The Counter

Myself, my brother, and my girlfriend all visited this place recently and we absolutely loved it!
We all three got burgers that were cooked to perfection. My girlfriend got a turkey burger because she doesn’t eat beef and it was excellent as well. The burgers were huge! It was all I could do to finish it. We ordered the garlic Parmesan fries as an appetizer and they were excellent as well. They have almost any topping you can think of to put on your burger. There is also beer served here, to wash your burger down with if needed.
The dining room isn’t huge but we had no trouble getting a seat. The atmosphere is laid back and pretty chill, but that didnt take away from the customer service. The staff is excellent. The pricing is a little high but totally worth it in my opinion for the quality and portion size that you get.
I’ll definitely be dining here in the future!

Considering the awful experience we had on our first time dining here, ending up back at The Counter was definitely not on my list of things to ever do. But, fate played a hand that put us there, and I’m happy to say that all was well. In fact, it was pretty darn good.
The fries were nice and crisp, and were accompanied well by the chili and cheese toppings — Which admittedly I wish would have been a little more generous. The chili and cheese were placed dead center, and not in an ample portion to cover all the fries. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have been sad to get just a few more fries either. The plate just seemed small.
This however was made up for by the monster size ½ pound burger I got. It was juicy, fresh, cooked to order, and most importantly, tasty. All the toppings I asked for were front and center — Though the egg was a little overdone for my liking. The yolk was dried out as opposed to creamy and runny like it should have been. There was no way I was sending it back though with how hungry I was.
Maybe it was because we were so hungry from going until 1:00 PM without eating anything all day. Maybe it was because we had just walked out of Bartaco (another nightmare for another review), and just wanted to eat. Maybe, just maybe, it really was that good.
Hopefully it was the latter. I would definitely consider coming back to find out.

After hearing so many rave reviews I hauled it to Reston to check this place out. It was pretty crowded for a weekday lunch hour but my friend and I managed to get a table. We started with the Parmesan fries which were good, but not crave worthy. The menu size is almost overwhelming, you name it and you can put it on your burger. I got a make my own with the veggie patty. I liked the brioche bun but the patty was more on the sweeter side and too nutty in flavor for my taste. Because of that the sweet toppings I ordered (like craisins) didn’t go and I wished I’d stuck to the traditional lettuce, tomato and onion. The portion was huge and I had the half left over for dinner that night. I would come again if I was in the area, but I’m sure it’s worth the trek in its own.

All around delicious and great service. Ate there for the second time today and definitely just as delicious as the last time I went.
Started with the chili cheese fries… YES. The fries were just OK, but the chili and cheese were right on point with the perfect balance of chili and cheese.
Caramel shake was also amazing!
This time around I didn’t have a burger, rather I had «the hot hen» grilled chicken sandwich. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, but the chargrilled flavor mixed with the blue cheese and buffalo sauce made it awesome. I’ll definitely return.

Thoroughly enjoyed eating at The Counter today for lunch. I opted to create my own salad so I checked off nearly every topping. I ended up with a gigantic mess of a salad (SWEEEET!). I loved the large selection of sauces – I went for Sweet Sriracha, Thai Peanut Sauce and House-​made Tzatziki.
Fresh ingredients and great value. Personally, I’ll go with something off the ready-​made menu as my salad ended up being a little weird with my choices… Trust me, pickled artichoke and grilled pineapples do not make for a great combination.

Being a burger conissour I was looking forward to this burger place ! I got a Bison burger with the toppings and shoestring fries. It was very tasty however the choice of bread (sourdough) wasn’t the best since my burger was sliding out from the bread. I also put a fried egg, onion confit, roasted red peppers and had buttermilk ranch as a sauce. It was good but not the best burger I’ve had.

The counter isn’t going to be the best burger you’ve ever had, but it will be the most creative. They offer tons of different types of burgers and the ability to customize using a myriad of options that aren’t really seen elsewhere in the area. Price is a major downside though — a burger (without fries) shouldn’t run you $ 10 – 15.
My favorite is the un-​brie-​lievable which is a turkey burger. I’ve head good things about their bison burgers as well.

Great atmosphere. This restaurant was actually recommended by my server at WOB who actually works here also. He was the most customer service oriented person there so kudos to you D! Food was seasoned well and super fresh.

visited on a business trip, at the recommendation of a coworker. the BBQ burger was very good. excellent service.
recommended!

