I have been to this place a couple times. The first time I thought it was decent for a considering its location in the Old North End. In addition, the prices at that time were reasonable for what you got. Since that time, there have been a number of adjustments to the menu. None of these enhanced it.
The most recent experience was very disappointing. The burgers don't come with fries and are priced as though they are. A side order of fries is a maximum 10 steak fries on the side of the plate. The quality of the burger was not bad, but the aggregate price of a side of fries and burger adds up to $12. To me that is on par with some of the places in downtown Burlington serving "farm-fresh" beef with a side included. The value was just not there, and they aren't offering a unique experience that makes me want to come back.
Another note, the service was below par. I am pretty sure there was only one waitress working, and she wasn't able to keep up. We never actually got our bill, and had to approach the bar to pay to leave. If I have to ask to pay, so I can leave is poor form. Needless to say I will not be going back, and I don't think those in my party will either. This place had some promise early on, but has failed to deliver, and continues to get worse. My recommendation is go down the street to The Shopping Bag, buy The Sizzler and fries for under $8 and enjoy your meal.
First I would like to say my friends love this place, so I may be a minority of the group. I just thought it was OK. My friends and I went here last night to watch the Yankees play the Red Sox. Our group was 5 adults and one child. We got a table in the corner under an outdoor patio umbrella, and my first impression of the atmosphere was great! It had about 7 tables total, and a bar that seated about 6 people. Not huge, but not like you were sitting on top of the people next to you either. Unfortunately, I quickly realized this was not going to work for us to watch the game. Due to the umbrella we couldn't see the tv set up on the wall closest to us. We had to look across the floor to squint behind the bar to see what the score might be. They had a third tv that was a better view for us, but it was displaying their beer menu instead of the game.
The beer menu is my biggest complaint. This place does not have a liquor license which I completely understand with how expensive it is. They have wine, mead (honey wine which is very good there) and beer. I found it uncomfortable to order a drink because I had no idea what any of the beers were! They have small brewery brews that I have never heard of! No Longtrail (even though they had their signs everywhere) Switchback or Woodchuck. I love the fact that they were branching out and adding different options, but have a safe fallback that people can recognize. Since you can't order liquor, you have to order an unknown beer which for an ale was $11. Yikes! What if I don't like it?!
Food menu was also slightly disappointing. Everything was sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs. Order a burger for $6.50 and that's all you are getting. It comes out on a small plate with the toppings your ordered on it and that was it. My friend ordered a lb of fries. I think this means the potatoes before they are cooked. These come out on a small bowl/dish. I had a burrito and it had a side of salsa and sour cream. Prices aren't awful, but you can add cheap sides just so people can feel like they get more for their money. Keep the over $2 upcharge for fries, but give chips free. Quality of food was good, I will give them that.
The time it took for the food was a little unreasonable. We were the only table waiting on food when we had ordered around 6:45. We didn't get our food until right before first pitch at 7:05. 20 min for a taco salad, burrito, order of fries, burger, chicken quesadilla, and a kids grilled cheese. I was glad we beat the two groups that came in right when the game was starting.
Overall I would come back here. I probably wouldn't suggest it, but if someone wanted to go I wouldn't argue it either. We finished our meals, left after 2nd inning, and went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat a little more, drink what we wanted, and could see the tvs.
I am astounded by the amount of hate for the One Pepper Grill.
Maybe Burlington has forgotten what it's like to have an inexpensive, neighborhood restaurant after thirty years of identity-gutting gentrification. A shame, since the OPG is bucking the trend of gussying up so we can have yet another place that serves a $16 hamburger. It may not be fancy, but it's affordable, has a very chill atmosphere, and boasts an impressive beer selection that rivals the best selection downtown. That is, unless, you have some weird notion against getting bottled beer as their draught beer is still a slim selection.
I'm not generally the one to buck the trend of Yelp reviews, but most of the reviews I'm reading don't give this place justice (not to mention are mostly one-dimensional and lacking any details). Very unfortunate.
I've been going to the One Pepper Grill since the new owners purchased it. I'll admit in the old days the only thing that kept me coming was the beer and the ambience. I found the food unimpressive, with the exception of the hot dogs. This is not surprising given the owners' previous venture, TJ's Dawg House, was a wildly successful and deservedly so. I challenge any of you to find me a better Chicago dog in New England. But over time, I've seen the consistency and quality of the food improve dramatically while prices have stayed exactly the same. But remember this is simple, inexpensive, satisfying pub grub so set expectations accordingly. If you want more, go wait in line at the Farmhouse and have an amazing meal at more than double the price. Don't worry, I'll wait...
