Badger Cafe

Even with a hair baked into my nacho, I like this place. The cheese curds are tasty and the breakfast is a lot cheaper than other breakfast places. Sometimes they might be short on staff but don’t let that ruin your experience. French toast and bacon for less than $ 5, you can’t ask for a better deal. Don’t come expecting a 5-​star restaurant, but it’s as good as it gets for a small diner.

This place hits the value/​quality/​quantity mark on the nose. They have daily specials, I had the pot roast dinner for $ 7 included a salad, mashed potatoes, green beans, garlic bread, and a nice sized portion of moist and tasty pot roast. That, my friends, is a bargain!
The salad came in a bowl and included plenty of tomatoes, cheese, cucumbers along with lettuce. I’ve had worse salads at more expensive places. The gravy wasn’t over salted, which I find in a lot of places.
They are located next to Rum Runner bar on Tropicana and Spencer. Many of the bar patrons ordered food and from what I could see it all looked good. You can byob (build your own burger). The nightly specials are what stood out to me, I can see myself eating Lasagna on Tuesdays, and Garlic Parmesian Chicken on Sundays a lot!
Seems to be plenty of parking, so no worries here.

Very.Bad.Service.
My family attempted to eat at this establishment after looking at the reviews on Unilocal.We came today, Monday, December 21^st, at about 0945. We came in the door and noticed that we were the only customers.
The waitress saw us, and didn’t acknowledge us, and went in the kitchen area. My wife went to the counter and called for the waitress in order to get a highchair, with a repeated «Hello» and «Excuse me.» And mind you, we were the only ones there.
After no success, I then walked up and almost yelled for the waitress. By this time, I figured I didn’t want the cook to spit in our food, so we started to walk out.
Lo and behold, the waitress finally came out and said, «Yes?»
Only if my son wasn’t with us… i would’ve given her more than 2 cents!
Needless to say, I was very disappointed.
Will we be back the next time we’re in the LV area, but of course! But only when bulls start to give milk!

I used to come here a while ago, not regularly though.
I’ve had their tuna melt, pancakes, wings, fries, etc. their tuna melt was really good. It comes with fries & you can never really go wrong with fried potatoes! The pancakes were okay, nothing really special about them. I remember the bacon being pretty greasy, but idr too well. The most recent thing I had was spicy garlic wings. I’ve never had spicy garlic anything so I don’t have anything to compare it to. The flavor wasn’t bad. I wish they fried it better but it was okay! The cheese curds were pretty great.
Service was a little slow, but there was only one server & there was a good amount of people there. She was nice enough to give us free fries though!

So 5star yes but hear me out…
This is as good as it gets for a small greasy spoon dive café.
First off coffee was good and hot…(Coffee mate brand creamer helped)
Cheap…diced ham and egg scramble wasnt a large portion but it wasnt too filling (so what if i didnt need to unbutton my pants afterward.)
Hash browns were nice n crispy.(.the way they should be.)
Service was decent no complaints.
Open 24 7 is how is should be… we are in Vegas after all
We’ll be back

So after eating here for over a year and ordering the same roast beef dip because it has no cheese or dairy I was screwed over by an inconsiderate cook and an even worse waitress. The cook added cheese to my sandwich. Under the meat. Why? No idea. So here I sit, writing this review from the emergency room. What address do I send the bill to? I’m not joking. I have now been trying to figure out what kind of cheese it was for the doctor they keep refusing to answer and hanging up on us. They really will not tell the doctor or I what kind of cheese it was. they don’t care how sick I get.

They have good food but probably not the most healthiest. Their half pound burger special is good but there is nothing special about the price. After you add the extras and peanilized if you do not buy a drink, it can be close to 10 dollars before tip. A lot better burgers in town when your spending 10 dollars. Their wings are very good. Fries are good too. Just remember, it’s good food but not very healthy. The breakfast is decent but they cheap out on the hasbrowns.

This is a very authentic mom and pop diner off the strip in Las Vegas. It’s not glitzy, new, modern, big, or very ‘vegas’. Which is nice if you’re looking for a change of pace from the strip.
It’s very much a locals driven joint. And that’s because the food is good, the service friendly (although a bit slow and a little lacking at times), and the prices are cheap.
I ordered the fish and chips, which I thought meant fish and fries, but they make their own homemade potato chips, so I was surprised and delighted when I received crunchy potato chips straight from the fryer. My order came with a side of soup, I picked the chicken and it was surprisingly good.
My friends and I sat at the counter, the tables that were available were too cramped. The counter was okay, sometimes some smoke from the kitchen would waft over in a cloud.
Otherwise, as a LA tourist going off the strip, this place was pretty good.

