Juicy Burgers and More – Guilderland, NY

Working in Guilderland is hard. Well, my job is kind of hard and so is eating out for something quick. To give everybody a geographic idea of the part of Guilderland I constantly deal with, mentally drive yourself to to the Fox23 headquarters, and you’re close.

There’s not much around. There are a few sandwich shops, a few fast food joints, a few sushi places, and Juicy Burgers, which is geographically the closest place to eat to my job that isn’t a pizzeria.

I am not a regular burger guy. I enjoy having a burger from time to time, but I don’t go everywhere and order burgers; I do go everywhere and order corned beef hash. One night, I had to work late and had a 40 minute window to drive somewhere, eat dinner, and drive back. Because of this, I decided to drop by Juicy Burgers for a quick bite.

Juicy Burgers is located at 5 New Karner Road, and specifically is just north of the route 20 intersection of route 155. It shares parking space with Marissa’s Pizza, Best Cleaners, and some other store that I cannot remember. This particular Wednesday evening at 5:40 PM, there were no cars in the parking lot. There has to be a staff parking lot, because there were at least four people working in Juicy Burgers alone when I arrived.

The menu is simple. There are a handful of burger creations, some sides, and some salads. I was teetering between the cajun burger and the simple bacon cheese burger, and I finally settled on the bacon cheese burger. I opted for cheddar cheese, because, to me, the only suitable options out of the given five (American, Swiss, Cheddar, Fresh Mozzarella or Bleu Cheese) are cheddar and bleu cheese. I also got a mix of sweet potato fries and onion rings.

As the burger is described, Bacon Cheese Burger – Bacon strips. American, Swiss, Cheddar, Fresh Mozzarella or Bleu Cheese, is how it arrives. No lettuce. No tomato. No mayonnaise. No ketchup. Nothing. And that’s great. Except, I kind of wish I knew that before I ordered. The menu, while simple, is confusing, since the burger creations are to the left and an option to build a burger along with toppings is on the right and seems like its own thing. They did include some pickle slices on the side.

That’s all ok, though. I like simple things, and there are salt, pepper, hot sauce, A1 sauce, and ketchup at every table. I added 1/2 tablespoon of ketchup to my burger, which I ordered medium-well but received closer to medium, which I forgive, to provide some extra lubrication and saltiness. The roll is bathed and grilled in some type of butter. It was flavorful and stood up well texturally to the burger and ketchup. The bacon on the burger was almost not noticeable. If I had not seen the end hanging off, I would have forgotten it was there in a bite.

The onion rings and sweet potato fries were good. They specify that 1/2 lb is the size of the order, so I had to deal with the bitter reality that 1/2 lb of fried goodness really doesn’t amount to much. I don’t have much else to say about these.

When I finished, I didn’t know what to do with my plate. There are no garbage recepticals, so I walked up to the counter with my plate. The girl told me she would have taken it if I left it. I guess that’s the system.

Along with a soda, this experience costed me about $14. I can’t say I regret it; I can’t say I’m in a hurry to go back. I will say that I’d definitely go again, as they provide a much more sensible burger meal than places like Burger King or 5 Guys.

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6 thoughts on “Juicy Burgers and More – Guilderland, NY

  • The Chase Davis

    What’s your beef with Five Guys??


  • John J

    I prefer Five Guys over Juicy Burger any day. The 2 times I’ve been there (had to try it again after the first bad experience) I just wasn’t impressed.

    I’m also convinced they call it Juicy Burger for another reason, but I won’t get into that here 😡


    • derryX

      Like I said, I’m not in a rush to go back. For the price (including tip), I could get a comparably sensible, better tasting burger at even Red Robin.

      I would also go to 5 guys if I don’t care how lean I’m eating. In this particular instance, the extra 10 minutes to drive to 5 guys and back would have delayed a time-sensitive work function.


  • Daniel B.

    I’ve always found the Juicy Burger under-seasons their beef. I think they could be great, but this is just one of the things that holds them back.

    For the record, it took me three tries to triangulate a way to my desired internal temperature.

    “Red center” the first time yielded a rare burger.
    “Pink center” the second time yielded a medium burger.
    To get a true medium rare, I had to ask for one to be cooked in between pink and red. It’s a cute system, but ineffective.

    Ultimately I see no reason to compare Five Guys to Juicy Burger. They satisfy different needs. But when it comes to taste, texture and value, I’m going with Five Guys.


  • kerosena

    I like Juicy Burger because they offer “rare” (“red”) as an option. If they have the cajones to offer it that way, I have the figurative cajones to eat it. Also, I really like their onion rings. Good batter-to-onion ratio, and the onion doesn’t slide out of its casing with the first bite.

    It’s a less greasy experience than Five Guys, but both places are good in their own way. I like to order the little burger at Five Guys, and tried the kid sized burger at Juicy. The Guys do it better. Juicy gives a small burger served on that huge bun.



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