Looking for a good old greasy burger in all of its grass-​fed glory? Well, this is the place! The Counter doesn’t tout healthy food, but I wouldn’t come here for that anyway! The patties are perfectly cooked (a.k.a. medium-​rare is just that), the buns are buttery, and the toppings are guilt-​fully laid on top.
I’ve had the Official Counter burger and the Old School. Again, the beef was good. The other stars of the Official Counter burger were the buttery sauteed mushrooms and the provolone. However the onion strings that came with were much too oily for my tastes, and the vinaigrette was more like a watered down marinara sauce. The Old School had great red onion, and I personally liked the red relish.
One con was that the smell of the restaurant reminded me of that of a restroom. I don’t know if I came on an off day, but it was noticeable right when I stepped in.
With all smells aside, it was great, friendly service in a casual atmosphere! I would come back for another laid back meal, happy hour food, or burgers and drinks over one of the 2 flatscreen TVs!

Over hyped, over talked about, just plain not good. I try not to bash places very often but the fact that I actually got sick from eating the Chili Burger earlier today is a testament to the kitchen. Both visits I remember one thing, bad service at the bar. It could just be bad luck and service rotates out but two visits is enough. An aware staff member would notice that a customer did not even finish half of there entrée and quickly as for the check would be a BIG RED FLAG but nobody cared, nobody said anything. The bartender was flirting with a customer and did not even scan the bar for refills.
The CHILI
–This thin poorly made chili made my burger into a soggy mess. I had to ask for a fork but wouldn’t you think anyone eating this soggy contraption you would preemptively give them a fork beforehand.
Poor service, under cooked meat, over priced and I think they cheat and use liquid smoke. If you want a fancy burger, try a steak house.

I have to agree with some of the other reviewers on here that the menu is WAY too involved. I understand having many options for people, and being able to cater to a wide variety of people, but they don’t need that many options.
The burger itself was great, and my choices worked out luckily (my girlfriends didn’t). The server was fine, but she had to keep checking back over and over and over cause we just couldn’t decide on toppings. because? Yeah, too many to choose from, and they are all over the place as well. It also seems like you have to do most of the work yourself, almost like taking your own order, and if you choose the wrong toppings you have nobody to blame but yourself (which seems like what they were going for).
It’s a little pricey, but not crazy and expected in the area, plus there are bar drink options, and a custom built burger cooked to your liking. Overall, it was a decent experience, but the intimidating amount of options will have us looking elsewhere for our burger experience in the future.

I love this burger place. It’s so much fun building your own burger and is ab awesome place for me since I have a food sensitivity to sulfites. I just pick toppings I can have and have always had a delicious meal that doesn’t feel like it’s lacking or sorely tweaked to make it «safe.» When I’m in reston I like to come here.
The first time I visited, I asked about bun ingredients they brought a manager out to discuss my food sensitivity and check ingredients for me. So excellent customer service. Food is consistently good, too.

I’ve had a lot of good experiences here, but also some negative ones that really make me question if I’d come back. My last experience was with a large group and the service was abyssmal. Our waiter was missing for most of our visit and wasn’t around to provide drink refills and the food took an inexcusable time to arrive. Our entire experience lasted about 3 hours for what should have been a quick burger lunch.
All of this was really just a prelude for the biggest disappointment which was finding a piece of metal in a turkey burger (think one of the metal ties on the end of a tube of meat at the grocery store). While we had a manager apologize and comp the meal, it felt very half-​hearted as he tried to shift the blame on the meat supplier. He offered to let us file a report, but we declined since no one was injured.
The whole experience was just bad. On the plus side, the food without foreign metal objects was pretty good, but that’s far too little ground to make up for the bad service alone.

