" Truly Awful Service "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

My friends and I had a really awful experience here and it was bad enough to avoid a repeat. Six of us went in and sat down, apparently failing to notice the red face food safety failure plaque neatly placed behind a piece of furniture. Just after we sat down, a fuwuyuan knocked a bottle of hot sauce all over my friend's tights and neglected to apologize. When we asked to speak with the management, she told us we were lying. Whatever, we ordered anyway. (Maybe we were just too excited for the milkshakes? We should've taken the hint and gone around the corner to Cantina Agave). Everyone had a choice of burger, milkshake, and fries to share--no complaints about the fries or milkshakes, except that my friend with the hot sauce issue never seemed to get hers. Burgers came and mine was disgustingly undercooked, so I sent it back. After a run through the microwave, it came back the same. The same friend who'd had the unfortunate hot sauce incident discovered a long piece of hair (that did not match anyone at the table's hair, mind you) melted into a piece of cheese in her salad. We called management back over to complain (I believe cleanliness should correlate with price a bit in these parts and I expect high quality for the price, after all) and what does she tell us? She yells at us for trying to set them up. I swear to god. After a lot of arguing, she finally comped my friend's plate. That was it. I left nauseous and spotted the sign on our way out. Never going back.

" Good Burgers - Reasonable Prices "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Short review:
Went today for the second time and it was good as the first time. I ordered the Cubano Burger and it was very delicious. We only had to wait 10-15 min for the burger, perfect timing for my already hungry stomache.
The decor and setting of the place are very simple but makes you feel comfortable. I really like the wall art the displayed by Jin Xuanmin.
I can only recommend this place

" Good Burger. Can't Breathe. "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I have been there about half a dozen times and each time I leave, my clothes reek of smoke and my lungs hurt. Service has always been competent. The beer selection is great. Yes, the burgers are good- a lot of improvement from their initial abysmal cooking skills and I love their fried options. But for crissake, what is up with their ventilation system? Do they even have exhaust fans? How can that place even pass a health inspection when there is smoke billowing out of the front door?

" What You Expect "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Been twice so far.
1. Weekday lunch: packed. and yes, smokey (not cigz just bad filtration system)
2. Saturday lunch: 1200, second table there. Way more comfortable than weekday.

Not the best burgers in town, but their other stuff is fantastic. Milkshakes-Good, Tattertots-Good, Burgers-enerrr ok.

It's a good place for weekends: chill with friends, fonder about the night before, grub on some oily food and heavy shakes and then walk it off on Chang Le.

" Icanhascheezburger. Lol. "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Just ate here for dinner and am now 3-months pregnant with a burger baby.
First of all, I gotta say I really don't know why there are so many negative reviews for this place. I got the original bistro burger which was really meaty and tasty topped with grilled onions, cheese and fresh onion, lettuce, tomatoes, seasoned mayonnaise on the side. It comes with a side of fries which, contrary to some other review, was definitely more than just a few strips. Ambiance is quite nice with American pop-rock softly playing in the backgroud. This place is open until 4am on the weekends which is perfect for late-night munchies after clubbing at 88 next door. Total for burger, fries, drink + shared appetizer was about 90/pax. I also really liked how the staff was polite and didn't do the premature pay-your-bill-now push.
Overall, a totally chill place to have a late Sunday-night dinner with friends. I'm already planning my next visit.

" Health Hazard "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

The smoke from the kitchen overpowered the room, to the extent that it gave my friend an asthma attack just to eat there. I would avoid it if you respect pulmonary health.

" Bad Food, Bad Service "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

The service in this place was really really bad. Even though there was only one other table in the restaurant it took 45 minutes to get our food. The waiter totally messed up the order. We ordered chilli fries which were cold in the centre. The were soggy, which obviously meant that they came out of a microwave. This place also suffers from what I call the posh burger syndrome, ie no chips with your burger. A couple of chips on the side wouldn't kill them. Instead you have to order the chips separately even though you just spemt 70 kuai on a burger. Gourmet Cafe does this as well which really annoys me but at least the service there is good and the chips and wedges are nice and crunchy.

The bottom line here is there is no need to go to Bistro Burger. Stick to Gourmet Cafe.

