zombie burger + drink lab

my firsttimeto zombie burger + drink lab, it was amazing! i ordered burger number 19(can't remember the name), i loved it, their spiked shakes are a must try.

the preparation of the food does not match the exuberance of the menu. my seventh grader said the burger tasted like the school cafeteria. the bacon bits were plain disgusting. they tasted like undercooked fat, and made my daughter throw up. the breadin of the cheese curds was vaguely reminiscent of chicken fried steak, and the fries were served lukewarm. the coconut pie milk shake was incredibly smooth and balanced, and topped with a remarkably thick fresh whipped cream with the constancy of butter. however, pleasing the shake was, it was not worth the $30 we spent. don't waste yourtimeand money coming here.

zombie burger + drink bar got so many recommendations from locals to fellow out-of-towners on this trip and it’s easy to see why. the burger was fantastic and there were so many other combinations that i would have liked to try. zombie burger would be a main stay in my dining out rotation if there was one in kalamazoo and will be a must stop anytimei’m in or passing through des moines in the future.

love the atmosphere!! concept is cool.
i looked this restaurant up on zomato! this app came in at a perfect time.
i checked all the previous reviews and we gave it a try!
it was worth it! we went on a tuesday evening. half hour wait. we were seated within the 30 min as expected. my spouse and six year old daughter sat at the bar.
bartender was very friendly, attentive, and informative.

we ordered the jalapeno poppers with the chipotle raspberry sauce. the sauce looks as red as blood. nice kick to it. poppers are bigger than average.

i ordered the #5 they're coming to get you barbara.
delicious. if you love cheese and grilled cheese, order this! great combination.
my spouse ordered the #12- t - virus. he said the patty was over cooked but good.

our bartender suggested the loaded fry basket. we shared it. lots of fries. they were good, but shoe string fries aren't ideal for the heaviness of these "loaded" fries. crinkle cut would be more ideal.

i will be coming back nexttimei am in the des moines area.

we usually like zombie burger- it can be a fun atmosphere and a lot of out of town guests have heard about it and want to see what it's all about. however, the service has always left something to be desired and today i was so frustrated by the terrible service we received from the hostess (who appeared to be foh manager or at least head hostess or a veteran staff person) that i feel the need to let you know, like many other reviewers: zombie burger couldn't care less if you take your business elsewhere. so i recommend that you do just that, because you can get a great burger at so many other places in dsm- i recommend anywhere but here. save yourself the headache and the waittimeand go somewhere that appreciates your business. this is the first negative review i've ever written for a restaurant, because i tend to err on the side of understanding that working in the restaurant industry can have its ups and downs, but the hostess was so unaccomodating and absolutely rude (i'm fairly certain she would have gotten into a yelling match with me if i wouldn't have walked out) that i wanted to let you know before you wasted yourtimelike i did this afternoon.

i've gone here twice and both were mixed. the firsttimewas great, especially the food. the secondtimealright, the food was okay and the service was not at its finest. at first glance it screams one word, modern, but when you go inside you may see businessmen getting out of work there discussing topics or the annoying hipster. 4/5 on my experiences.

ladies day out at zombie. got there early when they opened at 11. typical waittimefor a popular place on a saturday. didn't seem long at all. seated at the bar and was instantly waited on. nick the bartender was excellent. he was very polite, offered his favorite choice and was very considerate.
ordered juan of the dead burger and was very pleased. other burger ordered was planet terror at nick's suggestion and was very happy. both single burgers and was plenty to eat. they weren't overly greasy as other reviews stated. ordered a side of fries and weren't anything special and ended up leaving them.
we ordered a carrot cake milkshake and loved it!!!! it was excellent. overall our first experience at zombie burger was great and we are looking forward to anothertimeto try a different burger.

unique but not earthshattering. i went here on a saturday at lunch time. the wait was an understandable hour considering thetimeand date i was there. once seated, the wait staff was attentive, though a bit rude. the waiter was very short and snappy in a condescending way. i understand the need for efficiency in such a busy place but i also would like respect. at one point my drink had run dry and he swooped in to retrieve the glass for a refill. however, i was stopped in mid-bite of my burger because he didn't say anything to me and just grabbed for it. a little courtesy could go a long way at this place.

now onto the food. we ordered nachos as an appetizer and they were very delicious. the tortilla chips were amazing and the toppings were sufficient without having everything drenched in nacho cheese. the burgers are a hot mess though. i feel that for being so highly rated the quality of the food could use some work as i have definitely had a better burger. if you are a fan of greasy spoon food this is the place for you because that's how their burgers come.

what zombie burger does excel in is variety and uniqueness. i had the walking ched, which gets your burger served between two slabs of deep fried macaroni. it was definitely a unique and tasty experience. the serving was ample and i walked out with a full stomach. i also walked out with a stomach ache from all the grease consumed. the others in my party were likewise impressed with their orders but wanting less grease.

the bottom line is that if you are looking for a unique menu with a fun experience, this might be the place to go. if you are looking for a quality meal that won't leave you searching for your pepto bismol after you walk out then keep on walking.

