CaliBurger Seattle-U District

In Texas they have Whatabuger. In California they have In and Out. In Seattle they have Cali Burger!

Great burgers. So much flavor! Don't pass this up!!

I always have a great experience here despite being on the AVE. My first time was through a Yelp event and my second time was on my way to class. The visit I made on my way to class was great. It was the release of their app. You can preorder your food at the counter vs. talking to a human being. By using their app, they were giving away free meal as thanks. What a pleasant surprise since I didn't hear about it (I come here for night classes).
Their burger and chicken burgers are super juicy and their fries are fried to perfection. You can get them "Cali style" which the fries are topped with melted American cheese, grilled sweet onions, and their Signature Sauce.
They have been compared to In-N-Out, and I'm not shy to say they kinda are like that.

Disclaimer: I came here back in 2019, don't judge, I just wrote this review a little too late since it looks like it has closed down. So unfortunate.
They do have two locations: Westlake Center in Downtown Seattle and Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood.

My daughter found out we were coming to the area, and of course this is where she wanted to eat.

Tyler, I think the manager was SO kind, and brought a lot of energy.

Of course, we have been here before, so the food was great. I like this place because it's consistent. Great burgers, clean, and the food is pretty quick considering it's made to order.

The highlight of this trip was the fact that they had Men in Black on the tv. A+ movie choice.

Is no In N Out, so what? That's like saying you don't like Rocco's because Lombardi's NYC was the first pizzeria in the US.
The burger, yeah it's average but so is at most fast food restaurants, and for those of us California transplants is no In n Out, nor Bob's original Big Boy, and if you look at Five Guys decor and concept, they are not either.
The drinks, well, spiked shakes, stumptown coffee, should be enough to entice everyone in the U district and beyond.
Free wireless phone charger, clean bathrooms, and a crew that works hard to get your business, despite the occasional slow service.
The management, I was very impressed with the manager and his willingness to make every order right, and provide a pleasant customer experience.
Overall 3 starts for the burger, 4 starts for drinks and customer service.

Don't bother these people are true imposters. Nothing close to IN N OUT. I'm irritated they are self proclaiming themselves as CALIFORNIA representatives of the burger.
I'll give it to you straight - FOOD SUCKS, CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS.

Huge waste of time ( looking for parking ) & definitely money .


We had two order B's upgraded with "Cali style" fries AKA ANIMAL STYLE FRIES AT THE ORIGINAL IN N OUT!!!
Terrible with government faux cheese that wouldn't even melt.
Stumptown coffee for $5.99 freaking hiking ??? Why?
& a Oreo shake rather Oreo froth milk. It was NOT a shake, it was completely liquified even though I watched the cashier reach his money handling hands into the ice cream fridge & proceeded to scoop out ice cream for the shake which at that point needed to upgrade to booze to be sanitary.
FRIE OIL NEEDS TO BE CHANGED !!!!!!!!!!! Please that's is disgusting for a customer to bite the fry & know your oil is rancid & old.


Last warning , with the ave full of awesome variety. Do Not Bother!!!!!

I had a pretty good experience at Cali Burger. They had recently installed their loyalty program kiosk that allows for quick ordering. Because it was new they offered me a free meal for saving a profile on the touch screen kiosk. I was pleasantly surprised!

As for the food the burger and fries were pretty average. I was kind of disappointed that even with their snazzy soda machines they still didn't have root beer as an option :(

Overall was still happy though since the meal was free! Lucky me!

I've never seen more than a couple of people in here at a time. The atmosphere is actually pretty cool with a lot of seating and jumbo screens... but with few people in there it feels pretty empty.

The women who took out order was rushing for NO reason! NOO one behind us and no one sitting down! I know your thinking why was it dead on a today afternoon! Idk!!

I got the regular Cali one Patti burger with onions and all the fixings! I also got a chocolate shake and regular fries!

My coworker said why didn't you get the Cali fries and I said IDK why not so I went up and asked if I could get those and pay the different! For 15 bucks I got a burger which I was in with! I also got the fries which I could've don't without I normally don't order fries, and the milkshake was delightful! Loves that!

Someone recommended to get the bourbon, chocolate, and Stumptown cold brew! For 6.50 I'm good but sounds delicious! However the boozy shakes are 14 at skillet, lol....

So so so so the best part was the burger bread something about that type of bread and a thin burger with the fixes just makes me OHHHH sooo happy! I was very satisfied!

