square burger

outstanding. visited square burger on a friday night and was blown away.
in general, this joint in historic downtown mckinney attempts to standout by offering a modern approach in a very old looking downtown. after our dinner we spent 10 minutes talking with the co-owner and manager chris and he is what we learned.

so, 10 years ago the onlyplaceto eat in downtown mckinney was goodhueys and chris (i think) worked there with his friend (now the head chef. so, the chef went to cal for culinary school, was amazingly successful and ended up being a head chef working with wolf-gang puck in la. after years of notoriety, chris convinced his friend to come to mckinney to open square burger. in building the menu for this place, they tested the top 5 beef you can buy with mixed success before running across a local supplier who only use organic/no hormones, ect...in the area. the beef supplier brings his meat and processes it in downtown mckinney at the old hams shop and literally hand carries the meat across the square 3 times a day to square burger (never once is it ever frozen or even put on a truck). the meat is about 78% lean and you can taste the difference. it is a totally different beef taste than what you would even find at a twister root typeplaceand it's for the better....but be aware, it's different and lean.
so, the service is top notch all around.
drinks: tons of local and texas brews are on tap with franconia leading the pack (brewed in mckinney).
food: everything, i mean everything is made from scratch at thisplacefrom the burgers, bread and deserts. what was particularly good was the tomato soup and grilled cheese (small and handmade bread that was great).
it's not on the menu, but you can order "small" burgers of any kind which come in at 5.5 oz vs. 7.5 oz. it sounds small but it is perfect if you plan on having anything else so go this route.
the burgers....the meat is great and they combination of other ingredient are all organic and you can really taste the quality.
side - sweet patato fries...top notch. they also give you fried pickle and chopped pickles for the burger. if you ask, they will give you a special sauce that is mixed by the chef himself.
desert - go with ice cream sandwiches...all homemade and they wait till you order to put it together and it shows.
price - a little high but you are getting what you pay for with the quality presented.

overall, thisplaceis top notch and is deserving of the reviews it gets. it must have something on the competition when the dallas reviewers will drive 30 minutes to get a burger. so, take a gamble and try thisplaceout.
it is different but is mckinney opened and operated...a welcome change to the run of the mill, fancy, burgers in dfw.

by far the best burger, if you understand and appreciate the time and effort they put into the making of these burgers, then this is theplacefor you. as many local products as possible, the meat is processed and delivered from within the downtown square, the bread is from a bakery in dallas (at least the ones they are not making), as much produce is local as possible and if you have not have the cream cheese ice cream smashed inbetween to homemade carrot cake cookies, you should. the ice cream has a slight yellow tint because of the freshness of the local farm eggs they are using. oh and who could even forget about the amazing beer selection. job well done, will return again and again and again.

the burgers were tasty but the flavor of few sauces were not that much good as i was expecting to be....it is a goodplaceto go for once...i am not really impressed.... with the sauce flavors..

squareburger is one of our favorite restaurants! grassfed burgers, sunny, bright atmosphere and friendly staff/management are some of the main attractions here. burgers are obviously their main item but they have other good selections as well including salmon salad, pan-fried chicken etc. excellent desserts as well...especially the mini apple pie dessert. just a funplaceto go with good service and great food!

have given thisplaceseveral opportunities. service is horrible. food is below average. pick another spot. our last visit before this one we found a hair in our burger. waited a year and gave it another try. had to ask a waiter who could wait on us. won't return.

we headed down to “the square” on a rainy day to take in some “scare on the square” activity…but before that we ate at the much lauded square burger!

om: we’ve been meaning to try thisplacefor a while – seems to get good reviews and there is some hype around the restaurant. we had no problem getting seats in the mid-afternoon, but normally theplaceis pretty busy around lunch and dinner. sb was nicely decorated for halloween, with a huge spider web w/spider on the ceiling. i ordered a burger with bacon, cheese, fried onions, and bbq sauce, with fries and onion rings to split between nom and myself. here’s the thing; i had high expectations walking in. between the hype, reviews, and cost of their menu items, i was thinking this might be the best burger experience to date. the fries were above average, nicely salted, but definitely did not stand out from other burger joints. the onion rings were legitimately good, loved the thick batter. the burger was just “ok”, but i was really hoping that it would stand out from most others that i have tried, and it just didn’t. it was a decent size, decent taste, but nothing stood out about it. there are plenty of other burger placed in mckinney that can do a similar – or better – burger for cheaper. i don’t know if this was just because i had higher expectations, or the burger was truly just average. the service was fine, and two burgers, an order of fries, and onion rings cost over $37. so i don’t know. because of the good fries and even better onion rings, plus the location, i’ll go 4/5.