food is ridiculously good! probably the best burger i have ever had....no joke. service and waittimewere good (at 4 pm on a sunday).

bad hosting - seating issues. my family and i drove to des moines from chicago to try your restaurant. my daughter contacted her aunt, uncle and cousin to see if they could meet us there. we went on sunday, 6/23/2013. we got there just before 2 and gave our name and the number in the party (8). i was told there would be an hour wait. well, it was over an hour and a half, and by thetimethey decided they would put 2 tables together for us, the crowd had died down and there were several tables ready. i think your staff was seating smaller parties immediately, instead of leaving a table empty waiting for the 6 topper next to it to be empty so we could be seated a lot quicker. the server was really good, but was chomping gum the whole time. i didn't drive over 4 hours to wait over an hour and a half to get a seat, and have a server chomping her gum with her mouth open. i worked in the restaurant business for years and the waittimewas horrendous, since they wanted to get everyone else seated before a larger party, and the open-mouth gum chomping!!!!! very disappointed in your staff!!!!! you need to make changes in how parties of more than 6 are handled. if i lived in the area, i would have went somewhere else or left. long drive, extremely long wait, then the long drive back to chicago. that turned out to be a wasted day!!!

a proper review. lots of negativity below but the idea is simple.....don't havetimeto wait a little, go to the diner side, not the resturaunt side.

the burgers have always been good and can be a bit greasy but that's what you get with a flat top grill burger. the bun makes the burger better and the burgers are usually enough to fill you up. the fries are ok. if they change anything, hopefully it's the fries. they just don't crisp as much as i like. their shakes are fun and delicious. cereal infused shakes, some alcoholic shakes as well....all are good. personally i liked the rice crispy treat shake best. service has always been good.....can be slow, but have waited 5 to 25 minutes for order. just depends how busy. disadvantage of having a sit down and carry out resturaunt in the same kitchen.

the wait can be long, but the service has been good everytimei have been to this restaurant. yes, the food is greasy, but it is a burger and fry joint. if you cringe at the sight of grease, go somewhere else and get a salad. creative burgers and also excellent shakes.

returned, still horrible. i had to attend a lunch meeting here this week for work and it was just as horrible as it has been in the past. (i mentioned that i refused to return but y hands were a bit tied here) service was slow, and rude. food was just a grease bomb, and although the food was served hot tasted like it had been microwaved. i've given it several opportunities, and it once again failed to live up to its hipster hype. bk and wendy's has better burgers, friendlier service, and somehow less greasy food.


-----30 may, 2012-----

lots of buzz... lack of anything good. yes you can find creative menu and atmosphere here, but in my four trips here i found not a single thing to give a thumbs up to. eachtimei tried ordering a different appetizer and burder, everything was just dredged in grease and flavorless. the burgers are greasy, fries tasted old and hard, and eachtimeit was nearly impossible to get a refill. i brought a few colleagues here from out of town and we tried going to the bar to wait for our table to come up and was rudely shooed away because it is for patrons who only want to eat at the bar. so we took our buzzer and got a drink at the nearby saddle, i gues they didn't want our drink money too bad. fried pickles taste like fried cardboard. there is so much buzz around this place right now it will be going strong for a long time. if the food wasn't the killer for me, it truly was the service. but after four attempts, at busy and slow times, i refuse to return.

don't go here for lunch!. i went with 3 co-workers. we showed up 5 minutes before they opened for lunch so we could be the first ones sat to insure we would make it back to work in time. we sat and quickly ordered our food which included 4 burgers with fries, and an order of fried pickles as an app. (because we had heard they were awesome.) the server seemed nice at first..but then we didn't see her again for almost 15 minutes. we needed refills on our drinks and we were wondering where our app. was since we were the first ones to order. after waiting for a total of 30 minutes we tracked our server down and asked her how much longer it was going to take. she informed us that they always make their call in orders before they take care of the seated guests and it should be available shortly. she acted as if we had offended her by asking her about our food. it took another 20 minutes to get our food...a total of almost an hour. when we got our burgers they forgot the fried pickles and one person didn't have the fries they ordered. our burgers and fries were cold and we were very unhappy. we again had to track down our server and tell her to which she didn't know what to do, we informed her that we were leaving and not paying. she didn't stop us. i don't think it was the firsttimethat had ever happened. it was one of the worst experiences i've ever had at a restaurant.

a must if you are near des moines. had a really great time. i am very cautious to order my favorite drink; dirty martini; (i rarely find a baretender who can make one i can drink, having a tough day, i was willing to suck it up). i was pleasantly surprised, it was delicious. sitting at the bar drinking fabulous dirty set the tone; great drinks, incredible service (our waiter bent over backwards for us; we were in town just for the weekend and he brought the manager over to our table and gave us a quick run down of things to check out plus gave us the low down of the menu and the beer choices) the apps were soo good that when i finally got to my burger, i struggled to eat the whole thing. i did manage to take a cake shake back to the hotel. nexttimewe are in town we will be back for sure. great drinks, great service and great foood, thanks.