The formula for a great burger joint is so utterly simple that it blows my mind that these places keep popping up everywhere doing it wrong time and time again. Here is the formula. Make incredibly consistently fresh, well seasoned hamburgers, good french fries, include all the normal toppings Americans have grown accustomed to, while also putting offering some twisted alternatives and a fun atmosphere. If you fall short on any of these items, you have done nothing to separate yourself from the rest of the burger places out there. BRB is yet another over-priced burger joint that won't be around a year from now.
Their burgers themselves are decent and made with quality ingredients but then again, so are burgers at Five guys (cheaper) or Red Robin (more fun and diverse menu) or The Counter Burger (the other burger joint in RTC). They make a valiant effort to distinguish themselves from the rest by serving a lobster roll (not sure if this is still on the menu) who really is going to drop that kind of money for a lobster roll at a burger joint? Ok, I did, but it's just a bad idea. The potato fries and sweet potato fries were just ok and not worth coming back for. But the real kicker was.... they didn't have A-1 steak sauce........... Remember my formula. All good restaurants serve A-1 if they serve beef or hamburgers but you are too cool to follow suit? The hip new thing with burger joints is to make your own "bbq" sauce. But here's a little tip - your sauce isn't as good as A-1! Your sauce might be really good and people might love it on its own merits, but don't try taking on Heinz by proclaiming your sauce as THE steak sauce and ceasing to have A-1 delivered to your restaurant. Because that's when I will stop coming. The Counter Burger does the same thing with their proprietary steak sauce and refuses to keep A-1 on the table. Burger places MUST include the normal toppings Americans have grown accustomed to! Ray's Hell burger offers it all AND includes incredible toppings like fois gras and unique cheeses that no one else offers.
If I am paying high prices for a burger, which I'm not against for a high quality burger, ask me how I want it cooked! I was never asked and my burger came out well-done. Now Five guys makes all their burgers well-done and they are somehow delicious! However, BRB's burger was on the dry side. If you are trying to be a premium burger place and charging 8-10 bucks for cheeseburger, you better be cook-to-order.
What I will say that is good about BRB is that it is open late and burger grease is wonderful late at night with a little alcohol in your system. But will I be going for lunch or with my kids, nope.
Side note, I wrote a letter to the whomever reads the email off the contacts link on their website and asked that they add A-1 to their condiments. Never heard back. When I talked to some employees about it during the Reston Festival, they laughed and said "oh, you are that A-1 guy... haha, no, we aren't putting A-1 on the menu for you, buddy and walked away". Really??? If it were my restaurant, I'd tell that customer, "come back in and I'll have a special bottle of whatever you want under the counter for you. Just come back." The difference between this scenario and how things played out is the difference between a play that is infamous for customer relations and a restaurant that will be out of business soon. Clearly people at BRB heard my in-person request for A-1, read my email request for A-1, enjoyed a laugh about it internally and then when presented with an in-person opportunity to please a customer, laughed in his face.
Really wanted to like this place. I won't be coming back. Best burger in RTC - Jacksons. Great American Restaurant all make an incredible cheesebuger and they are open pretty late, as well.
1 out of 5 stars
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