The Counter
Etoile Center, King Abdulaziz Rd
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Tel: 02 2754266
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Custom Built Burgers are the name of the game here at Jeddah’s newest Burger Bar. The Counter Jeddah offers thousands of potential combinations. An American franchise, the brand has received numerous awards featured in GQ magazine as “One of the 20 Hamburgers to eat before you die” and “Best Burger” on OPRAH®. So does the Counter Jeddah live up to the hype? You tell us! Share your reviews – Hit the Review button above
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Oh and by the way, we never worked with Arabian Food Supply…
Just ate with a friend last night. We’ve always enjoyed your theme and the idea of “designing your own burger”. Service was good, servers were polite and helpful. The Staff has always advised us how long it would take for us to receive our orders. Apologizing for the delay as weekends were always busy. And except for the reverberating noise due to the design of the establishment’s interior…(very few sound absorbing materials/design that even the sound from the family section below were heard on the single’s section. We know little can be done with noisy and ruly customers and we’ve seen management have tried their best in more than one or two instances.) we still enjoyed our food. The 50/50 potato/sweet potato fries went in a flash. The lemon flavored iced tea was still good for second and third servings. And as explained by the manager when we asked why my friend’s bun was a bit dry…we understood that they were receiving daily deliveries of fresh bread and the consistency may have been brought about by longer re-heating of the bun; we never had doubts of coming back to The Counter. We hope that the diffferent pates and burger selections would be kept at its best standards. And although the bread were not made by them, hopefully the quality will be always monitored to keep the taste that we’ve always came back for again and again.
Dear RoamnJeddah,
Thank you for your comments, and I am happy to hear you had a good experience overall at The Counter Jeddah, I will ask the management to look into the bread, but as the manager informed you we do receive fresh deliveries every day, but we shall double check.
We look forward to welcoming you again.
All the best,
Khaled
(on another note, can I ask what does Arabian Food Supply have to do with this?)
Thanks Khaled,
We were mistaken for someone else working with Arabian Food Supply by yourrestaurant staff.
It was an honest mistake. Nothing serious…
We will be visiting soon.
BR
very great burgers .. cant wait to go back
Dear Lujain,
Thank you for comments, and its great to hear to you had a great experience.
We look forward to welcoming you again soon,
Khaled
Last week, I chose The Counter Burger as the venue for a reunion with my high school best friends due to excellent reviews from a friend and also due to their activeness on twitter @TheCounterKSA.
We reached the restaurant at 5 p.m. and I was instantly in love with the bright and relaxed interior. The place was extremely clean and we were welcomed by very friendly and attentive staff.
As it was only 5 p.m. the restaurant was almost empty but people kept trickling in and by the time we left there were a lot more families.
We began by ordering our drinks and an appetizer. While all my friends opted for Pepsi, I chose to have a Peach Iced Tea even though I was slightly doubtful as I am yet to have good iced tea in restaurants in Jeddah. However, I was pleased to find out that The Counter’s iced tea is actually perfect and very reasonably priced(and free refills are always delightful).
For starters we ordered Chilli Cheese Fries which were also great. A bit saucier than I would have liked but still great and very filling even between the five of us.
The best part, however, was the making of the burger. We were given a checklist form and ticked our preferences on it. The possibilities are endless, from a veggie burger to ground turkey topped with the cheese of you choice and up to four toppings with only an added 4 riyals for extra toppings. The burger came with the sauce of your choice, on the side. Our burgers turned out absolutely heavenly and since they were very filling we decided to split a slice of nutella cheesecake for desert.
There was a very generous amount of nutella on top of the cheesecake and while I thought it was okay though very pricey at 55 SR while the burger itself was only 45 SR, my friends were not impressed at all. Admittedly, it wasn’t the most mindblowing cheesecake and only slightly disappointing.
All in all, however, it was a wonderful experience from the service and food to the ambience. I will definitely be going back very soon.
Dear Anosha,
Thank you very much for your review and feedback, we are delighted that you enjoyed your experience.
We always look forward to welcoming you again, one recommendation is to try our brownie or Milkshake on your next visit if your friends want an alternative for the cheesecake.
All the best,
Khaled
We ate at the counter twice, both the times the service was extremely slow. The burgers came in 45 mins. No one bothered to inform us why it took so long. The burger wasn’t good at all, the meat tasted more like rubber & gave our family a bad stomatch .The manager just stood in the corner and didn’t give a damn about how the customers were treated.