" Need Improvement, A Lot "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Music too loud, heat was on way too high even if it's winter.

Eggplant sandwich is good, chili waffle fries is so far best in town, charging 8 rmb for a paper thin slice of blue cheese is a HUGE joke on a mediocre burger.

Manager on duty told us our enjoy shanghai card 2010 (for a free milkshake) does not work and only the 2011 works eventhough enjoy shanghai website didnt state any limitations. Staff has no idea about enjoy shanghai deal as well. Why should the customer be bothered by the miscommunication between the restaurant and enjoy shanghai?! NOT impressed!

Overall experience is not impressed by all the buzz and hype about this place.

" Fail "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

This is probably the third or fourth time I've been to this restaurant and it's been so so each time. I usually don't write reviews unless something has gone stellar or has been memorably bad. This was the latter. I'll keep it short.

Appetizer we ordered never arrived. One of the burgers they brought over had a rusty piece of wire in it. Complaint on our end got a shrug and blank stare from waiter, who after some consultation with the manager brought over another burger. Meat fell apart when you touched it it was so undercooked. To some redemption, the manager came over as we were leaving and offered a coffee or desert on the house. Biblical fail.

" Craving Satisfied "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

ME: The classic burger with added blue cheese (RMB 8 extra). I didn't go for the RMB60 Burger+Fries+Coke combo or the draft beer substitution for an additional RMB15 (which combos are strangely only available with the classic burger-- Im surprised they dont charge 5 RMB more and make it available for all of the burgers), opting instead to pay extra for the Brooklyn Pale Ale and a side of delicious chili-cheese waffle fries. The burger and fries were tummy-fied in record time.

SHE: The "Greek" burger for RMB60 with eggplant, tzatziki sauce all tucked into a pita. I tasted this, and it was a little dry-- could have used more sauce.

I'll go back and give the Fish and Chips a try, not to mention the milkshakes (with a shot of something warming for the winter), and there was a brownie-pie in the entrance display that caught my eye. And when the burger craving again rears itself, I dont see why this wouldnt be the first place in Shanghai Id seek to satisfy it.

" Why Hate On Vegetarians? "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

So Big E (chef and menu planner) personally assured me that BB was vegetarian friendly... they had a mushroom burger. Ok, great! So I suggested the place to a friend. The veggie option isn't on the menu, but you can request it. Let me offer this advice: don't. It was possibly the worst vegetarian anything I've ever eaten. It's not a mushroom burger (a la boca burger style) - it's a bunch of sauteed mushrooms dripping in salty oil/butter, piled onto BUTTERED bread and served with an oily, rubbery cheese (mozz?). The staff was nice enough to switch out the bun for a dry one, but the thing was still about the greasiest Western food I've ever eaten in Shanghai. The only flavor was 'slick'. I had a stomach ache the entire day, and I only finished half of it.

Why can't restaurants just stick a few Boca patties in the freezer for the rare times when they get a veg customer? It seems so simple. Anyway, yeah I'm complaining about the lack of veg options at a burger place -- but a little effort here would have gone a long way.

" Simply Dissatisfied "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

What can i really say about a over cooked, over priced, dissappointing vargas experience. there are so much better burger spots in shanghai and i choose not to even waste my time again. sorry for the bad review but i was simply dissatisfied.

" Mixed "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

For all the hyped, i'm a little disappointed. I ordered a classic burger combo (with the beer), which was just ok. But for my girl friend who ordered a gyro, was a failure - the content itself was ok, but the pita bread was ridiculous. As she was eating the gyro, i saw stream of juice & grease running through the pita bread, which soon transformed into a pile of wet dough. Juicy meat is good in general, but in this case the feeling is mixed, with the combination of bad pita bread, sorry this is no good. I might still give it another chance to try other burgers, it's a burger place after all, not gyro.

" Not So Impressed "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

There are much better burgers out there in Shanghai (eg. gourmet burger cafe, blue frog, faith's diner, city deli, etc.) and MUCH better milkshakes out there. The ones we had at Buger Bistro were waaay too icy. The problem I find with Vargas restaurants is that they usually have great locations, mouth-watering menus that get you excited, but when the food comes, it just tastes "meh". (The one exception to this observation is Casa 13, I think the food there is yummy). Oh well, I'd advise spending your hard-earned $$ somewhere else...

