Rueben’s Burger Bistro

You know its going to be a good burger place when they only cook their burger medium rare.
Their serving size of fries seems small, not that they are anything to rave about. I just like a lot of fries with my burger. The burgers are phenomenal though.

Had a nice casual date night here on Saturday early and made it for Happy Hour. It was quiet which was ok for us «old folks». The special was $ 2 off domestic bottles I believe– ok for my husband but not for me since I’m a wine drinker (No specials on wine). It worked out ok because the house Chardonnay was ok and not too expensive. The 40+ beers on draught makes it an interesting place to do a tasting. I chose the Hampsten and it was tasty but the description of it being «smothered» (or something like that) with Arugula was a bit of a stretch. The burgers weren’t as large as I had hoped– after all I was fairly hungry! My husband tried a chicken sandwich– the one with the basil and mozzarella. He left off the garlic aioli due to an aversion which left the sandwich a bit dry. The waitstaff was super quick and friendly. We will come back with the kids for sure.

Living half a mile away for a few years, I’ve tried everything on pearl and this is my go-​to for great beer and great burgers. I’m extremely picky about my burgers and the quality of meat used and as such, this is one of the few places I will eat a burger from. It is also the best! Incredible pretzel buns and great fries compliment an excellent eating experience. But, the number one reason I come here so often is the incredible happy hour. The best in Boulder! Grimbergen Dubbel is perhaps my favorite beer and they always have it half off for happy hour. Now that I’m moved away, I find myself only coming back to Pearl for this restaurant.

Best Mac and cheese in town! The burgers are great too, but the real allure is the beer selection. Great staff, all around solid place.

The morgul bismark is really nice, i also love the sweet potato fries and the fact that every beer is poured in the glass it’s intended to be drank from:)

My family and I used to like this place. It’s now horrible.
We had lunch there today (12/​27/​2015) and had three burgers and a chicken sandwich. The buns were a combination a combination of stale and cold. Not just room temperature but flat-​out cold to the touch.
My burger patty was also served cold. I’d hoped to ask to have it warmed up. But when our server returned, he asked, «How is everything tasting» and left before I could reply. By the time he returned again I had completely given up and was ready to go.
My daughter’s bun was so rock hard and cold she ate only two bites of it.
To the best of our recollection, the onion rings used to be big individual rings that definitely looked house-​made. Today they were small and all perfectly round. They looked like the type I can get frozen at the grocery store. They taster better than they looked but are not something I’d order again.
My other daughter enjoyed her burger and fries and my wife enjoyed her chicken sandwich. So two of the four meals were eaten. But we all agreed the place has fallen far from where it was a few years ago when we loved the place. We will never be back.
When I complained to the server, he just laughed. He later very cavalierly threw the bill on the table with a snide «Happy holidays.» Others have written that none of the employees seem to care here. That seems an appropriate comment. It’s a shame. The food here used to be quite good. Now it’s horrible and the place is best avoided.

Okay so I like bacon and I’m a pig (sort of) but did you know these guys have the best BLT ever??? It’s called the ultimate BLT with 10 pieces of bacon!!! Of course I had add cheese to make it more «healthy» but it was FANTASTIC!!! Note to self… gym tomorrow.

Recently I returned to Rueben’s with a group of friends and acquaintances. All of us ordered burgers of various types. The burgers here start at $ 11 and go up from there. With the huge rents businesses pay downtown, prices have to be on the high side. I have had burgers within a mile in any direction of this establishment that were better than these… more choice of buns, fresher buns, meat or veggie burger quality and size, flavor, toppings, accompaniments — -basically everything. The black bean burger I ordered was ok, but just ok.
Once again the service was friendly and efficient.
A few of my co-​diners mentioned not liking their food. Not enough of a problem to complain about, but unimpressed enough to not want to return here for dinner in the future.
Fries…too greasy and way too salty. That could be easily remedied. There are so many places to get a good burger (meat or veggie) in this town; no need to go to Rueben’s.
It does seem that there is a regular crowd over at the bar, watching sports or whatever. It is good for businesses to have regulars.
Nothing more to say.

Really enjoy their quality burgers and they are cooked accurately to order.
Service is great (depends on the server though). Prices are decent and fair. Never had any issues with cleanliness.

