A Review of “Burgers” in Cedarhurst, NY (5 Towns)

Over the past 2 weeks I have eaten at "Burgers" (formerly Burgers Bar) twice, with 2 different results.

Firstly, it's worth noting that the place looks nearly identical to Burgers Bar, that nary a item has been changed to the restaurant, which is fine, other than the menu board.

The positive things I have to say are as follows:

• Their prices are significantly cheaper than Burgers Bar. 
• Their "Homemade" Burger which I tried the first time I was there, is quite good, and much better than the last few burgers I had at Burgers Bar, which were awful (it pains me to say that, because I used to love Burgers Bar — I even had my Sheva Brachot at Burgers Bar in Brooklyn). I brought my friend there this week, and he too loved this burger.
• They offer much of the same things that Burgers Bar did, which I loved, including house fries (potato slices) and a wide array of sauces. 
• The place is clean.

Now, what needs improvement (management + ownership >> please listen and take my points to heart):

• Their staff. The people up front, literally the first people you see when you walk in, are either obnoxious, or dont know what they're doing. This is such a fundamentally important concept that so many restaurants get wrong. First impressions are often lasting impressions and screwing this up, especially for a single shop restaurant, is critical.
  • The first time I was there, the guy up front was knowledgeable about the food and store, but completely obnoxious and busy speaking on Skype to his buddy. This is no way to run a business, even if it is 11:30pm. 
  • The second guy, was clueless in every way. Didn't know how to take an order, make a sandwich, cut a tomato. I would have done a better job if it were self service. 
  • Lessons here: Make sure that whomever is the first person that greets and works with your customers the most  is properly trained and personable. Neither of these people were. 
• Credit card acceptance. They accept credit cards, dont get me wrong, but both times I handed them my AMEX card, and both times I got a response of "Do you have another card?" I asked if they didn't take AMEX, and the response was "We do, but the boss / the machine prefers other cards." This is BS. The business either accepts AMEX, or it doesn't. Don't give your customers a hard time because the ownership doesn't want to deal with the fees. This leads to an awful customer experience. I like using my AMEX card, and that's what I prefer using. If you don't take it, fine, but don't tell me you "prefer" another card. I "prefer" my AMEX, and the customer is always right. 
• The Schnitzel Sandwich. After succesfully trying the homemade burger, I wanted to give somthing else a try. I ordered the Italian Schnitzel. The process is identical to that of Schnitzel Express in NYC or of any Burgers Bar. The issues with this schnitzel sandwich were 4 fold:
  • The first sandwich I was given was awful. The chicken was clearly old and reheated. I brought it back to the owner and he graciously accepted it and prepared a new one for me.
  • The chicken is cut into strips and not kept whole, which means you get a lot less chicken. My sandwich had way more vegetables than chicken, and that did not make me happy. Schnitzel Express in NYC puts at least one, if not 2 whole pieces of chicken breast in your sandwich. 
  • The bread was not able to close around the sandwich, meaning, what I ended up with was a bread plate with sauces, vegetables, and strips of schnitzel on top of it. This wasn't a well prepared sandwich. (See image)
  • The sauces. The guys preparing the sandwich had absolutely no idea how much sauce to put on and basically over sauced the entire sandwich to the point where it was beyond messy and just unenjoyable.