Sam's Burger Joint reminds me of the late 1990s/early 2000s food scene in San Antonio. Restaurants in prime locations that served up decent food were able to build a name for themselves despite their food being incredibly average. It's a decent burger if you like all burgers, but I would feel bad for any American Burger Hunters who end up at this place. I'm not even a big Chris Madrid's fan, but I think they offer a better version of the Sam's Burger Joint burger.
I've never been to Sam's Burger joint as a venue, but I'm not really a fan of ska or jazz.
This was my first time eating at Sam's. Â I chose the guacamole/Jack burger combo w/sweet potato fries. Â Second best burger I've ever eaten. Â Service was fantastic to include those who stopped by our table to ensure we were enjoying our food.
Décor was interesting to look at too; love the license plates.
Good, but not great burgers. Â Mushrooms were so-so. Â Got crowdwd fast on a Friday lunch... so get there early.
The atmosphere, though, now that is worth seeing. Â I loved the old posters on the ceiling. Â Price was probably 2 $$ signs, not just one.
Overall, good lunch, but for the location and history. Â If you are looking for a out of the world burger, go elsewhere.
I had heard all about this place from friends and I decided to finally check it out a few weeks ago.  I was told all about these free dance lessons Monday night, WELL, they weren't really free lessons, you paid $10 to get in then there was a little 45 minute swing instruction.  The class was good but there were a lot of people so there wasn't much room for critique.  After the class we went to the actual burger joint and the food was pretty average.  It is a cute place, but  guess just not my scene!
Review Source:OK, Sam and I got off to a bad start when my car got broken into after seeing Sean McConnell perform there some time back. Â I had parked underneath the overpass there and they smashed in my driver's side window becuase big dummy me left my GPS attachment on my dash. Â Don't do that folks. Â Now, that put aside, I really am stating to like this place more and more. Â Last night, I saw on the best shows of my life. The music sounded perfect and I'm a real stickler on sound quality, I love live music and have high expectations. Â I liked too that they had seats and tables for us to sit down, once before it was pretty much standing room only. Â The air conditioner was working fine too, I was worried with all the bodies there it would be hot, it was quite pleasant. Â They have two places actually, one is where they have the bands play, there's a stage, an open area directly in front, booths which you can pay extra for, and then tables and last night, they had couches you could sit on before the show actually kicked in before people started coming in. Â They do have service in the music area, you can order food too from next door which is cool and the waitresses will find you and bring it to you. Â Folks, please tip them, that can't be easy finding someone in a crowd like that. Â It was easy getting beers where we were at too, we popped over to the outside bar area, also sneaked in a quick smoke too. Â I noticed that towards the right hand side of the stage, there are life size statues of the Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood, singing and dancing and those figures capture a certain spirit found here at Sam's. Â This crowd too seems a bit more raucous and rowdy than other venues, say like a John T. Floore's or Luna, but that's what makes it special and unique. Â Oh yeah, never really had any food here, no good reason for that, I just haven't quite made that connection that you can eat and drink here. Â I'll have to investigate the other side soon, certainly looks good.
Review Source:Sam's is a place that was ahead of its time when I ate there in high school before hitting the shows on N St Marys. They were right off the highway on a desolate stretch of Broadway. They provided deliciously grilled burgers and great music long before anything else was on this side of the river (except Tacoland, RIP).
Now Sams is serving up the same consistent quality. The burgers are good, of course, but my favorite is the chicken fried chicken sandwich. Their fried mushrooms (fresh, not frozen) are good, but the fried zucchini is even better.
The venue was remodeled and looks and sounds amazing. Sam's is a local legend for the great acts that they pull, and now they throw all day music festivals that take over the street in front of the establishment.
Good food made the right way and good service for a great price make Sam's one of my top favorite spots to eat in the downtown area.
We are vegetarians in this house and pleased to find a place we hadn't tried before. Â
Yelp had a 20% off your order offer so that was cool.
The "burgers" were a little overcooked but man were they delicious!
The fries were okay but the onion rings were killer!
Definitely coming back for more! And maybe for some shirts too!
