Critic's Review
Now Closed.
This strip center is just a bad location and It's always dead. Can Agave or Flashfire be far behind?
It looks like Burger 21 has a buyer for this location at least. The sign says it all.
***************
Better burgers are all the rage, but a lot of people are losing their shirts trying to cash in on them. CG Burgers came and went quickly; Smashburger closed in Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale, and now Burger 21 has folded up their 2 locations. Fort Lauderdale just opened 7 weeks ago.
Father and Son team Bruce and Adam Booken were touted at Burger entrepreneurs just 1 year ago. I thought the concept was kind of froofy, but the food was good. But you can get a burger in every restaurant now, as well as the countless burger joints that are popping up everywhere.
Selling burgers is far from a sure thing.
Review 5/1/15
Burger 21 opened quietly this week; However much this Franchisee is paying for Marketing contributions is too much. We didn't hear a peep.
I didn't plan on eating lunch out today, but I drove by and I saw the sign. I made a U-Turn, which ridiculous took about 10 minutes to make the 2 necessary turns, and pulled into the parking lot. There's a huge lot in the back, that seems to be a repository for heavy equipment.
There are doors in the back of the stores in the strip, but they're not customer entrances. It's a pretty long walk from the lot to the store.
I wasn't having a burger; I tried a burger in their Davie location and thought it was a good burger. I ordered a Cobb Salad with grilled chicken. Not the thing you'd normally order at a burger place, but with bar restaurants like Public House charging $14 for a Cobb I wanted to see what I'd get for $7.99.
I got a bottle of water, so I had no opportunity to check out the beverage condiments station. They have booths along one side, and the condiments and cashier up front. What's strange is that with parking in the back, most people will be coming in through the side door. So you have to walk through the dining room to get to the cashier to order.
The place is all windows; very storefront. It was a cloudy day, but I was thinking that on a sunny day you'll need your sunglasses in here with no curtains. They'll need to get some shades.
They give you a number and you wait at a table; the QSR concept is getting old already. I can get up to fetch a tray. It's not like I feel like Im in a real restaurant here.
Music here is loud and inconsistent. Mariah Carey, Pink Floyd, Drake / Rihanna. A guy brings over a take out order and starts explaining something to me about the fries. Can't you SEE the number? I'm eating in.
They have a "bar" here. I've never seen anyone sitting at or manning the bar. They also have the "B"isms thing going also. Remember when the "B" Hotel was going to take over South Florida?
While waiting a lot of trucks where coming in and out. I guess they're still working on stuff, although there's nothing obvious that requires a bulldozer or backhoe.
Finally the salad comes out. The bowl is a nice touch that makes eating in worthwhile.
The staged picture I'd seen had more tomatoes than this, but this was a very good sized salad for $7.99. There really wasn't enough dressing for a salad this size, but I wasn't going to eat the whole thing here and I had dressing at home. I tasted it before I poured it on; sort of like a bland caesar dressing. Has anyone else noticed that avocados don't really taste good unless they're mixed with salt and salsa?
Not a bad salad. The bacon should be more crispy; it LOOKED good but was kind of chewey; I ate about 1/2 the salad and asked for a take out container. The guy seemed reluctant to give me a big one but I had a lot of salad left. They're good containers; probably 30 cents each.
On the way out,heavy equipment theme continued, as the Dozer-Hoe was parked right at the entrance of the parking lot and was about to put it's stabilizers down; I was trying to figure if I was going to be able to get by. The operator had to lift one up to let me get by. I guess no customers for Burger 21 while he's working.
Conclusion
I don't see how this idea; sort of a trendy, hipster burger joint, is going to take off in this part of town. The food seems to be pretty good, but the "idea" seems like overkill.