The Counter

Today I finally had a chance to check out the hype surrounding The Counter at Kahala Mall. We got there around lunchtime and had to wait about 20 minutes before we were seated. The place was pretty packed, with people entering and leaving on the regular.

When we got to our tables, we were given a clipboard with a checklist of various ingredients, toppings, sauces and breads. There was also a menu with set burgers you could choose. I had a 1/3 lb. burger with lettuce, pickles, olives and jalepenos, provolone cheese and garlic aioli sauce. It was pretty delish. (Sorry, no pictures as I didn't think to bring a camera. I would really be sick if I had spotted a celeb at lunch, but luckily or unluckily none were there today.)

The gals I ate with all seemed to enjoy their individual creations as well. We also got a tray of their Fifty Fifty, which is your choice of two of the following: fries, sweet potato fries and onion strings. We got the fries and strings, which were served with barbeque and ranch dressings. Not bad but not an orgasm in your mouth either.

If you're starving I'd advise you to skip this place and come back another time. Besides the 20 minute wait to get into the place, the service was a bit slow. It took forever to get our Fifty Fifty and even longer for our burgers. Also, they charged us when we asked for more barbeque and ranch sauce. What the?!?! Yeah, exactly what we thought. They also didn't refill our drinks (or even offer to do so), but I guess we should thank them because they'd probably charge us for that as well.

Overall, I'd say it's a pretty good place if you're a burger eater. Because I prefer pasta over burgers, I don't think The Counter will make it into my restaurant rotation. But it's nice for a gourmet burger joint, and I liked it more than Kua Aina Burger. I think W&M and Teddy's still reign supreme though.