Review: Burger 54 in Buenos Aires: Disappointing Quality and Poor Service

Burger 54 in Buenos Aires is a popular premium burger joint open until 12am every day. But something isn't quite right: disappointing quality and poor service.

Premium Burgers

Fancy burger places have sprung up all over the world, from London to Los Angeles. Many are a more upscale version of familiar global brands, but charge a premium for their burgers. The premium charge emerges from the quality of the beef: its weight, preparation, seasoning, cooking. With Burger 54, the premium price has reached Buenos Aires, but not the quality this customer wanted from the product.

Burger 54: The Online Promise

Most of us read reviews like this, Google Reviews and maybe Tripadvisor too. Burger 54 creates a good brand impression through its design and website. I appreciate they took time to consider their ethos and I was willing to buy in enough to give it a go.

Burger 54: Ordering

Large parts of the menu are in English and some in Spanish. However, ordering is a bit of a linguistic struggle for the ‘English' parts.  I was a little embarrassed to have to pronounce English with a Spanish accent in order to complete my order.

I was given a vibrating alarm that would let me know when my food was ready.

Burger 54: The Aesthetic

The layout is similar to any standard burger joint. The tables are huge chunks of wood, which I quite like. However, the aluminium chairs squeal noticeably as people shift or leave.

There was quite a number of staff on the main floor, but none of them were focused on cleaning up dirty tables. This made finding a clear spot to sit was a crapshoot. More attention to cleanliness is needed.

Burger 54: The Food

I'm mentioning the side first, which should alert you that a bad report is coming on the main. The egg was cooked nicely and I liked the dried herb and salt mixture. However, the chips were so dry that they were all crisp and no fluffiness. A fail.

This burger ‘bap' or bun is advertised as ‘brioche' at Burger 54 and it's the second time I have encountered this kind of wet bread. This South American brioche doesn't match the sweet and light brioche I'm more familiar with from French-style baking, which is totally fine. Here it's a kind of damp or overly moist bread and it's not a pleasant burger-holder. It might have its place elsewhere. I appreciate this might be more normal here in Buenos Aires.

The burger was gristly and hard to eat. I persisted for three mouthfuls and had to stop.

Conclusion

Burger 54 was not to my taste and I can't work out who might like it. To be frank, McDonalds would be nicer and half the price. There was a small trickle of patrons coming through the doors and scraping back those aluminium chairs. My advice: don't waste your pesos.