Ninh L.
Google
My wife and I were in the mood for burgers for dinner, and after years of walking by this place we decided to try it. The atmosphere is very casual with a bar setup and tables indoor and outdoor. We opted to sit inside to avoid the Friday night hustle and bustle of the rest of the mall. You order at the counter and are given a number; pretty basic setup as far as burger places go. The interior somehow has not enough space and too much space simultaneously.
After looking over the wall menu I was super excited to try the Heritage Burger; I opted for a bison meat patty instead of standard beef and the brioche bun instead of the standard sesame. As a side note - I noticed they do not ask how you want your burger meat done. My wife ordered the vegan Bacon Cheeseburger with no changes. We both shared an order of the Fry-fecta which includes sweet potato fries, regular fries, and zucchini strings (which are battered like onion rings). I also got a prickly pear soda. My total came out to almost $60 before my wife showed the reward app for a free soda which brought it down to $53 and some change. Now I get that we live in a world ravaged by rapid inflation and stagnant wages, but damn, $60 for two burgers and some fries is a lot. We took a seat at the bar to watch the warriors game. We were given my soda as soon as I sat down, but nothing else. I eventually asked for water separately.
The food came out within 10 minutes, and let me just say that I was visually disappointed with our burgers; they were smaller than anticipated. Okay, you can't judge a book - or burger in this case - by its cover. I unwrapped my burger and took a bite. It tasted even more disappointing than it looked. While thick and juicy, the bison patty was unseasoned and bland. The size of the patty was also way smaller than the size of the bun. And the bun itself wasn't even big to start with. The cheese and caramelized onions helped give it some semblance of flavor, but overall the burger just lacked basic seasoning. I had to add salt and pepper from tiny packets to my own burger. My wife's vegan Bacon cheeseburger was made with some kind of bean patty. According to her the patty tasted okay, but was too crumbly and fell apart with each bite. She felt an impossible burger would have been a way better option. I know the phrase will trigger some folks but the vegan bacon was "hard and salty", and "tasted like if I ate a dog beggin' strip". The fries were decent though, again, under seasoned. You can add special seasoning to the fries when you order, but I mean not even salt?
When the server brought us our food she only provided us with some napkins. She didn't ask if we needed utensils, any sauces, or anything. My wife eventually wanted ketchup and she got up to find the condiment station around the corner; it's not visible from the entrance or most of the restaurant for that matter. There was also a water fountain with no cups, ketchup and mustard dispensers, one bottle of some generic hot sauce, salt and pepper packets, napkins, and utensils. To think the server could have just told us all of these things were around the corner. But no.
Overall I was not impressed with the food or service at Roam. To see this place get such high ratings is laughable. It's sub par fast food posing as a high end burger shop. Honestly, Fuddruckers and Red Robins is better than this place. I'm glad I got to finally try it for myself. But I would not come back. It's alright for the one and done, but spend your money elsewhere for better burgers.