It wouldn't matter if this place was declared to have the very best burger in the whole world, I wouldn't grace them with my business for fear of being physically assaulted by an employee as my friend was tonight. Â I can't even comment on the quality of their food because I have not had, and no longer desire, the opportunity to taste it. Â
I ventured to this place this past evening with three other friends to see a few good bands (shout-out to Quiet Company!) in their music hall. Â We are all 20 years old and were wearing our bright yellow 'underage' wristbands loud and proud, as we were just there to see the performances. Â
About halfway through the band's set, I turn around to see a large man assaulting my friend. Â Unsure of what is going on and with a look of terror on his face, my friend reached to the three of us to help him, having no idea who had grabbed him around the chest and begun to drag him from the venue. Â Having noticed the "Staff" label on the large man's shirt, the three of us followed them outside of the noisy building, shouting for him to stop and asking what was going on. Â This security guard gestures to my friend and says "he was drinking" and he and another man menacingly told him to stay the hell out.
Character testimony:  my friend is about as straight-laced as they come, is very sweet, and absolutely un-confrontational.  Not to mention not very physically threatening.  Not only was there NO DRINK in his possession or anywhere around him, there was absolutely no reason for the bouncer to respond to this perceived rule violation with such brute force.  I understand their need to occasionally be forceful when someone resists, but in this case it was 100% uncalled for and could be considered battery.  Security guards do not have the privilege  to arbitrarily assault whomever they choose. Â
After speaking with my friend for a moment and processing what had been done, I, infuriated, went back into the venue to speak with the manager. Â I was directed to a bored-looking man smoking a cigarette outside. Â I explained to him the situation and asked if this was in fact the way he intended for his customers to be treated. Â He shrugged and consulted with his staff, who confirmed that they had manhandled my friend because "he had been drinking", and that was the end of it. Â There was no compromise or even an explanation as to WHY they were under the impression that he was drinking. Â Were we dismissed because we're college students, of course we were underage drinking in a public venue with our yellow wristbands? Â Not only that, but even if a minor were drinking...the role of the security personnel is not to automatically assume that it is necessary to use all force possible to drag the offender off the premises. Â
I urge you all not to encourage this kind of blatant abuse of power by gracing the establishment with your business. Â Take your money somewhere else.
Anybody who thinks this is one of the best burger places in San Antonio just doesn't know what a good burger is, simply put. The patties were under seasoned and overcooked, resulting in a dry, tasteless sandwich. It was almost enigmatic in its plainness - you kept taking bite after bite, each one FEELING like you were eating a good burger, but none of the taste or the pleasure was there. Before you knew it, you had eaten the entire thing, wondering how such a pointless burger could even exist.
The buns were served room temperature, not warm or hot. Toppings were eh. The bacon especially was kind of chewy and not very good, also having no flavor. And, for such a mediocre meal you pay a lot - the three of us paid over $30, and we drank water.
The fries were okay, nothing to rave about. The tater tots were pretty good, as were the onion rings.
Service was friendly enough, but, when you compare the burgers to Longhorn Cafe, Zinc, or Hop Doddy's in Austin, it's just not even in the same ballpark.
This review is just for the food. I came here on Saturday around 2PM, ordered an Old Fashion Special which is the burger with fries and a drinks, about $10 altogether. The Burger is dry and just ok. The Fries are just awesome! I should've just ordered the fries instead.
Even though I didn't like the burger, but I think I will give this place another chance.
Oh, yes. This is "burger" in its finest form. I decided on a random Monday to go here on my own. The bacon cheddar burger - although pretty dang spendy at over $8! - was reallllly yummy. I was sorry to see it go - when I finished it. Everything about this burger tasted fresh. And there was plenty of everything on it. I left off the tomato, only for personal preferential reasons - it makes a burger hard to deal with - and next time I'd likely leave off the onion, only because it was a ring about 1/4"-1/2" wide, and that also made it a little difficult to handle. It was red onion, though, and pretty tasty. Whoa...I just saw some pictures on Foursquare and realized...THEY HAVE TOTS?!?! Oh, had I only paid attention. I'd have been on those like ugly on an ape. DANG. Well, on the upside, thanks to a little app called Qliq, I got a BOGO on my next visit. Looking forward to hauling the bf there. I think he'll like it.
Review Source:So my DTLBF says this is the best place in San Antonio to get a burger.... period.
I must say, I'm pretty sure I agree with him.