If your in the area stop by and get one, but if someone says this is the best burger spot ask them their second favorite and if they don't say great state, shake shack, or in and out thennnnn tell them to shut up! Ha

UPDATE: Astonishing Business owner rebuttal saying $13.76 for burger, fries and drink does sum the $2.99 Tuesday discount in it. Defending shady advertising and misleading buyers, with False discounts and spinning my words about food quality shows he would rather argue than deal with complaints.
I'm dropping this down another star to a 1 star rating, lowest rating possible.


----------------------------------- ORIG REVIEW -----
My goto burger place Red Mill has changed flavors/portions, Teddy's Greenlake has gotten expensive (or so I thought) and FB popped a timely ad in front of me for CaliBurger Tuesday special discount of $2 off singlecombo /$2.99 off Doublecombo in my FB feed just before lunch time (great timing of product placement).

I'm always open for a new burger spot with great Yelp reviews and I was hungry. So when a FB ad tempted me to try Caliburger because of a $2.99 discount for a double combo on Tuesday, I had to try it.

This is on The Ave so parking was normally tough and expensive. I walked through the doorway moments before Noon and there were four other people in the whole place. A bit strange that it was dead at peak lunch time. The polite server helped me order the double combo and Tuesday $2.99 discount was mentioned as my choice. Since I had read Yelp reviews, I was informed and wanted to try the cali fries. Thank you yelpers, but this time you led me down the path to "MEH".

Food came quickly and the burger was tasty.
Many reviews make the comparison to In N Out and the meat patty tasted better albeit saltier with far more cheese than In N Out serves.

But that is where the comparison stopped. Meat portions are far smaller, along with matching diminutive bun and veggie portions that are full of salt. The CaliFries were chosen as their signature dish and the taste of heavy salt dominated everything.
Heavy salt.
The fries were in a tiny portion and so messy you needed a fork. I got up, but couldn't find one fork anywhere. Really?!!

The salt overwhelmed the flavor profiles which gave me pause. As I took a break from eating I examined my receipt for the $13.76 double combo.

IN n OUT prices never tally up to be this expensive - WOW.

The Tuesday $2.99 special discount showed up as $2.51 so something shady happened there ( pic of receipt attached and pic of FB Tuesday special included) meaning my total had eclipsed the usual same at Teddy's price by over $4.

I know that Seattle's new beverage tax unfairly raises prices and the consumer gets the bad end of the bill, but $13.76 for a very small double burger, oversalted Cali fries and soda just raises my eyebrows. Heck, that pushes you into competing with Tavern12 gourmet burgers right around the corner.

I see no reason for this place to compare themselves to In n Out.

I am side-eyeing all those articles that stated CaliBurger is just as good (or even, BETTER) than In-N-Out. I don't get it at all.

Before I get into that, I'll get into the pros of CaliBurger:
Wireless charging for cellphones.
Hi-tech soda mahcine
Boozy shakes
Stumptown Coffee products.

Aside from that, the food and service is just mediocre. I ordered a #8 Cali-style: Cheeseburger with fries and a soda. I had about a 20 min wait, which is quite long for a fast food joint. Like what other reviews have stated, the kitchen is well staffed so it seems weird that the food is coming out slow. I'll admit, the fries are pretty good at CaliBurger: slightly greasy with a little crisp but I find the Cali sauce off...it seems tangier than In-N-Out's Animal-style sauce and definitely does not compare. My burger was just ok. Not the greatest burger nor the worst burger I've had but it is not juicy like In-N-Out's.

Even if I don't compare this to In-N-Out, there are far better burger joints around the city: Red Mill, 5 Guys, Red Robin, Lil Woody's, hell even Dick's. I'll probably come back just to try a boozy shake but I'm still sticking to EJ's for my burger fix on The Ave.

The burger and fries were tasted pretty good and that's about it. Service was bizarre at best. Asking for a burger "all the way" was met with a deer-in-the-headlight look. I had to explain that meant a burger with all possible toppings. Second issue is that the there were no choices for their "adult milkshakes"... oh well, shrug, I guess nobody went to the store? Third issue is that I was watching the cook, come around from the kitchen area and make the aforementioned milkshake touching the freezer, the trash can, the cash register and the milkshake blender, and then resume cooking (& touching food) without washing hands nor putting new gloves on. Gross! And yes, I likely will not go back.