Jodi on 
Erin on 
Eric on 
Bill Evans on 
Less than a month into its existence, loungeburger has surprisingly few kinks and a lot of juicy burgers, as I wrote in this week’s Metro Calgary review.
The Kobe beef burger ($20) is worth the hefty price tag, with a tender wagyu patty, Applewood cheddar and horseradish aioli.
The pretzel bun is a thing of wonder. A glossy dark brown top with a dense, delicious flavour, it doesn’t get soggy and to the husband’s delight, prevents everything from slipping out the back and sides.
The Alberta slider trio ($11) is a good sampling with 2 oz. AAA beef, elk and bison mini-burgers. The last was particularly juicy, paired with mushrooms and cheddar.
Here are some thoughts I couldn’t fit into the Metro article:
- We didn’t think the wagyu beef would be worth the higher price, but after comparing it with the AAA beef patty at the same meal, it really was more tender and juicy, and had a bit more flavour.
I’m guessing the advertised Kobe beef isn’t actually purebred from Japan (which would cost a fortune), and is rather Japanese Wagyu cows crossed with Canadian domestic cattle and produced here.
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While burgers are obviously the highlight, the menu has not abandoned people who might be in the mood for something other than meat on a bun. There’s a handful of salads, about a dozen appetizers and even fish tacos.
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The dark wood/beige booths/soft lighting reminds me of Moxie’s/Earl’s/Milestone’s. It’s modern enough, but you can see some rough edges and pencil marks left on the drywall in some areas, no doubt a sign of the rush to open by Oct. 1 and hockey season.
There are big, flat-screen TVs and really loud, thumpy music in both the lounge and restaurant sides so I’m not sure what the point is in dividing them.
As someone who likes to hear my dining partners, I’d prefer to have the music turned down in the restaurant. Otherwise, I would have chosen the lounge. Or a rave.
Also, not sure it’s such a good idea to play the same three techno-ey/bass-heavy songs on repeat.
And while I’m on the topic, what IS this? (Actual recording from the restaurant)
Music rant over. Bottom line, music bad. Burgers, very good.
UPDATE – Oct. 22, 2009: I’m pleased to report that loungeburger has fixed its thumpy music issue. On a return visit, the music was at a normal background volume and the tell-tale construction leftovers have been fixed.
This time, I discovered that the creamed mushrooms make for a fantastic topping, and their delicious onion rings are rolled in a honey batter before being deep-fried.
I’m also impressed with the comment left by loungeburger’s manager below, addressing some of the concerns I raised on my first visit.
loungeburger, 270-14th Ave. S.E., Calgary, 403-250-2747. Open Monday to Wednesday 11 a.m.-1 a.m., Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m.-2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Aww, that was one of the places we were thinking of going for the next foodie outing! But how fun can it be if we can’t even hear ourselves think?
I have to sheepishly admit I have gone there a couple of times too, but I decided to hold off from reviewing until they’d had a chance to mature a bit. I thought the burgers were not bad, but not special either. I kind of expected something more. Take the burgers at Buchanan’s for example. Now *those* are $20 burgers (sirloin steak, ground) to die for! Loungeburger is a great place to casually hang out and watch the game though, especially since it’s two blocks away from my place!
Vlad: I must admit, I thought the loungeburger’s Kobe on pretzel bun beat the Buchanan’s burger, which was my longstanding favourite in Calgary. But I enjoy Buchanan’s atmosphere better.
Well then, I will have to try it! I’ve had AAA and the Butters burger so far, not the Kobe. The AAA was better than the Butters, and both were in the ‘decent nothing special’ category as far as I was concerned… But if you’re wrong, then you’ll have some ‘splainin to do!
Hey!glad you all enjoyed the burgers… we really did put alot of effort into the menu!