There's a few reasons and I shall give them to you in a list format.
1. Close to Downtown Living? YES PLEASE!
2. Stamps their name on their nice and toasty buns? Oh yeah!
3. Super fresh and juicy EVERYTHING from lettuce, onions, tomatoes, beef, chicken, you name it, freaky fresh!
4. Best Michelada's around (Club Sirius for center of downtown)
5. Awesome services. These people have personality.
6. Live music on some nights. Sure it's kinda lame you have to pay extra to peep them out, but if you're into being lame like I am most of the time, I just enjoy the muffled music from sitting outside.
7. I've tried pretty much everything here and never disliked it.
Only thing I haven't tried is their restrooms.
Sam's burger joint is my go-to place for dinner on Monday Swing Nites! Â Every Monday they host a live jazz band playing great dancing music following a free (with the price of a modest admission) swing dancing lesson by the San Antonio Swing Dance Society at 7:00pm in their neighboring building out back!
So every monday I go to the restaurant side of Sam's and order a burger and tater tots. Â The best burger I have had here is the bacon cheddar burger (so yummy! and definitely greasy!). Â They have wonderful hamburger buns that they "brand" with the name "SAM's" which is just adorable. Â I have only had one burger (out of at least a dozen) that was over done, but it didn't slow me down. Â I am sure if I had asked for another burger, they would have been more than willing to accomodate me and without too much akwardness.
The onion rings are very very good... perfectly crispy and not overly breaded. Â Everytime I go there I keep wanting to try the fried pickles and haven't yet!! I keep seeing it on the menu after I have already stuffed myself completely full. Â
And if you aren't hungry until after you've done some dancing--- you can take your wristband to the restaurant side and get a dollar or two off of your meal (I think there is a certain minimum purchase of $8 to recieve the discount). Â AND this restaurant participates in the Qliq app program which shows you different discounts and offerings you can get for checking in/ checking out frequently with your smart phone.
Giant and yummy burgers will a good selection of toppings. Â I asked for bacon and jalapenos on mine and they definitely pile it on! Â
This place is definitely a "joint" though, so I was a little disappointed on the price of the food compared to the actual atmosphere. Â I also didn't quite catch what the building in the back is...I'm guessing that's where they have their shows? Â I didn't understand if that part was just a bar or you can eat there too...but in fairness i was too lazy to check it out. Â
Sam's was good but there's a few other places in town with the same burgers and prices but better atmosphere, in my opinion!
This is a fun little joint. Â The chips and sauce are way over-priced, $5.50???? Â This is TX, chips and sauce should come free everywhere! Â The onion rings were fabulous! Â Not greasy, perfectly crispy, yummy! Â I had the burger with guac and jack cheese. Â The guac was great but it wasn't the best actual burger I've ever had but I'm from KC and we have good burgers here! Â I would go back if I were in town.
Review Source:Sam's is a burger joint, through and through.
Choose your burger.
Choose your toppings.
Want fried apps? Done.
Get some sauces: ranch, ketchup, whatev.
Soda fountain to the right.
Cool dive-y place with a music venue attached; wish I could have been there during the evening, it looked like they booked some really cool shows.
The fried mushrooms are to die for. We originally ordered one to split between the group of us and quickly realized it wouldn't be enough. The burgers are good, I wish that I had gotten a more fancy topping, but someone else was paying. And they have Big Red soda. I haven't tasted that since I was a kid! So of course I got a huge glass of it.
I'd need to go back to get a better feel for the restaurant in it's entirety.
I came here on a rainy and cold Friday night looking to fulfill my craving for a burger and onion rings.
Sam's Burger Joint was the place.
It's changed last time I've been here. Â That old red bicycle that used to hang from the ceiling as you walked in is no longer there. Â :(
But pix of your fave classic rock bands as well as Johnny Cash and license plates from every state in the U.S. is still there.
Onion rings are still good as ever as well as the burgers.
What I love is that Sam's is never stingy w/ the jalapeños like Whataburger.
The person who waited on me was a friendly girl with green hair.
This is an excellent music venue. Â My wife and I were very impressed--the sound was great, the place is comfortable, and it is shockingly clean. Â Seriously, it is nice to have a great place to hear live music that features a stylish bar and the cleanest bathrooms in the city. Â And by the way, service was great and the drinks were cheap--I think my wife and I got six beers for the price of three beers at some other music halls.
