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• amy
  I am SOOOO disappointed. After reading numerous stellar reviews on this place I was filled with excitement when the opportunity to go presented itself. The service was less than stellar, in fact, it was downright rude. I witnessed a customer kindly state that he thought he may have received the wrong burger just to hear the order taker girl complain to a room full of patrons that she thought she could let the cook bring out the food but apparently he wasn't competent.
  
  The food was disgustingly greasy. Don't get me wrong, greasy CAN be good - but this was not. A greasy soggy burger for $11 with poor counter service - - this place does not live up to its hype.
  
  In addition, it was shut down at lunchtime this weekend for "catch up time" and on my visit the credit card machine was down due to "broken phone lines."
  
  Do yourself a favor - save your money... there's better burgers (and service) to be found in Ballard.
• Michael
  This is my favorite place - nowhere else comes close to the burgers they have here.
  
  A lot of interesting ingredients to choose from, for example you can get a burger with wild boar meat and feta cheese.
  
  Lots of rotating specials too.
  
  It's expensive for a burger, but every time I eat here it feels a lot more like a gourmet memorable meal tuned for maximum deliciousness. For that $12 is really cheap.
• FrankieSardines
  You must work for the Lunchbox Loboratory, because out of the all the reviews on myballard, yours is the only one with anything nice to say. Not only was yours the only one with anything nice to say, yours is "glowlingly" kind -- not to mention you're plugging the menu too. If you want to go on myballard and disguise yourself as a regular customer so your piece of crap over-priced redneck burger joint can have at least ONE good review, try to make it a little less obvious.
• ExiledBrit
  Be nice dude, and I won't mention that you smell like fish.
• Michael
  I posted a glowing review because it is a cool place that has unique food.
  
  In your world saying that I like something about the menu means that I must be an employee? WTF? Your meds are not working anymore, I suggest you increase their dosage.
  
  I have noticed a lot of bad reviews here, which just proves to me that the average person is too stupid to appreciate something good when it is different from the norm. If your #1 priority is to get something cheap, go get a McBurger and jam it down your piehole.
  
  I brought my brother-in-law who was visiting from Maine here, and his verdict was "best burger I've ever had".
  
  So no, I'm not an employee, just a customer that likes good food and doesn't like the overdone hockey pucks that pass for burgers in most other places nowadays.
  
  It's weird to me that people have gotten so used to eating hockey pucks that when they actually get a juicy burger they freak out about it being greasy.
  
  Anyway, it's definitely not for the faint-hearted, the burgers here are huge and over-the-top, certainly. If you were not expecting that, I could understand those problems. But many of the other comments such as yours are just a bunch of sissy whiners.
• FrankieSardines
  Yeah, definately an employee posing as a custoner - so far, you're the only person who thinks these burgers are not dog vomit - eithers means two thing - you're the owner or you have not taste buds - and by the way, what does someone being from "Maine" have to do with knowing what good food is. Last time I checked, the no.1 menu item in Maine was moose burger and SPAM - that's why he lives in Maine - just accept the fact that NOBODY LIKES YOUR STINKING FOOD and your business is on its way out -
• Michael
  Quit smoking the crack, it is not doing you any favors.
  
  Mine is not the only positive review, the one right below it is positive too, and there are others too... If you learn to read you might be able to find them!
  
  Something is broken inside of you, maybe an imbalance or were you abused as a child? I suggest to seek professional help.
  
  I am only just a customer - it may seriously be a sign of actual clinical paranoia that you cannot believe that.
• Italiangirl89
  Dude...why do you even care if you're NOT connected to the lunchbox? you totally sound like someone who works for the lunchbox because you're pushing its menu waaaaaay too hard
• Michael
  > because you're pushing its menu
  > waaaaaay too hard
  
  Don't be ridiculous - in my original comment I mentioned I liked one particular burger that I ate there, and that I think it is cool that they have rotating specials.
  
  How on earth is that pushing the menu waaaay too hard?
  
