I went to Custom House this afternoon for lunch, partially because the picture Panther in the Den posted and partially, well mostly just because of the picture. The burger was nicely displayed and it was obvious that there was a high level of quality present but all in all, it was only okay. The pork didn’t add as much flavour as I would have suspected and it just didn’t excite me. I will admit that I almost never order burgers out, as weather permitting, I prefer to make my own. However, my openness to try a burger in a restaurant was cemented upon my first bite of a Kuma’s burger and I now hold that as my gold standard. I started the meal with a mixed green salad, which was very good, with an intense lemon dressing, mushrooms and dried figs. I enjoyed my experience at Custom House and will return sometime in the near future as the dinner menu appeals very much to me. I feel that for $5, the burger is a good deal but one that I will not be taking advantage of again, as there are better options in other neighbourhoods. If Custom House was in a convenient location for me, perhaps it would be a good option compared to nearby offerings but since it is not, I will gladly take a special trip somewhere else for my next lunch.

I agree that the servers could have handled the situation better. Management often does not anticipate a worse case scenario, and consequently has not informed their staff of a set of instructions to follow. Likely, I think this forum will serve to make sure Custom House never offers a nice deal like this again.

In Chef McClain's defense, the majority of a chef's job is a very active, stressful, physical existence. People who make a living with their hands do not always have the option of sitting down and spending hours answering their email, it is a back burner task. I answer emails for my shop daily and if I take a complete day off from email, I honestly might have to spend as much as six hours the next day answering email. In that same six hours I could have done so much more making of product and taking special care of my instore customers. (Maybe that is why they ran out of hamburgers because Friday is the day the Chef always answers his emails!) My point is only to remember that because we spend time posting, it is just not something you should assume everyone has the opportunity to address in a timely manner.

Cinnamon Girl wrote:Likely, I think this forum will serve to make sure Custom House never offers a nice deal like this again.

Maybe they could just offer them to non-LTH members

Seriously though, I doubt the criticism posted here sounds like more than a little squeak to the churning wheels of Custom House. And I can't believe it would have any significant bearing on what the restaurant might offer, going forward. My guess is that if they were able to generate the amount of interest and revenue they initially sought, they might repeat the promotion or run a similar one. If they didn't, then probably not. Who cares about 10 angry internet foodies when your dining room's full without them and the James Beard Foundation and the major media both love you?

I think it's been made pretty clear here that no one who contacted the restaurant really expected McClain to respond personally and -- as you say -- that the problem was not that the burger wasn't available, the problem was the way the situation was handled (or not handled yet, as the case may be). Still, it's not a completely unreasonable expectation to think that someone in the organization is responsible for fielding such correspondence. I wouldn't necessarily expect someone to reply to a post but an e-mail (or letter) is another matter. I once had a problem at Old Town Brasserie. I wrote them a letter and they replied within a couple of weeks. I thought that was a reasonable interval.

=R=

Speaking of Old Town Brasserie, has anyone been there since they cleaned house in the kitchen a few weeks ago following the chef's departure?

Hit up CH for burgers and more at lunch today - thought it'd be just the right place to watch History In The Making and enjoy a cheapish lunch. Well, neither of those goals were met. The bill was augmented by pricey drinks (and the girlfriend's scallops), and we showed up too late to catch the best parts of the inauguration, except for #43's exit via chopper. Service was attentive, though we seemed to have two servers which gave us equal attention. The decanted Diet Coke was, as you would imagine, interesting, but did not leave anyone thirsting for a refill. Pat's Sazerac was tasty and well-made, Alec had the Founder's Breakfast Stout (a tasty and hearty beer if ever there was one), and I had their homemade ginger beer (which tasted like sushi restaurant pickled ginger + soda) followed by a Spanish red. Our three burgers were all cooked perfectly - my medium well was a real "steakhouse" medium well, ie fully cooked. The smoked cheddar and grilled onions were simple and delicious additions to the flavorful burger, and the poppyseed bun held up pretty well to the juicy patty. Size was a little smaller than a lot of what's out there these days, but was by no means meager. The fries in particular were outstanding; the soggy, brown-edged kind like Hot Doug's serves, but ever so slightly seasoned. We all agreed, having sampled the $5 burgers at David Burke's a few months back, that these were a significantly better deal, and would cause us to perhaps return and pay full price. We had the sugared donuts with carmelized bananas and coffee whipped cream for dessert, which was surprisingly light on top of the burgers. Check ended up $97 after tax for the four of us, again, brought up by drinks, dessert, and the young lady's scallops (which were tasty, but seemed a poor deal - two scallops plopped on a plate). We will be back to Custom House for sure.

LTH,

Count me a fan of Custom House $5 burger special, med-rare on the mark, fries crisp outside light inside with a hint of starchy sweet and a quality toasted bun that corralled juicy meat without overpowering.

