So after running around town looking for something different to eat (the drive in burger shack was closed), we ended up at Bob's Burgers And Brew at the Birch Bay outlet mall.
It smelled good going in so we thought 'this has to be better than fast food'...the woman who greeted us at the door was nice, sat us down at a booth, and let us look over the menus. Â After that service went downhill. Â Our server was Marinn, if the receipt is anything to go by, and she was painful from the very beginning.
She came over, asked out drink order, and disappeared like she couldn't get away from  us fast enough when we were actually ready to order our food with one quick question about the sides (I had never heard of a JoJo before).  When she returned we ordered our food - two Western BBQ Burgers.  His was with extra sauteed mushrooms and a side of fries, mine was no additions and with a side of half-potato salad and half JoJos.
She disappeared, and we noticed their appies were all on a card on the table with the fancy drinks, not in the menu itself, but in a sense I'm somewhat glad we didn't stay long enough for it with her as our server.
When the food arrived, she had screwed up my plate. Â Instead of JoJos I got fries, and she'd disappeared so fast again that I couldn't say anything and it was a good 10-15 minutes before she returned.
When she did come back, I literally had to motion for her to stay because she came at exactly the point when Derek and I had both taken bites of food, and I was determined to get something to go with the tasteless fries. Â She then commented on the fact that I was supposed to have Jojos, which I was too tired to care about and brushed off saying the fries were okay, and asked for honey mustard dip.
Someone should teach the kitchen staff how to make fries. Â While they are technically good fries, they are bland as paste - nobody tosses them in salt when they come out of the frier?? Â Anyway I got my honeymustard and she disappeared again like it was too much trouble to be around us for more than a split second.
The burger itself was really good - i would go back for the burger. Â Derek says the mushrooms should have been sauteed a little longer, and honestly I don't think they should put the potato salad on the plate until it's ready to go out - you could tell it sat on a warm plate under the warmer for a few minutes. Â The burger was juicy, the barbeque sauce was delicious, and that part of the meal I enjoyed.
Due to the mistakes, and by the fact that she kept taking off, we docked a couple of percents off the tip we gave her, not much but a few as a hint to do better next time, and she had the audacity to roll her eyes at Derek when she gave him the change!! Â Talk about rude! Â I hope if we ever go back we don't get put in Marinn's section and if we are I will ask to be moved. Â I'd rather sit in the noisy bar than in her area. Â The food was good otherwise, and i would go back (and ask them to season the fries for me haha). Â Someone should teach her a little customer service though - customers, even if you've had a bad day or don't like them, are still money and should be treated with at least a little courtesy when they're the ones paying the wages, tips, and general funds on which front line staff survive. Â I've been there, I know how hard it is, and rudeness has no excuses.
My husband and i ate here with our 4 kids the other night and had an ok meal. Nothing spectacular about the meal or service. Later that evening I was awoke with running to the bathroom trying to hold my food down. I was sick all night and so was my husband. Upon calling bobs they told us it wasn't there food but that the flu is going around. Hhhmmm real responsible reply. Funny how my kids aren't sick but they ate Mac n cheese. I guess that's a safe haven. Thanks bobs for your great customer service will not come back.
Review Source:We usually get take out here and keep it to a few items, the ones we know are prepared correctly and consistently ~ grilled sourdough, bacon cheeseburger, crispy chicken salad or a wrap of some kind... We tried the chicken strips recently (not a normal item we get) and were VERY disappointed at getting ripped off with a VERY tiny portion. We've learned to stick with what we know. Don't care to eat there as it's usually cold and often times rather loud. Seems to take longer to get the food also when it's not take out.
Review Source:Decent burgers, but overall nothing special. I'd rather go to Red Robin, Five Guys, In'n'Out, Red Mill, even Burger King. Â However, it's one of the only Burger joints up in Birch Bay, they have TVs for watching sports, a fairly decent happy hour, and the staff has always been friendly. Â Burgers will set you back approximately $9-12.
There is a nice patio out front that is great in the summertime.
A local chain that reminds me so much of Red Robin--check mark yes.
Something to take note of: when in the search for a morning hotspot to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast goods where does one go when everything along the water is not open at 8:00am?
Bob's burgers.
It's a local chain, one I had taken note of when I first visited family in the area but never taken the pleasure of dining at. Come breakfast, and one being within miles of their home we darted over for a quick breakfast.
