The Stage Burger Lounge

Three and a half stars. Clean bathrooms, sports tellies, and restaurant layout. The latter gets halved on weekends by 10:30 to make way for a top 40s DJ and empty dance floor replete with bouncer and velvet rope to distinguish entry/​exit doors. Closing hours are definitely later than described on Unilocal.Condiments offered by request upon serving. I was sad that the Let It Brie with fennel burger from the online menu was gone, but I settled for the similar Mushaboom since I was starving. DC-​esque prices when you consider fries aren’t included, though the 50-​cent premium on turkey meat and $ 1 premium on bison are reasonable.
Cons: A few minutes after my buddy had started in on his Yuengling, the server came by to let us know that they were out of bison. No partial refund offered, just an apology.
Pros: Oat bun was plush but just sturdy enough, and the juicy beef patty was cooked to medium rare as requested. Not too much truffle oil, good balance of sauteed mushrooms and sliced brie.
I’d consider coming back for another burger and hush puppies once it seems like they’re operating more smoothly.

Where should I start? We ordered wings almost immediately upon sitting down which took forever to come out. Although I can’t fault them on this since I didn’t ask for clarification, but I would have thought «Jumpin Wings» would have been hot wings. Instead they were just basic fried chicken wings. Anyway, took over 30 minutes for the wings to come out, the only other table at the same time as us, actually came in about 5 minutes after we ordered our wings, got their burgers 5 minutes before we got our first order of wings, the second was close to 10 minutes later after most of our burgers came out. Related to the slow pace of food, our daughter’s hot dog was the LAST thing out of the kitchen. Seriously!!! How do you screw up getting a kid their hot dog? That should have been the first thing out.
As for the quality of the food itself, we had hoped to eat at Ray’s and this was the consolation prize. Unfortunately no consolation. The burgers were all overcooked. Asked for medium and came out well. Brother-in-law’s chicken came out raw on the inside. The cook has a very heavy hand with the salt shaker, tasted like the burgers had been bathed in salt water brine before cooking.
Unfortunately, salt was the least of our worries with the cook’s hands. On one of my walks back to the rear of the restaurant with our toddler son, I saw one of the cooks taking his dinner break eating his burger with his gloves still on. Pretty disgusting on his part to be eating with the gloves still on. Once he finished eating, I watched him return to work with the same gloves on. VERY disgusting for us.
I guess the tip-​off should have been the emptiness of the restaurant, but I remembered it had gotten good reviews when it first opened and we hadn’t had occasion to try it till now.
Oh, and final insult to injury, the bill was $ 100 for a group of 5 adults and 2 kids. Yes, we got drinks, but the food was worthless.

Sadly, it hasn’t gotten better. Burgers are still not nearly as good as what you’d get next door at Ray’s, and they’ve changed the layout and décor and it looks awkward to me. I don’t really know why this place isn’t attracting much business, but the new design certainly isn’t going to get me to come back. They also just don’t seem to have the day-​to-​day running of their business down. I tried to stop by after a Fillmore show, thinking they might be open late since it was a Friday night. The door was open but the staff looked at me like I was crazy and told me they were closed. OK… try locking the door then!
Again, go to Ray’s.

It was very disconcerting to see the place totally empty for lunch hour, but we were told that it gets busy in the evening with the AFI and Fillmore crowd. Aside for that, the bison burger was pretty decent, and the service was ok, but I feel they didn’t puch much effort into changing the look of this place from when it was a Peruvian chicken joint, except for the bar area and a few posters, which makes the whole theme a bit confusing.

Not that impressed. I ordered a burger with brie and fennel, and I was not asked what else I wanted with it. I also ordered some sweet potato fries, but they were out, so I just went with the burger. I then received a burger with only brie and fennel, which I did not realize until I arrived at my office and unwrapped the burger and saw my burger with some melted cheese, some awkward chunks of fennel, and nothing else. No thanks. At least communicate somehow that toppings and sauces might be available.