Custom House $5 Burger Special



No decanted Coke, though I found the crisp slight bitter bite of Trumer Pils a perfect foil for the richness of the cheddar topped burger. We split Chocolate Smores Tart among three, odd as it may sound to some, dense creamy rich chocolate is not my cup of tea, though I dug the house-made toasted marshmallows.

Chocolate Smores Tart



Service was exemplary, friendly interaction with the hostess as she seated us, on the ball informed waitress, bus staff right on the mark with good crusty bread and water refills, not to mention an attractive conversation friendly dining room.

My previous visits to Custom House have been rough around the edges though our positive $5 burger experience has me thinking about a return visit for dinner.

Enjoy,
Gary

Given the direction that this thread has taken, perhaps stiffing RAB was a brilliant marketing decision. As has been said, the only bad publicity is no publicity!

CH had perfect storm of being swamped and under-waitstaffed at lunch Friday. 1.5 hours for 2 apps and burgers. Ample time and a cold brew made delays shrug off-able. Service quirks of bread plates oddly being taken away at start and orders from nearby tables showing up out of sequence. Of two "mixed media" burgers ordered, one was cooked perfectly, the other very uneven.
Was advised that due to success of their $5 burger January, they are extending it through this week.

Thanks for the heads up on the continuation of their promo. I've been wanting to try CH and this looks like a great opportunity. Much appreciated!

When we read that they were extending the $5 burger promo, and encouraged by the beautiful shots in this thread by PantherITD and GWiv, we gave CH another shot. We couldn't let one instance of shoddy treatment keep us away forever. One strike? Nah, we are far too kind and forgiving folks for that.

Frankly, that burger looked too good for the price, and CH is just too close to REB's office.

Bottom line: Outstanding burger. We ordered medium-rare, assured by our server that it would be on the rare side of medium-rare ("European style," as he put it). Perfectly cooked. Very well seasoned. Delicious house-made steak sauce resembling a sweet and tangy A-1. Nice crispy, fresh-cut fries in that cute (but silly) little cast iron pot. Delicious. I'll gladly pay full price when the promo is over.

Desserts (ice cream sandwich with cinnamon apples and fresh cinnamon doughnuts) were meh, at best. I'll go back for sure, but I won't save room for dessert.

We officially forgive Custom House. No hard feelings. [/close chapter]

I don't know if this belongs in a separate or different thread, but . . .

My work colleague reports that Custom House is now featuring a $6 reuben with house-made pastrami (she couldn't recall the side dish, but didn't think it was fries). [eta: google search turned up this link with a bit more detail.]

Burger is now $10.

(she and her friend both went with the $24ish prix fixe menu, which they both enjoyed)

Ronna

I had a very nice business dinner there earlier in the week with duck, gnocchi, and the sweet breads being highlights for me. In fact I had to return last night to re-up on the sweet breads.

We sat in the bar and ordered the burger and a desert as well.

You must ask for the house ketchup now and the first burger that came out was a burnt mess. However, the service is great and the second burger was more than fantastic as were the fries and the 5 dollar mojitos.

I was told that business is slow and they will be running promotions on bar food and drinks as well as bringing back the 5 dollar custom house burger. Rejoice!

It sounds like the 5 dollar burger will be weekends through august - I am going to have to reconsider my travel plans this summer.

Custom House is again offering the $5 burgers. This time they are available all day Saturday and Sunday (now open for lunch) through August.

Additionally they are modifying their menu as they move away from the steakhouse focus to more of an upscale pub type menu. I do not know the extent the menu will change but was told the price pint should come down and the food would display more local and seasonal influences.

In addition the the fantastic burger I have recently had the pork belly sandwich and the sweetbreads. I like this place more each time I return. I have found that the specials and bar menu is really a nice alternative in that part of the loop and the bear selection is improving.

Custom House has the same promotion this year as last for the $5 Burger deal. I received a new email from them with the following promotion:

Thanks, polster. What's the rest of the "no corkage fee" paragraph say? I might take advantage of that, so just want to make sure I'm not missing any parameters.

Kennyz wrote:Thanks, polster. What's the rest of the "no corkage fee" paragraph say? I might take advantage of that, so just want to make sure I'm not missing any parameters.

Code: Select all

" NO CORKAGE FEE

Shhh!  This one's an exclusive deal for our e-mail and Facebook friends only.

This January we invite you to grab a favorite bottle or something special you've  been saving and come sample some of Chef Aaron Deal's new menu items along with your wine. For the month of January, Sue will be waving the corkage fee for our most special guests.  Just mention this promotion and the corkage is on us."


Please note that upon today's visit, the Fries are no longer part of the $5 special, we were charged $3 per each order of Fries. I'm a little annoyed since the waitress did not mentioned the extra charge for the fries upon ordering and we only found out about it once we got the bill.