Black Cow Burger Bar

Not bad but nothing to write home about. Kind of disappointed with their latest menu, the first time I went I thought they had more menu selections for just plain beef burgers, but it seems they’ve narrowed it down to 4 burgers and about 6 fish/​vegetarian/​chicken selections with a «Build your own» section. I got the Cajun burger, which was not very flavorful (or cajun) I would have expected more. Also, had to order a sauce to go on it, there wasn’t one already suggested. My boyfriend enjoyed his power town burger (a regular burger with a fried egg on it.) But how hard is it to screw that up? We ordered a butternut squash ravioli app, couldn’t really tell if there was squash in it and the maple sauce on top was kind of lame. French fries are okay, but too skinny and small in my opinion.
Service was OK, not down right bad, but it was an hour into their lunch service and the bartender\server seemed distracted as though she had opened late but we were the only ones at the bar. The other waitress seemed more on top of things with about 5 tables. Our server didn’t write down our order, which if I’m ordering extras or substitutions that’s kind of a peeve of mine, and she did get Most of it right, but it gives me a sketchy and unprofessional impression to begin with. But on a high note, we were going to order a large fry to share and she said «Mmm a small might work if you two are splitting it.» She was absolutely right, and we didn’t even finish them, but again they are kind of small and almost annoying to eat (you have to eat at least two to get a decent sized bite) not her fault of course and we were thankful to save $ 3 bucks on it.
Overall, I would come back but its not on my top favorites list. A better burger then you can find in most of Franklin County, but not the best I’ve ever had.

Nice décor and pleasant staff. Burgers tend to be very greasy. Sides/​apps are hit and miss. I don’t usually have a delicate stomach, but I’ve regretted my last couple tries at this place.

Stopped in for dinner and beers with friends. It’s small with a cosy and friendly atmosphere. Our waitress was very nice and attentive. The food was really good from the Brussel sprouts appetizer, burger and fries and for dessert purchased homemade chocolates togo. Worth trying.

Super good meal today. The brussel sprouts were a great start and the mac burger was cooked perfectly. Only problem was selecting what to order. Good portions and not too pricey.
Will be back.

Okay, so quick update. I have attempted to come here twice in the past 6 months. The first incident… I went with two other people. We waited in line for about 25 mins as it was pretty busy. No problem. Totally understand that tables were full. We finally get ready to get seated. The host calls us and grabs menus. Then as she turns to walk us to our table a couple comes in and says «Is it our turn to be seated yet? We left and came back just now because you said it was going to be a bit.» The hostess then tells the couple. «Yeah, I can get you seated, but know that for the future we cannot do that as you left and the next person in line takes your spot.» She then turned to us and said she was sorry and that we just had to wait a little longer.” So she seated the couple. It was frustrating but I let it go… until now.
I bring that first incident up as I went here on Saturday afternoon craving one of their burgers. It was really dead so I thought «Awesome! I can enjoy my lunch and get something to go.» I sat at the bar since it was just me and the bar was empty. I was there for about 7 mins until someone came and got me a menu. No issue as there was only one waitress for the place, yet was pretty dead. About 5 mins later a group of about 6 ladies came in. The waitress came out and sat them at a booth. She told me she would be with me soon. She ran to the back and came out. She went over to the table of six that got there way after me and took their orders. Meanwhile, I am still sitting there for almost 15 mins without even a water and a group comes in after I was waiting and they get served. So that right there, kind of did it. I waited for about 5 more minutes without service and I put on my coat and left. Why not serve the person who was there first? That clicked in my mind that I was going to be waiting for those 6 orders to be done before I even got mine.
The food is tasty here, but the service is lacking. I’m sorry.

Stopped here with my wife as we are planning to move the area and have been exploring many things, including restaurants. We love a good burger and found the Black Cow in a search, so we decided to give it a try.
We were immediately greeted and seated by a nice young woman, who was also our server. I want to add at this point that it was wonderful to see a person who was really proud of where she worked.
And she should be, because we weren’t disappointed. It was great. We started with an appetizer of fried pickles, which were perfectly done. Good pickle and delicate crisp batter. Delicious.
We both had build your own burgers, which were excellent. Great assortment of fresh and good quality toppings. I had a side of their house made Mac and cheese. Creamy, cheesy and good. My wife had the shoestring fries, which were excellent.
We’ll definitely go back!