The OPG is changed tremendously under the new ownership and experienced growing pains that I think many negative reviewers have noted here. For myself, I used to only order the hot dogs after having a catastrophic burger experience in the early days, but the quality of the food, namely the burgers, have improved dramatically. However, I still don't care for the fries, they're steak fries for folks who care, although I've found Vermonters and I have very different opinions about what qualifies as "good fries".
The service problems, which many older negative reviews point to, have mostly been addressed with the hiring of additional waiting staff. From time to time, I still see the owner, Toby, trying to run the restaurant solo and the speed of service definitely suffers. I've also seen this happen a lot less as time went on. But I challenge anyone who is hating on the quality of the service to tell me they have been treated poorly by staff. Because the folks who work here are damned nice, although I think the more recently hired staff would do well to be better versed in the beer selection.
The One Pepper Grill, is a great neighborhood place and a blessed refuge from the march of gentrification of Burlington. I love fancy, organic, local food as much as the next person. But I also cannot afford to eat like a king every time I feel like going out. The OPG fills the niche of a place I can go with friends enjoy a few beers, maybe even grab some grub and do so without breaking the bank. A place where you can watch sports on the big screen but no one bats an eyelash when you roll in with you posse of nerd friends and a board game with too many little pieces.
I'm giving this place FIVE stars, because what it does it does well and at a fair price. But you know what else? There's nothing else like it in Burlington and it's only getting better.
We went there on a Monday evening & placed a take out order. Â There were only two other customers in the place, a couple of waitstaff/bartenders & it took about 45 minutes to get a couple a burgers & some fries. Â The price was fair but could not believe how long it took. Â I think they went to Chicago to get the burger...which was very good but the wait with absolutely no customers was mystifying. Â 3 stars for the food only.
Review Source:Nice environment, cheap beers and low priced food that is actually quite decent. Too bad the service was terrible. We must have waited 20 minutes for a simple drink order while the server carefully neglected everyone on the floor. One look around the tiny place, and it was clear that the only customers getting any attention were sitting at the bar. At check time, the waitress casually slid a piece of paper face down on the table and ran off. Flipping it over revealed, very simply, the price: $35.75. No break down or anything. Did that include the beer I ordered but never received? Should we have written down our own price and handed it back to them, like some shadeball negotiation between hitmen? Who knows... we just wanted to leave at that point. Would have had a better time drinking beers under an overpass.
Review Source:Tonight was the second time we dined at OPG because we were so impressed with the first time, however tonight was a much different experience. Â The waitress seemed totally inconvenienced when I asked for sour cream on the side of the nachos...I think I even received an eye roll. Â For being one of four other people in the entire place, the food took an amazingly long time to get to our table. After five minutes of eating the horrible waitress asked us if we wanted a box. Â It was as if she couldn't wait for us to get out of there. Â The ketchup was so old and foul that when I opened it, it LITERALLY Â exploded on me...and when I asked for more napkins, she brought over two. Â I had to ask her three more times in order to have enough napkins to cover the irreparable damage to my new sweater. Â I'm very upset about this experience and how awful our waitress was because I had thought my family and I would become regular customers. Â The prices may be cheap, but it's not worth the trouble.
Review Source:This place is not a wine bar. It is a local's eatery with an amazing beer selection. They have lots of cheap fried things that are good with beer. it sort of looks like a fast food restaurant inside. There was a band setting up when we arrived and they were kind of yelling at each other which was off-putting. I felt like I was getting a meal in someone's house.
But if you like cheap but delicious fried foods and lots of tasty local beers, give it a go. I guarantee this is not a tourist destination!
The prices alone are worth four stars. For less than the price of a fast food "meal", you can get higher quality food and sit in a nicer environment. Their specials are amazing too, 25 cent wings on Monday and free fries and soda with a hot dog on Wednesday. My two suggestions for One Pepper Grill would be to make their own blue cheese for the wings (the stuff I was given tasted like bottled salad dressing) and to invest in either air conditioning or ceiling fans, during the summer I can sweat out the calories that I just took it.
Review Source:Went here this evening for the first time since the new owners took over and loved it! My onions rings were fresh, crispy and absolutely delicious! My hot dog was more than enough food for about $3.50, and the hand cut fries are FANTASTIC! I really wanted to try dessert, but was just way too full! Â I will definitely be coming back here, definitely check it out!
Review Source:This place recently opened close to my house and I'm glad it did. For the Burlington dining out market the prices were very cheap. I got a really delicious marinated mushrooms and swiss burger, fries (and a pickle) for $7.50
Looking at the menu, the place doesn't try to pretend to be something it's not. They're tagline is "Simple food that goes well with beer and wine." That sounds about right. Nothing too flashy, like other places in the city. Just good, simple, reasonably priced food.
I'll be back to try something else. It was a good dining experience.
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