Barney's Gourmet Hamburger
1600 Shattuck Avenue
Suite 112
(between Cedar St & Lincoln St)
Berkeley, CA 94709 (510) 849-2827
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner, Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
21 reviews
Neighborhood: Downtown
""Nyummm nyummmm khmm khoooh, mfinally, shthankh godzhsh!!! llumnyum..." -me, this afternoon, upon realizing that Berkeley is FINALLY…" read more »
92 Reviews for Barney's Gourmet Hamburger
HAMBURGLAR HARRO!
They have so many types of different burgers (or ways of preparation) that you'll have a hard time deciding what to get. For sides, I recommend getting the fried vegetable basket and/or curly fries to go with your meal. They are oh-so-tantalizing.
I haven't had the luxury of having even dented their menu because everytime I walk out of here I feel like I'm never eating another burger. These burgers are huge. Be prepared.
Yes, this place is a MUST TRY!! They have magnificent hamburgers. Kinda of a wait, and service sorta slow but man, they have some great Ideas here. Come here, leave with a very full belly. And you will come back!
Holy crap this place brings back memories of stuffing my face with giant, impossible to handle gourmet burgers back in my college days. You know, the kind where you take two whole minutes to figure out how the hell you're gonna hold this thing, only to have it all fall apart on your face once to take your first bite. You can't go wrong if you're able to go farther than Bongo Burger.
Must tries:
Turkish Coffee Milkshake (w/ Malt) - Turkish coffee ice cream malt shake, I really don't have to describe this any further, do I?
Curly Fries - Mmmmmm.
Veggie Basket - Mushrooms! Get the mushrooms! If you're a mushroom fan like me, you cannot go wrong. Hell, tell them all you want is mushrooms! (Well, mushrooms and zucchini - I do that).
Warning: If you get both the curly fries and the veggie basket (all mushroom, of course), prepare to have your legs work double-time to haul your double-weight ass back to home. Up by a factor of two if you get the milkshake also.
YUMMY hamburgers! Daughter and I were here a couple weekends ago - I ordered the Baja burger, she had the Western burger and we ordered the curly spicy fries and the skinny fries- let's just say there was nothing left on any plate! The fries come with a really tasty ranch dressing for dipping and dip we did! The meat they use in the hamburgers is great- not greasy and lean tasting- good to the very last bite! One of the better burgers I've had in a long time!
I never knew how many different types of burgers someone could make until I went to Barney's. My family are meat eaters and they were all ecstatic with their burgers here--from hickory burgers with onion rings in them and extra bbq sauce to cajun or jerk spiced pineapple burgers, they have something to please everyone! And you HAVE TO get an order of their curly fries which complete your meal. Their onion rings are pretty good too, but no one normal should ever pass up their curly fries as a side to your favorite burger.
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The service sucks. They never have enough staff.. the food is good.. the onion rings are a hit or miss...
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i swore off red meat after a breads of india lamb scare and two weeks later cooking red meat in my own house and again ending up with my end up and running all night...and all the next morning...and still leaking the following morning, yes leaking. bubbling crude, texas tea, black gold, all that. but my carnivorous dream boat rock star boyfriend is in town so i thought i'd show him a burger, berkeley style.
hostesses think they know so much but they're just proficient at applying socially irrelevant eye make up and explaining long windedly (and not intelligently) how they CAN'T FUCKING HELP YOU and then looking at you like YOU'RE THE IDIOT. maybe that's just here, today.
I wanted to sit outside and i hate to be told a server can't shimmey the extra five feet to appease a paying customer. However, the server was amazing, nothing like the hostess and i bet if i had asked her she would've tried her best to "appease" me herself. Luckily for us all, i had seen the menu once she came smiling politely my way and all was forgiven.
then the food came and i almost wanted to go kiss that twit hostess. no need for red meat here! the blackened chicken 'burger' was incredible and the curly and steak fries (we got both) were way too addictive. four dollar glass of chardonnay later and i was a satisfied customer excited to try my next barney's gourmet plate--inside, of course.
