Soda Jerks St. Albert

Awesome burgers and service. The sweet potato fries could be crispier, but overall a great place. Highly recommend the deep fried pickles!

Having grown up in St. Albert, this location has been known as «Soda Jerks», long before this restaurant opened up. Even though it’s not actually the same brand… you get a nice nostalgic feeling when you see the name back in the same place.
I have been to the West End location a couple of times, but this was my first visit to the St. Albert one. The food was fantastic, but the service was definitely lacking.
Our group was composed of 4 adults and 2 children. We arrived on a Sunday at 5 pm. I believe there was only 1 other table seated at that time. A Couple more arrived during our stay, but it never really got busy.
As we looked through the massive list of bottled sodas, we had questions about some of them. But our server really couldn’t provide any info other than «that one’s good» or «people seem to like that one». I’m glad other people like it… but that doesn’t really tell me much.
If there were any specials or features that night, we didn’t hear about them.
We ordered the perogies to share and asked for the kids meal to be brought out with the appetizer (it wasn’t). I’m a perogy snob so I don’t usually order them in restaurants… I prefer home made. But these ones were not too bad! I don’t know if I’d order them again, but you have the option of adding them to your burger, so that might be a fun idea.
2 of us chose to go the BYOB route and two chose the pre-​designed burger. Everyone was really happy with their choice. One note on the donut burger from my mom — it would have been a LOT better if the donut had been toasted a little on the grill.
Let’s see if I can remember what I put on mine… beef burger, Mozza, grilled mushrooms, mayo, onion rings, roasted red pepper, Cajun spice on a ciabatta bun. I would skip the onion rings next time — they were tiny and soggy. I pulled them off the burger and didn’t eat them. Everything else was AMAZING though. Man oh man… those mushrooms. grilled perfectly!!!

To Soda Jerks credit, their manager of Customer Service for the Franchise messaged me on Unilocal.They apologised for the poor service and food quality and are sending me a cheque for $ 20 to cover what I spent on the meal.
Really nice touch and while I appreciate it, it doesn’t change the fact this place is more expensive by $ 4 for lunch than I spent at the High End 12 Acres restaurant a few blocks south. They were $ 16 for more lunch than I could eat, all farm fresh ingredients with home made Bratwurst and home made Kaiser buns for the sandwich, farm fresh spuds for the fries and a large salad. Truly excellent quality and service and a seat on the patio overlooking the River.

I really enjoyed this place
I decided to try something new and this place caught my attention
The restaurant was quiet which made me wonder if that was possibly because it was terrible
But it worked out to my advantage as the service was very quick and helpful
There were plenty of insane crazy delicious creative drinks to choose from
From alcohol to milkshakes to good ol bottled pop
I really enjoyed the menu it was clever
I liked how each menu had a pen and a paper where you checked off options to create your own burger and then you could name it was neat!
And the burger was GOOD! Tasty!
They serve mini donuts mm I had to order some and the server was really nice to bring some chocolate sauce to dip them in… Amazing! Do try
Also they had chocolate covered bacon just wow!
My friend tried the chocolate bacon milkshake he said it was delicious! Lots of bacon chunks
Definitely worth a try I would recommend anyone who likes pop and burger joints this is heaven for you!
Enjoy !

The service was so so. The «food» was not hot by the time it got to the table. The fries were lukewarm, the substance that was supposed to resemble beef was way overcooked and was grey. Do not waste your money at this place. They have no idea what good beef is and do not realize that food should be hot and tasty.
Overpriced and the worst burger I have ever tasted. I cannot recommend this place in good conscience. You are better off going to a fast food establishment and paying half the price for a better burger.

First time being here and loved it. Friendly service and reasonable wait time. Adult shakes were delicious!

Great family atmosphere! Comfort food well thought out. Perfect for a cheat day!
Service fast and friendly and the milkshakes are to die for. We will be jogging this one off tomorrow morning…

Sunny afternoon just chilling and need a good place to sit on the patio and enjoy some classic food. Soda jerks looks like a perfect choice.
The place definitely gives off a retro feel but I think the insides could be a bit better. It’s not the type of place that you want to just sit around and hang out. It more looks like a fast food restaurant.
The service I got here was excellent. I was promptly greeted and given all the information about the menu.
I have to say that the adult milkshakes are fantastic. I could sip on these all day when it’s nice and hot outside.
The food however was just ok. The burger was tasty enough however it didn’t wow me. The fries www not good though. Very dry and overcooked.
All in all I give it a passing grade. I would definitely come back for the milkshakes.

Every time we go here the service is the worst. we had one guy who was working at the bar take over and do the servers job. and I think he even knew she was terrible because he kindly apologized and said «I hope to see you guys back»
the milkshakes are great. but that’s the only thing I can say about this place that’s good.

Fun Environment, Disappointing Results
First visit, we encountered a 25 minute wait but were able to read menus and start making decisions. Wait was confusing considering a multitude of open tables.
Once seated it was 5 minutes before we were greeted. Drinks were ordered, and arrived after a significant amount of time passed, with errors. Our meal order was placed. Drink error was corrected another noticeable wait later.
When the meals were delivered, an error was made on one of the build-​your-​own-​burgers (we noticed at the time of the bill — the youth at our table was too excited to see his creation). Most burgers received positive reviews at our table. A couple, in comparison to other burger joints were reviewed as less-​than-​stellar.
This is where service took a nose dive: no napkins were delivered until we asked (and these meals warranted napkins); drink refills were forgotten and delivered late; ketchup and vinegar were delivered in small grocery-​store bottles, a mere 10% full (for a party of 5). To top it all off, the bathroom floors were sticky, sinks were dirty and soap dispensers empty.
In retrospect, the only adults in the building seemed to be running the grill and behind the bar. Its clear that a re-​organization in the front of the house is in order.
TL/​DR: Good burgers, fun environment, crappy service. Won’t visit again.