To answer a couple of your questions…
We use 55% imported Japanese kobe and 45% American Kobe wagu for all the “Kobe” products… thereby staying true to the Kobe name… 100% Japanese Kobe would be a little pricey for most we think
I must apologize for the music… you may have noticed that our makeup air units were making alot of noise, (they were unbalanced),… the loud music was an attempt to drown them out temporarily… we have reduced the noise substantially since your review and hopefully you will find the audio atmosphere more appealing now
You are right about the unfinished portions of decor… we wanted to be certain that we opened for the flames opener, ready or not!
We are getting better everyday… thanks for your patience.
Try the Shrimp Burger or Signature Bison, my personal favorites!
Brian
General Manger
loungeburger.
We tried Lounge Burger tonight and it was OK but still seems to have some rough edges. Expect it will improve with age.
Hubby had the $40 burger and it was very good indeed: it’s a novelty. I had the shrimp burger (based on Brian’s comment above and the server recommendation) and it was tasty too – different. The sides were somewhat disappointing: garlic fries were not at all garlicy and the onions rings were under-salted. Ditto for the dessert burger: cute idea but mostly just odd.
In terms of decor, it’s attractive and suitably dark and loungy. Agree the finishing is less than polished. One last peeve: the size of the tea pot is way too small for the size of the mug.
idont know if it was my hardhat and work clothes that cursed me ,but my whole experience there was all bad.i work on the keystone tower a block away so i was excited about a good place so close for lunch ,the initial walk in seamed promising as 3 servers tried to take my order(3 sliders).i didnt see any one for a while before i got my ice tea then that was it ,no food no service nothing for an hour .no lie an hour before a server asked about my food ,i told her i was still waiting and she said she would try to find it for me.i know sliders are small but to lose them is not good ,well that server went the way of my sliders.i was packing up my stuff to leave after anouther half hour(if there was not some cool program on the tv id have been long gone)the cook seen me leaving and brought out my miniburgers(i guess thats what it takes)15 bucks of dry cold leftovers is what i got.couldnt even finish it.complain you say ,i had already been here for close to2 hours for 3 tiny little burgers i could have made in 2 minutes .i ran out of time.tolk me twenty just to pay the bill.never again
Hi Alan
I am very dissapointed and concerned to hear of your expeirence at LB… If you can find the time, please call me at 403 250-2747(BRGR), and i would like to right the situation. Hards hats are welcome… last time i checked your money was the same as everyone else’s.
Brian
We went to Lounge Burger last weekend and it was amazing. Pretty much the best burgers we have ever had. We live about 2 blocks away and were anticipating the opening for a while. The ‘butters beef’ patty is delicious and the fries are unreal. Great job guys!
The only thing we thought was weird is that there are no daily specials. Living in the area, we would visit more often if we had a favorite ‘specials’ night to go on to save a bit of $$. We’re a young couple so we like to go out for dinner and drinks quite often and we would love to make Lounge Burger our new favorite spot. Maybe a wing night? Cheap pints? Anything would definitely help.
All we can say is DO NOT CHANGE YOUR FOOD! It is delicious!
Thanks!
My Fiance and I just ate at Loungeburger. We both had the Kobe burger based off of reviews in this thread; however, we were both greatly disappointed. If you want a really good burger (at half the price too), then go to South Street Burger Company (located in Crossiron Mills).
My wife and I just got take-out from here, and while I don’t expect it to be as good as if we had eaten in, I would still expect at least a decent burger. At almost 20 bucks a pop after we did the BYOB, the results were less than satisfactory. The Butters burger was far from juicy; very dry in fact. My burger was supposed to have an onion ring as well as their burgundy bbq sauce of which it had neither. They forgot the sauce on my wife’s as well, and what irked me more was that I had to pay for those extras that I never got. Last but not least, I am not at all impressed with the pretzel bun. My wife and I were stoked after watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives that featured a burger with a pretzel bun that we could actually get one of those in Calgary. It was dry, didn’t add anything to an already dry burger, plus it cost an extra 2 bucks to have it. All in all, not a great first experience….not sure yet if there will be a second.
