Restaurant Review: The Counter

The Counter - lunch on August 17, 2013

I can't remember how I heard of The Counter Burger Grill but when I looked up their website, their menu showed they had sweet potato fries and that was all I needed to decide to try them out.  I've been on a burger kick lately since I had the sweet potato fries at The Habit but found their burgers just on the thin side.  I had no immediate plans to go to St John's again so it seemed like a good time to try a new burger place.

I had expected The Counter to be similar to a fast food place but it was really more like a diner.  You could eat in or take out.  I opted for takeout as I had other things to do on an errand-running Saturday.  At The Counter, they give you a sheet of paper with the menu choices and you can mark up what kind of burger you want (beef, chicken, turkey or vegan veggie), what kind of bun, which type of cheese, any add-ons like tomatoes, mushrooms, fried egg, sauces and/or condiments (no thanks).  So it was easy for me to order a plain burger, hand my slip of paper to the takeout order person and not be judged that I just wanted a burger, bun and cheese.  Their lettuce was the shredded kind so I skipped the virtue since I only like leaf lettuce on my burgers.

You can also choose whether you want a 1/3 lb burger or a 2/3 lb burger.  You're going to laugh at me but after wanting a thicker burger than The Habit's, I decided to go all out and order the 2/3 lb burger.  I mean, really, how big could it be? (insert your laugh here) Uh, it turns out 2/3 of a lb of ground beef after cooking is quite a lot.  Like a behemoth burger on steroids. I don't know why but I hadn't expected it to be so sizable.  Silly me.  Nevertheless, it was a good problem to have.  The burger was quite tasty and very juicy.  It did take me 3 sittings over 2 days, however, to finish a 2/3-lb burger.  Next time, I'd better go with the 1/3. At least I got only a single serving of the sweet potato fries.

I liked The Counter and think it's a good place to meet friends for a casual lunch, especially if you want a burger and sweet potato fries and particularly if you're a Meg Ryan type from When Harry Met Sally and want what you want how you want it.  Because you fill out the order form yourself, checking off all the things you want, there's very little room for error in the order taking process.