I love Barney's burgers! Everything I've had is sooo good. The zucchini is to die for, and it's something I ALWAYS order.
Good food, good service, good location. I can't find any faults. All you people bitching about the prices, go to McDonalds and get a big mac.
If the ranch was an item on the beverage menu, I would order a large and have a refill.
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Looking for a big purple plushie to greet me at the door singing "I love you, you love me...". but alls I found was a good burger joint instead.
I have seen Barney's at a few locations in the Oakland and Berkeley area and wanted to try it for a while. Last week while on another foodie adventure I got my chance.
After sampling some pizza at cheeseboard pizza up the street I made sure to save room to try a burger at Barney's. My fiance and I went in and decided to split a burger and fries. I was the lucky one who got to pick the burger. Bacon cheeseburger it is. Can't go wrong there and they didn't. Piled onto a nice sized not pre-made looking patty was about eight or more pieces of bacon. Perfect!! It was good as were the fries which I am a naturalist with. No curlies for me just the thin cut no frills fries please. They were crispy and delicious. Although not fresh (we could see the commercial sized freezer bag sitting next to the deep fryer) they were still good.
The low down.
The counter in Palo Alto and Santana row is supposed to be the shizzle but Barney's was way better to me. Simple and delicious.
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Barney's is an ALTERNATIVE for those of us health conscious people that still want to be able to enjoy a delicious burger. Turkey burger that is. They provide various alternatives to the typical HAMburger by offering turkey and veggie options. I love their sunshine burger which consists of turkey burger, aged cheese, sprouts & avocado. Their milkshakes are absolute to die for as well! The burger is usually filling enough...so the bf & i usually split a half order of onion rings or fries, and share a shake. I always leave there satisfied....and walk home w/ the other half of the burger for later =)
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Haven't been here in years, but was pleasantly surprised. We had a big party - 17 including 6 or 7 kids. The staff was really nice and accomodated us in a separate downstairs area. Service was excellent. I felt bad for the waitress trying to keep track of all of our orders. She initially forgot a couple of drinks but quickly brought them.
The salads were big as were the burgers. Mine was cooked as I ordered it (med-well). Kids enjoyed their burgers - which were good-sized for a kids meal. I wished I had tried a turkey burger. They serve all burgers (beef, turkey, veggie) in a variety of styles so you're bound to find something for everyone. There's a variety of salads too.
The bill did not have a mandatory tip which was refreshing, but they definitely deserved one.
The menus don't fold. They're tri-fold menus laminated so tight that they don't fold even though they have creases -- they spring back open as soon as you let go.
Service was prompt and helpful; environment was clean and bright. I didn't notice the fireplace until we were on the way out -- the rest of the place doesn't really give off the fireplace vibe. The chairs aren't the most comfortable in the world, but I'll live.
The burger selection is pleasing, as is the beverage menu. The Oreo milkshake was pretty decent -- not too heavy and not too weak. We split an Alpine burger (can't seem to finish an entire gourmet burger in a single sitting anymore and taking burgers home never works out) -- swiss cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms. Then we added bacon. You can add bacon to pretty much anything and it will instantly be more awesome. Remember that. Bacon.
Nothing took too long to come out. The curly fries were a bit on the dry and crispy side, but I like most of my food soggy so I think I'm in the minority. Their ranch sauce is interesting. It tastes like it has extra herbs in it...rosemary or something. I'm terrible at identifying ingredients. The plate of curly fries was enough for five of us to split comfortably.
The (half) burger itself was about as large as you'd expect, but piled high with toppings. The top bun looked a bit undersized and was mostly falling off, but I made due. The beef patty was quite good and the swiss and onions complemented it nicely. The mushrooms could have been much more flavorful, but they weren't bad. The bacon was a bit on the crispy side as well, but still thick and flavorful.