The Stage Burger Lounge. The hubs and I love a good burger. A good gourmet burger at that. We’ve walked past this place on the way to catch the train for the past 6 months we’ve been living in Silver Spring. Each time we make a point to tell the other one that we should try this place out. And when we do the other one always says, «but it’s alwasy empty in there!» That’s right, day or night, this place is empty! Well, this past Friday night we were tired of our usual pursuits, so it was time to finally give it a go.
It was a Friday night, and there wasn’t a mouse in sight… If it’s strange to be the only customers on a Friday night, that’s where the strangeness ends. The customer service was SPOT on, Server was warm and friendly, which is something I haven’t found a lot of in Maryland so far. When she took us to our booth, I noticed it was a little dirty, but decided not to complain. She said, «wait a minute, let me wipe down your table for you.» Attentive! A woman after my own heart. The menu had a variety of options, and we decided to get the classic stage burger, and split a large order of fries. I really liked the food presentation. They’re really going for a restaurant feel, and I think they are successful. Yet, the prices are still affordable, which made the food even more delicious! The fries were perfectly seasoned, the portion size was great, and the burger was juicy, well cooked, and yummy! We had a great experience, and will definitely be back! Often too :)
p.s– the do call ahead, so I can see us placing an order, and picking it up while walking home from metro.

I’m sitting here writing this review while the turkey burger I ate is working through my body, deciding my fate. When The Stage first opened, I was pretty stoked because there are no real burger places in downtown SS. I had their turkey burger before which was hand-​made in front of me and it was pretty damn good. I returned to experience their veggie burger which was also good. Which is why when I had a craving for a burger, I decided to head back there.
Boy times have changed. In place of the counter and register, a full bar had been put in. And most of the booths were gone and replaced with tables. M’kay. I ordered a turkey burger with fries and walked over to watch my burger being made. That turkey burger was NOT made in house. It didn’t look that way and it didn’t taste that way. There was no flavor whatsoever! The fries were ok but unfortunately that doesn’t offset the terrible burger.
I wish I could say this was a better experience, but it was not at all worth it. Sad to say it, but if you want a burger in downtown SS, try Fuddruckers.

What happened to this place?
My roommate and I used to love coming here for the great burgers and fast service. We stopped in tonight and it had transformed from a «Five-Guys”-esque burger place to a faux dine-​in restaurant.
While the old layout and décor was rather lacking as it seemed very empty all the time, the new one is quite literally on the other end of the spectrum. A mish-​mash of contrasting messages from the new atmosphere make the dining experience extremely uncomfortable. The front of the restaurant is now filled with formal dining tables, making it seem like a classy sit down place, while there were still a few booths in the back, which seemed completely out of place. They installed a bar and fully stocked it, but that seemed even more out of place, considering you could see the grill right next to the bar. It is just a conflcting mess.
To make matters worse, because the place is no longer self-​serve [although you still have to get your own sauces and napkins], not only do you have to tip, but you have waste an extra 10 – 20 minutes of having a simple burger order taken and having to request a check.
Finally, my other complaint is with the quality of the food. When this place first opened, the quality of the burgers was bar-​none. The portions were massive and always filling. It seems that every time I go here, the burger gets smaller and smaller. This time was no exception. Not only was the burger smaller, but the meat was not very fresh. Also, the fries were subpar and soggy. they used to be crispy and had a wonderful sprinkling of Old Bay. No longer
I would not really recommend this place anymore until they clean up their act an figure out what they are: a burger place or a full restaurant because having the impression of a full service restaurant with only burgers does not work.

Exit this Stage.
I went on Saturday November 3 to the Stage for the first time, and brought with me 3 friends. It was an epic disaster.
It was about 8:00 PM when we walked in. Our first warning sign should have been when I asked for hushpuppies, only to be told they no longer served those. I think I would at the least take a piece of tape and cover that item up on the large board located on the wall next to the cash register.
I got my burger within 5 minutes of ordering. My other three friends got theirs 35 and 45 minutes later. One of my friends asked for his burger medium, and it was rare. My other friend’s salmon burger was overcooked and dry. They had to ask twice for their fries.
I asked for onion rings instead of the non-​existant hush puppies. I asked for the small size, and they were six small rings, very deeply fried, and I suspect of the frozen food variety. Not fresh at ll.
There was one person at the register and one person cooking burgers. Both of them were completely not in synch with the other. If someone had called in, the very least the person at the register could have done is explain they were a person down, and food would take longer to come out. They both just did not care.
Save yourselves the wait and the dissapointment. Exit this Stage and go next door to Rays Classics.

