Between The Buns

What a great visit to BtB during my time in Potsdam!
This joint opened up after my move to CNY in 2012, but I stopped in many times when I’m in the area. What a great addition to the North Country… Especially now! The menu has changed since the last time I was there and there are LOTS of options now; especially healthier/​vegetarian options. I had the Greek Turkey wrap with fries and it was fab. The peanut butter burger is another great option if you’re feeling adventurous.
If you’re looking for a fun hangout spot with good draft beer and a friendly staff, definitely stop in. :)

We were in town for the holidays and looking for somewhere to watch a football game. We found thing place on Unilocal and saw they had NFL Sunday Ticket. They were very nice and gave us the remote to change the tv to our game. They had 7 tvs in the bar area and another 2 in the dining room area.
The atmosphere was good, we were a little loud cheering but the other people didn’t mind. The beers were good prices, the food was overpriced for the location/​quality but it was good food.
We ordered boneless wings in medium sauce and loved them. The sauce had a good spice, the breading on the boneless wings was actually much lighter than normal (buttermilk and cornbread?). My mom and I ordered a salad and it was large, but the avocados weren’t ripe and the dressing was way too thick. My brother in law got the Mac and cheese burger and he was very satisfied. The fries with it were very crispy and had a good seasoning.
We would return! But I can see why the reviews might be lower due to the higher prices for the area.
Service: 4.5
Food: 3.5
Prices: 3

I love that they have the NFL ticket here. They show a lot of games that you can’t see anywhere else. They have very good drinks and selections and lots on tap. However we were here recently and had chicken wings that were not very good at all. They tasted reheated & stale-​ordered the calamari which I loved last time was undercooked and greasy. Overall the waitstaff was good however our table was dirty and the whole look at the place needed to clean it

Weird that reviews here are either 4stars or 0 – 1. The food is actually solid. I don’t know where these other people are going, but there is no better burger in town. Fries are tasty, though sometimes brown and delicious, and sometimes not as well cooked. Boneless wings are unique and juicy most of the time. They used to give free sweet pickles at the table but that’s gone. The original excellent, flavorful, moist turkey burger is now gone. That was sad to see. But overall they’re still solid and a great alternative to stale Maxfields

One star is generous. Terrible service, terrible food. Avoid, unless you like to wait and be disappointed!

Ugh, I hate to give a bad review for anything in the North Country, but at the same time, I’m really hoping the management here takes some reviews to heart. I’m from the North Country originally, but have lived in Philly for years now. When I come home, I love to see the changes and progress happening. I was happy to see something in Potsdam besides pizza, fast food, and Maxfield’s. And I still am! I think a couple of things could be tweaked to make things much better. First, have the servers greet people right away. I sat for literally 20 minutes before anyone greeted me. Granted, I think they were waiting for my friends to get there since I sat at a big table and it was just me, but just stopping by and getting my drink should have happened. Second, my party was a grand total of 4 people. 2 had burgers, one had a hot dog, and one had a lobster roll. It took 50 minutes for our food to arrive! NOOOOOO! Stop! The kitchen really needs to streamline their process b/​c it shouldn’t take even half that time for 2 burgers, a hot dog, and a lobster roll. We didn’t get any apps or salads or anything. There was no reason for it to take that long. And I had just run 9 miles and was so hungry I could have gnawed on that goddamn table! Also, the server never stopped by our table that whole time! We sat around w/​empty drinks being hangry. It was just such a bummer. It wasn’t understaffed, so I’m not sure what the deal was. Also, I’m not sure why there was a hostess since she didn’t seat me. There was a sign to seat yourself on a Friday night and I kind of stood there awkwardly b/​c when I came in, she was at the stand but she totally ignored me until I kind of wandered off. The burger was good, nothing amazing, but good. Expensive for Potsdam, I do agree w/​that, but honestly I think they’re banking on out of area customers. Please step up your staffing game, btb! I’ll come back and I hope things will be way better then!

