[Food] GBK in trouble

[Westdene Seagull]

In order of preference:

Grubbs St. James Street
Grubbs London Road
Grubbs Hove
Burger Brothers
Homemade burgers
GBK

Still, sucks that 250ish people are going to be out of work.

Uncle Sams

 

[Jesus Gul]

Moaburger in Poland. Burgers are about 4 x the size of anything in UK. Handsome

 

[Titanic]

Moaburger in Poland. Burgers are about 4 x the size of anything in UK. Handsome

Size is definitely not everything... especially with a burger.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Size is definitely not everything... especially with a burger.

It's not how big your worm is - it's how you wiggle it. At least that's what Mrs W has told me

 

[vegster]

Stayed for a week in Mousehole recently, there is one pub in the village and we were considering having a meal in there but virtually every dish was £3 too expensive for average pub nosh, from memory the Catch of the Day ( Cod/Haddock pre-battered from the freezer) + chips/salad was £13.99 and a Cheeseburger with the same £14.99 ! All the desserts on the board started from £5.00 even for Apple Pie and custard. Places charge what they can get away with.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Their burgers are actually OK but when I'm paying the price they charge ( I haven't been for a while for this very reason ) I don't expect to line up like I'm in McDonalds to order. I can easily wander round and get a better burger, for the same price and with the same type of service from Burger Brothers.

*** ADDITION *** - I've just read the BBC story. It rarther annoys me the blame appears to be implied that the 'casual dining experience is currently difficult'. No, it'se because branded chains have been found out - over charging for at best average food. People have started to wake up to 'real' places to eat. Most cities will be no worse off without these generic over charging chains. There will be places that will suffer - Walton for example generally only has generic chains ( Mrs W comes from there and I refuse to go out to eat there ). But really, it's time these chains stopped moaning and upped their game - provide very good food at a good price. A good example is, currently, Wagamamas - not top end but decent food for a decent price. If they want to compete against the independents then they need to up their game. Uncomfortable mass dining tables and self service order at a waited service price along with very average food like GBK will die ....... thankfully. I'm sure [MENTION=409]Herr Tubthumper[/MENTION] might have some interesting input as well.



EDIT - If that makes me a food snob so be it !

Fully agree. When it started it was at the top and a newish idea but these days its neither here nor there; it’s not a cheaper takeaway or eat-in offering good value and it’s not at the higher end either....it’s somewhere in the middle. And what sort of customer seeks out this part of the burger market....obviously not many. Folk either want something cheap and reasonable or something special.

I agree about folk waking up to “real places to eat”. people are considering much much more when they eat out these days and are prepared to pay more for quality and be more demanding....which can only be good. This has made the U.K. arguably the number 1 country for restaurants.

 

[AmexRuislip]

I can't say I'm surprised. I have made 1 visit to a GBK and if my experience was typical of how they operate then they don't deserve to survive as a business. Copied below is my review of that visit which I posted at the time on the 'Restaurant 2016' thread...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Christmas shopping with Mrs Nylon in Cambridge today as it is the children's last day of term and they are at school playing Kerplunk or whatever it is primary school pupils do on the last day of school before Christmas these days.

For lunch we made our first (and last) visit to The Gourmet Burger Kitchen.I suggest they drop the word Gourmet from their name as the food and whole experience was anything but 'gourmet' - although to be fair the bill probably was.

Aside from the food - which was just a sloppy burger in a bun that looked like it had been coated with decking varnish (and tasted suspiciously similar) - it was the whole experience that won't have me rushing back anytime in this lifetime.

Like I say, it was our first visit. We were greeted at the door and shown to a table. The waitress the explained a fairly complex set of inclusions and exclusions depending on whether we were choosing from the lunchtime or the regular menu. Regardless, it all looked poor value, especially the drinks which came in at three quid for a small lemonade. So I decided to forgo a drink simply because I don't like being ripped off. Their loss - had it been something like £2-50 (still alot for a drink) I would have bought one. But not at three quid.

The best bit is that once you have chosen, you then have to go and stand at the till, state your table number and place your order and pay there and then, before you've even seen your food, never mind tried it. I accept this in a fast food type place, but not in a restaurant where I have already settled into my seat. The crazy thing is, had the woman who explained the menu had a pen and bit of paper she could have taken my order, negating the need for me weave past closely packed tables and stand in a queue by a drafty doorway to give my order to some bloke standing next to a griddle.

I reckon GBK need to decide if they are a restaurant charging a significant amount for lunch for two; or a fast-food outlet. At the moment they are a hybrid of the two and the whole experience is pretty poor and not consistent with the brand they are trying to promote in their name.

Not for me. A disappointing 1/10"

Have you tried Five Guys, they're not too bad

 

[marcos3263]

Sadly most chains offer average food and prices are climbing to the point that it isnt worth it hence these companies struggling and closing down again. On Sunday we were kid free so decided on a cocktail in Hove followed by some grub. As the pre-drinks came to £17 (a white Russian and a Tia Maria on ice) we suddenly realised that a quiet night out was going to cost a packet. we cashed in some Tesco vouchers, tripled them up and went for a Pizza express. it was £25 for two meals - no starters or drinks and the place was largely empty. The other table also used vouchers otherwise they may not have gone out.

while the service was excellent (no one else to serve) the food was bang average but adding some drinks etc would have been £40-50

thats too much to spend on the wife. (and not enough to spend on the mistress)

 

[father_and_son]

Big Kahouna Burger always tasty.