" Yummy! "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Service is a little slow, but the burgers are big, juicy, and everything you could want. fries are fresh and crispy. the milkshakes are great, too!

reviewed here:
http://phatsh.com/?p=258

" A Good Burger Meal With A Decent Price. "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I like burgers a lot and I have visited numerous burger serving restaurants all around the world. When I found out that there was a new burger restaurant located near my home I was enthusiastic to go there and try it out.

Decoration is western with a little hint of asia in the form of big photographs on the wall. The restaurants layout is suprisingly spacy, even thou when it first seemed to be small venue.

Me and my girlfriend chose to eat outside on the 'patio', where they had a few tables. They had an special deal for 'till the end of October, if you order a burger you will get a milkshake or draft beer. Well that deal suited us well.

We ordered Classic burger, Aussie burger, Pommes frittes, piece of cheesecake and 2 special milkshakes.

The beef is always served medium and thats how we wanted our burgers.Classic burger and Aussie burger were both big which was excellent, because it is always better to have little too much than too less.First I thought that 8oz beef wouldn't be enough for me, but in the end the portion was even almost too much. Buns were big and there was enough salad,onions and other stuffings as well, so it wasn't just buns and patty. On my behalf I have to say my Aussie burger was one of the best burger experiences that I have ever had. I have had earlier on that day some really delicious food as well, so the reason why it tasted so good wasn't because I would have been on the edge of starvation. My girlfriend also loved the burger she had.

Our side order pommes frittes were salty and tasty, but maybe just a little bit too hard, but they were still eatable and delicious.

My milkshake was rocky road which consisted chocolate ice cream, almonds, marshmallows and brownies. My girlfriend had a shake that was made out of different berries( i can't recall the name of the milkshake neither the the exact ingredients). Shakes are served in traditional milkshake glasses and on the side they bring the rest of the shake that couldn't be fitted into your glass. So basicly when you have drank a little bit of your shake, you can use the shake 'left overs' to refill your glass a bit. We both liked our milkshakes a lot and the portion was quite big as well.

I didn't have any expectations towards the cheesecake, but it turned to be a positive experience, even thou we were full already. Every bite I took from the cake made me want to eat more of it and I was getting really really full, but I didn't care :)

My overall experince was great and I will definitely come back to this restaurant. I hope that they can keep their quality level high and be able to give us good food experiences in the future as well.

I recommend this place for everyone who wants to enjoy a good burger meal with a decent price.

" Second Visit - Doubly Impressed "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Visited twice now, first time with a mate and the second with the wife and both times have been great. I think for what they have set-out to do they are delivering perfectly. This isn't fine dining but it is one of the best burger experiences to be had in Shanghai. The meat it high quality and they cook it exactly how you order it. Service is pretty standard for Shanghai, attentive if a little random at times. Vargas does it again!

" Not So Fresh!! "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

First time here with couple of friends. The ambience and decor is ok but the burger was "Not So Fresh". We order couple of burger and fries. We ask for medium rare for our burger. The burger arrive, the taste of the burger was fine but the meat of the burger is grey color. I ask the waiteress is your burger are made fresh daily? And she told me that yes. But when i ask why is the meat is grey color and she said their burger are mix with special kind of spices and herbs so is like that. But i ate American burger for over 30 years i never had a burger that is grey color when is medium rare. So we are not even finish our burger because we are scared that will make us sick. We will not going back unless they have fresh burger daily.

" Needs Work But Not Bad "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

My colleagues and I experienced most of the same as the other reviews but there was a light at the end of the tunnel...just the opening hurdles every restaurant has to endure...

The ventilation was definitely a problem with smoke pouring out of the kitchen but as we were by the door it didn't reach us. It's not like it goes much out of the kitchen but it definitely needs to be sorted.

Service wasn't too bad as we got our water and extra condiments on time and didn't have to ask too much for anything. Burgers came out in a reasonable amount of time and everything else was ok.

Burgers were an issue as they were a little more dry, too well done and didn't taste right compared to the opening party and first week. The manager (Joy I think) said that there was a mix-up on delivery over the weekend but it has been sorted and we can expect the top quality burgers "forever now." We'll be back!

