Whoa.

Just a data point: we turned up at 11:05 on Saturday and were 5th in line. By twenty past when they opened there were enough people outside to fill all the tables and most of the bar seats, and the whole place was full by 11:25. I think it was out first visit of 2009, and it was great to have the pretzel buns again, although I still miss the fries.

Just wait until January - the Cui Jian, a ground pork burger with hoisin, fried egg, kalbi, lychee pickles, and a whole box of Trader Joe's lemongrass chicken stix, between two chocolate chip Belgian waffles.

I'm waiting for the Dean Reed-- Colorado lamb and caviar.

Mike G wrote:I'm waiting for the Dean Reed-- Colorado lamb and caviar.

I wonder how many people will know whom you are referring to. I know!

Regards,

just a couple more details relating to tsg20's post, in case they're helpful for anyone else planning a visit-- info from recent posts basically made the difference between being able to eat without a wait or not, so thanks!

as he said, we got there about 5 past, and people really started lining up about 10 past. they did open the doors about 11:20, and while all the tables filled up immediately, parties of 1 or 2 could probably slip up to the bar for another 5-10 mins after the doors opened.

there were several people who arrived right at 11:30 and looked TICKED OFF that the place was already full when it was only just supposed to have opened (i have some sympathy for this, but not for this group specifically). not a single table or seat turned before 12:30, and the second round really didn't start seating until 12:45 or 1.

the other tip i would make, and this is probably unnecessary for LTH members, is to look at the menu in advance and order as soon as you can. my parents were with us, and it took them ages to decide, and so we were among the last of the first seating to order, and food took about an hour to come out. it was cool as we'd all eaten breakfast, but my personal preference would definitely have been to get the orders in right away.

great burgers, i loved my iron maiden as always, and totally agree that the chips are far superior to the waffle fries!

I went at about 7:15 on a Monday night, and had a table for four around 8PM tops. We had bar seats open for 4 before that, but opted to wait for a table.

We went tonight, Sunday after Christmas. Arrived around 4:45 and were seated about 1/2 hour later. We also could have had bar seats, but waited for a table since there were 3 of us. Burgers yummy as ever.

Still haven't been to Kuma's, though I think we will be making a trip this week (we're both off until the 4th, so we can go when the crush is marginally less bad).

Somewhat unrelated, but I've been amusing myself by reading the bad reviews on Yelp. Never a bastion of deep thought to begin with, Kuma's seems to bring out the dumbest reviewers - nearly all of the bad reviews are due to having to wait a long time (with over 1000 reviews, did they not guess it was popular?) although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them. Just think about that for a minute....

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Somewhat unrelated, but I've been amusing myself by reading the bad reviews on Yelp. Never a bastion of deep thought to begin with, Kuma's seems to bring out the dumbest reviewers - nearly all of the bad reviews are due to having to wait a long time (with over 1000 reviews, did they not guess it was popular?) although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them. Just think about that for a minute....

I don't know about vegan, but Kuma's definitely has vegetarian options - they have a veggie burger and macaroni and cheese with lots of add ins you can choose, and they make very good salads.

although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them.

Did they even bother to look at the beer list? Options galore.


As an aside, we invited one of my wife's friends (and her husband) out to breakfast at Victory's Banner, explaining that it "was a really good vegetarian" place. We sat down to order and the husband was perusing the menu and said "isn't there any real meat here?" Moral: someone's always gonna be pissed off about something.

djenks wrote:

Shaggywillis wrote:The quality to me is not what it was, I've had better french fries at Mcdonalds, no more Co-op hot sauce, the kitch is gone. I just feel like it changed to accommodate the masses and maybe it had to?

I can see where you're coming from with the crowd; I've been going pretty much since it opened as well.

But to be honest, I haven't noticed a problem or decline in quality. I have been there when their fries aren't up to par - but the only place that I can think of that is 100% immune to a bad batch of fries is Hot Doug's. I've had a bad batch of fries from a lot of really great places.

I'd argue that all batches of fries are not up to par since they made the switch to the waffle fries. Not only do I only order the chips now (which are good) but the waffle fries ruined the Slayer, formerlly one of my favorites. Fries shouldn't be something that's as "good" as frozen ones you bake in the oven at home. Really a shame, because their fries used to be good too.

The burgers are still worth the wait for me, especially since I find the wait and the associated drinking of beer to be half the enjoyment of going there. Sometimes they'll even have something relatively rare -- they had Surly Darkness on tap last time we were in there. Yum.

the waffle fries *might* be half-decent if they actually cooked them to golden brown and served them at a temperature greater than lukewarm. I quit ordering them after a visit over the summer after they once again were pale and limp.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Still haven't been to Kuma's, though I think we will be making a trip this week (we're both off until the 4th, so we can go when the crush is marginally less bad).

