maple & motor

the structured seating was obnoxious. the owner was rude and pompous. won't gobackbecause the work staff was so rude and unfriendly we couldn't relax and have fun. they acted like bouncers. totally not kid friendly. actually got the impression they don't want kids there.

awful across the board!. when i went to maple & motor when it first opened i was irritated by their "no poaching seats" policy, especially the way they told my 10 year old kid to 'get up, and did you read the sign'. it was busy so i understood . the burger wasn't memorable. i wentbacklast night with my father and son to give it a 2nd try and it wasn't busy. the lady at the door supposedly 'greeting' didnt say a word, not evening hello. the lady that took our order couldn't have been ruder or more put out as if we were doing her a favor speding $40 on 3 hamburgers. i then asked the owner if the bologa sandwich was good, to which he replied 'no, its terrible'. after i looked at him funny, he said something like 'we only have 9 items they better all be good'. news flash, they're not. we all had burgers and not one of us could finish w/o the things totally falling apart in our hands. if i want to use a knife and fork, i'll go to a steak place. tater tots were good to be fair. of course when we left not a single thank you. zero. i'll never go back! i guess this clown thinks he's the modern day version of harvey goff. maybe so, but a goff burger was worth putting up with harvey. this one isn't close.

the line and ordering procedure is a little reminiscent of the soup nazi from seinfeld, but the burgers are top notch, and worth it. they have a good selection of sides as well. i wish we had something like thisbackhome.

there's a good burger and a cool atmosphere to be found at maple & motor. being on triple d a few yearsbackreally put them on the map but it also put them under a microscope. it's easy to knock a place when your talking burger, everyone has a different opinion and expectation of just what a burger place should be.
for me m&m is basically an old fashioned diner burger, nothing wrong with that! the patty had good flavor, charred well on the flat top. the bun, nothing special but good. the toppings are mostly the usual with the surprises coming from the rest of the menu and the drinks. the onion rings were good, again not the best i've had but enjoyable.
dallas has quite a few of these burger joints, twisted root comes to mind, that have a similar "roots" style burger and working class bar feel. i enjoy them all and really would say which ever is closest that's the one to hit.

tried out maple and motor yesterday while on business in dallas, man what a disappointment.

based on a diners, drive-ins, and dives episode on the food network, i envisioned a giant greasy tasty burger like you get nic's grill in oklahoma city, but unfortunately what i got was just a large and very average burger that taste about the same as one you can get at braum's for half the price.

maple and motor burgers is located off the beaten path in a semi-rough dallas neighborhood in an older building that definitely meets the "dive" criteria, but forget about getting the $4 or $5 burger you might expect in this joint, a simple cheeseburger with no fries or drink will set youbacka ridiculous $8.07.

the cheeseburger wasn't bad, just very average, slightly bland (under-seasoned), and definitely not worth 8 bucks.

great food and great atmosphere. love the hole in the wall vibe and the laidbackatmosphere! i highly recommend it to anyone wanting a good burger and beer.

the worst owner i have ever seen. good expereince until i met the owner. i went for the 1st time last week to enjoy some food and a few beers, since i was by myself and drinking i utilized the public transportation and a stop is right in front of the place. so i spent over $60 and left to catch the bus, i stood in the parking lot where there was shade till the bus came. then the owner came to his bar and said dont stand in front of my bar, i stated i was a customer, it meant nothing to him. so basically thanks for paying but dont get any shade. im just glad his workers dont have the owners attitude or the place would shut down, never goingbacksimply because of the owner and letting all my friends know the same.

