Zinburger Burger & Wine Bar

After reading several reviews I was excited to try this place. I was disappointed. It was loud inside, they had no local wine options and the California and Australia wines available I can pick up myself at Kroger. I ordered the chicken sandwich minus the bun it was plain and boring and over $ 10 with no sides included. The zucchini fries were acceptable but certainly nothing to rave about. My husband and friend ordered burgers and both looked great. I wouldn’t waste my time going here again.

Fantastic! I was very impressed by the food, the service and the ambience and buildout. Very nice place from Kobe beef burgers to blackened fish burger on a lettuce wedge to the veggie burger on the gluten free bun to the zucchini fries. Great place. Wish we had one in DC.
Only negative was the really fat waiter sweating profusely! Not cool! Manager should have taken him aside and had him change his shirt. Odd because every one of the waiters was thin and fit and clean. Also fries could be better.

Truffle Fries are great! I always order a Kobe burger, it’s so darn good! Love their Mint Shakes and their wine selection.
A nice laid back joint that still has the sophisticated restaurant feel!

Loved all the burgers and sides Iv tried. Only been during lunch and always had an awesome server.

Good burgers, I stick to the Zinburger, and it’s a nice burger. Kind of a bummer it doesn’t come with a side, but if you can split fries with someone else it doesn’t end up costing too much. Truffle fries are great too.

2 visit. They sent me a gift card for $ 60 to say they were sorry for the last visit and hoping to show me they are a great place to eat. Well the waitress was awesome this time. Food was great again. Went to pay for the check and only had $ 9.00 on my gift card? WTH!!! I had to get the manager over explain everything and hope he believed me. The manager did pay for my check but seriously I was so embarrassed. Thinking I had $ 60 instead I had $ 9. REALLY!!! I think I’m done eating here. There are so many other great places to try in Charlottesville.

The burgers are excellent, but this review is about the top-​notch service.
I’ve been several times because I like the burgers. The last time, I ordered the burger medium-​rare. When it came to the table, I figured I’d check to make sure. Lo and behold, the burger was cooked all the way through. When the server came by, the manager was right at his elbow – he must have seen me poking through the burger. They said they would fix the order. It took them a while to bring the burger back, and when they did, the manager again came by to explain that they had cooked three different ones before getting it medium rare. Fantastic work! He seems like a great guy.
Anyway, not only did they make me a great burger, they also comped me a dessert.
I’ve cooked burgers myself, so I know it’s hard to figure out what’s going on inside the patty once it’s on the grill. It doesn’t surprise me that they needed to try a few times. Don’t be afraid to ask them to redo it. They seem committed to making food right.

This burger place is amazing! So far, I have been here twice and have been impressed with how good the burgers are. The burgers were always cooked properly and the variety of toppings and flavors are great. In addition, their milkshakes are sweet and delicious. I love getting their crème brûlée milkshake! I took off one star only because their service is inconsistent. Our last waiter was great, but when we first visited this place we waited about 20 minutes after being seated before we were greeted by the wait staff.

I had visited this location previously when employed by the State of Virginia for meetings in Charlottesville and had been satisfied. It was a little spendy for what was offered but it was a quick walk from the hotel where I usually stayed.
On Friday February 19^th around 9 I walked into a mostly deserted restaurant with plenty of staff lingering around. The restaurant is open on Fridays and Saturdays till 11 so while 9 is late, they were slated to be open for 2 more hours. I sat patiently near the bar for 15 minutes without being acknowledged by a single staff member. I tried to make eye contact/​get someones attention every time they walked by to no avail. No menu, no water, nothing. Pretty much felt invisible. I walked out and a couple of staff members watched me leave without saying anything. I emailed the owner and let him know about my experience through Unilocal.He promptly replied and asked for my information so I could be contacted by a manager about my visit. I replied with an email address which he confirmed he received and said someone would be in contact in a follow up message. I have yet to hear from anyone. I waited to post a review until I was contacted by a manager. I sent the owner a follow up email stating that nobody had contacted me, but he has not replied. Apparently neither the owner nor the manager care about the poor customer service I received.
I have never written a Unilocal review before but I was so disappointed with the way I was treated and meant to feel invisible that I felt compelled to share about my visit.