nom: we had been meaning to take a short trip downtown to try square burger! last time we were down there it was crazy busy just trying to get downtown! this time it was easy to get there and find parking and theplacewas not busy at all. probably because it was raining… needless to say it was super cute inside and very nicely decorated for halloween! i loved the huge spider and web that took up the entire ceiling! we started with the fries and onion rings! both were super awesome! the fries were nice and crisp and the sea salt was pretty cool, usually i think it’s a bit pretentious but it was tasty! the onion rings were the tempura batter with sweet onions! they were crispy and delicious and so flavorful! i almost ruined my appetite just to plow thru the rings! i had a cheddar bacon burger and it was good…i thought it might rival haystack because of the hype but alas no. don’t get me wrong, it was one tasty burger! but there are a lot of tasty burgers in mckinney! i’m glad we went but for a tab of $37 for two people…eh. i would go and have an order of rings any day of the week!

when i moved to mckinney, square burger was my introduction to "the square;" the firstplacewe went.  we went there simply out of curiosity and a love of burgers having not yet been exposed to hype surrounding the restaurant, considered one of the best in dallas' increasingly crowded burger scene.  

several years later i have tried almost every burger in dfw, from the old standards to whatever the new kid on the block is this month, and square burger still ranks very near the top of my favorites list.  it comes down to the beef -- square burger uses excellent quality beef from the local yocal down the street.  sure other places may have a more varied menu or more exotic flavors, but if the beef isn't good, the rest of the burger is immaterial.   for me, it begins and ends with the beef, and in that regard there are few places that can compete with square burger.

greatplaceto get a grass fed burger that's awesome in flavor and doesn't make you feel gross after eating it. the burger sizes are plentiful and most times i feel like i can hardly finish it all. the sweet potato fries are great with the aoli sauce they serve with it. my all time favorite is the parmesan burger with a basil pesto sauce! it's fairly new on the menu and is awesome if you want a different flare for a burger. their salads are great too! the one and only downfall i have found almost every time i go is the service. i don't know what their criteria is on hiring but it seems like personality and attention to customers is not their focus sadly because we used to go there often but stopped going as much because we got tired of the slow service or lack of service to say the least. i don't understand how aplacethat seems to stay so busy can lack in the way the employees handle their customers. i think out of the many numerous times we have gone we've had maybe 2 good servers that seemed to actually like what they do. i really hope that the manager sees this and can get a better staff. i feel like the only thing that keeps them going is the great burgers!! so if your main focus us on the food and not the service, this isplaceyour looking for!

from out of town. i had heard good things about the food and wanted toplacean order for someone as a gift for their birthday tomorrow. unfortunately, the person waiting on me when i called was not accommodating and told me i would need to call back tomorrow since the order is for tomorrow. since i was paying now, i am unsure why he was not more accommodating. i am caring for a sick elderly person and i was needing help. very disappointed in service. why have your info online if you do not intend for people to use it?

excellent lunch. we had not been in this restaurant in a few months and we dropped by for lunch. we entered early at 11:30am and that was a good thing since by the time we ate and got ready to leave theplacewas completely full of customers. the seating was prompt and courteous. the waiter was very good and explained the various entrees that were available. my spouse decided to order the hamburger, medium well and it came out exactly as ordered. i ordered the grilled pork chop which was excellent. it was served with a garden medley of small vegetables along with red potatoes. the meal was hot with heat and served on a square plate. the iced tea was very good and the glass was kept filled. we had a very good lunch with an excellent dining experience. while we did not order a beer, there is a long line of beer taps behind the long bar and many were ordering. there appeared to be a very wide choice. this restaurant is decorated in a modern style with lots of chrome, glass and white colors and we found that most interesting. the rest rooms were spotless. located right on the square in downtown mckinney, texas, forget about parking at the door. more than likely you will have to walk a couple of blocks to get to the restaurant after you find a parking space. well worth the “hike”.