not even worth it!. i really wanted to enjoy my experience at maple and motor this past weekend, but unfortunately i only made it through the front door. first off, there is a sign that reads something along the lines of, “no screaming children”. i have a 3 year old and although i would never allow him to just run amuck in any business he is known to be a little boy, possibly get irritable and cranky at times. imagine that, he’s human just like the rest of us. and, let’s be honest, it’s a glorified wendy’s not a five star fine dining establishment. seriously they need to get over it! if you believe in small local businesses that value each and every single one of their guests, my advice is to stay away from maple and motor. when my family and i walked in, there was a little bit of a line but nothing crazy and there were quite a few empty tables given the size. i thought i could glance at the menu while we were waiting, in hopes to speed the process up for everyone. i barely took two steps before a girl steps in my face and barks her orders...”you need to getbackin line and order before you sit at a table”. since my intentions were not to pick a table i was taken by complete surprise. also, her tone and attitude were enough to get me pretty heated. let me also say that i was in service industry for more than 10 years and if i ever spoke to a customer like that i would have been seriously reprimanded or without a job. i was always trained to treat every patron with courtesy and respect. my sister told me i should say something (to management) because she witnessed what happened and was very uncomfortable. i proceeded to walk up and ask her for her name, she could not even lift her head and look me in the eye while she muttered “iris” with the same attitude as before. it’s okay though, if i were her i would have been embarrassed also. i was then approached from a “gm” who said “ma’am do we have a problem” i turned to him and tried to explain what was going on, he immediately became argumentative, rude, and defensive (the reason i put “gm” in quotes is because a gm should never display those types of characteristics especially to a guest, unless under extreme circumstances and this was clearly not one). as he was making very poor excuses (“people do that all the time” -referring to the table situation) i interjected that an employee should never approach a guests in that manner, he said “i trained them to speak to people like that and if you don’t like it, you can leave” (his parents must be so proud). i turned away, towards my family and said to them “let’s just go”, he actually follows me over and tells my entire family (parents, husband, son and sister), that he is “refusing to serve us and that we need to just leave”. well, we left and i am so happy we did, we wound up going to a wonderful pizza place with outstanding customer service and fantastic food! we even got a free meal due to their coke machine being out of order along with an extremely apologetic staff. i will finish by saying if i had actually sat down at a table and made myself comfortable i would have had no problem if i was politely approached that this was against policy and happily wentbackto the line. if you have such an issue with seating and you are “so popular” get a bigger place! i am sure the rent in that part of town is dirt cheap and from what i hear the burgers are burnt and overpriced, sounds like the only thing the owner cares about it is $$$. and i honestly expected a better appearance, it was very outdated, dingy, and dirty (again doing us another favor). if you defend this type of unprofessional behavior from places you spend your hard earned money and time then more spineless power to you, but neither i, nor my family will be returning. one more thing, when was the last time you witnessed a whole family, including a three year old, refused service? i mean c’mon, who do these people really think they are? you flip burgers for heaven’s sake! at the end of the day, it’s just a job; and it should never be worth sacrificing morals and values. if you are on that side of town stick to twisted root or uncle ubers sammich shop in deep ellum, you will not regret it!

not in this lifetime. have you ever been the subject of discrimination? i have, yesterday at maple and motor. the manager refused to allow my family to sit down because we hadn't ordered yet. i explained that my disabled mother-in-law was making her way across the parking lot and would need a place to sit. the manager said it is against the rules to sit before ordering. i replied that if my mother-in-law couldn't sit when she got into the restaurant we wouldn't be able to eat there. the manager shrugged her shoulders and said, "that's fine with us." btw, there was no one else in line and the table in question would have been ours after we ordered anyway. we had to help herbackacross the parking lot, and get her situatedbackin the car so we could eat elsewhere. she was mortified.

i also talked to the owner, and he said that his manager never denied seating to my disabled mother-in-law because she never actually made it into the restaurant. seriously!? he also said he gets complaints like this all the time, but he certainly didn't seem to care. he was just as rude as his manager.

people may eat at maple and motor because they have reasonably good food, but i have enough respect for my family to never allow them to be treated like that for the price of a decent burger and horrible service.

great burgers!. stopped in the other night for a burger and beer. the place was busy, but not full. ordered a bacon cheeseburger with everything, onion rings and a bottle of beer.

my burger was great! it was juicy, slightly pink in the middle, perfectly seasoned, topped with nice meaty bacon and fresh jalapenos. i love it when burger joints offer fresh jalapenos, not just pickled!. my only quibble at all is that the bun just didn't stand up to the fantastic burger and toppings. the onion rings were good and the beer was ice cold. really couldn't ask for more!

