Denise V.
Yelp
I'm going to be honest, I don't really like this place. VaKA Burgers is one of the many eateries at Mess Hall Market and, similar to Trade Food Hall (in Irvine) in design, it also fails to standout. On paper, everything is great. Lots of parking, many food options to choose from (especially with picky friends), clean bathrooms, lots of seating. Seating options are pretty outstanding -- outdoor patio is so spacious and modern! A great study area with nice views of a park (also note: airport takeoffs are pretty loud). But the prices are kinda high and the food quality isn't too great. My friends and I walked around and nothing was really appealing. We basically chose VaKA because we wanted some mac and cheese and they had it. At VaKA, the menu is like any standard burger place however, they also have salads, sandwich options, a kids' menu, and wings.
We ordered: the BRiE burger ($13), Los AlToS burger ($13), Grown Up Grill CHeeSE ($9), Mac N' Cheese ($5 from the kids' menu), and Dirty Fries ($6) (all to share). Food didn't take too long to come out (approximately 10-15 minutes, we ordered a lot). The burgers were tasty (nice brioche bun, really THICK beef patties) and comes with ketchup and garlic aioli sauce, but I definitely didn't think it matched the price point. The fries were also pretty good and probably the best price for the value. The portions are large and topped with generous amounts of feta cheese and caramelized onions and very shareable. But the Mac N' Cheese was a definite NO. It was waaaaaay too salty, as if all the water evaporated and we were left with elbow pasta drenched in a heavy, high sodium cream béchamel. We couldn't eat half of it and it was a kids' portion. Probably not going here again.