Burger Bar closed?

eggcream

By the Board of Health.

Saw a sign on the door. Anyone know what is going on?

veggiequeen

holy crap... 61!!!


BROOKLYN BURGER BAR
444 9TH STREET, BROOKLYN 11215
718-832-5500

Current violation points: 61

Inspection Date: 05/08/2007

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

1.)General
2.)Mechanical dishwasher not operated as per manufacturer's specifications (time/temperature/chemical concentration); machine defective.
3.)Ventilation system not provided, improperly installed or in disrepair.
4.)Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to vermin exist.
5.)Hand washing facility not provided in or near food preparation area and toilet room. Hot and cold running water at adequate pressure not provided at facility. Soap and an acceptable hand-drying device not provided.
6.)Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
7.)Appropriately scaled metal stem-type thermometer not provided or used to evaluate temperatures of potentially hazardous foods during cooking, cooling, reheating and holding.
8.)Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.
9.)Food not cooled by an approved method whereby the internal product temperature is reduced from 140°F to 70°F or less within 2 hours and from 70°F to 45°F or less within 4 additional hours.
10.)Cold food held above 41°F (smoked fish above 38°F) except during necessary preparation.

http://167.153.150.32/RI/web/detail.do?method=detail&restaurantId=41221671&inspectionDate=20070508

backtopsb

For what? Slow service? Bad food?

Sorry--I'm still smarting over the fact that this place has such potential, and such a convenient location, and is still just not a good restaurant (even after 6 months.) I have yet to have even a mediocre experience, let alone one that makes up for the past couple of bad visits.

Maybe I'm going at the wrong times. You know, evenings.

veets

I heard some gossip that they will reopen tomorrow.
It was only gossip but reliable. Hey I have lived in the hood over 25 years and spend time on the street.. news comes my way..


Now let's hope that in the 3 days they were shut down they hired an entirely new wait staff and used the time to train them well and tweaked the food to equal their new emphasis on good service.

kirby

Does anyone realize that the owner of the Burger Bar is a 2nd rate trash hauler (greggs express)? Is this someone you want to own a restaurant that you are eating from?

veets

Kirby. I don't know if you were serious with this last comment but the comment had an edge to it that was a little sharp for me.

It is like saying about someone who digs graves for a living all day long that you just wouldn't want them visitng your house and playing with your kids. What the owner of the Burger Bar does for a living has nothing to do with how good or bad the restaurant is. In this case, the owner of Gregg's Express
does not have a "2nd rate business".. from all those trucks I see in the hood with his name plastered all over them we can assume that he is making a first rate living but THAT doesn't say anything about the eatery he apparently owns or has an interest in.

charles

Subject: Burger Bar Reopened

As it turns out , the violations were handled in one day and the bar is open again.
Saturday night band features Gary Levy alto sax, Virg Dzurinko piano, and Alex Gressel bass.
No cover!
Come out and support live jazz in Park Slope.

Moderator note: I don't see why this is a separate thread from the one about Burger Bar being closed. I'm going to merge the threads.

kirby

I am referring to his reputation of his company, not necesarily what he does, but how he does it. If you read reviews of his company, you will see I am not alone in questioning his ethics the often unsatisfactory service he gives tohis cutomers. (Also I drank too much wine last night)

livetotravel

This place has the worst Karma of of any public establishment I know of - and 61 point is a disgusting testament to continued poor management - wrong temperature controls of food and presence of vermin is the death knell to me. I think these owners just think they have a cash cow with a captive audience of PS newbies who are desperate for a burger and beer joint. This place has some of the worst food and service of any restaurant in PS.

veets

kirby wrote: I am referring to his reputation of his company, not necesarily what he does, but how he does it. If you read reviews of his company, you will see I am not alone in questioning his ethics the often unsatisfactory service he gives tohis cutomers. (Also I drank too much wine last night)

Oh Kirby.. me too.. drank too much wine last night!!

drano

I'm telling you now, any place that plies their trade in ground beef and gets shut down by the Board of Health for the reasons they did isn't a place I'll be going unless they can put together a looooong streak of good behavior. I got salmonella from a lousy turkeyburger once and it's an experience I'll never forget.

babinsky195

yes--this place had SO much potentially but it sucks royally and consistently. After waiting for a 1/2 hour for the overworked waitstaff to take our order while the manager obliviously thumbed through paperwork, I decided he needed to be ripped a new one. A beautifully weekend... get some staff! Or take orders yourself, you numbskull! Too bad it didn't sink in... but sounds like they're dealing with other issues.

Slopers, let's all protest and ban this place. Seriously. I feel sorry for the musicians who play live jazz there, but for their sakes, they should find another, more reputable and respectable venue.

kirby

Before I can use the too much wine excuse, I need to add, that a friend of mine overheard the owner talking about how he has been raking in the money and personally doing nothing to earn it. IE(his staff has been thrown the fire)

veets

Kirby... o.k. you are using the "gossip" card but hey I did that myself so I can't fault you on that.