That's about it really. I didn't realize we were supposed to pay at the counter until we sat there for a while talking and waiting for someone to pick up the payment. They really need to print that in neon letters on the bill or something.
Would eat here again. Next time I'll get a different burger. With bacon.
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I've always been a fan of hole-in-the-wall burgers until I came here. I managed to never even hear of Barney's while I lived in LA (there's one in Santa Monica) so I didn't try it til I moved up here.
Their turkey burgers (especially the Sunshine Turkey) are awesome... as are the 4 or 5 hamburgers I've tried.
Definitely get the curly fries (the half orders are huge), as they've got some kick to them.
I know this place is called Barney's Gourmet Hamburger but the burgers here takes a back seat to the amazing curly fries and milkshake! I'll always remember my first meal there. It was after the bonfire and I was grabbing a snack with my sister and her friends. I ended up getting a strawberry milkshake and splitting a large order of curly fries with them. The curly fries are always perfectly seasoned and crunchy. There's a bit of a kick to it and judging by the color, they probably put some paprika or something like it in the seasoning. The strawberry shake was HUGE! It is enough for 2 people! And it has real strawberry pieces in it! Depending on when you get it, sometimes you might even get lucky and get some fresh strawberries in it. Overall, those 2 things alone will make my day any day!
I've also tried their fried veggies basket. It is no where near as good as the curly fries, although being a mushroom fan, I do like the mushroom. They use large (not costco large though) mushrooms dipped and fried in batter. The end result is usually a pipping hot juicy mushroom that just oozes out mushroom juice. =) The Oreo shake is also amazing! It is by far my favorite shake there, closely followed by the strawberry. You get the nice chocolate flavor filled with chunks on the cookie! Once in a while your straw will get blocked by the larger chunks then it's cookie time!
Lastly the burger, not that the burgers are not good, it's just the other things are SOO GOOD! Even though their menu doesnt have as good of a selection for the chicken and turkey burgers, you can get any of the regular burgers made with chicken or turkey. My two favorite are the North Beach (there's a pile of artichoke and mushrooms) or the Sunshine for a nice warm day outside (loads of avocado). The most important thing to remember is be careful when you eat it. The burgers are usually so big that half of my burger falls on my plate.
And for all of you low carb diet people, they offer protein burgers too!
So number one, I'm cheap...BUT I will pay for GOOD food. That being said, Barney's is only getting 4 stars b/c of the onion rings.
I can go in and order a vanilla malt and onion rings and be just fine! The burger options look really appealing, but HELLLOOOOO paying extra for my fries on the SIDE???? If I pay upwards of $8 for a burger it better be THEE BEST burger, like handmade by shaolin monks
(WU-Tang) and come with handcut fries!!!
But at the end of the day, who cares, cause I don't eat anything that had legs. (Their veggie burger is "Garden" - gross!)
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Spicy curly fries: get 'em, 'nuf said.
The burgers are pretty good too, but honestly, I'm not a big fan of burgers so big that all the toppings fall out when you bite into it. I mean, they're still tasty when scattered over your plate, just a little messy.
Upon reading the earlier reviews, it appears a trip to try out their milkshakes is in my near future.
I love the vegetarian menu, veggie burgers are the BEST! Ironically, I have only gone to Barney's for the salads. My favorite is the Blackened Wildwood Tofu salad. Now, it's actually listed as Blackened Chicken, but I subsitute with the tofu because:
1) I don't eat meat.
2) Veggie patties can be dull.
3) Barney's offers something other than veggie patties for vegetarians.
4) the Wildwood Tofu isn't on the menu, it's like the 'secret' menu @ InNOut.
Anyway, I love Barney's for all of the above reasons
BUT
I don't like THIS Barney's because I noticed (after eating, unfortunately) that a Grey Poupon mustard jar was stamped "Best Before DEC. 24 2007". I pointed it out to the kind waiter who looked shocked and brought the jar to the back, but never returned with an explanation or an apology. As my boyfriend was paying the bill, I noticed another jar stamped "Best Before OCT. 14 2007".
