In-N-Out, Here I Come

I wrote this negative review of Santana Row's The Counter about a year ago and haven't been back since. Was thinking maybe I should give it another go-round since it was primarily the service which turned me off and this can change in a year. (I am big on eating out for the experience as much as I am for the food!) Although, the food was a bit bland for my taste and for the price, something like $36 for burgers and fries! In recent weeks, however, I've rekindled a love for In-N-Out's Double-Double, so I don't think I'll be back to The Counter anytime soon. 

For those of you who don't know what a Double-Double is: 

1. You're missing out.

2. Imagine: 2 patties, 2 slices of cheese served with the freshest ingredients you can get on a burger. (See photo.) I think it retails for like three bucks, but I didn't really pay attentions since we ended up winning 4 FREE In-N-Out burger coupons for our section being the loudest at a recent Earthquakes' (soccer) game.

For a "fast food" chain, In-N-Out takes a bit long. I think we waited about 10 minutes from the time we ordered to to the time we picked it up, but I don't mind because all of the ingredients are FRESH. Also, the restaurant is spotless. At least, the location by AMC 20 was when I was there. While waiting for my number to be called, I observed that directly after diners upped and left their table, an In-N-Out employee would pop by and give everything a thorough wipe down and sweep under the table before waiting customers had a chance to sit down. 

I think I'll go back and use my remaining 2 coupons today. Last time we got 2 Double-Doubles, fries, and a shake for $3 total - nice!

2 thumbs down

doesn't this burger look promising? i'd heard such good things about this new burger place, the counter, on santana row that i urged shrek to try it out with me. (it didn't take too much urging.) unfortunately it was really disappointing and there are too many genuinely good restaurants around here to go back there.

above all, their service stinks. you'd think with the economy as shitty as it is and people not eating out as much, you'd have your best servers on point. not so here. not only are they slow as molasses, but shrek and i watched as our appetizer was served to a couple at a nearby table right after they were seated and still had their menus open. the couple was annoyingly passive and didn't say anything like, "we didn't order this," so we watched them examine our appetizer and let it sit and get cold as we tried to flag someone down. when the mistake was finally acknowledged, our server simply picked the appetizer up and brought it over to our table. i, i think rightfully, didn't want something that was cold and had been possibly picked at, so i sent it back. our burgers also went to that same couple. this time they looked at the plates a little more closely (they'd just ordered) and motioned that it wasn't theirs. once shrek and i finally got our food, i found it really bland, especially for all of the good ingredients on it. shrek and red robin make waaay better burgers for a fraction of the price. which brings me to my second gripe:

this place is way overpriced. 2 burgers ($10 each) + 1 fry trio ($6) + 1 beer = $32. they also brought us someone else's bill. and if had been less than what we ordered, i would've just paid it. but it wasn't, so i, once again, flagged our server down and alerted her to the mix-up. not once did she apologize--just said she'd get our bill. come to think of it, she also never brought the condiments that she offered to serve with our plates, which is annoying. finally, i also overheard another server say to ours that his table left a note on his receipt complaining about his service and mixing their food up, too. man, get it together!!

2 THUMBS DOWN for THE COUNTER on santana row.