The service was quick, inside is small and well lit. In Birch Bay, your options are quite limited when it comes to a place like this and I'm not going to rip it apart. Not this time, it served its purposes and for that I am thankful.
My mom had a blueberry pancake (that is the size of TX--literally) and sides of eggs and sausage. I went for a Denver omelet, knowing I would be flying out and wanted something to stay with me all day long.
The proportions are massive, the omelet was more than enough. One thing that I must say was a little off putting: no fresh fruit. Rather than having toast or hash browns I requested some fruit. No go, they had orange slices (no doubt for drinks or garnishes) but that is it. So be prepared if that's what you're looking for--you're better off picking up peaches at one of the roadside stops and brining it with you. BYOF.
The prices are low and again, the service was pretty attentive. I'd be curious how this location does on an evening. There are flatscreens, a fully stocked bar and music on the overhead. If I lived in the area, I'd make the jaunt as an outing for a happy hour drink.
I tried their original squirrel sandwich - roast beef, swiss cheese, and tomato on grilled sourdough bread. Â It was a pretty good and unique sandwich for about $9 (with steak fries). Â I did not find out the origin of the name though. Â This looks like the place for local burgers also.
Review Source:Drive further down South (or North to Canada) to eat.
Bob's was SUCH Â a disappointment. I always drove by their restaurants and wondered if they were any good but seriously this place blew.
Everything from the waitress, food, atmosphere, restrooms, everything was a MISS. And I know that is harsh.
I ordered the chipotle salad and it was AWFUL. Two bites in and I lost my will to eat at all. Wilted, sad lettuce, chicken that not only looked but tasted out of the can, and the garlic bread was obviously previously frozen. My boyfriend ended up telling our waitress I didn't like the salad because I wasn't in the mood to deal with her, she was cold and made me uncomfortable. She took the salad back but didn't apologize or seem to really care. I ended apologizing to HER several times. I ordered the Thai chicken, which tasted like Panda Express. Couldn't finish it. I left hungry, which I can't recall the last time that has happened to me.
My boyfriends burger (aloha burger) was sad, Applebees has better burgers. He really enjoyed the BBQ sauce for the fries, I do give them credit for that- although I assume that's not made there.
I know I won't be back here. It was that bad. What a downer.
Also- Yelp wouldn't let me check in here... said I was too far away.
If you look at my reviews you'll see I'm pretty generous with the ratings, but I just don't see how this place is rated even at 3 stars. Â The burgers are barely above a fast food level, and the prices aren't great either. Â A comparable restaurant would be White Spot (in Canada) and it's way better for the price. Â Thumbs down to Bob's Burger and Brew.
Review Source:I love a good hamburger. Â
I've heard rave reviews for Bob's for years from friends and co-workers and had never found myself in one despite spending 6 years living in Bellingham.
I stopped in last week famished after being in lineup at the US/Canada border crossing for a bit over 3 hours.
Usually when I've been hungry for quite a while even the most mediocre of food tastes phenomenal. Â
Our food arrived promptly and our server was polite. Â Our drinks were not refilled as often as we prefer.. but that is something that can be forgiven due to the crowded dining room.
I ordered a patty melt with onion rings. Â The portion size was nice. Â I enjoyed the sourdough bread. Â It's not what I would traditionally think of as a patty melt bread but I liked the change up.
The meat portion of the burger was sizable but otherwise unspectacular.  It was simply  a large portion of ultra-lean meat.  Very little in the way of seasoning and not particularly flavorful on it's own.
If you want to serve meat with very little in the way of additional seasoning there needs to be a proper amount of fat to keep things tasty. Â This combined with a sad amount of cheese ( one slice of cheese on one side of the burger ) avoided another attempt to liven up the experience for me. Â I'm not sure what the logic behind having a patty "melt" with one slice of cheese on one side of the burger. Â It had a generous amount of sauteed onions but they were not enough to save the experience for me.
I imagine perhaps they are trying to be more 'healthy' with the ultra-lean meat and paltry cheese portion. Â I'm not really sure if I want to pick that battle.. a healthy large hamburger. Â If I'm going for burgers I've basically abandoned health in favor of greasy awesomeness. Â I guess there must be a market for this experience though based on the raves I've heard. Â It is also quite possible that I just had a lone bad experience on that day at that time (my wife was also disappointed with her burger - as was I upon sampling it.)
