad instead of the fries, but then I ended up eating a bunch of tots anyways.
The burgers are in the $ 15 and up range, and the add-​ons can really add up, so no, these were not the cheapest burgers we’ve ever enjoyed. But we quite enjoyed them, and that’s what’s important. American Burger Bar served us well.

After reading the reviews on Unilocal I decided to try this place out. I walked in at 8:30 on a Wednesday night thinking it is not too late to order food and it is late enough that we won’t hit the dinner rush. The sign at the entrance said wait to be seated. From the reviews online it indicated the service is horrible. After working in the restaurant industry for years I know that if the sign says to wait, someone will come seat you immediately or they forgot to turn their sign which is not good. I tested it and after waiting for a few minutes no one came to the door and, alas, they forgot to turn the sign to seat yourself.
So, we sat down and we waited. There was maybe 5 people at the bar and no one eating in the restaurant area. We waited 5 minutes and no one came to our table to ask for a drink order or to give us menus. So I walked up to the bar to order drinks and as I did that the waiter came to the table to take our drink order. And then he left without taking a drink order and said he would bring water. 5 more minutes go by. No water, no menus, NO BEER!
Finally he comes to take our drink order; still we wait for menus and water. I ask for a menu (I should never have to do that), and he says sorry I will get them. He then walks by our table 4 more times and does not bring menus so I asked for menus again.
We get our menus, our beer and our water after being there for 20 minutes. We were the only people in the restarant area so I was perplexed by the non-​existant service. We finally ordered and my guest asked for a side of sour cream. Other than the side we ordered straight from the menu, no substitutions. Our food comes pretty fast and tasted delicious but there was no side of sour cream. We paid for it so where was it?
After 10 minutes the waiter finally comes back to our table. We could see him folding silverware in the back room and doing his closing duties instead of being a waiter and waiting on us. I had to flag him down as he walked by us and I said «I think you forgot…» and he responds «The sour cream, right, I know. I will get it now.» If you knew why, did you not bring it?
We waited 5 more minutes, and at this point there is only one other table seated in the restaurant. The sour cream finally arrives.
The food… AWESOME! I had the truffle parmesean fries and an amazing burger.
I want to return for the food but I will just get take out because I never want to be the person that doesn’t tip, and I really did not want to tip this waiter, but I did anyway.
Get take out instead of spending money on a tip for nothing.

Overlook the shady looking exterior, this place is pretty chill.
I was in town for work, staying at the St. Paul Hotel. The happy hour and hot Minnesota summer day enticed me to check this place out, despite the grimy appearance, tacky name, and 2.5 star reviews on Unilocal.The bar was dimly lit with a free pool table off to the side. It wasn’t very busy (I was there on Sunday) but the bar was packed with locals getting’ their happy hour on.
This night was like an episode straight from the Bachelor. I found a seat in between a drunken Packers fan and a drunken family who turned out to be the parents and siblings of the bartender. I chatted it up with the bartender’s dad… football… beers… guy stuff. It felt like I was meeting my significant other’s family for the first time. He asked me about what I did for a living, where was from, etc. It was nice having company instead of sitting in at the bar, eating alone, and pretending I watched Nascar. I ordered Cheese curds, salad, wings, and sliders. The food was delicious and the best part was 2 pints for 5 bucks. My bill ended up being about 23 bucks with tip/​tax. Pretty bad ass deal.
Overall I had a blast here. The bartender is super sweet, her family rocks, and I ended up making friends with the cheesehead. Best part, this bar is apparently owned by Matt Birk, who play for the Baltimore Ravens.
A little about my credentials:
I first got into cooking & food when I was in college. After being rejected by numerous girls and getting zero action, I decided it was time for a change. I needed a new makeover to boost my geeky image. I applied for a cooking position at a Mediterranean-​Italian Restaurant near my home and learned to cook all sorts of dishes. I never became a professional chef, but I continue to enjoy & love food. 9 years later and 55 lbs heavier, I have a new passion for traveling and trying different foods around the world.