Disappointing Bunz

We went to Bunz to have dinner this evening.

WOW! Were we ever disappointed. When we went in there were 5-6 people together at a couple tables.

One person working the grill and he said, it would be a couple minutes as he was working on this order. OK, we wanted to look over the menu anyway. I stood at the counter to watch him work. Listen, I can watch someone work all day long. After a couple minutes he again says more plainly that he has to do this ONE order.

About 7 minutes later he has the burgers in the basket, has them dressed, has hand dipped out the fries into the baskets and I think, ok shouldn't be too long.

He turns and walks over the milkshake mixer and sets up several metal cups for shakes and starts getting stuff out.

We left and walked down to Papalinos Pizzeria. A wise decision on our part.

I was really disappointed in Bunz. The guy could have said, I am sorry but I am here by myself and it is going to take a bit. Here are three cups for soft drinks. I'll be with you as soon as I can.

In the game of restaurants, you get three strikes and then you are out. That was strike one.

Richard

In the game of restaurants, you get three strikes and then you are out. That was strike one.
Richard

Hi Richard,
If this was your first visit you might want to give them a courtesy pass today. On our main national holiday a lot of places are closed and it's probably a tight decision to do that or try to straddle the fence with lower staffing. I bet a lot more have call-ins or no-shows, you know what I mean. If the poor guy was alone, working diligently and wasn't actively flashing a bad attitude he was probably doing the best he could under the circumstances. With only one person staffing the place only a few orders can make quite a "bubble" to work through. I definitley understand going next door and we've done such on a number of occasions (not re: Bunz, just in general). But unless there's outright bad behavior we never ding a place that's slammed with short staff situation.

It does seem like they are understaffed more often than not. They could really benefit from one person just taking orders and doing the periphery and the other manning the grill.

Often we have had to wait for one or two orders ahead of us to be completed before we could even order.

They do tend to run with a slim staff and the two times we were in there, it was college kids that couldn't give a hoot about the customer, the service or the clock. Our first visit, there were several tables seated when we showed up and figured it'd be a few minutes for food...it was 40 minutes from the time we ordered until we got our food, on a lunch hour. There were only 2 people ahead of us...we saw several people walk in, place their order and get their to go food before we got ours, husband inquired about our order twice. The burgers were good and the menu enticing enough to warrant a return trip in hopes that we caught them on a bad day. We went earlier the second time, only one table seated and already had food when we got there. Figured our orders would be quick...wrong. It still turned into an hour+ lunch break and their soda machine was broken. The two kids working were more concerned with what the repair guy was doing than cooking our burgers. One of them finally realized they had an order to cook when my husband asked them how much longer it was going to be. They were charging full price for drinks and giving you a can of warm soda. We decided that while the burgers were good, the hassle outweighed the food.

Papalino's was a good call...always had good food and even when they were packed, the wait wasn't that long. We went there for lunch several times and they never had a problem handling the lunch hour rush.

We've been twice to Bunz and had great exeriences both times. It is a SMALL place, with limited staff. You should expect to wait if they are busy. It isn't FAST FOOD witha drive thru made for quickness. The burgers are handmade and cooked to order. The burgers are specialty burgers, not every burger gets ketchup and mustard. They take time to cook and dress.

Homerun Burgers are all different and they manage to get them out in a timely fashion. If they run the business like a hobby they will be gone soon.

We've been twice to Bunz and had great exeriences both times. It is a SMALL place, with limited staff. You should expect to wait if they are busy. It isn't FAST FOOD witha drive thru made for quickness. The burgers are handmade and cooked to order. The burgers are specialty burgers, not every burger gets ketchup and mustard. They take time to cook and dress.

See the quote below!

Homerun Burgers are all different and they manage to get them out in a timely fashion. If they run the business like a hobby they will be gone soon.

I definitely agree with you on this Gary! Individually made fresh ground burgers with your choice of toppings at a reasonable price! Of course their fries and other items are also great!