  Do you actually think that when commenting on a restaurant nothing about the menu should be mentioned at all? How would that make any sense?
• chiizus
  Obviously if he worked there, he would start a flame war on their own review page.
• FrankieSardines
  You mean like the one you're contributing too? Asshole - fuck the Lunchbox Lab - your food sucks and stop getting your friends and family on here saying good things about a place that EVERYONE WHO HAS EATEN THERE hates - only return customers they get are rich yuppies who will think anything they eat is good as long as it is expensive - fuck you and fuck your bullshit, over-priced suckass restaurant - I hope it burns down with all of you in it
• chiizus
  Oh my god, you're rude. I'm not related to or even know these people. I just liked the burger I got there.
• Italiangirl89
  I have to go with Frankiesardines on this one. Your comment sounds more like a commercial for the lunchbox place than an actual customer comment. Definately a lunchbox employee undercover.
• Michael
  You know, maybe some of the paranoia is rubbing off on me, but I'm starting to think that these negative comments accusing every positive review of being from an employee are coming from the same person who is trying to sabotage this business for some reason.
  
  Something just doesn't add up, since all of my friends without exception really enjoy this place to a very great degree.
  
  Again, I'm not an employee, just someone who appreciates the cool things that they have done here.
• pioggia
  I'm a total burger snob & this one rated high with me: juicy beefy goodness! Also loved the Tots and the uber rich mac & cheese but OMG even splitting a burger we ate too much!
  Service was friendly, and the price was comparable to other high quality burgers around seattle.
• m
  Unfortunately I'm with Amy on this one - the service was terrible. I can forgive problems with phone lines etc., particularly when just starting out. I'm even trying to be generous of spirit around the fact that they can't handle their large crowds. While crowds are a sure sign of good food, poor handling of those crowds is enough to turn me away. (Check how Red Mill works their large crowd very well.)
  
  All this aside, when the co-owner/order-taker is bitchy, it negates everything else.
  
  May go back and give it one more chance but not in a hurry.
• M
  The laboratory gimmick can't make up for the awful food.
  
  Way too greasy! Burgers are greasy; fries are greasy; even the mac & cheese is greasy. Not comfortable for sitting; their preferred temperature indoors is around 35. Long wait. Horrible choices for vegetarians. Bad food for too much money.
• Ian
  If you don't like pornography, don't go to a pornography store. If you don't like giant, greasy comfort food, don't eat here.
  
  On the other hand, if you DO like giant greasy comfort food, why haven't you eaten here already? Is the food greasy? Absolutely. Too greasy? Not at all.
  
  In food like a dork (duck and pork) burger, the flavor is in the fat, and Lunchbox Laboratory has no qualms about making sure you get as much of the flavor as possible. And WHAT flavor. The place is absolutely delicious.
  
  Of course, part of that is knowing how to order. If you don't understand how different flavors are going to work together and compliment each other, try to keep it simple. A friend I was with very nearly ordered a dork/pepper jack/honey bbq burger, since he likes all those things. The waitress (who was nothing but polite with our group) and I were quick to steer him toward a milder cheese that wouldn't fight the other flavors. After switching to Swiss, the burger came out wonderfully.
  
  If you're still scared, there's always the days' "experiments." A list of pre-planned burgers with a side of your choice, at $2 less than a do-it-yourself burger with a side. The other two in my party went this route and were extremely pleased with the results.
  
  Without dragging on, the sides were delicious, though the Mac 'n' Cheese du Jour was a little too heavy after all the food we'd already ordered. Great selection of bottled sodas with real cane sugar, and tasty (if unremarkable) milk shakes. Obviously, this is not an every day, or in most cases once a week, meal. It's a special treat, when you've been good and you can afford to really go nuts.
  
  The 20 some blocks I walked home certainly made me feel better.
• FrankieSardines
  Shameless - obviously another lunchbox employee (probably its fat, dumpy Angry Lesbian token sasquatch) pumping up the menu and telling people something's wrong with them if they don't like their crappy food. This is the kinda food that white trash cook up for Superbowl parties for the rest of the trailer park (and even to say that would be kind).
  