The onion rings were good and plentiful. Â My compliments on those.
In terms of the venue.. The dining room was clean and well lit. Â The bathrooms were also well maintained. Â The service was taxed by the crowd so my judgment is reserved on that.
Take from this what you may. Â If you enjoy Bob's I offer that I accept it might not be for anyone. Â I would not want to begrudge you whatever makes this special for you!
Personally I will be heading to Sonic in Lynden next time I'm in need of a greasy burger.
We grabbed lunch here one day before heading out to Birch Bay. Bob's food is always good, but not great, so I wasn't expecting anything more than that. However, I do feel that if your food isn't all that special, your service should be outstanding. It was the middle of the day, so the restaurant was empty. Our waitress seemed annoyed that she had to do her job, and we had a clear view of about five employees just standing around and talking.
The food took almost 45 minutes to reach our table despite the fact that we were the only two people in there. About five minutes after we got our food, an elderly couple showed up and they were seated at the table that was about three feet away from us. We tried to continue with our meal and conversation, but the other couple was so close that they couldn't help but just look at us and listen to us talking. The group of servers kept looking at us and laughing.
For a restaurant that supposedly prides itself on providing a fun atmosphere for their customers, this Bob's did a terrible job. The only saving grace was the nothing-more-than-okay food. Will not be returning to this location.
We stopped in to this new Bob's location on our return from Vancouver.  This is a sparkling new facility and is a much nicer place than the Bob's in Ferndale which we usually visit. Bob's always delivers on massive, cooked to order burgers and this visit was no different.  I ordered the montly special Green Chile burger, and it was carefully prepared and cooked to my specifications at medium rare.  Great facility, good food  What's holding me back from a great review?  Well there were a lot of oversights on my order.  I was served a burger on a small plate and informed that my fries would come out shortly.  Well I waited for a very long time, before piping up to let them know that I was still waiting for them. I used to work in the food industry, I understand that they run out of things. I understand that a little patience is needed from patrons.  What I don't like is being forgotten, then having to remind my server to fulfill my order.  My bill was also mixed up with another patron, and I had to have that rectified.  There's a lot of good here, there are just some improvements needed with the details.
Review Source:My husband loved, loved, loved his Cajun chicken burger so much that he wants to go back a couple of times before we leave Birch Bay. Â My green chile burger was delicious, too. Â
Portions were nauseatingly huge. Â They have Claim Jumper portions but with better tasting food. Â Their fries are the exception as they were blah. Â Make that Blah with a capital 'B'. Â Their jojos were capital 'D'elicious, though. Â
If you are buying a children's meal watch out - the meal could easily be a large adult meal.
Think a bigger version of Red Robin. Bigger in the sense that the burgers here are humongous -- big patty, big bun, big sides.
I had the guacamole burger with bacon. I was not asked how I wanted my burger done, and it seemed like it had been sitting for a while, then reheated, because it had a strange kind of crust on the outside of the patty, and was too done inside. The hamburger patty itself was a bit dry, and was not particularly full of flavor. However, the guacamole was quite good. The bacon was ok, but a bit chewy. Â The bun is very standard sesame seed McDonalds-type bun -- just bigger.
The jo jos here are more like potato wedges, and are pretty flavorful. You get plenty of 'em, too. You will not leave hungry from a meal here.
The French dip was also not particularly flavorful, nor stacked all that high. The french bread was very thick, though. Just kind of standard, with the french bun making it appear bigger than it really was.
Not really all that incredibly flavorful, but if you're looking to get full without concern for how flavorful the food is, you'll do just fine here. And it's ok, just not "great".
The place was PACKED, even at 1:30pm on a Friday. It must be one of the busiest restaurants in that area, lacking in nearby restaurants, unless you want to drive several miles one way or another. Maybe that's its secret. Â But the area is growing fast, and that may change very soon.
The meals land right around the $10 range, which is reasonable simply for the sheer volume of food you get. Also has a decent selection of about 8 microbrews on tap, and happy hour specials. Â
Service is friendly and casual.
PROS: Huge meals at a reasonable price. Kind of a fun place to eat.
CONS: Foods not all that different or spectacularly good. Just ok.
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