Dutch Boy Burger Is Open

I went last weekend for lunch The food was good, but a bit more than we generally like to spend on burgers/beers/fries ($28 for 2 veggie burgers with cheese, 1 order of fries, and 2 12-oz mugs of beer). The food was good, but not worth those prices, in my opinion. I spend $28 for two veggie dogs, 2 fries, and 2 pints at Bark and it's worth every penny. At Dutch Boy I got less food and was less impressed.

Also, any word as to how late they're open? I stopped in last night because I was starving (like 3am...) and while the bar was open, the food was not. I had heard that they would be grilling as late as the bar was open. I was quite excited for late-night eats -- because even if it's not great food, at least it's food!

Hopefully either their prices drop a buck or two or the food improves. If it was $8.50 a burger WITH fries even, I'd be more willing to go back.

Subject: Re: spacey service

meowymeowchiko wrote: they are open late, which is nice.

How late is late?

My visit to the restaurant was on a Monday night around 9:30 with a friend of mine who just got off work. I live on Nostrand south of Eastern Parkway and having been meaning to make my way over for some time. I ordered a lamb burger and a coffee, which I was told they had to brew a new pot. My friend ordered a burger, fries and soda.

Now let me tell you this soda... where I come from, soda is a sugary carbonated beverage which fizzes in your mouth. What we received was brown, thick water in a bottle labeled "Foxon Park Soda". Foxon is a bottled in Connecticut, which is where I am originally from, so I don't understand how the people at Foxon any myself have such varied definitions of what soda is.

After 25 minutes of sitting and talking, our food was brought over. The portions are small. There is no other way around it. The burgers are not White Castle small, but I would but it in the same weight class as a Big Mac. This made me a little disappointed as I am a big guy with a big appetite.

I asked for barbecue sauce to go on my burger and did not receive it for another 15 minutes, by which time my lamb burger had long been eaten. The server apologized and it was cool. The burger was flavorful, but not very large.

At this point it had been 40 minutes since we ordered and the coffee was still not brewed. They told me it was brewing and after another 5 minutes I had coffee in front of me.

I don't know if I caught them on an off night or what, but it does not take 15 minutes to get barbecue sauce and does not take 40 minutes to brew coffee. I worked in food services before, so I have some sympathy for a busy atmosphere but it was 9:30 on a Monday night and there were two people working the counter.

Overall, my first visit to Dutch Boy Burgers was disappointing. My cost was $11. The burger itself was a very tasty piece of meat. I think a larger portion would make me want to order it again. Also, the bun was a little weak. When I am charged more than $5 for a burger, I usually expect it to be on a nicer bun. These looked like and tasted like buns I buy from Associated Supermarkets $0.99 for 6. My friend felt the same way about his burger and I believe he made himself something else to eat when he got home.

This was originally going to be visit 1 of a 3 visit review of Dutch Boy, but it is pretty safe to say they lost a customer on the first visit. This experience made me appreciate the speediness of Crow Hill Bistro.

Crow Hill Bistro is on the corner of Nostrand and Union. It is sit-down restaurant with a bar in it. The food there is FANTASTIC but the service is a little slow. Not Dutch-Boy-Burger-slow by any means, but certainly not fast.

You can find their menu at : www.crowhillbistro.com

I've been there 3 times on 3 different days and I didn't think the service was THAT slow any of those times. I didn't wait more than 10 to 15 minutes for my food, even with plenty of other customers.

Not sure what to think of this. I have no inside information, but it sounds like they were approached with a request/demand for money (based on the response above it seems more like the latter). They may have perceived this as a shakedown especially after their recent ordeal with local inspectors. I don't necessarily blame them for refusing to play along, and wouldn't necessarily see it as a "screw you" to Crown Heights without hearing both sides of the story.

Right -- in YOUR neighborhood. Not over here with the us 'natives'. Once the CHARTER schools start popping up, and the Mia Farrow-types start clucking, Soda will start fizzing appropriately....

