Kirk's SteakBurgers - Palo Alto

First time trying the new location in Midtown. What a perfect spot for Kirk's. A Palo Alto staple. I never loved their T&C location after growing up with them on CA Ave. And being right next to Gotts could not have been great for them. ( I always preferred Kirk's to Gotts!!)The restaurant is beautiful. The bar is huge and has lots of tv's. A perfect place for a delicious meal and watching sports. We started with a slice of pizza as an appetizer. They inherited the pizza oven from the previous owners. Well, it did not disappoint. Delicious. I then had a turkey burger and my sister had the chili cheese dog. Both were tasty and perfectly cooked. We also had a mix of onion strings and tots. I will say we had to send those back as they were not hot. The bartender took great care of us and brought back out a larger size with sincere apologies. The staff was very friendly. The restaurant was clean. I will definitely be going back. It felt like the old Kirks from my childhood with a much expanded menu. Highly recommend!!!

Irritating ordering process, inefficient table service, mediocre food, noisy. Won't go back.This is one of those irritating establishments that's not quite fast food and not quite table service. You wait in a line to order your food at a counter where you pay and are prompted to pre-tip for service that hasn't happened yet. You're given a number to take to your table where your food will be brought to you by a table runner. You're given a cup for your fountain drink, which you fill yourself. The burgers are served dry, without any condiments, so you have to go to the one crowded condiment station and vie with the other customers to get a couple squirts of ketchup and mustard. (What exactly are we tipping for, when most of the "work" is outsourced to the customers???)My turkey burger was totally bland, had no flavor, and from what I could tell very little actual turkey. It looked and tasted like mostly starchy filler or wallpaper paste. My friend's burger was basically a charred disc, cooked way beyond well done. The servers never brought our salad. We had to wait in the long order line to ask for a refund. The parking lot is a tiny nightmare. This place is awful. Never again.

This was a pretty bad experience. First off, our waitress was just plain sloppy. She was all over the place, looking up on how to make my boozie shake online, taking 5 minutes or longer to take our orders, etc. She could've gotten our burger orders down along with our drinks but she was trying to slow things down by simply just taking our drinks first, not sure why? Our "burgers" came out in this sandwich bread instead that resembled a cheesesteak of some kind. The size of the burger was huge but honestly, it lack flavor and juices. My mushroom Swiss got too soggy and was ripping apart quick. My chili cheese fries were plain and wasn't anything special. My mudslide shake was so thin and liquidy; it didn't even have a hint of alcohol. Instead, it tasted like chocolate milk.Overall, the food service and quality of the food itself is average. The SteakBurgers didn't even taste like steak, but rather like charred meat. The best thing here was their whiskey and tequila selection. They have Blantons and even Weller! That's a huge plus. As a matter of fact, my friend ordered a Modelo from the tap and it was so flat and watered down. Their lines that deliver the beer must be old and not cleaned out. Or their pouring pressure is low. Either way, it tasted like crap. We won't be coming back.

This review is for an online take out order:Ordering on their website, the tip is automatically selected for you. You will need to toggle to change it. There is a processing fee and $20 minimum!!! Super frustrating because a steakburger and large garlic parmesan fries comes to $19.98. Couldn't push the order through. Had to forcefully add cheese for $1. Picked up five other orders from my work office. The location looks great inside. Clean, lively, large bar. Pickup experience could've been better. Take out orders are near the bar area behind the condiments in stapled bags. Luckily, I checked - the drinks were NOT inside. This requires you to go back to the main register, wait in line, and show them the receipt on the bag to receive your drink. Kind of inefficient, also defeats the purpose of a quick "to go" experience. There is only 1 register staffed by an employee taking phone orders, any walk-in orders, and handing out said drinks for to go orders. Not sure how this can be improved, but I imagine it would deter people from returning. Overall, the food was good. I might try a dine-in experience in the future, but won't be returning for take out.

Fast casual style restaurant with a well made burger and fries. Loved all the various dipping sauces. Service was friendly and quick. All in all a solid place to grab a bite to eat and possibly watch the game.

Ok, first I need to say that we want this place to succeed. We're locals so we'd love to have Kirk's be our go to place. That said, I hope the owners are paying attention to the reviews - there are some consistent themes in them. The friendliness of the staff is a huge plus. Heidi was wonderful at the bar and Eduardo at the register was friendly and helpful even when he was unsure (house bourbon?). Ordering at 2 different places for food and drinks was cumbersome and annoying - especially when others were in line at both spots. We heard this complaint from others too. Turkey burger was excellent; salmon burger was definitely not. Fries - both sweet potato and regular were limp and disappointing; tator tots were crisp and tasty. Bar drinks were good and Heidi was a hoot. The churros were crisp but somewhat bland. The vibe is lively and fun. Very much feels like a neighborhood bar - multiple screens, bar area, eating areas and outdoor seating. I hope some of the above get fixed. We will go back to try again and hopefully next review will be a 4 star.

Today we went to try out the new Kirk's Restaurant in Palo Alto. Kirk's is a burger place with a long history in town... first on El Camino, then on California Ave, then in Town and Country (after being sold to new owners), and now in Midtown, which is my old neighborhood.They moved into the space that was Mike's Cafe. That space used to be Mike's Cafe in the back and True Value Hardware in the front until Mike bought the hardware store space and expanded. Before it was Mike's in the back I think it was a hair salon. That's what I remember anyway.My verdict:A for Atmosphere, extensive menu, and locationB for Food quality for the money ($16 Signature Burgers)Burger had a nice char on it, and was mostly cooked medium rare as requested, but it wasn't cooked evenly and some parts were rare. Doesn't quite taste the same... people on the Old Palo Alto site are saying it suffers from not being the original recipe and not being seasoned by a greasy fire pit. Fries were just OK. Steak fries with garlic and parm thrown on it, but not very flavorful. Mudslide was yummy, but I didn't feel anything. Drink selection was wide: Tap beers, wine, full bar, specialty cocktails, and boilermakers listed above the bar.I would go back for social reasons, and to support the neighborhood, but don't get your hopes up.

I've been to Kirk's a few times, and it's a decent spot to grab a quick burger. Ate here recently, wanted to try something new and decided to go with their chicken bacon ranch club sandwich with Cajun fries.The CBR comes on grilled sourdough bread with mayo, avocado, and bacon. The sandwich unfortunately was a bit too much bread and not enough filling. The piece of chicken was while seasoned, was paper thin. I think the meat to bread ratio for this sandwich could be better. The Cajun fries were good, but oddly sweet. For the chicken sandwich, fries, and a coke, plus tip, came out to $26. A bit steep for the amount of chicken you get but lesson learned, I'd stick with the burgers

Update: have been back to Kirk's yet again, and it yknow i have to raise this to 5 stars. It seems like Kirk's moving here was just destiny. They're busy- it was hard to find a table on Friday night, but it's what the neighborhood needed. Family friendly easy comfort food on one hand, and they keep the full bar buzzing on the other. Perfect.I had a slice of pizza this time, also perfect slide house pizza: crisp on the bottom, served hot!And my partner and I were thinking they also now have the best fries in town. The Garlic butter fries in particular.

Good food, varied menu.Only complaint is that the beverage machine is too close to the line to order at the register. Needs to be moved. Ideally where the condiment bar is now.