BLECH!!! nasty.
My boyfriend brought it up to the register and told the waiter again. The manager was working on one of the registers @ the time, he casually said that they 'consolidate' the mustard jars. Ok. I'm all for reusing and recycling and shit, but I'm eating this mustard. What about those people that lick their utensil clean to dip into the jar? What if the lid fell on the floor mustard side down? It's like, a breeding place for bacteria.
I was mad with the lack of consideration by the manager. Prick was too busy counting money in front of everyone. But, the meal was done and the bill was paid for. The weather was crap and it was just time to go home. I left unsure of the safety of the Grey Poupon mustard @ Barney's in Berkeley. It's bezerks how they feel comfortable 'consolidating' like that. I really hope the dairy jars aren't 'consolidated' as well.
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I can't get enough of the garlic fries. Us midwesterners get excited when a restaurant has tabasco, so putting garlic on fried potato is like an epiphany.
I liked their burgers, and I haven't had any problem with service either time we've been there.
Use to be a regular at this place when one of my dickheaded acquaintances lived in this neighborhood.
After that asshole moved out of his Berkeley residence back in '02, I kinda quit coming here but recently when I had a lovely smoking hot lass for a guest, I went here to grab dinner for us and got hooked on the awesome burgers ( more variety than you possibly knew existed) all over again.
Also, for side orders, their fries are some of the best I've ever had. Especially when you ask them to add in the minced garlic.
The reason I'm only giving them four stars is because their staff are a bunch of surly and unpleasant assholes.
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The burgers are good but I ALWAYS ALWAYS get the curly fries.
MmMMmM....
This Barney's is a little different and more casual than the one on Steiner St. in the city, but the burgers are equally awesome. I prefer the ambiance on Steiner St. better just because the outside patio in the back is tented and they have heaters that warm you up at night so it's not so cold. If you're looking for a classic hearty burger, get the Angus w/ mushrooms and caramalized onions, though they do have tons of different burgers that are great as well. I'm not a huge fan of curly fries but the ones here are good and come with ranch dipping sauce. Barney's always hits the spot.
This is my neighborhood hook up for curly fries.
Their burgers are always good but inevitably the service and food are very inconsistent, and I always spend about $2-5 more than I expect to per person.
Even still, the number is programmed into my phone and I eat here a few times a month...mostly by takeout. Which sometimes they royally screw up (I once sat for 20 minutes past the time they said it would be ready and was in no state of mind to wait for food if you know what I mean)...
But the food is usually good, when it does come, and I find table service is better than takeout service.
The burgers are awesome, especially the Turkey burgs. The Chinese Chicken Salad is addicting. The owner, who works the front counter and barely speaks English, can screw an order up and then have 'tude about it, so be careful and make sure he reads your order back if you're ordering take out over the phone.
Portions are huge and the prices are decent.
I love Barney's. If you're in the mood for burgers that are a bit different, this is the place to go. Everything's been said about the food in other reviews, so I'll just throw in a shout-out to the Oreo shakes and the awesome deck. Btw. Don't get take-out, or you'll miss out on half your milkshake! This place is meant to be a sit-down restaurant, so sit down and wolf down a gigantic burger with weird toppings and prepare to feel stuffed for the rest of the day!
NOT SUITABLE FOR VEGETARIANS. At least, it's not suitable at the time of this review. I'll explain below.