After going to 2 other restaurants (they were closed), we stumbled upon this place because it was still open at 1am. We walked into the Rum Runner, and the man at the bar directed us to the Badger Café. Upon walking into the café, we almost slipped because the floor seemed to be oily. Not in just one area, but it seemed the entire floor was oily. The seats were also noticeably dirty, but we just decided to stay and try the food.
I had the tuna melt and my friend customized a burger. The tuna melt was okay. My friend said her burger was good, but when she got the check, it came out more than what she expected. The menu advertised that the burger was about $ 6 and gave a checklist of any additions you wanted, with no prices next to it– so it was very misleading. On a brighter note, the breaded fries were BOMB​.COM and our server was super sweet, but I don’t think I’d do a second take.

Alright. The cook was very nice and really went the distance in compartmentalizing the entrée, sauce, gravy, and salads for the chicken fried steak that I ordered. So for that, awesome job!
However, the downside is that the «chicken» really wasn’t chicken at all. It wasn’t «whole» chicken like we’re used to seeing, but was more like chicken that has been made from chicken paste (similar to burger patties made from beef paste). I took 2 bites and just couldn’t stomach the rest. So the quality of the «chicken» was just complete crap and rest of the food were just sub-​par and for that 2 stars. Sorry

Awesome service, and very reasonably priced.
This is my new favorite place off the strip for breakfast. It is exactly the type of place I’ve been looking for. You can tell a lot of locals go here. The chef was even pre-​setting a table with coffee, water and newspapers for 4. Reminds me of some of the old-​school diners back in NJ.
Badger bites are a must have. They are little smokies with cheese and jalapenos in a won-​ton wrapper!
I had the badger bites, skillet, french toast. Only gave 4 stars because my food was a bit under-​seasoned, but nothing that a little salt and pepper didn’t fix!

Badger Café was a good, fast and cheap option before our road trip. The waitress was very friendly and knew every single locals name. I thought that was very endearing.
My bf got the master omelette. It was a good sized portion for a big guy. Overall, it was good but quite cheesy.
I got the reg two scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast and hash browns. Please be aware the menu says potatoes. I’m thinking home fries but they are hash browns. All the same and just as yummy.
Toast with jelly was perfectly made. Reminded me of the great NY diners.
Breakfast was just under $ 13.

If you want a simple, fulfilling meal for a more than decent price, this is the place to go. I normally visit this place for a good hangover meal with the boyfriend. Have to be honest though, there’s nothing about the food that makes your taste buds go wild.
Hahaha… This place is also attached to the Rumrunner Bar, so I’ll also include this place as a side note.
The servers, cooks and bartenders are always nice at these places. Quite personable characters.
The simplicity and customer service is what makes it deserving of 4 stars.

Burger is $ 5.49 now!
Less than a year ago, it was $ 4.99…year before that $ 3.99.
And the federal government says there’s no inflation!

Nothing has actually changed from the restaurant since our first visit. In fact, it’s still that same old diner adjacent to Rum Runner that serves one of the best burgers in Las Vegas. So why must I write an update and even take down a star from my initial review?! I suppose my last experience was rather appalling.
After going to the bar numerous times for years, it was a first that a menu was brought to my attention. Having always ordered the burger with desired fixins and a side of hot wings, I wanted to venture out and go for something else. After reading through an extensive array of items I didn’t know the restaurant has offered in the past, I decided to go for the roast beef. For $ 7.99, the meal comes with salad or soup, vegetable of the day and a choice of potato. To my surprise, the dish was not as I expected it to be. The meat itself was comparable to prepackaged deli one can get at grocery stores. Only if the menu mentioned that part, I could have saved money or ordered something else as I didn’t even eat more than a bite from it.
Overall, Badger Café is still my go-​to late night burger joint. Perhaps, don’t expect highly of their other items on the menu if you do end up going that route. One thing’s certain, I’ll just stick to what I know best and order that next time.

This is a 5 star dive that’s worth the drive. Be forewarned, it’s not fancy. But who cares? If you’re here it’s probably 2am and you either have been, or will be, making poor decisions. But in the meantime, enjoy some of the best middle of the night food you’ll find in Vegas. 24 hours for your convenience.
This is the place where I have had some of my best times with my friends. We spent NYE13 here and watched the fireworks from the parking lot.
I’ve eaten so much drunk food here. Their build your own burger is so great. I actually CRAVE their wings.
We’ve never had a safety concern here, or food poisoning. We’ve never had an issue with our bill or charging our card.
If I had a last meal request before I die, it would be the teriyaki wings and cheese curds.