The burger would be OK coming from an airport lounge, but not a place trying to compete in the local upscale burger scene. The meat is bland and flavorless and the bun I had was bit on the stale side. And even though the place had only a few people in it when I visited, it took nearly 15 minutes to get my flavorless burger with a stale bun.
You can attempt to boost the flavor with their myriad of toppings and other options, but I’m not sure I want to give anything else a try.

The burgers are amazing, cooked to order, and a lot bigger than your local McDonalds trash. I love their bison burger and sweet potato fries.
Every time I’ve gone it has always been very quiet and low key inside. I don’t think the Silver Spring community has really been introduced to this place yet. But sooner or later the word will get out about this place.
4 stars simply because themenu could probably use more tweaking and variety.

I grew up on crappy McDonald’s and amazing In– N-​Out. When I went to college all these trendy burger places started popping up and I’ ve been in heaven ever since. The Stage Burger Lounge is on its way to being one of my favorite burger places, at least for this part of town.
I ordered a cheese burger with bacon and fries. My patty was huge and juicy, even though I like my burger VERY well done. The fries were surprisingly good, with slight seasoning.
The service was pretty quick. To be fair, there was no one else there when I walked in at like 3 pm on a Saturday. The vibe is soul hipster with old record covers and bright deep paint blocking on the walls.
I really want this place to work out because I need a good burger place near my Silver Spring hang out spot. I just wish they had milkshakes and some sort of theme to draw in traffic. Although, I think SBL will do well on concert nights, big movie premieres, etc.

Let it Brie Burger $ 9 (⁵⁄₅ NOMs).
Say hello to new burger place. New burger place opened up near us so just had to stop by. I ordered one of their most popular burgers. As soon as I took first bited I was WOWed. I really like brie, but never really had it on a burger before. I got to say its a great pair. Not a common cheese for a burger place. Flavorful meat patty and soft brie created a great mix. Be careful eating it, because it will drip oil a lot so you will need napkins. Great sweet potato fries with a hint of old bay. I did modify it by adding some bacon ;) very happy to see a good burger place right near me
Mushaboom Burger $ 10 (⁵⁄₅ NOMs).
Brie it on! They just love brie cheese here. My 2^nd brie burger from one location. This time I went mushrooms. I got to say for a burger that only has tree things in it Bison Patty, Mushrooms and Brie, this was an amazing burger. Shows you that its all about the meat patty. I wasn’t even missing my bacon, I know so weird to have burger without bacon, but it works! Such a flavorful burger, I just loved biting into it. They didn’t cheap on mushrooms and really stacked it on top. Great onion rings too! Very crunchy. According to my friend they grind their own meat patties every hour or so. You got to stop by and try!

So you are looking for a burger in Silver Spring and don’t feel like driving to Bethesda (where, clearly, you would go to BGR). You aren’t dressed up enough to go to Ray’s, or perhaps aren’t interested in spending the cash.
Perhaps it is raining and the Quarry House is too far… so you step inside Stage Burger Lounge, hoping, juuuuust hoping, to find something that will satisfy your inner fat kid.
Well, friends, I feel that you will be, as we were, disappointed. It just wasn’t good ENOUGH to compete with other places around. The patty itself was good, juicy to the point of yuck-​messy. I had the El Scorcho, which wasn’t spicy at all. B got something with BBQ sauce and onions on it. He was equally unimpressed.
The fries were good, and pretty inexpensive at $ 1.95 for a small. I like places with lots of sauce options…
But at the end of the day, I’d rather put on some real shoes (like an adult) and eat next door at Rays, or get in the car and go to Quarry House or BGR. It just wasn’t satisfying.