I enjoy Barney's. Their burgers are tasty and large, and their turkey burgers are the best turkey burgers I've had in the US so far (Not the best -burger-, just turkey burger). Their milkshakes are obscenely large as well as tasty. Their items are pricey, but not more than I expect from the west coast. My vegetarian friends are fond of the garden burgers, and no one has bothered with the salad. Against the burger places I've been to, I'd give it three stars. Solid, tasty, a little pricey, slow service at times. Reasonably good all around, except... for their french fries. (*horror*)
Don't get me wrong. Their french fries (steak cut and curly) are delicious, and you can ask them to put sauteed fresh garlic on them. Unfortunately, there is no note on the menu informing customers that the fries are made with beef. This wouldn't be so bad if the servers bothered to tell us this before our fifth visit or so. I certainly felt bad for the vegetarian with me who had been partaking in the fries, but I ESPECIALLY felt bad for my friend who cannot eat beef for religious reasons. He had partaken in the fries on previous occasions, before a server bothered to tell us. (Thank you very much, btw. I appreciate knowing about this.) Oh man, is he never going back.
This lack of meat disclaimer is especially odd given the context of the menu. There is an entire sleeve given to vegetarian options, garden burgers, and sides (including fries). There's no good reason to assume they use beef in making the fries. And I've been pretty busy telling all my vegetarian friends about the fries -- so far we're at about ten very unhappy people who were never told. Not one vegetarian that I've spoken to had expected this.
So, if you don't mind beef, love the fries. Devour the fries! (I command you!) But otherwise, don't order them, unless your server tells you they can make fries without the beef.
Seems like a normal grade A/B burger place, probably a better version of Ricks because of the booze. The portions were big and the burgers looked juicy; perfect for a carnie!
I've tried almost all the burgers there now, and there really hasn't been one I disliked. Their non-burger sandwiches are good too, so I hear.
My two complaints are thus, however: at about $8.00 for a hamburger, something other than an orange slice should come on the side and $1.80 for a can of soda and a cup of ice to pour it over is pretty outrages.
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I'm not giving Barney's a very high rating but as a disclaimer I must say I do really like the place, and that it has the potential to be much better, if not in terms of pricing, then in the way that its plates are executed. I have only been there once, and admittedly ordered my food to go and therefore cannot offer the full scope of a sit-down dining experience. But I think there are things to be said about the food that at first impression both shed light on what Barney's does well and what they could improve upon.
After fifteen minutes wracked with indecision from the sheer size of its menu, on a whim I chose the teriyaki burger, a beef patty glazed with teriyaki sauce with slices of Canadian bacon and pineapple on top. I had seen a friend eat their onion rings with great relish before, so going on that memory I ordered them (they are not offered on the menu, but they do serve them). The restaurant was pretty empty at eight o' clock on a Thursday evening, and the service was pretty lax. Even after I had decided on my items I had to wait a little bit for the hostess to return to the counter. I put my order in and waited a fairly short time until a huge plastic bag came in my direction.
So a lot of food, great. I peeked into the bag of onion rings and saw that it was heaps and heaps of thickly-battered rings, brimming to the top of a standard-sized paper lunch bag. All of this right after I had finished telling O. how onion rings, in my opinion, tended to be the greatest and among the most irresistible ripoffs on burger menus. So I had to eat my words.
Well, not quite. An order of onion rings and the burger came to over thirteen dollars. I don't recall ever paying that much for a burger meal, because if I ever had occasion to eat a burger not in the single-digit bracket it would be because somebody else was footing the bill. So rather than eat my words, I had a huge steaming plastic bag full of hot food. Well, why not, I shrugged.
Back at O.'s place, I made for a half of the burger. O. pointed out that the patty was still pretty darn red-- hardly the medium I had requested. I had figured that they would probably undercook it, but not this much. While it was not dripping blood, the brightness was a bit eery. I smeared some teriyaki sauce over this and sucked it up.
Biting into it was pretty pleasurable-- as the meat had not been cooked much, the patty was tender; the canadian bacon was soft and provided just enough textural contrast to make the whole thing interesting; and the grilled pineapple was juicy and sweet, adding a nice note to the whole scheme. However, the teriyaki sauce is too salty and one-dimensional. Due to the lack of complexity in the flavor of the sauce and the fact that the pineapple, while delicious, can only do so much, it was hard to finish the whole thing.