No, There was no 'shakedown'. Franklin Park didn't give a penny, and neither did the Butch Boy volk. Hey, aren't the Afrikaner-types in South Africa, aren't they DUTCH????! Hmmmm.

xlizellx wrote: MHA, you seem to have a bone to pick. I in no way doubt that they said no to helping out, but that doesn't mean they are racist like you seem to be implying. Perhaps a new start-up didn't have the cashflow right then. Maybe they thought it wasn't worth it since the proposal said to them wasn't clear/well-developed/something they agreed with. I think that spreading rumors is wrong on your part.

Exactly, especially after the delayed opening. I could also see them saying no if they got a "donate money or we'll call you racists on the Internet" vibe.

On the otherhand, "capitalist" is often mistaken as "racist".

...maybe they didn't perceive MHA's "market segment" (a loaded term) as being one they felt they should spend a lot of money to target.

A good capitalist (aka business owner) pursues customers with the potential to bring them profit, regardless of their race.

MHA, I wasn't there for your pitch, but a good pitch when soliciting a donation is something like "if you donate to my cause, this is how I will let people know about it. ...this is how you will benefit from helping me". i.e. There is no such thing as altruism.

But back to burgers:
Mrs. Why and I ate their last week when it opened. The burger was good, but the Mac and Cheese didn't seem to be baked. There we no yummy crunchy parts.

and I assume by 'demopgraphic' they mean essentially the Black and Brown people of the neighborhood

You must not frequent Franklin Park if you think it's only a white people's joint.

If it's any insight into the debate, I'd also heard from a source not connected with this forum about the owners of FP turning down Crow Hill Community Association, a 25 year old organization that has been instrumental in the turn around of Franklin Avenue - from the crime reduction initiatives to beautification projects.

In addition, a while back -before Dutch Boy ever opened - I'd been told by a very credible source that Franklin Park was approached by the Weeksville Heritage Center about hosting an event at FP. The owners turned them down because they were concerned about the type of crowd it would attract.

For what its worth, Weeksville Heritage Center is a historical society that has been around for over three decades doing historic preservation work in the neighborhood. They focus on the preservation of the free post-abolition African-American community that lived in the area during the late 19th century. They manage a site that is on the National Registry of Historic Places, run a farmers market, and are also currently in the process of constructing a multi-million dollar performing arts center for the neighborhood. I'm sure any prudent capitalist would be happy to have such patrons at their establishment.

To their defense, though, I heard that the owners of FP had also been skeptical about bringing the reading series to the FP too. But they did give them a shot, unlike Weeksville, who was shot down.

Draw whatever conclusions make you feel comfortable.

Whynot, I'd say some are definitely beer people, and from the looks of them many are burger people too.

My point is simply, I can't imagine them rolling up on anyone, at least not the folks I've met. They seem more like the type to invite you over for a nice glass of lemonade on a hot summer day.

The first time I ever went there I asked for a well done burger but when I got it it was still very pink inside..The lady at the counter saw my distress and sent it back to get done, which was very nice on her part.
The place is still very new, they need to really train the people serving us, probably someone with waiting experience.
The prices are affordable and I LOVE their thin fries.