I’m going back here to review again, but I want overly impressed bit just seems like another burger place. Plus it’s EMPTY inside which is just funky.
The burger was tasty, and juicy, but not memorable.
I admit I like the music theme and that it promotes the Fillmore (very cool). And the musically-​inspired names for the burgers gave me a little chuckle.
But no alcohol hurts. Apparently their license is coming so then I may bump it to 4 stars.
The location across from AFI Silver is perfect. It’s a quick place to grab a bite before you head into the theater. For that reason, I have a feeling I’ll end up here some more.

This is a new little burger joint across from the AFI Silver theater. It’s quick and casual, with a music theme that’s represented in music posters and quippy burger names («99 toppings but a meat ain’t one»). I found it a little weird that the look of the place and the posters embraced a retro feel, but a lot of the burger names are plays on more current songs, but, you know, details. More importantly, they’ve apparently been approved for a liquor license and are just waiting for the permit to arrive, so, beer’s right around the corner!
I stopped in just before closing the other night and ordered up a bison burger with brie, lettuce, and mushrooms. It was a little overcooked (maybe because it’d been made too flat? It was thinner than I expected and way too wide for the bun), though it was still juicy, and it was a bit lacking in the flavor department. Compared to, say, the bison burger at Granville Moore’s, this guy definitely didn’t measure up. Nevertheless, it was good enough to give them another try once they’ve been on their feet for a little while (and once they’re serving beer — I hope it’s a good beer list!), ’cause it’d be awesome if this little joint right on my driving route to DC turned out to be the neighborhood burger gem!

The Stage Burger Lounge is located where Sabroso used to be. Right in the Downtown Silver Spring area next to the Fillmore, this place is definitely still in a transition state as each time i’ve been in there, there have been changes and modifications. But it looks like it will get there soon enough.
I ordered the Mushaboom (a Bison Burger w/​Brie, Mushrooms, and Truffle Oil). IT WAS AWESOME!!! Burger was delicious and very juicy! First time i’ve had truffle oil, let alone on a burger.
If you love burgers, you gotta check this place out!

I agree with Katelyn K, I think this place was definitely in a transitional phase. My man recommended it to me. We have eaten take out twice. It changed each time. The burgers the second time around were HUGE!!! They grew almost twice in size from the first time we ate here. I dunno what was up, but I’m not complaining. I would have reviewed this place 4 stars the first time around even with the smaller burger, but now I would give this place 4.5 stars for providing an element of surprise and a granting of childhood dreams and wishes.
The bison burgers and regular burgers taste practically identical. Both tasty and juicy, except the bison meat is slightly dryer but still tasty and decently seasoned. The 2^nd time around I def I saw a little pinkness in the burger which scared me a bit, but it still tasted great. The fries remind me of Five Guys but with a slight touch of old bay seasoning and a little bit crispier. The onion rings were good, but a little over cooked and super greasy. I liked them, but I can only eat so much of them and prefer the fries.
The fry sauce and chipotle burger sauce smoothness and fatty’s delightness are like a weak version of crack. I had to stop myself from dipping my fingers in it and eating the sauce alone.
This is def the best burger that I have had in the Silver Spring area and def one of the better fast food ones! I would def go here again and recommend people check this place out if they are in the area.
Oh yeah and the staff both times were super friendly!

We went just days after they opened and I believe they are still working out the kinks. I had the bison burger with brie and grilled fennel. It was delicious. The significant other had the steak and cheese. It was great, but he wished they had warned him it had tomatoes on it. (He isn’t a fan of a tomatoes.)
Only complaints were the fries were a little cold by the time we got them and the hush puppies were sort of plain and taste less.

I love Spiro’s other restaurants in the Silver Spring area. I’ll chalk up the first burger to opening week.
The hush puppies were bad. No flavor, lumps of fried dough (should have gotten fries). The burgers had great seasoning on them, but there was a ton of bread compared to the rest of the shebang. Don’t see anything compelling yet compared to Ray’s the Classics burger and Quarry House but will try them again later.