Of course, I did. Along with the onion rings (albeit those with O.'s help), which are thick battered with an almost savory funnel cake-like dough. The rings have a hint of a hot kick to them and black pepper and are finished off with a sprinkling of parm and ranch on the side, and it is decidedly more adult than most other variations of the popular menu item.
However, I was displeased with the fact that the onion rings came in only one size and that size was decidedly gargantuan. I know they are an item not to be had by a solitary diner and have a place at the center of the table for everyone to grab at, but because there was only the size that I ordered and because deep-fried foods shouldn't serve as anyone's leftovers, and because I am so bull-headed and lack so much will to just throw some of them away rather than suffering physically, I had them all. And I suffered. Goodbye, summer weight loss.
The food at Barney's could be excellent if they preferred more interesting spices over salt (the onion rings, with the mix of spices, were so interesting and good), but it's still in a kind of in-between area, not quite fully an upscale establishment but definitely not a greasy spoon. While it works well in the Oakland Rockridge area and would do so theoretically in the gourmet ghetto, I will probably not incorporate this into my regular burger runs.
I would say that overall my experience warrants up to three stars.
The curly fries and onion rings and shakes are very good! But a gal cannot dine on these things alone.
The veggie burgers are fine, but they come with toasted, floppy wheat bread instead of a bun, so it gets a little soggy. And the veggie patty gets crumbly pretty easily. When I come here, I eat everything with a knife and fork and skip the soggy toast. Down the table at the carnivore plates, I noticed uneaten buns, too, so it might be a general bread problem here.
If you keep driving up and down Shattuck looking for this place and feeling like you're crazy because you can't find it, don't worry -- just look down Cedar and you'll see it (I don't know why it has a Shattuck address -- the entrance is on Cedar, about 1/4 way down the block). You may indeed be crazy, but at least you didn't write down the wrong address.
I personally am crazy about the Turkish Coffee shakes here. Second vote to the Mocha -- just like Turkish, but a hint of rich chocolate.
Burgers are great, fries are great, but remember the reason you visited: The Shakes!!!!!!!!!!
Staff-- touch and go, depending on if they took their meds. Can be standoffish.
Restroom: Tidy.
Parking: Hellish.
At 1:00PM, Franz enters
Franz: Dude! did you have lunch.
G: Nope! I got leftovers in the fridge, plan to eat in 15 mins.
Franz: It is Friday, let's get food.
G: No Dude. I have to go to eat out this evening as well. Cannot eat out 2 times a day.
Franz: Come on Man!, It is Friday.
G: I feel LIKE Burger.
Franz: Okay, where?
G: Barney's on Shattuck.
Franz: Cool.
G: Give me 2 mins, I have to be back by 2:30 for my meeting.
Franz: We will be done by then, right?
G: I hope so.
Driving to Berkeley, got lost but were driving in the right direction. Ended up on the same street as Barney's.
Next scene: Sitting outside on the deck in the sun, ordering Burgers.
G: remembers the previous visit to Barney's, orders Barney Burger Medium Well done ;-)
Franz: Same
Server: You guys want to share an order of fries.
Us: YuP!
By the time food gets there: We talk about work, house market, backyard, motorcycles, Eye-Candies walking around the area and distracting us.
Next Scene: Our Burgers make their entrance.
Burger: Hi G
G: HellOOOOOOO Burger.
Burger: Go easy on me.
G: Okay, pours some of that 1000 Island sauce on the burger, slaps the tomato slice and BAM, first bite.
The burger is just the way I like it.
When you bite into it, you know that they used good meat and none of the cheap crap you get at fast food places.
Fresh Lemonade (No Refills :-( was Niiiiiiiiice
Fries were SINFUL, could not avoid them.
Loved the lunch visit to Barney's.