  Just to give you an idea how bad this place is - after ordering one of their famous "Span pork" burgers and taking one bite before feeling like vommiting, I packed it up in a doggie bag to give to some homeless person down by the food bank instead of throwing away my $15 dog vomit burger - not even the homeless wanted it - that's how bad this crap is. This place should be condemmned by the HEALTH DEPARTMENT--- now
• bmvaughn
  Frankie needs a hug.
  
  I've never been to this place, but I'd like to try it out this week. I'll report back whether I agree with Frankie or not.
• Christina
  I'm a vegetarian but went with a co-worker to check it out, not knowing it was a burger joint. Doesn't "lunchbox" say "sandwich" to you?). The outside seating is forbiddingly close to the street with no screening at all, and the inside seating feels like a walk-in refrigerator. So much for atmosphere! When my co-worker decided his burger was undercooked and asked for it to be put back on the grill for a minute, he was told the cook does everything the same way - meaning, he undercooks EVERY burger, and too bad if that makes you nervous about food-borne illness.
  Why would anyone pay money to be treated like that? There are so many other great restaurants in Ballard.
• lauram
  It was OK. I don't get the rule about how they don't take "temperature requests". Why the f(*# not? It's a BURGER joint. Some people like rare, some medium, some well-done. Deal with it, you're a BURGER joint.
  
  Also, agree that the seating is horrible inside and the outside could really use some planter boxes or other sound and visual screening for 15th Ave NW which is VERY NOISY.
  
  The food was pretty good. Yes, greasy, but not in a bad way. BUT, it was very pricey.
  
  Overall, I feel no need to go back unless they deal with seating inside and outside and unless they rescind the ridiculous "no temperature requests" rule.
• Merle
  Thought I'd try this place out for lunch after reading some of the reviews. They have a lot of interesting choices for burgers, and my cheeseburger was good, but $14 for a burger and a very small order of fries is way too much. I will save my money, have just as good a burger and go to Ballard Brothers or Scooters.
• Foo
  Friends had raved about this place so I gave it a try.
  
  Never. Going. Back.
  
  The snotty attitude, the incredibly raw burger (and the refusal to do anything about said rawness), and the general feeling that they think I should BE so lucky to be condescended to by them... all add up to "giving my money to Scooters". Sure, they're not as inventive or strange, but they're half the price, twice as nice, and at least their street-side seating is on a side street. :)
• Jeff
  You know... my gut tells me this place isn't going to last. The service is abrasive. Not less so than a lot of other culinary institutions, though.
  
  That said, it's a shame. It's a unique burger joint. Some of the concoctions are lackluster; others are freakin' sublime. Ian's totally right in saying that you have to THINK about how the flavors will complement one another, because they won't stop you from creating a shitty burger. Put the work into your burger hypothesis... it'll pay off.
• angrignon
  Too greasy, it was like eating 5 bowls of poutine (Quebec style, not the fake BC/Ontario shit). Should have had some nitro served up on the side.
  
  There is practically _NO_ room inside to sit. Outside, same thing.
  
  They seemed to be asses about giving out the water to folks who wanted a drink.
  
  Had one of the milkshakes and it was horrid.
  
  Whatever, this place is living off its gimmick that it got in the press. Too bad the articles in the paper didn't actually talk about the food, which sucks.
• walruslord
  to all of you morons complaining about undercooked burgers, the only reason you're used to overdone and flavorless charred hunks of meat is because you typically eat leftover chunks of cow ground up right along with the brains and the shit and the arms of the slaughterhouse workers. Here they grind up the quality meats themselves, so there is no danger in eating a pink on the inside burger other than you might become acquainted with a good sense of taste.
  