One of the best vegetarian patties I’ve ever had! The pretzel bun is phenomenal and not dried out, the special sauce is tasty, and the vegetables taste fresh. I really can’t say enough good things about it. We went here for the halfy hour last weekend, and I made a meal out of the half-​off appetizers (many are vegetarian friendly!). We just went again last night for dinner.
The beer list will leave you speechless. I also love their old-​timey bicycling/​German theme. The only reason I’m not giving it 5 stars is because it’s on the pricier side which hurt the wallet a bit. That being said, the food, drinks, and atmosphere are truly fantastic, and the portion sizes are just right. I plan to treat myself to this gourmet-​like American food for years to come.

Chocolate porter on tap excellent. Buffalo burger with beets/​cheese etc nice. Arugula salad side for only + 1.5 $ great. Wife’s ahi tuna sandwich was good. Service prompt, efficient. They switched a TV to the tennis channel at our request.
So we had a great hour spent watching the little league World Series, sprint cyclists, the sf Giants, and tennis.
We’ll be back.

If you like great beer in general, and Belgian beer specifically, Reuben’s is your place. Their draft list is exquisitely curated, and their bottled stock runs the gamut from local delicacies to far-​flung curios. The food goes beyond mere bar chow, but stays in the pub food spirit. Finally, their happy hour can’t be beat. From 4 — 6, a rotating selection of twelve drafts, the signature cocktails (best Bloody Mary in Boulder), and all of their appetizers are half off. It’s enough to make you swear off anywhere else.

Lazy service… fantastic food. So let me say first that rbb is top 4 favorite spots in Boulder. Great beer selection, fantastic burgers and sandwichs, and the best tuna poke you can get outside of a super high end sushi restaurant. I have never had a bad experience at the 5 plus times I have been here until today. I don’t know if Sydney was having a bad day or what but it seemed to me as we were a afterthought. It seem as she was irritated just to wait on us.
Never refilled my drink until I asked, never asked how our food was and then forgot about us for about 20 minutes at the end of the meal. I know she was not busy because I saw her taking to another server inside while we waited with empty plates on the patio. I have worked in the business for over 20 year as a manager I get that we all have bad days this is why I still tipped 20 percent. Great food and normally the best service in Boulder… tonight was just a off night. I will be back!

Lousy.
First, the place is dirty. Apparently they just wipe things down with a wet dirty rag and by the end of the day things are sticky and gross.
When we finally got service, the server was aloof and kinda out of it.
Ordered medium burgers, I got a rare burger, wife’s was well done. This seems to be a problem here — they seem to have a real problem cooking to order. At a burger joint. Ridiculous.
The buns also were absolutely stale.
I’m not sure what the overall problem here, but the general theme is «nobody cares.»
I don’t get why this place is popular. Is it the bike theme? Are boulderites that simple? I’ve already learned not to trust positive restaurant reviews in Boulder, as Boulder doesn’t «get» food — but you’d think burgers would be simple enough. Nope. Avoid.

Stopped in during the Boulder Creek festival. The only thing positive was we got a table right away. Then it started to rain and the place got packed. They were completely understaffed we never saw our server again and had to chase him down to get the check. Act like you’ve been here before. No refills, no help with spilled drinks, no apologies but what gets me the most is that they claim to be a sports bar and were only showing the Indianapolis 500 on one small t.v. in the corner. The other tv’s were showing baseball and golf. Of course they were too busy to notice that their customers were actually turning around in their chairs to watch the race. Then the unthinkable happened with less than 10 laps to go some idiot employee turns the channel to yet another golf tournament. You have to be kidding me what a disgrace. Won’t be coming back