First off, excellent food… dreadful service. Many moons ago, I was once a Server, Cocktail Hostess, and Bartender, so I have a little idea of what a patron should expect. This Waiter needs some schooling for sure. A patron should NOT wait 15 minutes before being greeted, 10 minutes before her beer is delivered (and told a mistruth on top of that), and waited for the cole slaw which came half way through the meal. He was extremely forgetful and not attentive. In addition to no silverware on my table, the ketchup bottle lid was sticky on the outside and had remnants of old ketchup on the lid. It really should of been wiped off prior to bringing it to my table. The inside lid was gross. From the time I placed my simple order of a hamburger I waited 35 minutes. I’m fairly certain that was pretty long. As much as my food was delicious, hot, and of good portion, I hope my Waiter is in school earning a degree in something other than Food Service and Hospitality. Poor service really plays into the overall dining experience.

I really wanted to like this place, I really did… But I can’t. The food is okay, however $ 12-​$ 16 for a burger in Potsdam is a bit excessive. Although I am originally from the North Country, I now live in Boston and the BEST burger in the city (which is consistently ranked one of the top burgers in the country) is $ 19. I don’t really understand how a place in Potsdam can charge such high prices. The food also takes an INSANELY long time to come out. From the time we were seated until the time the food actually arrived was a little over an hour.
Another huge pet peeve of mine is the obnoxiously loud live music playing during dinner time. This is the second time I’ve been here on a Friday for dinner and have had to shout at my friends sitting at the same table just to be carry on a normal conversation. Please do not mistake me for a grumpy curmudgeon — I absolutely love live music. I’m usually the person dancing all night, however I don’t think dinner time is the appropriate time to have bands playing at a ridiculously loud volume. My ears are ringing from the noise as I write this.
Given all my ranting, the food is decent, but certainly not worth the price or the annoyance of the atmosphere.

This place advertises burgers n brew, they close at 10:30…Got there at 9:25, they already turned off the grill, so guess what… This a burger joint that only makes burgers when they want, apparently their advertised hours of operation are BS. To top it off I got nothing but attitude from the staff. They did however inform me that they were gonna keep the fryer on until 9:30 and said I had 5 min to pick something I didn’t want in the 1^st place as my dining option.
Their lame excuse was «Oh, we are slow so we turned it off early», there were 20+ people in the place at 9:30…
Special note to the owner: If u you are gonna close shop early, change your Frickin advertised hrs!!! Or perhaps hire some employees that care about customer service and might at least bother to flip a switch, turn the grill back on & do their job!!! Top it off, on my way out I saw a family get told the same lame bs. So that’s at least 6 hungry people within a 15 min span over 50min before your establishment is supposed to close that were turned away. I’m no rocket scientist but that doesn’t really seem like a sound business model. I’m guessin your employees didn’t clock out despite the fact they weren’t workin… You do realize business might not be so «slow» if people actually get served.

Bar tenders were sooooo unfriendly! Venue nice but bar tenders could barely crack a smile. It makes a difference

Really good burger. Good selections of beer on draft. Food was delivered fast and hot. Overall a good place in Potsdam to grab a non chain burger with some unique toppings.

Been here a few times while visiting my daughter in college. Food ok service a little slow but overall it’s ok. Heading up with 16 and made reservations for Saturday and hoping for a good experience.

Me — «Can I get a waitress to my table?»
Waitress — «Sorry we’re to busy for that, you’ll have to order your food from the bar»
I’m sorry but I expect service at a restaurant when I’m here for dinner.
Actually left bought a pizza down the block and came back to join my friends; with the pizza.

As a student in this area, I don’t have many options when I want to go out for dinner. Between the buns is one of the places I visit the most frequently. It offers great burgers, among which my favorite is the Hangover. Breakfast food and burger? That’s amazing! Mac and cheese burger is good too.