Milkshakes were a weird tasting cocoa flavor in the chocolate one so they have a LONG way to go in that department. Didn't like the coating on the fried pickles either.

So after they sort this stuff out it should be an excellent place where my colleagues and I can continue to hit up during lunch hour.

" Wear A Mask "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Went along to try out Bistro burger today at 2:00pm, about half full restaurant with diners finishing their meals.

The wait staff were friendly, courteous and efficient. Order taken, and served rather quickly. The Classic Bistro burger, although stated on the menu - all burgers are served medium - mine was actually well done and dry, which makes me think with the speed of the delivery of the burger (under 8minutes from time of placing order to serving) had been pre-cooked and standing there in kitchen. The Pommes Frittes were ok, asked for mayonnaise, but got some concoction, other than.

Ordered the Warm Apple Pie, why do restaurants zap and reheat desserts in the microwave, the pie was rather stodgy and lacked taste?

The restaurant was incredibly smoky due to poor ventilation from the kitchen exhaust, and interesting to note that three out of the four visible ceiling smoke detectors were covered with plastic bags, which could present fire life safety issues and amazed that the local fire bureau allowed a fire certificate for the restaurant, perhaps they have the right connections!

I wonder if Bistro Burger will offer dry cleaning vouchers for the cleaning of clothes from their smoky restaurant during their soft opening phase, as an incentive to try out their venue?

Overall not bad, but to compared to Gourmet Burger, I would so for the moment that they are slightly ahead of Bistro Burger

" Maybe Not... "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I was there with some colleagues for the first time today.This being another Vargas venture, we had high expectations.

The place is cosy and nice, albeit a little smokey from the kitchen, perhaps a ventilation problem.

The service staff - some are nice and friendly, some are downright blur, delivering our milkshakes to the next table (when they are obviously drinking theirs while our table was empty).

It was a long, long, wait for our food, although to be fair, they did tell us it would take a while. Strange considering the place is barely half full.

Now, the food I have serious gripes with. The burgers looked way too charred. And the caramelised onions tasted burnt.The burgers were mediocre.

And how can anyone get something as simple as pommes frites wrong? They were OVER fried to the point of dryness. Some chips were even black around the edges.

It could be teething problems, being new and all. But I don't know if I'll want to come back to see if it improves. There are too many good burger joints in the city.

" Not Again "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Went to try out Bistrot Burger for the first time on Sunday for lunch. Turned out that they messed up (or even forgotten) our orders for a table of 4; there weren't that many other customers at that time. No attempt at trying to rectify the situation and we actually had to holler out to the wait staff for updates on our missing orders, leaving a 6 year old crying for hunger. Having said that, it'd appear the other customers didn't have this issue since most left having finished their meal while we waited.

The burgers turned out okay and burgers without fries included are just plain wrong. All things considered, Gourmet Burger offer a much better service experience and the burgers are simply more creative to pull off something more than what one can find at a fast-food chain.

Considering this is part of the Vargas group, the service and the food is sorely disappointing.

" No Third Round Thanks! "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

We've been twice to the BB. I have to say it was two totally different experiences.

First round:
Last Tuesday evening. We ordered two burgers, The Original with an extra bacon and the beef-lamb in pita bread that I forgot the name, and two fries, waffles and curls. Everything was great, crispy fries, tasty burger with a very nice topping, perfectly cooked (medium-rare). The service was nice and we were thinking about making this one my official "Sunday Brunch Burger Place" after thanking the Chef for this experience... Until Sunday.

Second round:
So, we went back on Sunday, Brunch time, to make it official. The service was really crappy, my burger with was almost burnt even if I asked for the usual medium-rare. The Combo Meal is too small. The Classic Fries were nice, but the waffles were cold. The mayo tasted strange for the second refill. The milk-shake are more or less flavored milk and if coming with the Combo Meal, shake, beer and fries are sample sized. And don't try the salad, it doesn't worth it.

All in all this whole experience reminds me of this IT joke of Bill Gates choosing between heaven and hell.

" Disappointed "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I'm a huge fan of burgers so I was excited to try this place out. There's a handful of burger choices and lots of different fry options. My friend and I ended up ordering the Bistro Burger, medium rare, and sharing an order of pomme frites. They are also having a special: buy an burger and get a milkshake or beer free.