Somewhat unrelated, but I've been amusing myself by reading the bad reviews on Yelp. Never a bastion of deep thought to begin with, Kuma's seems to bring out the dumbest reviewers - nearly all of the bad reviews are due to having to wait a long time (with over 1000 reviews, did they not guess it was popular?) although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them. Just think about that for a minute....

same issue with Great Lake. hardly any bad reviews that don't deal with wait time.

spinynorman99 wrote:

although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them.

Did they even bother to look at the beer list? Options galore.


As an aside, we invited one of my wife's friends (and her husband) out to breakfast at Victory's Banner, explaining that it "was a really good vegetarian" place. We sat down to order and the husband was perusing the menu and said "isn't there any real meat here?" Moral: someone's always gonna be pissed off about something.

true, but i'd also suggest that vegans use their head and not frequent an establishment known primarily for burgers with a huge wait time for said burgers.

Chitown B wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them.

Did they even bother to look at the beer list? Options galore.


As an aside, we invited one of my wife's friends (and her husband) out to breakfast at Victory's Banner, explaining that it "was a really good vegetarian" place. We sat down to order and the husband was perusing the menu and said "isn't there any real meat here?" Moral: someone's always gonna be pissed off about something.

true, but i'd also suggest that vegans use their head and not frequent an establishment known primarily for burgers with a huge wait time for said burgers.

Exactly. There are plenty of options there for a vegetarian, but for those that eschew all animal products - not the best choice of eatery.

Tried to go to Kuma's today. Was quoted a 2.5 hour wait for 4 people. Went to the Daily instead and had delicious burgers and hand cut fries, no wait.

spinynorman99 wrote:

although there was one in which a group of vegans were pissed about the lack of options for them.

Did they even bother to look at the beer list? Options galore.


As an aside, we invited one of my wife's friends (and her husband) out to breakfast at Victory's Banner, explaining that it "was a really good vegetarian" place. We sat down to order and the husband was perusing the menu and said "isn't there any real meat here?" Moral: someone's always gonna be pissed off about something.

Time to re-visit Victory's Banner. I've been thinking about it lately & then you posted. I haven't been since the founder, Sri Chinmoy, died.

Marmish wrote:Tried to go to Kuma's today. Was quoted a 2.5 hour wait for 4 people. Went to the Daily instead and had delicious burgers and hand cut fries, no wait.

if you're surprised by that wait at such a place on a Saturday during a holiday weekend, I don't know what to tell you. I wouldn't have even tried.

Chitown B wrote:

Marmish wrote:Tried to go to Kuma's today. Was quoted a 2.5 hour wait for 4 people. Went to the Daily instead and had delicious burgers and hand cut fries, no wait.

if you're surprised by that wait at such a place on a Saturday during a holiday weekend, I don't know what to tell you. I wouldn't have even tried.

Didn't say I was surprised. Too cold to stand outside, too crowded inside.

Does anyone know what the January burger is?

boshow48111 wrote:Does anyone know what the January burger is?

http://www.kumascorner.com/html/food.html

Says it's just the Kuma Burger. I don't know if that's updated though.

boshow48111 wrote:Does anyone know what the January burger is?

Kuma's MySpace Blog wrote:Holy sh#@. January burger! - Bloodhorse
The January burger of the month is the Bloodhorse burger. It is as follows:

10 oz patty served on a garlic and herb buttered pretzel roll, topped with pepperoni, house made spicy marinara, hot italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, grilled red onions and fresh basil!

And make sure you take a chance to check out Bloodhorse and their semi new record "Horizoner" (although, all of their recordings are choice) at http://www.myspace.com/bloodhorse and at http://www.translationloss.com

-Luke
Kuma's

Link

Chitown B wrote:

boshow48111 wrote:Does anyone know what the January burger is?

http://www.kumascorner.com/html/food.html

Says it's just the Kuma Burger. I don't know if that's updated though.

Panther beat me to it...but the best bets for finding out the new burger each month are via the myspace page or eyewitness reports.

I think the featured burger on the website has always been the Kuma, even back at the old site...

10 oz patty served on a garlic and herb buttered pretzel roll, topped with pepperoni, house made spicy marinara, hot italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, grilled red onions and fresh basil!

Do they stuff the bun too? If so, I think Pizza Hut should sue.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kuma's Corner. But I don't love it enough to log on to myspace.

Llama wrote:Don't get me wrong, I love Kuma's Corner. But I don't love it enough to log on to myspace.

No logging on required. Just click and look.

Panther in the Den wrote:

Llama wrote:Don't get me wrong, I love Kuma's Corner. But I don't love it enough to log on to myspace.

No logging on required. Just click and look.

How do you do that without logging in? (This is a serious question. I have no idea how to use myspace)

It didn't prompt me for a login at any point, just took me straight to their profile where you can check the most recent blog entry for the burger of the month info.

Oculi wrote:It didn't prompt me for a login at any point, just took me straight to their profile where you can check the most recent blog entry for the burger of the month info.

What didn't prompt you for a login? How do I find that page? Do you have a URL?