I am always ready to welcome a new addition to downtown Rye, NY. When I spotted that Bareburger was open, I was eager to give it a try. Upon entry, the vibe here is quirky, friendly and upbeat- unique amongst the stale restaurant neighbors that surround it. I saddled up to bar and was thrilled with the locally and organic sourced menu, in addition to a notable beer selection on tap, as well as all wine being served on tap–all the rage now in case you missed the memo.
A little Inexperienced?
Then… I looked to right to find a child at the bar having lunch with her dad. ‘Hey there- bars are kid free zones. No exceptions.’ Then I looked to the bartender to find she wasn’t much older. Then to the staff. Same. It became clear quickly that it’s a young crew at Bareburger. I’m not hating on the youth here, but it means inexperience and that can make or break a dining experience. Usually the later.
Traceable Ingredients
Here is what really sets Bareburger apart from other small chains–all the ingredients are traceable and responsibly sourced. The sources of each ingredient are published on a separate card for your review. An example of this is seen in the image below- the Duck is clearly marked to be from Maple Leaf Farms. It is listed as hormone free, antibiotic free, cage free and 88% lean. The details for many other ingredients are available including vegetables and even soda. This makes it much easier to order with confidence especially if you are someone with allergies, such as Gluten.
So, what did I decide on? Having come off a recent elk encounter, I jumped at the chance to have an organic elk burger, while my dining companion went for the duck burger. So we placed our orders and we waited. And waited. And waited some more. And then some more after that.
While waiting, multiple individuals asked about the status of their order. While our order was not asked about, it was obvious it was taking too long and the manager came up to us before we could get to him.
We couldn’t help but wonder what the wait must be like when the place is packed on a Friday night- this was the middle of the day.
Restrooms?
With only 2 Single person bathrooms in the family friendly joint, the wait for the restroom was also long. Considering that I was still waiting on the food, this was not too much of an issue. However, I can see how it can quickly become an issue, especially on a busy kids night like a Friday night.
Finally our burgers arrived, mine with a side of Grillo’s Dill Pickles. I ordered my elk burger medium-rare and it was more medium-well, but still very tasty. The duck burger was also quite good, but too spicy for my liking, but I believe it is meant to be that way.
The food was delicious
Overall, we enjoyed the burgers themselves. But we were quite bored from waiting and eager to move on with our day that it did somewhat spoil the enjoyment of eating lunch. It was more of an eat and run by the time our food was set down in front of us.
I’m confident that with time, the kitchen and staff will find their grove. I don’t think they’ll ever get away from the family friendly craziness feeling inside that promotes a feeling of loud chaos, but I do think Rye needed a place like this and we’ll be seeing Bareburger bustling for a long time to come.