Well, I heard from a good source that they are not going to participate in the kid's day even that happens every year around here. The plan this year is to close off a segment of Franklin Avenue, and a number of the businesses around here are helping to sponsor the event, but not Franklin Park, and apparently not Dutch Boy either. All I am saying is why support businesses that don't do your community any good? If you recall the boycotting of big business that helped to perpetuate the injustice in South Africa, change occurred once merchants who did that saw the connection between their business and social injustice. Why equate such a big thing with such a small thing? Well, for one thing I am not too keen on the Dutch and their history with Black people. I wouldn't go to a restaurant that was called 'Boer Boy' proudly. And, if you ask me, there is a silent contempt here. I don't need to hear the n-word without knowing that I am perceived as one. Sorry folks, that's just the way I see it. And if you don't think business should have a role in community development, then that's the choice you make. I don't make that choice. I think that business should be responsive to the community from which it takes its money. People like to speak about politics and public policy in abstracta, and to do that is ineffectual. Why can't Franklin Park give money to the Crow Hill Association? Why can't they get involved in the planning for the community event to be held this summer? They too benefit from the goodwill the Crow Hill Association garners, and creates, Why is that something they are reluctant to be a part of? No one shook them down, they were approached just like all the other business in OUR community. I have gone to Franklin Park, I have gone to Soda, I have gone to 'Herr Dutch Boy' , and I appreciate their presence, but dang, what's a hundred bucks so that some kid can slide down a waterslide in the summer???

MHA wrote: Well, I heard from a good source that they are not going to participate in the kid's day even that happens every year around here. The plan this year is to close off a segment of Franklin Avenue, and a number of the businesses around here are helping to sponsor the event, but not Franklin Park, and apparently not Dutch Boy either. All I am saying is why support businesses that don't do your community any good? If you recall the boycotting of big business that helped to perpetuate the injustice in South Africa, change occurred once merchants who did that saw the connection between their business and social injustice. Why equate such a big thing with such a small thing? Well, for one thing I am not too keen on the Dutch and their history with Black people. I wouldn't go to a restaurant that was called 'Boer Boy' proudly. And, if you ask me, there is a silent contempt here. I don't need to hear the n-word without knowing that I am perceived as one. Sorry folks, that's just the way I see it. And if you don't think business should have a role in community development, then that's the choice you make. I don't make that choice. I think that business should be responsive to the community from which it takes its money. People like to speak about politics and public policy in abstracta, and to do that is ineffectual. Why can't Franklin Park give money to the Crow Hill Association? Why can't they get involved in the planning for the community event to be held this summer? They too benefit from the goodwill the Crow Hill Association garners, and creates, Why is that something they are reluctant to be a part of? No one shook them down, they were approached just like all the other business in OUR community. I have gone to Franklin Park, I have gone to Soda, I have gone to 'Herr Dutch Boy' , and I appreciate their presence, but dang, what's a hundred bucks so that some kid can slide down a waterslide in the summer???

I am not sure I agree with anything you have written. Your math goes something like this. Here are a list of businesses on Franklin Ave(1-100) here are a list of businesses that have contributed to cause XYZ (kids day,poetry read, community meeting, ect, whatever) Here are the ones I think should give.1st FP/DB should be looked at as very fragile. The guy sat on 3 spaces for 7 months at Brooklyn prices with 1 dragging the other 2 out of a blackhole. DB's doors barely opened and now the guy needs to give money,space? It's pretty bold of you or anybody else to tell people what and when to give.If each business gives 100 dollars to a fukin water slide that's great. That is the most pie in the sky BS I have ever seen. When you get 100 bucks from all the deli's on the same block of Franklin as DB I will donate a 100 for the silly slide. If you get 100 from everybody you should have 3 grand by your count before DB or Franklin Pk are ever involved. Just curious for this type of thing to get a public posting. Why don't you paint things fair and reply as to the chicken place or hair weaving and nail salon or used furniture place...did they all give a 100 bucks? Does Fisher owe 200 because he has 2 shops? I will send a video reporter as you get the cash from the deli on the corner of Franklin and Lincoln. The guy already donates loosies and welfare fraud to the area.Our children need a place to buy alcohol and tobacco under age he provides that service.The other deli provides EBT credit transactions at a small fee, a young mother can go in hand the clerk her card, buy no food and walk out w cash in hand for a small vig. Please list if these assholes have given their 100 so I can tell them how proud I am.They speak Dutch in Holland. Afrikaans is spoken in SA...less and less. If you follow it when they don't speak Afrikaans anymore the SA farm production will be zero.