I have a love hate relationship with Zinburger. I love the food. I hate the greaseball I am by the time I leave. This location opened right after I moved to Cville and it quickly became a staple for a quick bite or meeting friends. Their burgers really are delicious – the buns are fresh, the meat is tasty, and the toppings are plentiful. They are very messy though. Don’t expect to get through your burger without juice dripping down your arm. One thing I should point out is that I’ve had issues with ordering my burger medium and having it arrive closer to rare. This has happened on many occasions, which is frustrating, but now I order it medium well and it’s seemed to help the problem.
Their zucchini fries are AMAZING. I never thought I’d say that about a fried veggie but they really are special. They’re crispy but still light and the ranch dipping sauce that goes with them is perfect. I can’t say I love their regular or sweet potato fries though. They’re good, but pretty boring. Another menu item that I don’t usually order but my husband and friends love is their fried chicken sandwich. It’s massive, and super crispy.
Zinburger has a decent beer and wine selection, but I’ve struggled to find a wine I love here. Luckily, they have some great bartenders and one night one of them let me try 5 wines before I found one I really liked. I was surprised by how great her service was and would never expect to be given that many samples, but she was determined to help me out. I will say that Zinburger can be expensive for a burger and fries since you have to order it all a la carte. The best time to go is during happy hour, when you can get a simple burger for about $ 5 and fries at half price. I’d almost say their happy hour is one of the best deals in town for how much food you get for the price. I’m also a big fan of their outdoor area. They have a nice fire pit with couches around it where I’ve spent many nights drinking and eating with friends.

Disenchanted with Zinburger. Not as good as I had thought.
When I ordered, I told the waiter specifically that I did not want mayo on my burger. When the order came out however, it was the wrong burger (breakfast burger), so we asked to get it changed. Then the second time the order came out, there was mayo on it so we had to get the order taken back again. After waiting almost 30 minutes total, I finally got the right order only to find that the meat (although medium rare) was quite undercooked in some areas. I was told that the meat was cooked per «steak style,» however, this made the burger taste quite strange. Service could have been more prompt and we were never checked on by any of the servers, so we had to constantly try to get their attention which was quite difficult. Although I used to like Zinburger, after this experience, I don’t think I will frequent again. :(

Cold fries. Menu says for 2 people, but it’s a small basket. Burgers were wet and not very flavorful. Shakes left a fatty film in my mouth. I wouldn’t go there again. Five Guys and Shake Shack are MUCH better.

If anything, Zinbugrer’s food is pretty spot on. I have not been disappointed with one dish yet. At least when it comes to flavors and such. What I have been disappointed with though is the portions of some things, particularly the side dishes considering the fact that yes, it is pretty pricey at Zinburger.
If you order a side of, say, sweet potato fries, on the menu it claims to be able to serve two whilst being quite expensive. When I actually laid my eyes upon the sweet potato fries when it was served to me, I laughed thinking, «they must have meant two new born babies». There is no way in hell that that could serve two people unless you want an already lovely date to turn into the hunger games. And quite honestly, I’m pretty sure it can barely serve just one of me.
Other than that though, like I said before, the food is great, the milkshakes are great. The service is also just as great. Be careful coming at peak hours of the week because they do get full and you might have to wait a while.

Very different/​unusual burger place — just incase you didn’t figure that out by the name — Zinfandel wine & Burgers. They even have Zinfandel caramelized onions.
Huge variety and type of burgers. Whether Turkey, Beef, or Veggie every burger is excellent tasty and huge.
The kale salad is also excellent.
The entire group of employees were extremely nice.
Would recommend and definitely return.