Bottoms up!!!

Did I say that?...ooooooo

turtle95

somebody should print out this post and tack it to the door of burger bar, like Park Slope's modern day version of the "95 Theses" . We'll challenge the owner's way he runs his business and serves his customers!

Anybody want to be a modern day Martin Luther and take on this task? After a couple of glasses of wine or a few beers, this will sound like a brilliant idea, trust me!

slipperyslope

I've been there a few times and found the food to be pretty good and everyone to be super nice and accommodating. plus, it's a great place if you have kids. for what its worth, a lot of other (much more) expensive park slope restaurants have been in hot water with the health dept. stone park and belleville come to mind....

shishkab

Slip, i think you are the first person i've heard to say nice things about BB either re: the food or re: the service. the general consensus i've gathered is that the food is bad and the service is worse. it's a shame, too, considering how many people in this 'hood were looking forward to a good burger joint in the slope. most folks on these boards throw their two cents in for either Bonnie's, Johnny Mack's, or (i think) 12th St. B&G. you've piqued my interest, though! question: have you been going there since they opened or have you been going there recently? is it possible they've changed their bad ways?

slipperyslope

I haven't been back in a few months. I find that most places are hit or miss in ParkSlope. Maybe I just got lucky the few times I went to Burger Bar. I went to Mack's this weekend and it was terrible (service and food). However, if you asked me last week I would have said that Mack's was fine. Same issues with Bonnie's (also in trouble with the health dept.). 12th st is still on my good side though....they never seem to let me down.

filmlover44

kirby wrote: I am referring to his reputation of his company, not necesarily what he does, but how he does it. If you read reviews of his company, you will see I am not alone in questioning his ethics the often unsatisfactory service he gives tohis cutomers. (Also I drank too much wine last night)

Don't Drink & Post!

brooke lynn knight

Agreed about most Slope restaurants being hit or miss. I've had great meals and wretched meals at the places you mention. Regarding burgers... I'm always on the lookout for a great one in the Slope, but have been scared off by the unrelentingly negative reviews of Burger Bar.

Bonnie's is, I think, terribly overrated. It's a nice local dive, and that's fine, but the way people rave about it, you'd think it was something really special. I finally gave up on their burgers. I like the flame-broiled aspect, but I'm so over the huge, icky, too-soft buns. I always seem to get one bite of just bun before I get to the meat. What is it about this place that makes people sing its praises so?

Now, Bar Toto -- those are some good burgers, even though they're served panini-style. And wonderful crisp, thin shoestring fries. A hefeweizen and a Toto Burger on a warm summer night, and I'm in heaven.

drano

We need the Rex Cafe back.

veets

gee I missed the Rex Cafe.. where was that place???

drano

veets wrote: gee I missed the Rex Cafe.. where was that place???

It was where Miracle Grill is now. The burgers were really good.

shishkab

wow. when was it the Rex cafe? my PS days only date back to when it was Nam (which i still miss dearly).

drano

I think Nam came right after. Don't hold me to that, though, there have been a ton of places there. Would be a great PS trivia question: Name the restaurants and their years of operation that have been open in that location.

brooke lynn knight

Oh, that'd be a long list. Here's another fun PS trivia game: List the "cursed" locations. For example, the spot where Maggie Moo's is now has historically been cursed. Perhaps the curse will smite Maggie Moo's too one of these days. Wouldn't be any great loss.

reader

In the space that is the Miracle Grill ---

Who remembers Minsky's in that location? It seemed to be well established when I moved to the Slope in 1977 and eventually
was shut down by the state authorities, IIFC, there was a problem with the taxes paid on the liquor.

drano

Brooke Lynn Knight wrote: Oh, that'd be a long list. Here's another fun PS trivia game: List the "cursed" locations. For example, the spot where Maggie Moo's is now has historically cursed. Perhaps the curse will smite Maggie Moo's too one of these days. Wouldn't be any great loss.

The spot where Yamato is now was death for a long time, but they seem to be making a go of it.

brooke lynn knight

Yes, that's right. Before that it was... Uncle something's? Uncle Moe's? I always referred to it as "Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag," so I can't remember what it was called. And then it was that great little soul food joint run by the beautiful lesbian model w/the cowboy hat. I sure miss that place.

rapture

Is that the place that had fried green tomatoes and red velvet cake??? (the soul food place you mentioned)

eggcream

Yes, I remember Minsky's and Burger Bar used to be The Alamo. Now that place was great. Two floors, always packed with people.

Anyway, we went to the Burger Bar twice recently and enjoyed it. But the mice evidence scares me off and I hate to spread rumors but I've heard of a few people getting food poisioning.