Nov. 6 through the 12 is Restaurant Week in Johnson City. Multiple restaurants in the area are offering special discounts to draw in crowds of people to try their food.

A few friends and I decided to use this opportunity to check out the new downtown restaurant BURG’r and BARREL.

(I am no food critic; these are just going to be my unqualified impressions of this establishment.) 

The atmosphere of the restaurant is incredible. The old train station this place resides in has lots of charm and creates a welcoming aesthetic for diners.

(Ethan Walker/East Tennessean)

The service staff was very attentive and the manager asked us several times if there is anything she can do. The awesome customer service is a high point for the establishment. It is obvious that the staff care about making their diners’ experiences as pleasant as possible. 

The special BURG’r and BARREL offer for Restaurant Week in JC is for two people; it features an appetizer (or two salads), 2 burgers and a dessert. Between the six of us, we tried to order a diverse arrangement from the restaurant’s menu. The standout appetizer was the spinach and artichoke dip; which was devoured rather quickly.

There are over ten burger selections to choose from; ranging from one donned with bacon and mac and cheese to a Grecian-inspired one featuring ground lamb and tzatziki. All of the desserts are house-made and rotate constantly. The standout dessert was the homemade Turtle cheesecake. 

The meal was deeply filling. Nobody was able to finish the entirety of their burger; several to-go boxes were passed around. When we were given the bill it informed us that the deal we used saved each pair about fifty dollars. This surprised us; as the bill already came out to roughly forty.

To be fair, we each got a large amount of food. On a normal day, none of us would have ordered any appetizers or desserts, but the prices of BURG’r and BARREL are still a little out of reach for the average college student. Maybe we aren’t exactly their targeted demographic, but I think they could offer more smaller (and cheaper) burgers to give more options to those who want a high-quality experience while remaining on a budget. 

Definitely take advantage of the deals offered during Restaurant Week; this is a great opportunity to really get a taste of the region. 

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