  Having worked at nice restaurants before (which Lunchbox Lab shares a philosophy with, it seems), the boner who orders a wonderful cut of meat and asks for it well done is right up there with the guest who talks 40 decibels above acceptable levels.
  
  You don't have to like it, or come back, but at least understand why your request for a well done, ruined piece of meat doesn't sit well.
• JE425
  Yeah it's my money. I want my meat cooked how I like it. They are a service cook my meat my way.
• m
  wow walruslord - if you read the comments you'll see that the complaints are much more than just about undercooked burgers. There are several things about this place that make it less than desirable - including a superior attitude much like yours.
• Mike
  Oy! People, the concept behind this place is that, in exchange for decadent food, you must submit to the chef. If, for whatever reasons, you do not like decadent food or are unwilling to let go of control, then this is not the restaurant for you. Personally, I would better enjoy living in this town if more people were okay with letting go of things sometimes, and I thank this restaurant of asking that of us. For future reviewers, please keep in mind why this place exists before you complain about the service.
• JE425
  Must be to treat people like a crap and serve undercooked food?????? Nice.
• matt
  Nasty burgers and some free verbal insults when you order. yay! my new favorite place when I want to pay someone $15 for some lard soaked buns and a dishing of verbal abuse. In fact, today has been a great day, i think I will go get a lunchbox beating this afternoon.
• m
  Unfortunately this place doesn't have much reason for me to give anything up to the "chef".
  
  If you want to play the snobby chef earn the right with superior food.
• kevin
  Don't worry about the service anymore, since it closed in definately this week. I think the owner went looney again, just like at his last restaurant.
• chooch magooch
  everything was so good there it was amazing, people you gotta give it up to the hand spun shakes boo ya there tasty... and ya if your a big puss dont eaT THERE
• critic
  I can't bring myself to try it because every time I drive by there are several giant overflowing dumpsters right next to the outdoor tables.
  
  And what's with the dozens of choices you apparently must make just to order a burger? What kind of salt? Are you joking? Too much work for a burger.
• js
  i must agree with critic about the dumpsters and generally dirty looking appearance when you drive by. I have not tried their burgers yet.
• pioggia
  Kevin is mistaken, they are still open & serving up fab burgers. have to add I've NEVER had a problem with the service there.
• nicole
  I thought the burgers were delish and unique but EXPENSIVE! The bill was $40 for my husband and I: 2 burgers, 2 sides.
• jennifer
  One visit was enough. I was willing to forgive having to pry my stuck water cup off the counter, but finding a long, greasy hair in the middle of my burger was too much. Yummy tater tots, though!
• Matthew
  Click my username for photos of the food. Feel free to ask me questions on those photo pages. I've been there 12 times. Ordered and ate my food there and have never once experienced most of the complaints I've read here. Most of the time, all you hear are "mmm" and "oh my God." Or silence as people are eating. The staff is friendly, the food is exactly what you'd expect from someone that comes from fine dining experience. Lastly, for those of you that are complaining about the prices and will continue to go to places that aren't in the same league as Lunchbox Laboratory? Fine with me. Pay a little less for ingredients that are nowhere near as good as those at Lunchbox Laboratory. Want to whine about your meal for two being $40? You obviously ordered two HALF POUND burgers AND sides of the best fries or tater tots you'll ever have. How much do you think it would cost to order a full pound of meat at Red Mill? What is that? 4 burgers? Kidd Valley? Do those other restaurants grind their own grassfed super (ribeye/sirloin/prime rib) beef at their restaurants? No. Do those other restaurants serve crappy soft drinks? Yes. Do those other restaurants change their specials menu every couple of days because a genius is behind the counter making your burger? No. You pay a little extra for quality. Again, I don't have a problem with you staying away if you're going in there with the attitude that you're worried about what it's going to cost for the best burger you'll ever have. That way I won't have to wait in line behind you or read your nonsense on message boards like this.
• Michael
  I agree 1000% with this - the negative comments are really strange and do not match this place at all.
  
  Every time I have ever gone it has been like burger bliss, and also the people there are really cool as well.
  