Loved the burgers, and the atmosphere. I thought the service was really good, it was a tad slow but the place was packed. I had the Black and Bleu burger and the Cajun mayo on it was awesome. Onion rings on the Par 3 appetizer were to die for.

Great burgers, lots of unusual topping combos. I went with the tried and true Black and Blue burger. It was cooked exactly how I asked, which is fairly unusual these days. Crispy fries and it was happy hour when we arrived. Great experience!

Was in town for the weekend from California. this place was suggested. The alcohol’s good. Slow service. Oily haystack onions, Michigan Dog was a joke. I thought I mistakenly ordered off the kids menu.

Great food — ordered the Hangover burger — delicious! Fries are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside! Great selection of beer! And they are actually cold!
Despite reading other reviews on here our service was great. Quick service on food and drinks, very knowledgeable and nice.
Tables and restaurant were clean.
Would love to come in warmer weather to enjoy the outdoor area!

The food at Between the Buns is decent and predictable, although seems previously frozen and not terribly exciting. Maybe they just buy everything from Sysco out of convenience. In any case, it would be nice to see them source ingredients locally. We’re surrounded by farms in this rural area. Martin’s farmstand in Potsdam, Kilcoyne beef in Winthrop, the bakery at the Food Co-​Op… all great local providers.
The burgers are creative, but for an average of $ 13, the meat is lacking; it’s just a little bland. Something simple like salt and pepper mixed in with the ground beef would help. Perhaps the beef itself is cheap. Grass-​fed chuck is very flavorful; their beef is not, although the toppings help. Their meatballs are the same way; bland meat, but the rest of the hoagie was good. So, replacing the finely ground and frozen beef with fresh and coarsely ground Angus chuck from Kilcoyne would be a great first step. It wouldn’t be hard to put a small grinder in the kitchen and have fresh ground beef daily. That’s what I’d expect for $ 13 burgers in Potsdam.
Also, the coleslaw that comes complimentary is pretty bad. It doesn’t have any zip to it. Obviously that’s a minor thing, but it should be easy to get right. It tasted like mayonnaise and cabbage to me, which is nasty.
The service is average. I’ve been here five or six times, and twice now it appeared that the waiter forgot our table. We were brought our drinks, but it took forever for our food. A more active manager with experience running a fast-​paced restaurant would help. There’s no excuse for the kitchen to take 45 minutes making hamburgers. Things have improved lately. I hope that trend continues.
They do have a good beer selection, and there’s a shorter female bartender that’s always quick to see what’s needed and fill a drink. I hope she sticks around, as it’s hard to find good service at the bars up here.
Some other other things to note: all of the floors, walls, and (short) ceilings are hard, reflective surfaces. It can get VERY loud here during busy times, to the point where simple conversation is impossible. Sound deadening material on the ceilings would be a great help, and improve the atmosphere significantly. Also, Thursday night features karaōke, and is a loud shit show for the locals. Avoid that at all costs, at least after 7pm. It gets so loud that you have to shout your order at the bartender.
Two pints of Sam Adams, a Southwest Burger, and tax/​tip cost me $ 30. That’s excessive for average and bland pub food. For that, I should be getting fresh ⁸⁵⁄₁₅ Black Angus beef that was delivered that day from a local butcher, premium beer, and top notch service.
BtB does well in the North Country because there isn’t much in the way of competition. With some basic improvements in service and ingredients, they could do well by rest-​of-​the-​world standards.

This place is wayy cool to hangout and enjoy the food and drinks! I came around 3pm last Thursday just out of curiosity and spontaneity with my boyfriend and it turned out to be surprisingly fun! Our server was young, really nice, and knew the menu well. Even though we were the only people he was serving to at that hour, he did not treat us like we were wasting his time (yes, there are young servers out there who tend to act like we are wasting their time). He was very diligent and had a very good welcoming personality.
As for the atmosphere, I initially thought that that there would be piles of weird people and just another hick bar but the customers seemed to be college students and «normal» people lol. To add, I think they did a great job with the interior transition from La Casbah :).