Well, I’m torn here. I usually waste no time trashing a place with pricy, mediocre food and order screw-​ups, but they really went out of their way to make it right.
Burgers were ok. But my wife’s sautéed mushrooms came on my burger, and she got my bacon and lto. So basically the patties got switched, and the mushrooms were put on wrong patty. Mushrooms required some surgery.
I’m really not that picky, or that guy that sends stuff back. In fact, I really wouldn’t have cared at all if I didn’t have to pick the mushrooms out of my melted cheese to put on her burger. And I didn’t have to — they offered to fix it — but I wasn’t exactly clear if that meant re-​make them, or finger our burgers as I was doing. So I opted for the self-​fix.
The burgers were not terrible, but not that amazing either. The patty was placed on top of the lettuce, so that came out a bit wilted. Grilled onion was a bit undercooked without enough sweating/​caramelizing/​glazing. Mushrooms looked good, but my ½ lb patty came with one meager tomato slice that covered maybe half the patty — also served under the patty with the lettuce, so sad and wilty too.
The bacon was a highlight. It was great.
Fries were average. Onion rings a bit thin, and heavily seasoned for my taste.
The management and server team really went above and beyond to remedy the mixed up order. Like I mentioned, I’m not a sender-​backer, and as much as I appreciate attentive conflict resolution, I prefer the order come out properly in the first place. But these guys really were on top of it.
Free shakes (3 of them — of modest size which we also appreciated) for the kids, and one of the burgers taken off the bill. The gestures were much appreciated, and although I’m someone that never asks for it, I readily accepted and I am thankful for the effort.
All in all, I think you need to like a loaded burger to really appreciate this place. Not a burger with cheddar, and lto, but a burger with a chipotle aioli, or horseradish aioli, and bacon and onion rings, or bbq sauce and onion rings, etc. Purists beware.

Not the best burger I’ve ever had, but close to it! I’d definitely say The Counter is somewhere in my top 10 (I’ve had a lot of burgers from a lot of places).
When I went here, the indoor seating was a bit cold, so I opted to sit outside while waiting for my friend to arrive. The Counter is home to some pretty delicious sounding burgers, but what makes them a good choice is their Build-​Your-​Burger option. I must of looked over the menu many times before I was set on wanting to build my own burger (which is a great option if you are particular in what you want).
When my friend finally arrived, I ordered a ½lb bison burger with sauteed red onions, cheddar cheese, baby spinach, oven roasted tomatoes, all between ciabatta bread, with a side of their shoestring fries. My friend, on the other hand, got a deviled egg, two mini slider burgers, and parmesan garlic fries, all on happy hour. She’s a pretty small girl, so that all filled her up. She even had to bring home her fries, despite me helping her eat her fries!
I was truly blown away by the burger. It was so delicious, that if it didn’t fill me up so much, I would’ve ordered another one.
Although my shoestring fries and the parmesan garlic fries were delicious, I’m not a fan of the skinny fries. I’m more of a steak fries kind of guy. Delicious, regardless.
If you’re in the Reston Town Center area, and you’re craving a burger, definitely stop by The Counter!

Good burgers.
Indoor and outdoor seating is available. The restaurant is clean and organized. Our server was very friendly but a bit slow and disorganized. I like the concept of being able to create your own burger but I can see how orders can get messed up as well. There are a bunch of toppings, sauces, meat patty options. The bun and toppings are all fresh and well made. The bun held everything together nicely and was still fluffy within. The beef patty itself was juicy but not all that flavorful. Their milkshakes are great. They were smooth, creamy, and not overly sweet. Their Fried Pickles and Chili Cheese Fries both got a two thumbs up from the 5 of us.
I’m glad we tried this place out, but I definitely wouldn’t say this is my favorite burger joint in VA.

Took a late lunch around 1pm and this place is still crowded however there was some patio seating available and the weather is great! I was seated quickly and given instructions on how to order a customized burger with plenty of choices or select from the pre-​built burgers. I choose to custom build a burger on onion bun, pepper jack cheese, spicy pickles, spinach leaves, red onion, grain mustard and spicy thousand island with a side of fries. Within 7 minutes I had my food! It looked so pretty, however the burger with toppings lacked in flavor BUT the fries were good. Also ordered the mango lemonade… More like mango water! It was tasteless, not a hint of lemonade to be found. That I was disappointed in because it tasted as if mangoes were cut up and thrown into water. I will try dessert, wish me luck!

This place is really cool. Like other places you can build your own burger as well as pick a burger of their specialty. I really liked the different ingredients and toppings you can put on the burger. Oily, yes. With all the toppings I put on my burger was huge, but I enjoyed every bite of it! I would definitely recommend the onion straws rather than the fries!

We grabbed a quick bite during dinner. The service was great and the atmosphere casual. I loved the shrimp burger, it had a great flavor and was filling. The sweetpotatoe fries and onion straws were a nice alternative to traditional fries. My fiancé enjoyed his classic burger topped with an egg. I would definitely return if I were ever in the area.