My only gripe (which is not Sam's fault) was that it seems people don't always show up to hear the music and instead chat loudly while the band is playing. I think that's rather odd behavior after spending $15 to see a concert, but the audience was definitely split into two groups--people who were there to visit loudly with friends and folks (like me) who wanted to hear the band and were getting annoyed at the rude behavior. Â (There's plenty of places to hang out outside of Sam's music venue, so people who want to chat should simply step outside or into Sam's restaurant six steps away!)
Outside of the music hall, Sam's is a great little burger joint. Â You order at a counter and sit on picnic tables, and there's often live and free music on the patio. Â
Sam's is a great, comfortable place to have a delicious burger or to hear some of the great music in the area. Â (But please be respectful of others who are there to hear the great and talented musicians!)
One of the only decent sized venues in San Antonio that hosts LIVE American music!! I have been coming to this place for years to see my favorite bands play.
Every since they re-did the bar it definitely looks and feels better. The food is pretty good, it is definitely worth the drive to Grayson street if you are doing to eat and listen to music.
Check it out sometime!!
This is a very, very interesting place... but for all the right reasons.
There's this nearly 50-50 clientele split of bikers and hipsters. Â One person in line has tats and a leather vest, the other - a fedora hat and flip-flops. Â Even more interesting is the fact that most of the bikers bring their wives and children!
But you ain't comin' here to look at the people... you're here to eat burgers, right? Â Put simply, they're good and they're messy.
I most recently had the guac and jack burger topped w/a green chile. Â It was delicious and I had to use a napkin for every bite I took.
Some people on here have complained about the patty size, and while the meat isn't massive (that's what she said), it's not small either.
I highly recommend the onion rings - they're so crispy, savory and just damn delicious.
Sam's has an indoor and outdoor bar area, that is served by one tender and separated by a large opening window. Â There's also an outdoor seating area, under umbrellas. Â Right next to Sam's is the Music Hall. Â Haven't been in there yet, but hope to one of these days.
Street parking on E. Grayson. Â I was told there's more parking *behind* the facility.. but I didn't check it out myself, so I couldn't tell you where exactly. Â I'm unsure about parking in the lot in front of Sam's. Â Don't know if the owners are tow-happy, or if there's a deal to let Sam's customers park there. Â Check it out for yourselves.
One of my coworkers is working his way down the SA Burger Blog list of hamburger joints and convinced us to go to lunch here.
The burger was really thin and well done, almost crispy. This really isn't my style so I wasn't impressed. The sides were all average and nothing really stood out.
The service was not very good. I wouldn't call it bad, because it is after all a hamburger dive. But their system of taking names and screaming them out just wasn't working. It took them about three times to match me with my order and the confusion was all on their side of the counter.
Be warned: This place is crawling with hipsters.
By the way does anyone even read the yepls about the place before they even write one? or am I weird hum.. probly so ah sams burger joint the days of just dive bar/ dingy venue seem to have left but you know I still l feel like the people that went there when I was younger still go there( I think I saw a couple of reformed goths lol jk jk) We went togo see 2 tons of steel and I love them a lot they are just a great san antonio band and they rocked it has been a while since I went for swing night and (boy I am outta practice) man it was a lot of fun!!
The food is the same I have always wondered why they burn your burger but I think it is there trademark.
The bar and bathrooms are pretty nice they did good!!
well I will be back in march for nick 13 so yeah that place is alright in my books
Just thought I'd add on to my first review because I went to a concert at Sam's this weekend and was blown away by all the great renovations!
It doesn't much feel like a dive anymore. They've really dressed up the bar area, it's no longer a dingy little space (don't take that the wrong way, Sam's, I loved you before) it's now a contemporary, clean big bar area that really gives an entirely different feeling to the entire venue.
And the bathrooms! WOOTWOOT! No longer do you slip into a dark hallway and duck your head under a doorway and pray the door stays on while you're in there. Now that the renovations have completed in this part of the space, the bathrooms are downright fancy, y'all!
Now this renovation just happened in the stage portion of the venue, but I heard a rumor that the outside space and the restaurant space are getting all gussied up soon, too!