In short….a waste of time, money & health.
Dear Kate,
Thank you for dining at The Counter, and we apologise if you didnt enjoy the experience, and felt that the service was lacking.
Could you please send us an email at jeddah@thecounterburger.com with your contact details, I would like the senior management team to contact you to understand exactly what happened, as to have a Manager standing in a corner is totally unacceptable, and should have at least visited your table at least once during your visit.
Thank you,
Khaled
First of all don’t go there!
The place is stuffy , and totally unorginized proffesionally
The menu is giving you too many options , and the add-ons is too much to pay for an addition
The service is the worst after fridays & 19th century burger’s
Also at the end the ask you if would like to leave a rating in general
Which they never called or even said thank you
The food is not that delicious , all i can say that i wish shick shack open in town soon
Thank you for nothing guys!
T.c
Dear Ahmad,
Thank you for taking the time to write your review when you recently went to The Counter Jeddah. I am sorry that you didnt enjoy the experience, and I am surprised that you took the time to give us your feedback while at the restaurant and no one from the Management contacted you, I shall take this up with them immediately.
In the mean time if you could send us an email to jeddah@thecounterburger.com with your contact details, so I can make sure you are contacted to understand what went wrong with the service.
All the best, and I look forward to hear from you soon.
Best regards,
Khaled
I was there before 2 days. it was my first time visiting the restaurant. Its unique and Delicious
Dear iMazin,
Thank you for your feedback, and the positive review, we hope to welcome you back to The Counter Burger again.
All the best,
Khaled
Loved it especially the burger in a bowl
Dear alshymaa,
Thank you for your feedback, and we are happy you enjoyed your experience, we look forward to welcoming you again soon.
Khaled Al-Dajani
Let me start off by saying that our experience last night was bad enough for me to want to write a review.
But first, I would like to point out some things we liked about the counter last night:
1. Neat and clean place
2. Everything we ordered was available
4. The put the family section on the ground floor and singles on the first, yey! I hate climbing the steep stairs with high heels when I go to most places in Jeddah.
3. We were 6 adults plus my 4-year old daughter, so when the waiter took our orders and went to enter it in the system, he came back to check whether I would like to order something for my daughter since he had only 6 orders. I thought that was thoughtful. Unfortunately, everything went down hill from there.
My main problem yesterday was the service. It was terrible, terrible, terrible. No one expects a 100% perfect service but there were so many little things that completely negated any good feeling we had about this place. To list some down:
1. The order takes too long to arrive. For a burger place, it was outrageous. We waited more than 45 mins before our burgers arrived. But that was still ok.
2. Out of 6 adults, only 4 got their drinks before the appetizers. The other 2 orders, which was a milk shake and a bottle of water, didn’t arrive until we were halfway done with our burgers. And that was after we asked them at least 5 times.
3. After it took them an hour to make my milk shake, they didn’t bother to bring the shake straw. Drinking a shake with a soda straw instantly made the shake the worst shake I ever had. After I was done with dinner, I asked them if they even had a shake straw. And voila, they did. Which made it ever worse cause I felt so frustrated about the great amount of calories I just had, that I didn’t even enjoy, because of their bad service.
4. The fountain drinks were refillable, but not once were we asked if we would like a refill. We begged them for a refill once, after that we just gave up.
These things may seem insignificant but put a several little things together, and that’s a bad dining experience. Also, getting your drinks on time, or getting a refill, or getting your food on time, are like minimum standard kind of thing. But I think what truly made these little things so important for us was that none of us liked our food. It was so ordinary. The didn’t have the best, the more tasteful, or the most flavorful patties. They didn’t have the freshest, yummiest, or the most moist bread. The didn’t have the most “bursting with flavor” toppings. Everything about the burger was so ordinary. But guess what was not ordinary? Our bill! It was not the most expensive place in town, but common, SR 75/ person for a burger and a coke in (basically) a diner?
I would never go there again. And I would never recommend it to anyone.
Anyhow, I wish them all the best. I hope they improve.
Sam B
Dear Sam B,
Thank you for taking the time to write about your recent visit to The Counter, Jeddah and I apologise if it was not up to your expectation.
I would like to ask you to kindly send your contact information to jeddah@thecounterburger.com and I will ask a member of our Management team to call you and get all the details of your recent visit so that we can make sure they are resolved.
Thank you once again, and I hope you will give us a second chance to put things right.