  I'm not the only one either, many of my friends are just in awe of this place because it is just sooooo good.
  
  It seems like many of the people posting negative comments are either jerks, cheapskates, or bitter people who decided in advance that they don't like anything different... I really don't get it.
• js
  matthew, you must be related to the owner?
• Matthew
  No. I just love great food.
• Shane Dillon
  I honestly think these are the best burgers I have ever had. Yes they are a little expensive, and yes the place is a bit of a sh**hole, but wow! the burgers are the best I have had.
  
  I have tried Hamburger Harry's, Red Mill, Zestos, Zak's, Scooters, and this place does the best burgers. The vegeburgers are great, and I like the shakes too. Mind you none of it is healthy food.
• P.A.B.L.O
  My wife and I ate here 2 weeks ago: another over-priced burger joint, except this one employs hippies and passive-aggressive goths. The lady taking our order was a grouch because she had to contend with a crowded area that was built for only half as many people. It doesn't cost that much money to put a door on another wall and re-arrange the tables so the space is more user-friendly. Apparently, even after charging as much as they do, there isn't enough money to buy a few sheets of plywood.
  I don't have complaints about the food, just the service. The food should be cheaper, I don't put the burgers any better then Redmill. And, they used too much salt.
• ExiledBrit
  I've been 3 times (buffalo and blue on blue each time, what can I say, creature of habit) and would go more if only I could get a guarantee of a new heart/complete set of new arteries.
  
  Well cooked, tasty burgers, cool menu, salt choices - I found the staff friendly (again, what is it with some of you reviewers and the attitude you seem to provoke? Smile folks, and people will smile back)
• Melissa
  The burgers were good, but too greasy and expensive and probably full of contaminants.
  
  The place was also disgusting. There were fibers floating around in my water and the table we ate on was covered with felt! You can't clean a felt tabletop!
• elle
  just went last night. My husband and i split a bean burger with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese. OMG it was out of this world. As two committed vegetarians we were glad to see they added a new vegetarian option. even happier when we tasted it. the burger is battered in potato and seriously, it was insanity how good it was. The mac and cheese we shared was delish too. one burger and one side was enough to fill us both. incredible.
• Edawg
  I like what they are doing conceptually, but it's just too much for me. 6-7 pieces of bacon on a burger? These are extreme burgers so if that's what you want, you'll get it here. Next time I going for the small one so I don't have to go on cholesteral medication to pass my physical.
• FrankieSardines
  One of the worst places I've ever been to (ever). My girlfriend and I went into this Lunchbox Loboratory joint just off of 15th and the misery of our experience began when we were served by what looked like a Yeti in drag -- a fat, rude, piggish waitress who (literally) threw our food at us -- not to mention that my apetite was ruined after having to look at this fat beast's gianormous, lumbering, cottage-cheese thighs that she insists on showing off by wearing a pair of tight-fitting cargo shorts that would make anyone cringe. After taking one bite into my $15 hamburger that was swimming in grease, I felt ill instantly - so did my girl friend who ordeder some "chicken spam" burger. The food makes the cuisine served at tail-gate parties cooked off the radiator of some rednecks' truck is more appealing than this disgusting, over-priced garbage they try to pass off as food. The final insult was the "Mexican cokes" - which (since they are from Mexico) are only 1/3 the price of an American coke - but since the Lunchbox people play up their "Mexican cokes" as something special, they charge you more - what a rip off - these people should be ashamed of themselves - just because your rednecks freinds like the crap you serve up doesn't mean anyone else will - no wonder they do lousy business.
• chiizus
  Mexican Coke actually costs more almost anywhere in the US because it's made with cane sugar instead of that corn syrup crap they make all soda here with.
  