Verdict: my burger was overcooked, dry, and not well seasoned. The fries were good but the portion was small. And I've never had a "milkshake" like that before, was more like vanilla flavored milk with foam on top.

So I left disappointed. I miss my burgers from back in the States. I will just continue going back to Gourmet Cafe.

" Best Burger In Shanghai? "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I tried this place for the first time yesterday. I thought Eric's burgers were pretty good at Pinnacle Peak, but I think this place is even better. I got the Classic with Mozzarella (RMB 63) and it came with a free, small draft Tsingtao (only through October). The burger had a tasty, charred exterior but was juicy and flavorful on the inside. It reminded me of a burger I might have at a backyard barbecue back home (complete with deformed bun - bottom being bigger than the top). My friends and I ordered two types of fries - curly and waffle. The curly fries were bland and a bit soggy, but the waffle fries were on point. My friends ordered the chicken salad and chili, neither of which seemed remarkable. But the burgers are the draw here,and in my opinion this is the new reigning "Best Burger in Shanghai" in my opinion. Keep it up.

" From The People Of Bistro Burger "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

We just open 2 days ago oficially... it is great people already talk about us ..positive or negative , it is good to know there is a fuss about this.. Our real menu is lauching today and we do have some COMBOS for 60,65 and 75 rmb with fries, huge sodas, milkshakes and beer pints... the meat is 100% from USA from a company called PRIME MEATS ( CAB) and we grounded and mix with some fat by ourselves..
the bread is also made in house, our consultant chef Erik Brown ( won by that's shanghai best burger in town when he was at Pinecle Peak)...anyway thanks for everyone who came so far, sorry if it is not perfect yet, we just open, hope you give us a second chance , little by little will be better and soon until 4 am...
Also we not trying to compete with any other burger restaurant, I think Shanghai is big enough and enough people for everyone and for everyones taste, we just found a perfect space for this type of concept and we developed it ... thanks Eduardo

" Just OK... "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Bistro Burger is ok. It is not overpriced, but it is also not a good deal. That may change with the fries being added to the classic burger, but at the moment its just alright. It is not that its a bad place to eat, it just does not offer any more then any other burger joint in town. I'm not really sure I would go there unless for some reason you can't get a burger anywhere else. Just down the street you can have a burger from Southern Belle which is 50RMB, 5RMB more then Bistro Burger, and you get a side of potato salad and a grilled vegetable skewer (though they don't offer fries.) The quality of the meat is the same along with all the fixin's, only difference is there are probably not as many different types, just a classic and all the add on;s that are standard. Then you have Boxing Cat, which is more expensive, but in my personal opinion a bit tastier and comes with free beer bread. And then you have the old blue frog staple which is really only a deal on the two for one night, but then its a deal and worth it.

The burger meat is decent though in my personal opinion a little too finely ground. The portion size is nice and the toppings are generous. I don't really have all that much to complain about except for the fact that my date's burger was served practically raw the first time it came out and after is was sent out the second time it was still undercooked, not enough to be worth sending back again but enough to be frustrating (granted in any new restaurant this is to be expected since they are training staff how to cook a burger properly). The meat was not seasoned though that is true off almost all burgers I have had in China. Lastly, the exterior of the burger was charred just a bit too much, tasting the bitter burnt meat while the inside is perfect is also slightly disappointing. The bun was not toasted, though maybe that is just a preference which I have. The toppings where the best part along with the pomme frites. All in all it was just ok, and since I live quite close to other burger joints I will probably not return.

" Tastes Like A REAL Burger "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I have to agree with Chinaman's review. This place has a great burger that you can actually taste the beef in...I have tried 3 of their burgers and although they are quite thick, juicy and loaded with flavor.........um.....well I guess there is nothing else to say. They rock! I haven't tried the burgers that don't come with beef because, quite frankly, I can't get over how great the burgers taste. If you were to pit these burgers (no bun, toppings or sauces) against any others in Shanghai they would CRUSH them, handsdown. They aren't cheap (not outrageously expensive) but where in this town are good burgers cheap? Do yourself a favor and give them a shot. I work around the corner and will be frequenting this place....waistline be damned!!