Nice atmosphere, get to try something different, and get to build your own burger or salad if that’s something you desire. The only downfall would be that the bathroom was very dirty. …sticky floors when you walk is kind of a negative point for me

First time trying the St. Albert location 1:28 Sat July 12. Prime time.
Out of 19 tables inside and 7 on the patio only 8 were full inside and 3 on the patio. Imagine my surprise after the 25 minute wait to get in to a 40% full restaurant! It was like this the entire time we were there. People waiting at the entrance for 20 — 30 min and then allowed to be seated in a less than half full place.
18 min just to take the food order and 32 to actually receive the food. I was furious but the wife is teaching me to exercise patience otherwise I would have cussed a blue streak and stormed out of there half an hour ago.
Once the food arrived all was well. The burger was very good and the fries ok.
Oh yeah, $ 3.45 for a single non refillable coke! You guys have lost your F! @#ing mind!
Poorly maintained and dirty washrooms in this mostly empty restaurant as well.
I go to the west end location frequently and enjoy it a lot. It is hard to believe this is part of the same chain. I will never ever return to this location and recommend you avoid it at all costs.

Overall experiece is ⁵⁰⁄₅₀.
Been here a few times and the service can be a hit and miss. Either you get someone who pays attention to details and constantly stops by your table to check on you or chat … or someone who walks up to you table and almost throws the plates in front of your face and never see them again till you get the bill.
Burgers are worth the higher prices, the sides — not so much. Drinks are good and the kids love the fun desserts like chocolate dipped bacon.
The restaurant can be a hit and miss for cleanliness aswell. Its because the waitresses are reponsible to clear they own tables, and that sometimes means tables stay dirty for 30min + and why there is usually a 30 — 45minute wait at the door.
Not really recommended for families with multiple teens, unless you have deep pockets, as the average single persons’ bill is close to $ 20 and more.

My burgers have always been grossly overcooked :(the chicken burger is just two chicken strips on a bun, not an actual chicken patty. The shakes are good, as are the deep fried dill pickles; but that’s about it. I’ll keep going here with my friends but not often. I feel somewhat bad about that because the staff are so nice, just wish the food was better!

My wife and I managed to sneak out and thought we would go for a nice icecream float. Drove from north ed. Got there at 858. Sign says closed. Closed on a sat a 9 pm… I star for crappier hours than diary queen

Best burger joint in St. Albert hands down. Customize it our pretty off the menu. Ps the shakes are soooo good

Funny how so much can change in a couple of months…
After our last experience at this location, the company reached out to apologize for the mess of a time we had, and asked us to come back and let them try again. We did so last night, and the experience was a complete 180 change from one star service to five star.
Our food arrived quickly, was the right temperature, and tasted delicious. But the most important change, for us, was in the quality of the service we received. Our server (Jeni) was an absolute joy to be around; she was bubbly, energetic, funny, and very attentive to our table. She made sure we had refills when we wanted them and that the food was all to our satisfaction.
While we all have our personal preferences where customer service is considered, I believe Jeni is the kind of server we all hope to be served by, and every restaurant hopes to hire — the kind that is actually happy to be at work, and actually cares about the customers.
I’m not sure if they’ve cleaned house and brought in a bunch of new staff, retrained the ones they had, or what the change was, but we all left full, happy, and thoroughly impressed with the differences between visits. We’ll be back to try a third time.

I went in to the new old Soda Jerks today. I have no idea why it opened up in the same location it used to be in, weird, but that’s besides the point. It was the same menu and concept as the West End location; Build Your Own Burgers, adult milkshakes, tons of cool, retro and unique sodas, etc. The food quality for a burger joint is good — I had the Cuban and was really impressed with how authentic it tasted to the Cuban sandwiches I had in Miami! I also tried the adult float with vanilla cream soda, ice cream and marshmallow vodka… ya, it was crazy yummy! Our waitress was awesome, really great. She totally made up for the hostess at the front that I had to ask to find me a table after walking in and being ignored for the first 5 minutes. The only problem I really have with the place is that it just doesn’t have the cool, fun vibe, décor and ambiance as the West location. It is designed identical to the old McDonald’s and Wendy’s, where it is a totally open square room and all the tables can see all the other tables. That design makes you want to get out fast. Not stay, drink have fun. Even if I lived in St Albert, if I wanted a fun burger joint lunch or dinner, I would take the extra 10 minutes to drive to west end location. But, that’s just me!

Menus needed to be cleaned.
Had to wait way too long for our food.
Serving staff had dirty clothes.
My turkey patti was as thin as paper.
Complained about old lettuce, took it away with her hands to show manager and did not return to apologize!
Needless to say we will not be returning !

The 2 stars are for our waitress not for much more. Slow to be seated. Hostess too busy texting. Too expensive for a burger joint, especially when there is an Earls in town that has earned the business.
For their large selection of milkshakes, it takes WAY too long to get a milkshake. Should probably invest in some more machines if you want to keep customers coming.
The real kicker… they stop seating at 9:00!!! What? Summer holidays and closing at 9. Not going to last in St. Albert for sure. Too bad.