i'll definitely hit it up on my next tripbackto dallas!

great return trip!. well, i said i'd be back, and so i was last night. although i was tempted to try the fried baloney sandwich, i kinda had my heart set on another cheeseburger. this being my second visit, i knew i probably needed to skip the jalapenos - they're damn hot! so i went basic this time with a cheeseburger and excellent tater tots, again washed down with a cold shiner draft. my buddy and i found a perch at the bar since we didn't want to take up space at a 4-top table. the food was excellent, the service was quick, and we event chatted with the owner.

all in all, it was another great experience! i highly recommend this place, and i'm very picky about food and service. for all the obvious reasons, this place is now one of my favorites.


-----07 aug, 2010-----

simple concept. great service. great burger!. finally got a chance to try m&m on a friday night, and i guess we hit it at just the right time. there were only a few people in line, and we had no trouble finding a table (although the place was almost full - definitely no crickets chirping). our experience was all smiles as we feasted on these old-school burgers.

when you belly up to the counter to order, you've got four simple choices: burger, cheeseburger, fried baloney, or brisket sandwich. well, technically, they also have chicken for you health nuts, but that's not really important. yes, the rumors are true, they cook the burgers two ways - "how we cook 'em" and well done. i chose the former as a cheeseburger, and added grilled onions and jalapenos. tater tots and a cold shiner came along to keep it company.

once seated, an order of chili-cheese-fries came out and we dug in. their chili is quite good, and when teamed up with fries, cheese, jalapenos, and the requisite ranch dressing, it's a pretty lethal combination. we made short work of that basket, and finished just as our burgers arrived! first things first, the "cooked how we cook 'em" option is just about spot-on - pink and juicy, just about medium. the buns are sturdy and soak up the juices nicely. is it messy? hell yes, but in a good way. i almost experienced condiment overload with the grilled onions and jalapenos swimming on top of the standard veggies, but it was definitely manageable. the jalapenos stood out because they were hot, and very tasty. the tater tots were the perfect partner in crime - fresh and crispy on the outside, and soft in the middle. when it was all mixed up in my belly with that cold shiner, i was a happy camper. roll me home, please...

any disappointments? the regular fries were kind of... meh. they could've used a little more seasoning. but that's it. my advice? get the tater tots, or at least get chili and cheese dumped on those fries. problem solved!

anyhow, i'm now a fan of m&m. i promise i'll bebackto try that fried baloney sandwich soon...

wont be going back. was out and about today running some errands . we decided to go to maple motor burger for lunch. one of our friends we were with uses a walker / cane. due to his tremors just standing still can be more difficult then if he were walkinganyway the restaurant was a little crowded and the line to order food was long. lots of families with children. mind you this is a very small place with maybe 5 booths that barely fit 4 people, and maybe 10- 12 tables that sit 2-4 people.... not a place where i would think to go with a party of 10 in the middle of the lunch hour.... so moving on with my story. a booth opened up and we had our friend sit down. now the way it works at this establishment is you stand in line order your food then sit down and they bring it to you. the line was moving and people were ordering and sitting down. the 2-3 parties in front of us had 6-12 people in each of their groups. now i know we did not follow the rules of the maple motor burger however, under our friends circumstances and the fact that the parties in front of us were too large to fit in a booth for 4 we did not feel we were doing anything wrong.... well first we were approached by a waiter and we explained our circumstances and were told not to do it again.. wow.... then when we were odering at the counter the owner asked us and i told him my friend is handicapped and cant stand long he uses a cane. his response to me was "really? or are you just saying that?" i said why would i lie about someone being handicapped??? we should have left at that point i am sorry i didn't but did not want to make a scene. the owner i don't know his name said well just don't do it again. why did we stay. what an ass of a man if you could even call him that. as we were leaving he said thanks for comming see you soon. we said no we wont be comingback(plain and simple not with an attitude or anything jus a simple no we won't be coming back. i guess the owner felt compelled to make his point so he came outside and told us dont comebackhe won't miss us and we were not welcomed back... again all i could say is wow what an ass. now how do i think they should have handled this.... the waiter could have said well we need the booth (which there was no one to sit in it but if they wanted us to wait our turn) could i get a chair for your friend to sit on while he is waiting???? gee that would have been nice. the owner could have said i understand next time you come with your friend and have to wait in line let us know and we can get a chair for him. all i know is i will stick with hunky's they have better burgers and the staff is wonderful