All the best,
Khaled Al-Dajani
I went to “The Counter” today with my family,
first off; the atmosphere is of a regular diner. A Little cramped.
The service was very lousy; Waitors kept making mistakes with our orders, and the order of the table next to us. -Our drinks were changed 3 times ’till they got it right.
-They don’t tell you if they don’t have a specific thing on the menu, just let you order it then you don’t get it when they bring the rest.
-The meat was actually bad. Bad as in it was not worth the price you pay, bad for Angus, and bad for a place that’s serving mainly BURGERS.
I would much rather go to Fudd’s or 19th century burger.
Oh and the prices, waaay over-priced for that service and type of food.
The manager was kind with our complaints, but any other respectable place would atleast offer the meals to be on the house after so many of our complaints !
That’s pretty much like our experience. I can summarize The Counter in three points:
1. Bad Service
2. Not so great patties
3. Over priced
Dear Shingy-licious,
Thank you for taking the time to write your review of your visit to The Counter Burger. I apologise if it was not up to your expectation, and I would like to kindly ask that you send your contact details to jeddah@thecounterburger.com and I will ask a member of the Management team to contact you to get the exact details of your visit.
Thank you and hope that you will give The Counter another opportunity to give you a great experience.
All the best,
Khaled Al-Dajani
If you love burgers as much as I do, then you definitely need to visit Jeddah’s newest burger joint, The Counter. My husband, our friend, and I all decided to have an early dinner there Monday night. It is located in the Etoile shopping center, next to Stars Avenue Mall. They actually share their main door with Rossopomodoro.
When we walked in, the first thing I saw was this huge white counter, hence their name, The Counter. The place isn’t really big; it probably seats 30-40 people. It pretty much looks like a modernized diner. We were quickly seated and given a menu on a clipboard. It took a second to grasp the concept, but you basically have a bunch of papers that look like application forms. They have two choices when ordering, either you order one of their signature burgers, in which case you do not need the “application forms”, or you customize your own burger, cue in the “forms”.
On each one of these papers, you have a list of ingredients in each category. You choose the meat you would like, the weight of your patty, the cheese, the toppings, the sauce, and the bun. You also have the choice of skipping the bun and getting your patty served in a bowl on a bed of greens (which you also choose). Fries and other appetizers are ordered separately.
Let me start by saying I really loved the concept, but there are so many choices and so many possibilities it makes your head spin. On the upside, there is something for everyone. I thought that the waiter should have explained the restaurant’s concept, but I guess they figured people would ask if they needed help.
After much deliberation, we decided to order their fried dill pickle chips, the trio (regular French fries, sweet potato fries, and onion strings), and 1/3 pound beef burger for each of us with a variety of toppings.
Each burger comes with 4 toppings, and each additional topping was 4 sr. There are also Premium Toppings, which are an additional 6 sr per topping. I am a total cheese lover, and the fact that they had 12 cheeses to choose from was amazing to me. Everything from the standard cheddar to upscale cheeses like brie, gruyere, and blue cheese.
Their toppings range from the usual toppings baby spinach and mixed greens, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos, to the slightly odd and different toppings, like olives, grilled pineapple, cranberries, roasted corn and black bean salsa. Their premium toppings include beef bacon, avocadoes, guacamole, and sun dried tomatoes to name a few. I had the most trouble choosing a sauce because they all sounded so good and interesting. They are definitely not your typical sauces on a hamburger. They had things like Dijon balsamic dressing, sundried tomato vinaigrette, ginger soy glaze, peanut sauce, apricot sauce, au jus, and many more.
Finally, you order your bun, if you want one, which is a white bun, wheat bun, or English muffin. As for drinks, they have the usual soft drinks, which you could also order as a float (YUM!) and an assortment of signature milkshakes, as well as a bunch of flavors you could mix and match (up to 3 flavors). I ordered mint with chocolate, and the others ordered floats.
They brought our fried pickles and the Trio out first, along with our drinks. The fried pickles were OK, but definitely an acquired taste. The dipping sauce was not good at all, and I couldn’t even begin to tell you what was in it. Frankly, it tasted like burned plastic.
In contrast, the trio was amazing. It came steaming hot and really crispy. The onion strings were perfectly fried, not soggy, not burnt. The sweet potato fries were exactly what I have been craving, sweet and salty. They had some sort of Cajun spice on it, and it was to die for. It came with 3 different dipping sauces- spicy sour cream, ranch, and chipotle.
