I was a firm fan of Grill'd when I was living in Melbourne, and was ecstatic to see one of their stores in Bulimba when I moved to Queensland 5+ years ago.
The formula from store-to-store is much the same. Funky, cool eateries with a cool cafe vibe serving up the freshest gourmet burgers you hope for.
The interior of my local Bulimba Grill'd sports a large chunky timber table littered with local magazines with long benches for communal eating. I love the concept, but in practice moving the benches in and out when someone new sits down is frankly a bit of a pain.
The upper level is devoted to conventional tables and chairs, and this extends out the back for those balmy Summer days.
There is a full drinks fridge offering a great range of boutique soft drinks, juices and beers (my partner LOVES this feature) and the menu is very easy to read on the large board above the ordering counter.
Staff at this Grill'd are ALWAYS under the pump. Once I ordered a salad requesting nuts were left out due to allergies, and my order took an hour to make. No jokes, ONE HOUR for a burger, some chips and a salad with no nuts. Turns out they'd made the salad with nuts, realised their error and had to make it again. It doesn't really explain the wait time, but in future I would avoid making the staff make anything "out of the ordinary" lest you have a similar experience.
Aside from this mishap, which I should stress has only ever happened the one time, the staff are generally friendly, chirpy and cheerful and service is reasonably fast.
The food however, is where Grill'd leaves other burger chains in the dust. Thick cut herb dusted chips are always crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. The dipping sauces are delicious - my favourite is the herbed mayo, sometimes I even order two if I'm in a particularly indulgent mood.
The burgers while being pricy when compared to other places, are HUGE. I can only stomach a Mini Moo (kids version) but I will often order a Bird and Brie or a Baa Baa burger (lamb, tasty cheese, relish and more herbed mayo) and sacrifice half.
I will always love Grill'd and have been a consistent fan since I first discovered them years ago. read more