Michaela D.
Yelp
I've never had any CaliBurger before, so I wasn't sure what to expect or really what to compare it too, but this was certainly not an enjoyable experience, which is too bad, because there were a lot of options that sounded good, and the food itself wasn't bad.
I put my order in on one of their kiosks. That made it quick and easy to customize. I love having those kiosks to make my decisions on and see what comes on a burger, so it was a good start.
I step away and someone else gets their order taken, then someone struggles with the kiosk and gets their order taken as well. Good- both options are necessary.
Next, someone actually does put in an order on the kiosk. I now notice where the order is printed, and that mine is still sitting there untouched. It's been 5 minutes. This is when it starts going downhill.
During those 5 minutes, there is one worker taking orders- good. Another worker very slowly making one burger and basically just standing over the grill- fine, but not good. And a third worker is... scooping oil from one fryer and putting it in the other one? I honestly cannot figure out what they're doing.
The worker taking orders is able to step away and notices the kiosk tickets. They take the tickets and put them on the line behind the verbal orders. It's now been 10 minutes before my order is even looked at.
Burger worker does eventually start making more burgers at once... eventually, while the order-taker is doing the rest of the work; getting drinks, frying fries and chicken, prepping buns, prepping bags. Still have no clue what the last worker is doing, but they do disappear for a few minutes to the back- not long enough for a break or anything.
It's 20-something minutes by the time I get my order. Only half of that was actual cooking/prep time.
The food was fine. It was nothing special, it was nothing worth that ridiculous wait. This is a quick food stop at a mall with sit-down restaurant times. My partner had already paid, gotten, and eaten his meal by the time I was handed mine.
By the way, they also left the pickles on after I put none. It says "no pickles" on the receipt. Normally, that would just be a little annoying and not bother me a whole lot, but people rarely consider the fact that allergies are possible. Luckily, that's not the case with me and I can take them off, but it certainly doesn't help my opinion after everything. If it had been someone with a severe allergy, then it would likely be another 20+ minutes for a fresh order.