Stopped for lunch driving from CT to NH. Good craft beers, excellent burgers and fries, great service. Highly recommend. The shakes are awesome too!

I love this place. The cuisine is (slightly) upscale burger bar fare with a build-​your-​own option. They have a fairly large menu, actually, but I’ve never had anything other than burgers and apps. Their roasted brussels sprouts are great, and I’m impressed at how good they can make a turkey burger (I’m not a fan anywhere but here). I do wish they’d take doneness orders more specific than «pink or no pink» but I’ve started to hear that at other joints too, so maybe that’s just where things are trending.
I agree with others that the quality of the meat is pretty middle of the road, but I’m not a foodie in that regard. Full bar, good prices, friendly staff, solid food, can’t lose.

Stop here whenever I get the chance I’m traveling rt 2. Great big burger with fresh toppings and reasonable prices. Mac and cheese is very rich and delicious. Hidden gem

My husband and I stumbled across this place last year while taking a scenic ride. I love this place! It’s nice to find a place where I can get a burger that’s not made of beef, so many choices!!! And it tastes amazing. It’s worth the ride no matter where you’re coming from.

My wife and I stopped in for the first time today, on a friend’s recommendation. The pickle chips app were the best I’ve ever eaten. Awesome burgers, very tasty and perfectly cooked. The cucumber salad is outstanding also. We highly recommend this place.

Had lunch there. Nice clean place, pleasant atmosphere and I love the glossy black tables.
There were three of us and we ordered a variety, one burger, one sloppy joe and one homemade black bean burger.
The food was quick and the service was good.
But, I have to say for a burger bar the actual meat on the bun was nothing special. I would have expected a thicker piece of meat and not something so ordinary.
The sloppy joe was a special and was pretty flavorful.
The homemade black bean burger was very very good but if your going to order that be prepared, black bean burgers tend to have an overwhelming flavor and can be a big commitment for a meal.
My only complaint, aside from the burger being a tad underwhelming, is the fries were not at all good. The menu said they were hand cut so that was pretty exciting, who does not love hand cut fries right? Sadly they were shoestring fries.
Shoestring fries are a tough menu item, the get cold fast, don’t have much flavor and can be very greasy. The fries we were served were cold and half of them were crunchy… noone wants crunchy fries.
I’m sure the fries are not always bad but if your a restaurant and what you do is prepare and serve food and charge money for it, get it right. Add some quality control to the kitchen, have someone check over everything before it goes out or switch to an easier to prepare and keep hot menu item like full cut fries.

Nice inside and special burgers are pretty good. It does however seem the burger-​bun size rato favors more the bun. I just had lunch there today and while dining I said yes to a second unsweetened ice tea and later learned that I was charged for two drinks. So I spent $ 5.00 on two completely ice filled watered down ice teas! I’m mad enough that I won’t be back for a while when i will be sure to order. one drink-​no ice!

Perfect service, satisfying food, will be back for sure! Loved my spicy jalapeño burger and Two Roads IPA.

My wife and I, newly moved to town, came in to check the place out. We had swift and courteous service (granted, it being 4 PM, we were the only ones in there), and had excellent burgers, cooked to our liking, as well as good onion rings — I like the thin ones instead of the glop you see too many places where the batter is as thick as your wrist!
The prices were decent — 2/​3rds that of other burger bars we tried.
Neither of us are drinkers, so take that as a factor for Shopzillas who freak out far out of proportion because just the one time they couldn’t get shots at the bar. Eeeesh.