Simon:
We are sorry to hear about your expeirence…
Our Head Chef is aware of the complaint and would like to resolve the issue ASAP
A couple of questions have arisen…. did you try to contact the restaurant to resolve the problem? Did you use our website online ordering software or call-in the order? Please call us at 403-250-2747 so that we may investigate further.
Although we cannot kneel to every complaint we are concerned about each and every one, Our take-out meals are treated the same as our eat-in meals and although they may sometimes diminish as they cool in a take-out containers the product is the same as what is plated in the restaurant.
Hey Sarah! We have Daily specials now!
Sincerely
Brian
GM loungeburger
I went for lunch today. I had the Elk Burger, and orderded double smoked bacon on the side. My wife had the special of the day Panko-crusted Crab cake burger. We shared a Calamari appetizer.
The Calamri’s flavouring was great. Just the right amount of breading and lemon flavour, this item could have been really tasty. The only thing wrong with it was that it was overcooked the the point of hard, not just rubbery. We both joked that it made us want to gag. We did not finish this item. The server was good enough to not charge us for it, so kudos to her, she defintely earned her tip. Altough, she didn’t really seemed suprized when she saw the unfinished food.
My Elk burger was ok, very dry, cooked for too long. My bacon came on the side as was as cold as the silverware. The cooks today must have either stayed out too late last night, or are just bad cooks. My fries were good though, but not seasoned enough.
The speacial crab burger was maybe a better idea in theory than in practice. The side soup ordered with this item was also not hot enough.
Loungeburger is perhaps better experienced while you are drinking heavily or drunk. We wanted to stop in for a quick burger but waited too long for sub bar food for what we paid for. Next time we will go to The Burger Inn. We will not be returning.
Took a friend from out of town for her birthday last Saturday night. Overall impression was that the food was quite good (Bison burger for me). However, the service was pretty spotty. Waitress (Jess B) was not what I would consider friendly (a smile would sure go a long way!) Staff just seemed to be too busy to provide personable service. Pretty iffy if I would go back for a while.
1st time there today. Totally awesome burgers! ***** Service could have been a little better. **** All in all, I will be going again, and again! YUM!
We have been here twice. Both times we ordered poutine to start and both times it got screwed up. The first time the server forgot to even out the order in. The second time 20 mins after ordering the server came by to tell us they couldn’t do it with waffle fries. Fine, but she should have come out 2 minutes later , not 20 to tell us that. Then, another 20 minutes later, still no poutine in sight. We had a very upset and hungry 4 year old with us, so I got up and asked our server (who had been MIA) and she looked surprised and then stated the kitchen lost our order. By the time we got the poutine, a whole hour had gone by. I kid you not. This was for an appetizer. My husband had to get back to work, so when the burgers came out about an hour and 20 minutes after we sat down, we had to rush and it ruined out whole lunch experience.
The food is good. The Kobe burger is tasty, but after crappy service, I doubt we will go back.
The burger photo makes me feel starving, I’ll visit this place sometime to see if this picture prove the good taste of it. To taste is to believe!
I work in the office building and have been for lunch here twice. The first time I only had a bowl of mushroom soup as I already had plans for big eats at supper time. Soup was good though not great. Service was terrible. Took over an hour to get our food (group of 4).
Second time I ordered a buffalo burger. This time service was good. Can’t understand why anyone raves about the food. It is OK, not terrible, but there is nothing to make it stand out. The flavor and presentation were no better than at Wendy’s or Harvey’s fast food joints. Yet the meal was more than double the price. There was nothing unique about the buffalo burger – could have been beef for all I know. I could just barely taste the thinly applied mushroom sauce on it. There is just nothing about the food, service, or ambiance that would inspire me to go back, especially at the prices charged.
We tried Lounge Burger a few weeks ago. It was alright, not worth the price. I can think of many other places I would choose to go before going back here. The service wasn’t that great either. Also would have been nice to have an option of ordering something for kids.
oh, and I would like to ad the side salad I ordered with my Burger was tastless. The dressing is very bland and boring