My milkshake was good, but they used fresh mint, so it gave it an earthiness I wasn’t accustomed to, but it was still good. The floats came with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, and another cup full of the soda you ordered so that you could keep topping off your cup. They were delicious!
The burgers came out about 15 minutes later. The beef was top quality and cooked to perfection. I ordered avocados on mine with the sundried tomato vinaigrette and it was the perfect balance of creaminess and tanginess. My husband and our friend were equally pleased with their burgers. I don’t recall exactly how much each thing was, but our bill was 280 sr, which isn’t cheap, but isn’t outrageous either. I thought the quality of the food, as well as the novelty deserved it.
In general, we had a great experience and would definitely visit them regularly. However, there were a few things they could improve. First of all, the staff should explain the concept to first timers because it could be a bit overwhelming, and in turn, off-putting.
Secondly, a number of things we ordered were unavailable, such as English muffins, turkey burgers, and their “market selections”, which are seasonal choices in each category that change depending on what is in season. Honestly, these small issues are not deal breakers and I will definitely be a regular customer.
Dear mns86,
Thank you for your detailed review of The Counter Jeddah, and we are pleased that you enjoyed your experience.
With regards to Turkey Burgers, we are looking at different supplier to import Halal Vegetarian Fed Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and once we do, we shall be able to put it on the menu.
With regards to English Muffin, the shipment has arrived and is now available in our restaurant.
As for Market Select, it is reserved for local specialities, that give you a Burger Experience with a local taste and feel. We are currently planning out a selection of different Local Burgers which we shall be introducing soon, and we shall inform you once they are available.
Once again thank you, and we look forward to welcoming you once again to The Counter Jeddah.
All the best,
Khaled
The burgers here are a good clean and healthy option, if you don’t want the grease. Also nice is the option of having the burger in a bowl, as opposed to in a bun, which is great because you still get your burger fix but without the nasty carbs.
The milk shakes are worth a try. They have different kinds that you would not find any where else, like peanut butter and birthday cake milk shakes. you can also create your own.
My personal favorite there is the sweet potato fries, which I think no one else serves in Jeddah. They are again a great healthy alternative to the usual french fries. I also love their onion rings, they’re the really thin stringy kind.
I’ve been 3 times already and would go again, especially to try the turkey patties.
Dear Um Mannah,
Thank you for your review, as previously commented we are still trying to import Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and we will inform you once it does become available.
In the meantime English Muffin is now available in the store if you do wish to visit us again, and we hope that you keep having good experiences at The Counter Jeddah.
All the best,
Khaled
When I saw THE COUNTER: COMING SOON at/near/whatever Stars Avenue, I was a bit more excited than normal. I checked out their website and my family were slightly inconvenienced by the 2 cm deep mini-river of drool that served as our new flooring, until I could finally go and satisfy my inner chef/connoisseur. (No, I used that right. Any burger I painstakingly choose the details of is definitely fine cuisine.)
I didn’t want to go as soon as they opened, because my father passed away -Allah yir7amo- but when I finally did go about a month later, you can imagine my anticipation. My sadly unrequited anticipation.
[b]Everything that I’d picked on their menu (turkey patty, bagel bun, not sure what else) was unavailable! The chicken patty that I settled for wasn’t fantastic, and towards the end of the night the air conditioning broke. In addition to that, their ‘The List’ discount card is only for Amreekan.
Conclusion: MAJOR disappointment. Of course I want to go again, because customizing your freakin’ burger is an amazing idea. But not anytime soon, and I hope by then they’ll have upped their standards.[/b]
Dear bzzfft,
Thank you for visiting The Counter and your review on Jedahfood, we always want to reply to our customers, and make sure they are happy.
Allah yir7am your father wa yighfirlo
With regards to your visit, I would like to highlight that Turkey was on its way from the United States, but due to some changes in the import of Poultry items from the US that it was stopped, we are currently looking for alternatives sources so that we can provide Turkey to our customers. As for the bagel bun, I think you mean the English Muffin, and this is coming on our next shipment, so hopefully it will be on the Menu soon.
As for our “The List” we are planning on implementing in Saudi very soon, and if on your next visit you leave us your contact details with any of the floor managers, we will contact you once it goes live.
Thank you for the time to write your review, and hopefully we will see you at The Counter once again and you will enjoy your Custom Built Burger experience.
All the best,
Khaled