Not bad! I came here with a group of about 20 this afternoon at lunch time. The hostess was able to seat us right away on the beautiful patio which was a big plus. Unfortunately, the service dropped off pretty steeply afterwards.
My group had to wait about half an hour before anyone came and took our food and drink orders and then another half hour before any of us got our drinks. When we did (eventually) get our food, the buns were soggy and fries were cold. I’m not sure what happened there.
The food here was pretty good (albiet cold). The burgers were extremely juicy and medium rare was only slightly overcooked– not far off from perfect. I got the samburger with no cheese and it was delicious. The burger itself was tender and tasty. The only problem was that the bun was extremely soggy. I couldn’t finish it because the bread was literally disintegrating. Disappointing.
I also had a cocktail, the Girl Next Door. It was fruity and sweet, perfect for a warm afternoon like today. My only complaint was that it had barely any alcohol.
Finally, the main drawback I saw with this place was the price. It’s located a stones-​throw away from Panera, Zoe’s, and Chipotle, all fantastic and inexpensive lunch places with a consistent product. Here, the food was inconsistent and slow, but not quite good enough to warrant prices on par with Aromas.
My burger was about $ 12 with no sides at all, which seems ridiculous for the quality of the product. Maybe if they’d been faster with the food it would have been acceptable quality.
Overall, not a bad place for lunch if you’re just planning on hanging around and waiting for a decent burger. Best burger close to North Grounds, I believe, but Citizen will still beat Zin by a long shot for Charlottesville proper.

Been here multiple times and always get either a samburger or veggie burger with double truffle fries. All are perfectly cooked and delicious. Only complaint: the bottom bun gets soggy. They should toast the bun a little.
This time I got take out and they gave half the amount of fries as they do in the restaurant. Otherwise, very satisfying per usual.

My boyfriend bought me the Sam burger from here last night because I drive 3 hours to visit him & didn’t feel like going out to eat so he got it to go. He ordered carry out of course. He asked medium well when it wasn’t cooked basically at all. It was barely cooked & pretty much still pink. Didn’t eat it in the fear I might get sick. Beyond pissed at this & will tell everyone else what happened unless fixed.

I have to say right up front that this place is super noisy. It’s smack dab next to UVA and on a weekend night it’s packed. That being said, the food is awesome.
The burgers are really tasty and you have the option to move into the Kobe beef with an upcharge. The cheese fries are some of the best you’ll ever have, as are the milkshakes. They have a salmon burger if you prefer, as well.
It’s a bright, active place with booths, tables, outdoor seating with a gas fired lava rock field in the middle of a long seating area and a bar which has multiple televisions but doesn’t have a sports bar feel.

Long story short, I love the taste and decadence of their food, but my wallet doesn’t as it is a bit pricier for what you get.
In my opinion, Zinburger has an awesome selection of burgers to choose from with every day having a daily specialty burger as well as specialty milkshake. The appetizers are spectacular with the zucchini fries being a personal favorite of mine. The milkshakes as well taste very good and one is large enough to share with another person (in my opinion). That said, it’s a bit expensive for what you get. A burger alone will range somewhere around $ 10 and $ 12 with the Kobe burgers being on the higher end, but you just get the burger alone and the fries have to be ordered separately. Even with that, you don’t get THAT many fries if you order them as a side.
The burger itself though is spectacular, and I’m giving four stars just for that. Beware that it’s gonna be EXTREMELY juicy and will be dripping all its meat juices all over, so the bottom bun is eventually gonna get soaked. But it tastes awesome, so I’ll get over that. The décor of the restaurant also looks very nice, almost high-​end but not really, and the servers we’ve gotten here are always very pleasant and entertaining (we seem to get a lot of entertainers and jokers which is always welcome). They’re very helpful for first-​timers there.

Zinburger is a place that I have a love-​hate relationship with. We’ve been here multiple times since moving to Cville, but the service is so hit or miss. Normally if we are in a small group, the service is decent, but any more than four people, it becomes very spotty. I also think it is pretty overpriced for what it is. If you’re charging over $ 10 for a burger, you need to include fries with them.
I really like the zucchini fries and the truffle fries. Both are awesome, but like I said, fries should be included with the burger, not an extra add-​on. I’ve tried the veggie burger, which was good. But on most visits, I’ve ordered the ahi tuna burger, which has always been really, really good. I’ve also tried the ahi tuna salad, which is on the small size for an entrée salad. It is really tasty though, but I just can’t rationalize spending $ 15 on a small salad. They have some very good wines priced at only $ 6 a glass, which is redeeming though.
We continue to go back to Zinburger because of the location, but to be honest, I think Citizen Burger is much better.