The actual sit-​down restaurant is every bit as divey as the Rum Runner bar it’s attached to– but in the best old-​school way. Service is more on par with a diner, with friendly older ladies who exceed your expectations and call you variations of «honey» and «sweetie» every time they come by to check on you.
Food is delicious and affordable:
$ 4 app of beer-​battered brats with spicy mustard is A+
Wings can be ordered in increments of 6, but only one sauce for 6 and 12 piece orders– if you want multiple flavors, just order multiple 6-​pieces. Both ranch and bleu cheese dressing available, sauce variety has about ten types from mild to hot, extra spicy, lime, garlic, and blackened– their specialty.
The burgers though, are probably a highlight: just under $ 6 to build your own with the basics, adding on a few charges for add-​ons like guac, grilled mushrooms, and jalapenos. Grilled and fresh onions are both free, found it odd that tomatoes were a fifty-​cent charge.
Good food, good service. They could have a stand-​alone place with this kind of quality, but seem to have a good setup with the RumRunner!

This place is kind of hidden in a plaza full of other cafes. As part of the Rum Runner Lounge, it is a 24 hour sit down style restaurant. From all of my visits so far there are more pros then cons.
Pros
Since its 24 hours you can come here any time. The lounge itself is sealed off from the café because they put a door to the entrance instead of being an open space. Menus are on all the tables so when you sit at whatever table is available you can already start looking at your options and everything is on the menu is available at any time. Every table has all the condiments you will ever need for any of your entrees.
Cons
LIke I mentioned above, since its 24 hours, if you come between the hours of 12 am and 5 am, you just might run into some colorful characters. The bathrooms are located in the casino so if you have kids, they need to be escorted at all times.
As for the food, I have discovered so far that most everything I have tried is good. The things that you cant go wrong with are the burgers, hot wings, chili cheese fries, onion rings, and any breakfast item.
For the burgers which are half pound not frozen angus beef patties, (starting at $ 4.99) you have a checklist of what you want on there so you can mark off what you want with the pencils provided. Items like pickles, lettuce, mayo, and onions are free while some others like tomatoes, cheese, bacon, etc are extra. Same goes for the hot wings. You select your quantity and what flavor.
The one downer for food I got one time was the new york steak. It was bland. I had to douse it with a combination of A1 and Heinz 57 sauce just to give it some kind of flavor.
Service for the most part was stellar. Understandably if the place is busy then service will be slow sometimes especially when patrons from the lounge order things as well. Yes, you can hang out in the lounge and order food to be brought out to you.
So overall, Badger Café is a nice spot to hit up if you are in the area no matter what time it is for good grub at decent prices.
Unilocal 2014 365 Review Challenge #150

Oh Badger Café, how far you have fallen. Many days and nights, my broke college-​going self would make my way through your doors, the juicy, hand-​pressed burgers were right in my budget and oh-​so delicious!
The last few times we have gone in for burgers, there were problems. Not serious enough to write you off, we would wait a little while, then head back and try again. Problems again.
What kind of problems you ask?
— The past FIVE times, my wife has ordered grilled mushrooms on her burger. The past FIVE times, she has received ZERO mushrooms on her burger.
— Every third time or so, your food works like McDonald’s and Burger King — a la a guaranteed intestinal cleanse. Not pleasant at all.
— The size of the mayo/​thousand island cups has shrunk to where a french fry folded in half is as wide as the mouth of the cup. Seriously?!
— Finally, despite re-​assurances from the staff, there is no way in hell those are hand-​pressed burgers. So dry, tough and flavorless, That is the signature of pre-​made patties.*
If the burger maintained its hand-​pressed tastiness, we could get over the other items, or at least, feel up for the gamble of if we had to race home and to the bathroom. No sense in continuing to support food that declined so much.
Also, having staff engaging in lengthy discussions about how much they hate other staff members that aren’t there, with each other — and regular customers, is very unprofessional. If you have an issue with that person, talk to them, deal with it, shut up or quit. I don’t want to feel involved in your drama, because that is the only thing that could be heard in the restaurant.
* I used to flip burgers and hand press 40 – 50 lbs of burgers a couple times a week, I have some experience in this area.

Still holding strong at 4 Stars, Badger Café has a safe place nestled in my heart. When I know I want grease and burgers and to walk away smelling like a fry cook I come here.
Last time my husband and I went the place was packed, although we were able to find a seat, we did wait for quite awhile to not only place our drink orders, but also our food orders.
However, the waitress wasn’t just standing around doing nothing. Yes, THE waitress, the only one in a restaurant with packed tables, also serving food to the bar next door, and bar-​side seating in front of the kitchen. She was hustlin’. Plus she is super nice and in-​yo-​face. Which, some people will like, others will not. She will sit down next to you and take your order. Seriously, expect it.
Anyway, this place is for a special kind of people. But the food is amaze. Burgers are the best. Always done right and to your specifications. Plus, it’s cheap.