Recommend: Yes
Will I go back: Yes
Romantic: A Deck to yourself, Sunlight, FRIES, small tables, you go at 1pm, there is not much of a crowd left. Sit here and watch the world go by. Just don't do it when you are working ;-)
$13 for Burger, Lemonade, Fries, Tax, Tip
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Barney's is certainly a step above your ordinary burger joint, although the selection can be somewhat daunting if you're as indecisive as I am. The curly fries are definitely to be recommended, as are the burgers. Stay away from the turkey club sandwich, though, which is made with turkey roll rather than proper breast meat. On the pricy side, but if you're looking for something more than your standard grease-pit hamburger, it's probably worth it.
Good burgers, nothing life changing. The reason I really love this place is the garlic fries. They'll give you extra garlic topping for your fries if you ask. Dump all of it on your fries and you'll stink for at least 3 days, but it's so worth it.
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I have no hesitation in giving this place 5 stars. A friend and I (neither of us eat red meat) went here for dinner last week, and I was pleasantly surprised. Barney's lived up to the hype. My 'Sunrise' gardenburger was absolutely delicious - sprouts and the ENTIRE avocado make the sandwich. I also love the deli bread they serve it on, instead of the traditional hamburger bun.
We shared curly fries, which were absolutely delicious as well, but there was so much food, we couldn't finish it all.
I was very impressed by the wide range of selections friendly to those who don't eat meat. Can't wait to go back and try something else!
oh and the high school couple on their (first?) date next to us was the cutest thing ever. the girl kept insisting that he not look at her while she ate. almost nauseatingly cute, but cute nonetheless.
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Barney's Rocks my socks off!
They are the vegitarian burger and fry lovers dream come true. The garlic fries are enough to take down an elephant and I love that I can have a beer with them. They have the best selection of vegitarian burgers I've found anywhere.
Thanks for treating veggies like regular people who want a good burger!
Hadn't been to this particular Barney's until last week - I usually frequent the less crowded branch on College. At that branch, the meat is bland and too lean (if I were in a health-conscious mood, I wouldn't be eating a freaking hamburger), so it requires a kick: I always get one of the Caribbean burgers. This time I asked for medium-rare beef, and, surprisingly, it came out fairly close to the correct doneness: there was a lot of pink in it, though there still wasn't much taste, and the lashings of jerk sauce only went so far in compensating for this. No matter, I come here for the fried stuff - fried veggies are excellent; prefer the steak-cut fries to the curlies. But if you order more than a burger, your bill won't be much less than it would be at a top-notch place like Cafe Rouge, and it'll be a lot more than it would at any number of decent neighborhood dives.
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Some days, you just need a burger. Nothing else will do.
There are some pretty decent burgers in Berkeley, but Barney's is probably my favorite. They have a wide selection of different burgers, including vegetarian options (this is Berkeley, after all). If you're going to get the fries, get the curly fries - they are the best.
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I would give this place 2 stars, but anything that's fried that comes out of this place tastes amazing. Their mixed vegetable basket is topped with some Parmesan (i think?) cheese and its battered perfectly. The curly fries are also amazing, especially with the ranch they give you. However the burgers are rarely cooked to how you ask. I've ordered a burger medium, medium rare, and rare, and they all came well done, except for the rare, which came out medium. Why do they even bother to ask? The burgers are way overpriced and a bit dry. Service here consists of taking your order, and giving you the food. Thats it. No one came to refill our cups, or to make sure we didn't need anything. Bottom line: too expensive for the type of food and service.
Even though "Gourmet Hamburger" is in the name of the restaurant, I think Barney's is really worth going to just for its milkshakes, curly fries, fried mushrooms and fried zucchinis.
Their burgers are pretty good, sandwiches are decent, and salads are ok. But honestly that stuff you can find anywhere, and there are better burger places elsewhere. But I guess Barney's can maybe be considered a little healthier than other places. Unless of course you get the milkshakes and fried goodness, which really, you should.
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