But GBK... no loss for customers if they moved out of all 85 locations and let something half decent move in.

Just, as always, feel sorry for the staff, always on a sh1tty deal anyway losing their jobs with what will obviously be a cr4ppy or non-existent payoff.

 

[Mr Putdown]

Really like the Kiwiburger, who would have thought beetroot would work with a burger but it does.

Who? Pretty much every antipodean I’ve ever met.

McDonald’s McOz has beetroot included because of their obsession for adding it to burgers.

 

[vegster]

Big Kahouna Burger always tasty.

But GBK... no loss for customers if they moved out of all 85 locations and let something half decent move in.

Just, as always, feel sorry for the staff, always on a sh1tty deal anyway losing their jobs with what will obviously be a cr4ppy or non-existent payoff.

Probably on the bare minimum wage and understaffed at that, it's a crap world .

 

[beorhthelm]

Their burgers are actually OK but when I'm paying the price they charge ( I haven't been for a while for this very reason ) I don't expect to line up like I'm in McDonalds to order. I can easily wander round and get a better burger, for the same price and with the same type of service from Burger Brothers.

*** ADDITION *** - I've just read the BBC story. It rarther annoys me the blame appears to be implied that the 'casual dining experience is currently difficult'. No, it'se because branded chains have been found out - over charging for at best average food.

its lazy journalism. the "casual dining" is losing out to pubs that serve up a better burger than GBK and other foods (though often higher prices as noted above). casual dining is in competition with other casual dining.
and Pizza Express another example of a one time pioneer that rested on it laurels and now an overpriced "brand" with no advantages over competitors.

 

[Springal]

Sadly most chains offer average food and prices are climbing to the point that it isnt worth it hence these companies struggling and closing down again. On Sunday we were kid free so decided on a cocktail in Hove followed by some grub. As the pre-drinks came to £17 (a white Russian and a Tia Maria on ice) we suddenly realised that a quiet night out was going to cost a packet. we cashed in some Tesco vouchers, tripled them up and went for a Pizza express. it was £25 for two meals - no starters or drinks and the place was largely empty. The other table also used vouchers otherwise they may not have gone out.

while the service was excellent (no one else to serve) the food was bang average but adding some drinks etc would have been £40-50

thats too much to spend on the wife. (and not enough to spend on the mistress)

Not to criticise you, but if going out in Hove on a Sunday why did you not go somewhere independent ? You can often have much better meal for similar value, if not less

 

[clapham_gull]

As much as I love burgers from a personal pov I'm not too upset. The Signature collection from McDonalds is just as good as 80% of all the over-priced burgers on the market, people are now cottoning on to this.

Their "long life/airline bread" is horrendous.

 

[Mr Putdown]

Their "long life/airline bread" is horrendous.

I completely agree, it’s disgusting. Mind you most independents seem fixated on serving a burger on a brioche bun. I’m not American, I don’t want my burger served between two bits of cake.

 

[Nitram]

Not surprised as basically it’s a place to go if you want a quick bite to eat but it falls this test for me as it’s too expensive and having to order at the counter is taking the proverbial.
Love my Uncle Sams from Montpelier though. Wish Samson’s had never closed.

 

[marcos3263]

Not to criticise you, but if going out in Hove on a Sunday why did you not go somewhere independent ? You can often have much better meal for similar value, if not less

Having spunked far too much money on drinks, the pizzas were free with the vouchers. So great value for nothing but disappointing if cash was transferred

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

As much as I love burgers from a personal pov I'm not too upset. The Signature collection from McDonalds is just as good as 80% of all the over-priced burgers on the market, people are now cottoning on to this.

As I've said on several other threads, to my way of thinking, a burger should never be labelled as 'gourmet', the two words just don't belong together. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a burger just as much as the next man, but I'm not looking for anything fancy, just good old fashioned fast food, and as you quite rightly say, a trip to McDonald's, or even Burger King, is enough to satisfy my palate.

 

[The Clamp]

For the cheaper end of the market I'd always go with Uncle Sam's and I will admit to buying the odd burger from the kiosk outside the Prince of Wales at CS, the burgers are fine and filling and the people that run it are very nice folks. For the upmarket option I enjoy Pink. You don't have to have it rare but as the name suggests, that's what they specialise in. I have been to GBK twice. Both times were expensive and faffy. The burgers were nice but not worth what they charge and the service is odd.

It was inevitably another fad that has peaked. They raised the game though so fair play to them.

 

[Springal]

As I've said on several other threads, to my way of thinking, a burger should never be labelled as 'gourmet', the two words just don't belong together. Don't get me wrong I enjoy a burger just as much as the next man, but I'm not looking for anything fancy, just good old fashioned fast food, and as you quite rightly say, a trip to McDonald's, or even Burger King, is enough to satisfy my palate.

You've obviously never had the 'BB' at Bar Boulud

'BB*
beef patty, foie gras, short ribs, horseradish mayo, confit tomato black onion seed bun'