  So she "literally" threw your food at you, but you still stayed? I'm guessing you don't actually mean "literally".
• sdh
  Stunned to hear this place wins anything - I run past here regularly and the place smells really bad and it looks nothing like as nice as the above photograph. I wouldn't eat here!
• chiizus
  Ehh... stop in and give it a chance. Get take out if you don't like the looks or smell of the place. The food is pretty darn good.
• sdh
  Yeah cos I regularly walk past restaurants that smell like rotting garbage and think "I'd love to eat there!" lol I think not.
• carl555
  dude - why do you comment on every negative comment (which there are alot of) I think italiangirl is right...you are an undercover for the lunchbox
• chiizus
  Why do you comment on every positive comment? You work for McDonald's or something and afraid they're gonna steal your business?
• shanedillon
  I love this place and I am a vegetarian!
• chiizus
  I loved the food. Even though I'm sure it's a heart attack on a plate. So good! Wish there was more seating room, but I get that they can't really fix that. The wait staff was OK when we were there... not like overly nice, but not rude. Prob room for some improvement there. But yeah, the burger was great, the tots with bacon salt were great, and my bf and I split an amazing shake. Plus they have cane sugar Coca-cola! My only real complaint is that it's quite expensive, but I'm willing to splurge to go there every so often. It's not like I'd want to eat there every day anyway unless I wanted to become morbidly obsese and clog my arteries. On the plus side, the burgers are so big, you can pretty much eat half the burger and have half for lunch the next day... so I guess that helps even out the price. 4 stars for me.
• carl555
  bro, what are you smoking? does the lunchbox lab pay you to write this shit?
  I wonder what you think bad food is
• chiizus
  First of all, I'm not a "bro". Secondly, no, no one pays me. But if they want to, they can give me a free burger. Third, I wonder what *you* think bad food is seeing as you've actually eaten AMPM food to compare this to. o_O
• carl555
  WORST PLACE TO EAT EVER!!!! After eating here I felt sick and so did my girlfriend. the six week old hot dogs sitting in the microwave at 7-11 is probably better for you and definately tastes better. Then, to add insult to injury, the food is HELLA EXPENSIVE!!! Its four-star prices for AMPM quality food. These people should be ashamed of themselves.
• Michael
  You must be an employee of one of their competitors...
  
  That's the only way your comment would make any sense.
• burgermaster
  Undercooked bacon. Unforgivable. Yech!
• Lexicon Grrl
  Wow! Who would have known that a little burger joint could inspire such hatred and loyalty on an online review site? MyBallard reviews are usually so... civilized. It sounds like there are some folks with personal problems or a personal bone to pick with the restaurant - nobody gets that hot under the collar about a restaurant unless they're personally involved in it. Frankie - did they fire you or take your lunch money or something?
  
  That said...
  
  My boyfriend and I tried the LL a few months ago because of all the controversy on the forum here. We figured that any place that insipired such vitriolic hatred had to be worth the experience, so we went. Here's what I thought about it:
  
  The interior was fine, sort of a hip new ballard grunge thing going on in there; nothing special. We ordered a dork burger and bacon-and-grilled onion burger, sweet potato fries with rosemary salt, good n' plenty shake and a nutella shake.
  
  Fries - were perfect. The rosemary salt on the sweet potato fries was divine and they were hot, crispy and wonderful. Party in your mouth good.
  
  Dork burger - nasty. It tasted like grease. Now, I like greasy burgers as much as the next person but it was the FLAVOR that was really gross. Bleah, like licking out a meatgrinder.
  
  Bacon burger - I ate 1/4 of it and had to stop because it was so salty it actually made my throat hurt. I tried to figure out why it was so salty and I think the patty was salted, with salted sauce, salted onions and half a pound of heavily salted bacon. Yes, it was disintigrating into a pool of its own grease, which I would have loved if it wasn't so damn salty.
  
  The shakes are INSPIRED. He actually got a 2nd one to go after taking down a burger and fries because it was that good. I have to agree. Best. Shakes. Ever.
  
  So there it is. A real review from a regular person who has no affiliation with the place except that I used to eat there when it was still Ballard Bros. Flame away!