Andy B.
Yelp
It's tough finding a good burger in Seattle. The fact Dick's won the Seattle Times' Best Burger poll says all you need to know about America's favorite sandwich here in the Upper Left (yeah, I know it was a popularity contest rather than an actual best burger contest...). I've had decent burgers here, but nothing REALLY good like I've had in Billings MT, San Jose CA, and Milwaukee WI. Enter Just Burgers...
They recently opened near me in Fremont, so I thought I'd give it a try. Every place that says "we only do 1 thing" always follow it up with "and we do it really well." Just Burgers doesn't say that, and for good reason. It's a "meh" burger; not awful, but not worth a return trip. One might think that warrants a 3-star rating, and one would be right. However, my online order said it would be ready in "17-28 minutes".
I was expecting 15, but ok. I'm on my way home and will unload the car before grabbing the burgers figuring it was likely to be closer to 28 min than 17. No problem. Completing the order resulted in an email receipt, then another email confirming a pick up window 35 min out. Ok, marginally longer yet, but whatever. I wind up at the restaurant a little before my pick up window to find it ready. Get home, it tastes like it's been sitting a while. Checking email, I see another notification that it had been ready almost 20 min before I arrived, so about 30 min before I started eating.
Maybe it was meh because Just Burgers doesn't have a good predictive scheduling system and I don't check email often enough. Nope, turns out I had been to the U District location about a year ago, and thought it was meh, too - that time taking out moments after it came off the grill. -1 star.
I remember the really good burger joints in Billings, San Jose, and Milwaukee. The fact I forgot another Just Burgers location that I'd been to even existed means I'm still looking for something - anything - better than decent in Seattle.