LOVE this venue. It's one of the coolest places that I've been to in San Antonio to listen to live music. Drinks are cheap and fast. It's small enough that no matter where you are you have a good view and apparently they book some pretty rad bands. I mean, they've got Marcia Ball, Mickey and the Motorcars & Junior Brown in the next couple of weeks.
We saw Cedric Burnside and Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears. And we were right up front having our ear drums blasted the whoooole time. But it was worth it as I danced off about 129320 calories and got to see what surely would have been a sold out show in Austin.
I was skeptical -- having never been to a show here but this is a great spot to see a show no matter where you are. Next time though, I'm saving room for a burger.
The burger was just Meh nothing special. Â The burger was huge with a very thin patty. Â The place was packed with what looked to be primarily local people from the area. Â It did have a dive bar type of feel but I just wasn't overwhelmed by what they were offering. Â I did really like the decor of the place but I can't say the food matched the decor. Â Maybe the only exception was branding the burger with the name of the place you actually bought this burger at in case you forgot. Â I really would have liked to try some of the other food on their menu but I had heard so many good things about the burger I had to try it.
I really wish I would have tried some of the other food on the menu or maybe just drank a beer. Â I'm thinking that maybe I would have thought differently if I had washed the food down with an ice cold beer.
Great food, tunes, folks, and booze!
I love their mushroom swiss burger. Â Their eats are cheap, but they don't skimp on flavor. Â They serve big portions too, I usually split my burger with someone and sometimes have leftovers to boot! Â The buns are nice and toasty, cheese is hot and gooey - their food is a great start to a long and fun-filled night of music, friends, and drinks. Â They have a nice selection at their bar, which comes in handy for all the music acts they have on premises. Â The semi-detached music venue is an awesome, vintage environment, perfect for the punk, rockabilly, and blues bands that frequent the joint. Â The staff is friendly also, but not necessarily in the bubbly way. Â Moreso, they reflect a pleasant, yet edgy personality.
Parking is a bit of an issue, which occasionally deters me from going during the uber-busy times.
I've been here several times over the past few years and every time I go I have a great time. The venue for the live music is huge! The stage is probably the largest stage I've seen at a bar for local musicians. They have a great amount of shows there so it makes sense.
The other side of the coin is the food. The burgers are really delicious and not costly at all. The greatest thing about getting food here is there are three ways to eat it. Eat it in the restaurant, outside on the patio, or in the bar with the live music. It's great. Definitely a place to go check out.
Just a great, classic burger joint. Wonderful atmosphere with obviously high quality meat and perfectly melted cheddar. It would be hard to find better - only a handful in town can compete or exceed the Sam's experience. Â
(I only had a cheeseburger. Â I did not have fries or any other side, so I can only comment on the cheeseburger and the atmosphere.)
I've not eaten here yet, but I sure have drank my way though a few live shows. I really dig this place...it does have a great patio and plenty of inside seating for the restaurant portion, and then in a separate building tons of tables and booths and a nice sized stage that has been home to some great local acts. Perhaps I will go there one night when I'm actually hungry for food, not just great entertainment :)
PS. Parking is decent. If you can't park on the street you can park right under the highway for free and it's less than a block away. Nice.
Branded burgers!?!?!?! A cherry to the best burger!!
The burgers are great and at a cheap price! Â They have their own versions of cheeseburgers that are all yummy! Â The people are friendly and cute! Â On some nights they have bands. Â The best part of it all is the vintage cars lined up outside or driving around!
This place was awesome. Open late on a Tuesday for dinner, the crowd when we walked in was the following: three bikers outside telling stories about Viet Nam (true story) and pounding on the window to get the waitresses attention for more canned beer, four teenagers who looked like they were grabbing some food after metal band practice, one table of hipsters, two families, and us. Â I thought we'd get our asses kicked when we ordered 2 veggie burgers, but the staff merely sneered and served up some outstanding food.
Best part was the early 90's karaoke blaring from next door.
It's got a dive bar feel, and some of the slam poetry doesn't work for me, but it's fun. Great burgers.
Had the bacon cheddar burger and fries - delicious and greasy and way bigger than Chris Madrid's. Then we went over to Swing Night next door. Lots of good and bad dancers, but a fun time.
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