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Would You Send Back an Overcooked Burger?
Oh, it's going back!
I like my burgers medium rare, but I've learned to always order them rare. There are several reasons for this:
First, I don't mind my meat red and bloody, but I hate it gray and dry. Unless you're dealing with refined food, cooks will typically overshoot the desired temp on a burger.
Second, it puts the kitchen on notice that I am serious about my burger temperature. I figure that unless the kitchen is unusually detail oriented they aren't likely to pay much notice to 'medium rare' but 'rare' might get their attention.
Finally, I feel asking for rare gives me extra license to send the burger back if it's overdone. Which isn't to say it's wrong to send back a burger that was ordered medium rare, but when I ask for rare I have made myself very clear and I'll have no qualms about asking the restaurant to get it right. I'll suck it up if the burger comes out medium, but anything past that and it's going back.
To be sure, I don't like the food going to waste but I agree with Nick, it's the kitchen that is at fault. Aside from that, I feel no guilt. The ingredients in a burger are very cheap, the meat costs maybe a $1.50. I'm paying for the labor and have every expectation that it's done right.
Also, I've never once gotten any attitude from a server when I send back a burger. They always seem to understand and are usually apologetic. And the restaurant itself, I agree is better off with a second chance to make good than with a disgruntled customer and without feedback that might help them avoid repeat mistakes.
Beef and Gorgonzola Burgers
Blue Cheese on a burger is awful. Blue cheese in a burger is something worse.
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I applaud the effort. Yes, Stage is foremost about Polish food, but it also a good part greasy spoon and one should expect a reasonable chance to find a satisfying or perhaps craveable burger. I don't blame Nick for hoping he'd find a hidden jewel of a burger even if it's not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Stage.
But alas Nick's review is pretty on the mark. The folks at Stage definitely care about serving good food and use quality ingredients -- that's why, for instance, they buy fresh ground beef daily. However, when it comes to burgers they are missing either the right know how or sensibility. The only thing I disagree with Nick on is the bun, it's not any good either. Soft is good but this bun is all fluff. It has the cotton candy effect, disintegrating on your tongue.
So yeah, Stage misses the mark on the burgers. The non-Slavic dishes are wild cards. Some things they get right, and other things they don't quite understand. But still Stage is one of my favorite places for all the things that are on the mark, from the food to the ambiance and even, with my penchant for punishment, the impossibly uncomfortable seating. I love Stage for the meat pieroges with onions and sour cream, the keilbassa, the endearingly simple boiled beef with horseradish sauce, the solid mashed potatoes, the equally solid boiled potatoes, the inexplicably awesome roast chicken, and the knockout beets.