If you have some leisure time then certainly go here. Waitress: Do you know what you would like? Us: No but we will have two draft beers. Okay.
Waitress returns while we wait for the beers do you want to order? Sure. Burger and salad with grilled chicken thanks.
30 minutes later out comes the salad. Hum could we get our meals together and hey the salad has no chicken on it. Whoops. 40 minutes later beer at last. Must have gone to Newburyport to get the Newburyport IPA.
Finally dinner arrives 1 ½ hrs later beer (good) burger (okay) salad with chicken (chicken super dry) and fries. Yes fries are good!
So stop in for some fries if your in the mood. They are just dysfunctional.

Huge fan of their burgers. I always get a turkey burger, and then I decide on the ad ons depending on my mood. The add ons are amazing for their quality and variety.
My wife and daughter also love the place. The waitstaff is great with my three year old, and the menu for her is incredibly generous.
My only criticism is shoestring fries, but not because of quality. It’s just a preference thing. So I opt for the onion rings, and I’m never dissatisfied. They’re battered, not breaded, which means they maintain the actual taste of onion.
I have read people critique the waitstaff. Not fair! They’re sweet, attentive, and know that a dining experience involves the people at the table more so than an obtrusive and over bearing staff. I appreciate it.

We love burgers and this was an epic fail.
The newspaper had written a review on this place for burgers and I don’t know why.
We had fried pickles for appetizer. They were sliced way too thick with way to much artificial tasting breading.
Due to recent stomach issues I ate a Cesar salad which was fine. Homemade croutons were good.
My husband got the Mac attack burger which had bacon (that was very thin and not so good) with Mac and cheese that had been grilled (beat part of burger). The burger itself although handmade was terrible beef, very lean and far too thin. In fact he took maybe two bites and the waitress didn’t even ask why when clearing plate.
The French fries were real potatoes so that was a bonus.
Coke was served in large red plastic cups and did not have a free refill.
The restaurant itself was very clean, spacious, and cute.
Since I do not live close I will not be trying any other menu items. But if you are a burger person skip this one.

So it’s a week day night and we are in the mood for a good burger, where do we go? Well Black Cow popped into our minds so we decided to give it a shot. When we walked into this little burger bar we were excited to try out what they got.
We started out our meal with their fried pickles which were delicious. I grabbed a beer which was on the house (thank you Unilocal app), as well as a Cowboy Burger which was their special for the day. In addition to the burgers, we bought their french fries.
The burgers we purchased were amazing, and I have to say that they cooked them to perfection. When it came to the french fries, they weren’t the best in the world but they were OK.
Overall, the service was great and the food was delicious. We are excited to have found a decent burger in the area.

What a disappointment! We were driving down 91 from VT last week and were hankering for a good burger. I read all the reviews and we decided to give it a try as they advertised grass fed beef. We walked in slightly before the normal dinner time (around 5:30) and the place was almost empty (as to be expected at that time).
We were offered a nice booth that needed to be cleared (why leave dirty dishes on the table like that when the place is empty?) and once we sat down, I noticed that the ketchup bottle was almost empty. Strange, I thought, for a burger place not to take care of that. Who would have time to fill ketchups when it’s busy?
The waitress took forever and a day to get to us, and when ordering, we asked if we could have ½ & ½, onion rings and fries. The server said yes and then came back about 10 minutes later and said that the owner said «they don’t do that». Um… why not? It’s not like they would have to check with corporate. Charge us for the more expensive item and give us what we want. (I bet lots of people would order that if it was on the menu!)
ok, so we ordered our burgers medium rare and when they arrived, they were totally grey and overcooked, thereby making them tasteless (what a waste of good grass fed beef!). Why use a high quality meat and not cook it properly? You are a burger place, for heaven’s sake, that is your specialty.
We had to ask for everything we needed repeatedly and not once did the server offer more water, notice the ketchup bottle was empty, clear any used dishes off the table, etc. We did not feel attended to, although the place remained empty the whole time we were there.
I really wanted to like this place, to support new businesses in Turners Falls, but the really poor service ruined the meal.
The place is cute, they have hand made chocolates at the front, which is an unusual but nice touch and the menu LOOKS like it is creative and whimsical (which I appreciate). The problem is, the owner’s ego leaks all the way into the dining room and covers the food like a grey sauce, thereby spoiling the experience.
Bummer.