great food, cool atmosphere. plus: outrageously fresh with all kinds of cool ingredients...i had the blue burger with sweet potato fries..it was the best burger & fries ive ever had
plus: atmosphere is nearly as good as the burgers.
minus: it took a full half hour from the time we ordered to the time the food arrived, (it was saturday night @630) it was totally worth the wait and i've got to recommend that you try thisplaceout...the burger was that good as were the fries and the iced tea.
minus:waitress was barely just ok. polite, but slow. u asked for 2 waters & some ketchup for the kids...she brought it over one at a time...like use both hands maybe? after we were through, she never cleared a plate off the table as we sat waiting for the check. finally brought the check over and had to slide dishes over to put it down....never bothered to clear a dish, had to sign on my lap.
if waitress had been better, this would have been a full five stars in my book! instead i gotta hold one back:(

we've avoided thisplacefor months because they lack a vegetarian burger option. i've been told they're working on it, but nothing so far. we went with friends and were very pleased with our panko crusted goatcheese salad and the beer selection as well as the service were all great. however, the pub is much more family friendly with many hardy vegetarian options.

hmm i don't understand. well, i have read the reviews on this page and while the vast majority of them range from favorable to very favorable, there are a few that are rather puzzling to me.

rude staff?
cold food?
overpriced?
management not caring about clientele?

wow, we must be talking about completely different establishments.

i have been to the square burger probably a dozen times so far and i can honestly say the following has been my experiences:

1. the service ranged from decent to excellent.
2. the atmosphere is rather nice for a burger joint.
3. the selection is much more eclectic than one would expect at such aplace- i consider this a nice surprise.
4. the salads range from slightly too sour, but still good to amazingly tasty - depending upon if there is slightly too much vinegar in the dressing - this is a hallmark of most places that cook everything by hand from scratch in my experience.
5. the sweet potato fries are absolutely the best around in my experience.
6. the salmon burger was very tasty, but extremely difficult to eat - it was just that juicy.
7. the turkey burger is amazing.
8. the traditional bacon cheese burger is simply put the only burger that i do not revisit (indigestion) later - however they obtain their meat - well, i am a fan. keep it up!
9. the little beignets are awesome, but i would prefer them with just local honey than the orange chocolate sauce - still awesome though.
10. the managing partner - well, how anyone could mistake him for being anything other than the most pleasant guy is beyond me - but then again that is just my experience.

so, i readily agree, everyone has freedom to express their own opinions, but - well, i suppose i just had the excellent luck to always get there at the absolute best possible times:).

like george of the jungle would say, "john just lucky i guess".

great place! mckinney scored big by having square burger. food is simple, tasty and "ya get what ya pay for" atmosphere. draft brew selection is different and good. try the moose drool, for a dark beer it'll surprise ya. east side mckinney is daplaceto be.

square burger not a square deal!!!. well, we tried it and i have to say it was a rip-off. save your money. moo-yah makes a better burger and chili's is a better value. not sure what the hype is here. ok beer selection (mainly focused on american ales and pilsners---little to no english ales---not even bass).$6 for a 14 oz. black and tan. thisplaceis going to price themselves out of business. $9.50 for a cheeseburger (fries are a la carte at $4.50 for enough to split between 2 people). my family of 4 (2 adults/2 kids) got out of there for just under $60 including tip. and my youngest ordered mac and chz off of the kids menu!!! the quality of the food was ok (not bad but nothing spectacular). we had to ask for a ton more ketchup as they only give a table of 4 two tiny ramikans of ketchup to share. waitress was friendly and provided good (average) service. it did seem like it took a little longer than normal to get our food but it may have just seemed that way since i was starving. do yourself a favor----take the $25 you would save going to moo-yah or chili's and go see a movie after dinner.