Burger Bar

Wutz

North Dakota

4.08/5  rDev -1.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Visited on November 4 (I believe, I didn't write the date down)

I'll try to make this short and sweet because there's not a whole lot to say that is beyond what the other reviewers have said.

Atmosphere was dark and a bit noisy, but that's to be expected at lunchtime at a high-quality restaurant/bar. I dug the seating and lighting setups.

Food and beer were both delicious. If you're a vegetarian, fear not - they have a burger or two for us and the one I had was quite good. I ordered a DFH Palo Santo Marron to go with it. The beer was spectacular but that' can't be attributed to the bar now, can it?

The service was a little slow and the ladies weren't wearing a whole lot. It's great for the single dudes out there who love to ogle but for those of us who like to keep the eyes on the prize (the wife is the prize, by the way), it's a little off-putting - especially when not all of the waitress-ladies have the appropriate dimensions for their selected clothing choices. Not a big deal, the lack of fabric probably works to their advantage most of the time and a happy waitress will work faster and be more pleasant. Upon re-reading that paragraph, I sound like a jackass. Forgive me, but heed my warnings your fellow restaurant-goer is concerned with those sorts of things.

The beer selection is the best I've seen. Of course, I've not been too many places (I'm prairie land-locked up here in ND) but the selection was quite good compared to what I imagine a lot of places to have.

Food, as I mentioned earlier, was fantastic. No extra comment needed in that department.

The prices were a bit higher than I was hoping for but I feel like the price-to-quality ratio is better than I get most other places.

So, it turns out this review wasn't as short as I initially thought it was going to be. Let that be a testament to how good this place is. I couldn't leave it brief, the Burger Bar is too good.

01-08-2010 19:44:16 | More by Wutz

jp11801

Florida

3.7/5  rDev -11.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Overall a decent place but I really expected better from an eatery/bar in Mandalay Bay Casino. Very good burger and worth every penny of the $20 I spent on it. Cooked to perfection, well presented and with excellent ingredients . So what's the problem?
The service was ok for Fridays style place but the servers have little to NO understanding of the beers they are serving.

Averageish selection Dogfishhead and Chimay abounded (YAWN), I figured in a town that is know to have some of the best of everything they could have done better. Taps beer was good tasting, I had the 90 minute. I settled on this after they could not find the other two bottled beers I requested.

Do n't get me wrong if you want a great burger joint that happens to have a good beer selection then this is the place. If you want a great beer bar that happens to have great burgers then move on to another spot.

11-28-2009 22:08:23 | More by jp11801

Mel61

United Kingdom (England)

4.45/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Missed this place on my previous visit to Vegas, but glad I checked it out this time.
Excellent range of beers, both on tap and bottled. Food is good too as other reviewers have noted.

We tried the 6 beer sampler which is good and obviously beers on tap only.

Service we good and we were recognised the third time we visited and given a free beer each which was nice.

The only down side is the prices, though that could be partly due to the weak £ against the $ for us!

Recommended. I'd certainly visit again on any visits to Vegas.

11-27-2009 16:21:50 | More by Mel61

gos42

New Jersey

4.15/5  rDev -0.2%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 3 | food: 5 | $$

Burger Bar Beer Floats

On a recent trip with my wife to Vegas (and thanks to all who recommended their favorite places for beer on the strip), we went to Hubert Keller's"s The Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay Place. There's plenty of reviews of the place, as it is probably one of the top 3 places for beer on the strip.

But I'm here to remind you of the beer floats. We sat at the bar to have a better chance of talking to the bartenders and staff--always love to watch the dance behind the bar. My wife ordered a flight of beer floats to finish up our late lunch (I had the Kobe beef burger with smoked bacon and an aged Wisconsin Cheddar). As I attacked my burger and the remnants of my flight of beers, I watched another flight of beers being poured. Beer geek that I am, I couldn't help but make fun of the poor guy's selection--with so many good beers around, they were pouring 2 Guinness, Blue Moon, a Framboise, a Newcastle Brown Ale and a Beck's. Certainly nothing that they couldn't get at home.

Little did I know, that these beers were being poured for me!

They came on the same flight board as had my own flight--but this time those simple beers were topped with ice cream. Embarrassed, I lifted the Blue Moon and tasted it. Nothing special and a little strange.

My wife, however, took one of the Guinness glasses and quickly mixed the vanilla ice cream into it. What a difference! We quickly mixed each of the beer floats--Guinness and Chocolate, Blue Moon and blueberry, Guinness and coffee, Newcastle and pistachio and the Beck's with cherry. The only one I thought was a bit over the top was the Framboise paired with vanilla. Bit too sweet for me.

But the flight of beer floats was so delicious, we decided to make another trip back to Mandaly Bay the day before we left for home to have them again!

11-14-2009 22:58:16 | More by gos42

david18

New York

5/5  rDev +20.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

This is my favorite restaurant in Vegas and I think my favorite beer bar anywhere. Unbelievable beer list including many draft beers and an amazing selection of bottles. This is the first place I had Deschutte's Abyss as well as numerous sours and other interesting finds.

The food as well is amazing. The main entree, the burger of course. But at this place you build your burger with a myriad of cheese choices, bacon choices (inlcuding jalapeno bacon), veggies and many other toppings.

