Cheeburger Opens With a Rocky Start

Erica C., University of Delaware

When Cheeburger Cheeburger first opened a few weeks ago after a nearly 9 month delay, anxious students were clamoring to get their first sips of milkshakes and bites of burger. But in my own first experience, this crowd wasn’t the only thing causing chaos at Cheeburger, which seemed discombobulated, disorganized and disinterested in serving customers in a quick and efficient manner.

On my first visit, the eight of us sat down but did not get our food for nearly a half hour. At that time they completely neglected to give a friend his shake at all, and placed the wrong order in front of each and every person. Grabbing the bill was another nightmare—and I’ve heard similar stories of delayed orders and iffy service.

When I went back this week for another round, however, things were completely different. The staff was helpful, we were seated right away, and the food came out on time and exactly as we had ordered. Could it be that Cheeburger simply hasn’t figured out how to handle the late-night craze yet?

But what it lacks in great service (as of yet) it makes up for in options—maybe too many options. The “invent your own burger” is great in the sense that there’s literally any topping you could possibly want. Yes, that includes peanut butter. But do I really want feta cheese, pepperoni and peanut butter on my burger? Probably not—I dare you to try that. Overall, the burgers are nothing special—a standard bun, classic patty, and an overload of toppings.

The milkshakes follow suit with over 50 options and then the choice to invent your own by mixing flavors. They claim that this totals 378,000 combinations, which is a crazy amount of power and complexity for a simple burger chain. When it comes to shakes here, I found root beer  disappointing. S’mores is tasty with hints of marshmallow and chocolate, while the chocolate banana peanut butter takes the cake and actually tastes exactly like a banana split. Of course, they have everything from blueberry pie to Caribbean rum, so the options are endless and completely up to you. If you try one thing at Cheeburger, make it a milk shake.

So while things may not be up to par yet, it seems to me that Cheeburger Cheeburger is a chain finding its footing. Until then, go at less busy hours (early dinner and lunch) and delight in arguably the tastiest shakes you’ve ever gulped.