great burger!. we ate here for lunch last sunday. i must say i was takenbackby the limited seating (there were 7 of us) and having to wait for a seat until after you order. we did manage to get seated and i ordered the double meat cheeseburger with grilled jalapeño peppers and fries. i must say this is an awesome burger; very juicy and great flavor. the fries were not the best i have had but still very good. not sure i would go out of my way to eat here, but this trip was definitely worth it.

cheseburger. also known as "cheeseburger"--maple & motor's cheeseburger is a flavorful, juice-dripping taste of heaven.


-----28 jan, 2011-----

yardbird (grilled ckn sndwch). get the yardbird with grilled onions--should be one of the best grilled ckn sandwiches you've ever had anywhere.


-----28 jan, 2011-----

round two - delicious. went to m&m for lunch today. this time had the yardbird (grilled ckn sandwich). undoubtedly one of the best grilled ckn sandw's i've ever had. can't remember offhand having one better. get it (as the menu board suggests) with grilled onions. freakin' awesome...

the tater tots were just as spot-on as last time. perfectly fried. delicious.


-----17 dec, 2010-----

among the best in dfw. stopped by maple & motor burgers & beer for dinner tonight. the food and experience was all-around great.

asked the order-taker what he recommended. told him it was my first time, that i was up for a burger but if the fried baloney or brisket sandwich was instead the recommendation i'd go with that.

he steered me in the direction of the cheeseburger, which i ordered (with grilled onions). the guy mentioned "it comes pink unless you want it (well) done". i then asked what was best among fries/tots/rings. he said tots, which i also went with.

sat at the bar, food came out in a reasonable time. i first went for the tots, which were a deeper color brown than you find at most places. upon my first bite i saw why he'd recommended them.

they were very very good. uniform in color across the board and uniformly fried. not a single one had any hints of burn marks, nor was any of them undercooked inside. to the last one they were excellent.

before digging into the burger, as is my custom i tear off a piece of the patty and eat it by itself. the m&m burger was extremely juicy, and had clearly been given attention as far as seasoning was concerned. very good patty a la carte.

then dug in to the entire burger itself. delicious. grilled onions, mustard, lettuce, melted cheese on patty, bun. (i ate the tomatoes separate.) it was one of the best i've had in the dfw area. thicker patty than burger house or any of the chains, well-seasoned patty, juicy and great combo of ingredients. a+. these folks know what they're doing with burgers and tots.

the service was decent. one of the owners/managers was drafting some beer behind the bar and made sure to ask me how everything was. i also saw him making the rounds in the restaurant checking in and even sitting with some tables.

the only drawback to m&m was the line to order went a little slower than expected (were only three in front of me when i got in line), which i perceived to be a function of an indecisive first person in line. order-taker was fully attentive and doing all they could.

i will definitely bebackto m&m. the burgers rock. would like to see what the fried baloney or brisket is about. think i've read some good reviews of those here...will check those out again in prep for next time.

if you are ever near love field or the ut southwestern medical area of dallas north of downtown and are up for a great burger, stop by maple & motor burgers & beer on maple ave. great stuff.

good.. but not great. the burgers were good probably 10th or so best in the area. i wouldn't gobackbecause well there are 9 other burgers in the area that i like better and the service is right in line with what all the reviews were saying. it wasn't even like the rudeness is part of their shtick or anything, it just came across as odd and unpleasing. had the customer service been elevated to at a minimum of that of a local mcdonalds i could see myself possibly going back. i would recommend skipping the lines and hype of this place and head over to wingfields, angry dog, twisted root or heck even snuffers. overrated.