The mandalay bay is and one end of the strip and can be a trek if you're not at that end. However, it's well worth the trip and they have good black jack and crap tables for after dinner. Say hello to my money if you win any of it back.

09-07-2009 18:39:46 | More by david18

alexgrahamlv

Nevada

4.45/5  rDev +7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Burger Bar always has a great selection of taps as well as a great bottle selection. They interchange taps quite regularly and bring out some nice seasonal beers. The food their is very quality but a tad pricey. It is always a pleasure to go their before a concert at House of Blues. Probably the only place in town where you can get a Firestone Walker anniversary vertical but with a bit of a price. Definitely worth checking out. Last time I was there they had Sublimely self righteous and mirror mirror on tap.

09-04-2009 05:54:07 | More by alexgrahamlv

ericfb18

New Jersey

4.8/5  rDev +15.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Visited Burger Bar on August 6, 2009 and after reading reviews on BA, was very pleased with the beer selection. Was able to get a Stone Sublimely Self-righteous ale on tap, which was excellent. Had a great conversation with the owner who happened to have a sample 750mL of Firestone IPA in the back. He brought it out and shared it with me at no cost...great guy who knows his beer no doubt. Overall, great selection of bottled beers and decent selection of taps...all reasonably priced, especially considering this is Vegas. Also had a Fire Rock Pale Ale and Deschutes black butte porter...

Would recommend this place to any BA in the area...best beer selection I could find during my visit.

08-16-2009 04:01:40 | More by ericfb18

Backer2004

North Carolina

4.51/5  rDev +8.4%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

Okay, no one is going to Vegas for the beer selection. With that in mind, make your way over to Mandalay and you will be very impressed. I tried to get over there before their keg of Mirror Mirror ran out but I was a day late. The bartender saw my disappointment, gave me two tasters and could tell I was a beer guy and pulled out the black book of vintage beers. Very impressed. Almost talked me into a $30 beer.

After I enjoyed two nice drafts and paid, I noticed they even cut my first beer price in half. Talked to the manager and he knows his stuff as well and appreciates any BAs talking to him.

Wished I had didn't have big meal planned an hour later or would have tried the food as well. Worth the visit if you're on the Strip

08-01-2009 02:15:36 | More by Backer2004

philbe311

Pennsylvania

3.23/5  rDev -22.4%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

A nice tap selection that was quite diverse overall and an even more impressive bottle selection, though some to the prices on the bottle list seemed a tad bit prohibitive.

What proved to be a severe let down was the service. Saying it was average at best, would be a severe understatement. One cusomter asked the bartender what the difference between DFH 60 & 9- Minute IPA was, and they replied, "you'll like it, it will get you drunker quicker."

The food was good, but again the burgers didn't quite live up to the hype.

The atmosphere was also a little off-putting as I found it hectic and chaotic, not somewhere where I could truly enjoy a beer. I felt rushed and really didn't enjoy the experience.

Overall, I may have had elevated expectations based on the experiences of my fellow BAs, but the Burger Bar proved to be a severe let down.

07-23-2009 13:54:56 | More by philbe311

kaseydad

California

4.74/5  rDev +13.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | $$

Was there for the UFC 100 hoopla and stumbled upon this place after the wife and kid went to see Chris Angel (who?). You heard me right. I played it off and decided to venture to Mandalay Bay and back to the Luxor where I went upstairs and found heaven! I just wish I found it earlier. Crap beers in EVERY hotel except this place.

Went in around 8:15 and found a single seat at the large bar area and promptly looked at some empty tables which would quickly fill. I was astounded by the number of taps (23?) and great beers in the coolers directly behind the bar. They had all Chimay bottles, Urthel singles!!, Rochefort 6-10, Hennepin, Westmalle, Gulden Draak, Nogne Porter, Duvel, Old Stock Ale and numerous Trappist Achel to name a few.

On tap they produced Dogfishhead 60 Minute, Bitch Creek ESB, Mirror Mirror, Franziskaner Dunkel, Haywire Hefe, Chimay Red, Delirium Tremens, Lambic Framboise, Primo, Stella Artois, Miller Lite, Bass Ale, Lost Coast Tangerine, Boddingtons, Blue Moon, Fat Tire, Newcastle, Big Daddy (Speakeasy), Grimbergen and Stone Self Righteous! AWESOME selection to satisfy any thirsty man waiting for his wife and kid to get through some fake magic act.

Three bartenders to tend to the thirsty and I started with a Stone Self Righteous and get this....it was served in a Goblet! Whoa! Now that was way suprising and the bartender even mentioned "Nice choice." Next was a Mirror Mirror which was also served in a goblet. Wife called and I had to go. :o(

Overall I had a great experience with my attendance at the Burger Bar. My only regret was not staying at Mandalay Bay or the Luxor to experience all the high quality beers this place has to offer. The bartenders were attentive even though I didn't order food (which you can at the bar) and even had a little small talk. For the UFC 100 going on and a Saturday night to boot, I had a great experience. I didn't order any food but the dudes hamburger and onion rings next to me looked awesome.

Don't make the mistake I did and wait to venture to this place on the end of your trip. Seek it out next time your in Vegas and you won't be disappointed. I know it's on my to do list next time.

07-18-2009 02:24:20 | More by kaseydad