So sorry to be dropping the rating on RBB, but our last experience leaves no choice. The main/​overall problem with this place seems to be a real lack of care. The cooks don’t seem to care, the bartenders don’t seem to care. That lack of care is clearly reflected in the food and drink. Very mediocre, when with a little more care everything could have been quite good.
Tried the Three Little Pigs again. It consisted of «seared pork belly,» pulled pork, and «porter infused bratwurst,» along with cornichons, little cups of BBQ sauce and mustard, and pretzel rolls. All three meat components had been cooked previously, allowed to sit a while, but were not reheated before serving. As I mentioned in my last review, if the meat had been thrown on a flattop for about 30 seconds, to get the meat juices flowing and the edges seared, it all would have been decent. But what we got was room temperature, somewhat dried-​out food. The pork belly, in particular, wasn’t good at all. It was very tough and dry, and difficult to cut even with a serrated knife. The pretzel buns were stale.
The beef and cheese sliders were horrible. The beef patties were extremely overcooked, seemed pre-​cooked, were room temperature, and were very tough and dry. Not good at all. And the little pretzel buns were also very tough and dry. Could barely saw through them with a serrated knife. Each slider had a slice of cucumber. Kind of odd. Cucumber is actually a very strong flavor, and given the dry, overcooked toughness of the beef, cucumber was the only discernible flavor. Couldn’t even taste the blue cheese or the pepper jack. Not a hint.
I ordered a Dark & Stormy cocktail (ginger beer, dark rum, lime). One of my favorite cocktails. This one wasn’t good. It tasted extremely weak and watered down, as if a bunch of seltzer water had been added, and very little rum included. And the slice of lime was disgusting– the rind was completely rotted through. I have no idea how a bartender could pick up that nasty slice of lime and put it in a drink. Ack.
Service was terrible. On a Friday at 5:00pm, when the place was packed, there was only one server working the entire restaurant, both bar area and dining area. He was very pleasant and did a good job, considering. But the poor guy couldn’t give any table the attention it deserved, through no fault of his own, because he was doing everything himself. We gave him a very good tip, because he managed to maintain a nice attitude despite the lack of assistance. But, really, as a customer, having to wait 15 minutes for a drink order to be taken, another 20 minutes for a food order to be taken, and then not seeing a server again for 45 minutes, was just silly. Management’s fault. And the host, who was the only other visible employee, did absolutely nothing to help him.
I really hope that management takes a long, hard look at the restaurant’s practices, and makes some changes. Have a little pride in the food and drink that you serve. Make your customers think that you actually give a damn about them and their experience.

First time here.
Damn. Even if this place had horrid service (which it didnt) and even if it was overpriced (which it isnt) the food alone would make it worth bringing money here to spend.
Very friendly staff that greeted us at the door and friendly service the whole time we were inside.
40+ beers on tap, all craft/​local
We had their deviled eggs as an appetizer and they were AWESOME. The main food they serve is burgers and they have quite a list of combinations you can get.
Something i REALLY liked was the meat option for burgers. The choices were colorado beef, grass fed, buffalo, chicken or veggie. The meat was cooked very well and was pretty good quality.
The décor is pretty cool and colorful and theres several large tv’s with various things on them.
All in all it was a very comfortable and friendly place with some very good food that we got to enjoy. Many return trips are in our future.

Rueben’s was okay at best, but a lot of things here pissed me off. It’s kind of expensive for some mediocre food, and it’s really noisy.
I got the plain cheeseburger with lettuce and tomatoes, pretty standard. I don’t know why they use pretzel buns… to me regular buns are way better. Also, unsalted fries? Who thought that would be a good idea? It’s pretty flavorless, good thing they provide the worlds smallest saltshakers that let out three grains at a time — whatever though, I guess that’s just their style, some people are going to like it and others will not.
It was soooo loud in there. I get that it’s Friday night at the prime time for dinner but I couldn’t even hear the waitress! We were shouting across the table at each other just to have a conversation. That was pretty annoying. I found myself just staring at the TV watching hockey since it was a lot easier.
The service was fine and the food was quick, but I didn’t really enjoy myself. Maybe it’s not for me, or maybe Rueben’s just isn’t very good.

No. Just — no.
If you want the sad details, here they are, but trust me — just: NO.
Sat at the bar, asked for a coin style margarita, got a super sweet margarita with too much mixer in it. Ordered a burger rare, got a stale bun and a well done burger.
No apology. No comp. Nothing.
And — it’s dirty in this place. Look around — it’s gross.
Just — no. No no no no no.

This 5 stars is for their «halfy» hour! We had tired of the usual places and decided to try out Reuben’s. To start they have das boot filled with a litre of rotating beer for $ 6.75! Such a great way to start the weekend! They also have some good cocktails and some pricey wine options if beer isn’t your bag.
They have some carb heavy options, fries, onion rings, soft pretzel sticks, breaded boneless chicken wings and so on. It isn’t a place that you’d fill up enough for dinner on their halfy hour, but it’s a good way to start! It’s a good atmosphere, our server was really good, and willing to put up with our late coming friends.