We love Bunz, love them, but as of late we haven't gone so much because of the slow service and lack of attentiveness that has been described here. Disappointing too, because we were such fervent supporters when they first opened.

I have made lots of burgers in my day, I know how long it takes to cook one. I also know that no matter how different each is, it doesn't take that long to dress them. Turn around time on a good burger should never exceed 10 mins. I've seen that grill back there too, there is room for more than one burger at a time...

Lonnie, I totally agree with you. It is difficult to know what a day is going to bring. Generally, our evenings are busier than our lunchtimes (except for Blueberry day) , so, it is quite possible for one person to do the morning. Unless, as just happened to me 4 different people came at once! There is nothing more frustrating than paying someone for 5.5 hours and having them stand around for 3/4 of it. So, I tend to gamble on being able to manage. I have waited in a drive-thru' line at a fast food place far longer than some people are willing to wait at my drive thru. Case in point, I had 5 guys in army uniform come this morning. All ordered separately, and all had a giant gyros and fries. It take time to take 5 orders, run 4 credit cards, one paid cash, get 5 sodas and then do 5 giant gyros. During this I had a drivethru. I was nearing the end and told her it would be 2 minutes, she drove off!!!! If someone can't wait 2 minutes, then quite frankly I don't need your business.
Yes, Richard, maybe he should have found the time to toss you some soda cups, and say he would be with you when he had made the shakes. I woudn't count that as a strike though as iyou could see he was on his own and doing the best he could.

In the game of restaurants, you get three strikes and then you are out. That was strike one.
Richard

Hi Richard,
If this was your first visit you might want to give them a courtesy pass today. On our main national holiday a lot of places are closed and it's probably a tight decision to do that or try to straddle the fence with lower staffing. I bet a lot more have call-ins or no-shows, you know what I mean. If the poor guy was alone, working diligently and wasn't actively flashing a bad attitude he was probably doing the best he could under the circumstances. With only one person staffing the place only a few orders can make quite a "bubble" to work through. I definitley understand going next door and we've done such on a number of occasions (not re: Bunz, just in general). But unless there's outright bad behavior we never ding a place that's slammed with short staff situation.

I've been to bunz on numerous occasions as I used to work down the street. Although the wait may be a little lengthy at times, it's rarely so long that someone with a little patience can't handle it, especially given the fact that they are short staffed so often. You mention going to papalino's, I've had to wait 30 minutes on a slice quite a few times. Maybe I can empathize more than others since I've worked in restaurants.

It's a shame you couldn't try it, Richard, because I love Bunz *snicker*. Seriously, I've been many times and I've always seen at least 2 people working - sounds like there was a staffing issue when you went (and possibly an undertrained worker, at that, considering they didn't expedite the orders more efficiently). I can't argue one bit with your report, but I'd give them another try. I've never walked away feeling like the wait wasn't worth it (thank god for fun phones).

It was not the wait, really. This poor fellow did not seem to be able to handle more than 1 order at a time. We never saw another employee and he was so far in the weeds, I wanted to jump the counter and help him. He did not acknowledge us for almost 10 minutes and then just to say he would get to us when he was done with this order. We have eaten there multiple times and I never mind waiting for good food, but this fellow was going to give the order he was working on pretty cold burgers and fries, since after he plated and topped them, he let them sit while he made the milkshakes. Eddy and I had just gotten back from a trip and we were tired, so I may no have been as patient as normal. At Papalinos we got our drinks right away and our slices in 8 minutes.

he was so far in the weeds, I wanted to jump the counter and help him

Plz promise that if this ever happens, you phone all of your HB friends to witness . I live right down the street, I'd be there in less than 2 hand-dipped shakes!

Ha, Ha! I may not be able to jump over the counter any more, but I bet I could handle a grill and orders, too. I have manned a few one person kitchens in my day!

I hear ya sister .