UPDATE: Elevation Burger closed, but not forever? Baristanet contributor Kristin Wald reports the following Facebook reply from Elevation Burger…
We regret to inform our loyal customers that the Montclair Elevation Burger location has temporarily closed. We plan on re-opening this location to the public by early February 2013 under new management. We are grateful to our local customers and are looking forward to serving you again very soon. Please watch for our grand re-opening event. Thank you! -Elevation Burger
You can say goodbye to your organic, grass-fed, free-range beef burger fix in Montclair. We’ve learned that Elevation Burger, which opened its doors in 2009 has closed.
@SameersEats tweeted yesterday:
“#Elevation #burger CLOSED for good in Montclair, NJ according to former employee” with this photo.
We also received emails about it being closed. A call to the telephone number listed gets a message saying, “We were unable to complete your request.”
Then there was this:
We’re waiting back for an answer from the owner, but we think it’s pretty much confirmed. Another restaurant closes.
I am so bummed. My family loved Elevation Burger and ate there frequently.
Call it—What will open up next?
Drat! I was one hole punch away from a burger via my Elevation card.
Much gnashing of teeth in the teen crowd.
That sucks. They were my go to burger joint, walking distance. They always looked busy, but restaurants fail for all sorts of reasons. I hope someone re-opens it, because Smashburger is a greasy mess. I guess I’ll go to the Cloverleaf Tavern.
a burger joint without bacon was bound to fail.. especially with Tierney’s and Smashburger in the neighborhood.
That’s too bad. The family liked it.
Tierney’s is still the best burger around.
Smashburger is okay. Too salty.
Would have been a winner if it was located 3 blocks further west on bloomfield ave.
Any fast food joint without plentiful and easy parking will not make it. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.
Tierney’s is my fave….followed by Pals, Ave Bistro in Verona’s ‘bistro burger’ and suprisingly Calandras does a good one. Cloverleaf for a turkey burger. I liked elevation, great in a pinch.
I had two hole punches left to go on my card, sigh. I agree that the parking situation factored into less traffic and the resulting closing. So disappointed, I need to find another burger I can enjoy without choking on the salt factor. Elevation’s “Half the Guillt” burger/veggie burger combo was the best!
Yet another empty storefront on Bloomfield Ave.
It’s really sad to see EB go. The owner was so kind, always making contributions to community fundraisers. They really worked hard to make the restaurant work. So disappointing.
Maybe they just couldn’t afford to stay open.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233221/Dennys-charge-5-Obamacare-surcharge-cut-employee-hours-deal-cost-legislation.html
Why does every discussion on this site turn political? No matter what you think about the Affordable Care Act, it’s nonsensical to say that costs that haven’t materialized yet (and probably wouldn’t for such a small employer) put them out of business.
As to EB, it always seemed to have half the crowd as Smashburger at any given time. I’m sure the lack of parking was a major part of this.
They did have parking spaces in the lot around the corner. Were people not aware? That was one of the reasons we would go there b/c it was one of the few places in town w actual parking.
Wonder if their hours had anything to do w it at all. From what I recall, they closed somewhat early during the week especially for a fast-food like place. Probably missed the post Wellmont crowd.
hooger158 – Why does every discussion on this site turn political, you ask. It is because herb has not yet gotten over Obama’s victory over Romney. It is more than obvious that Herb is a fixated individual who takes things personally, lacking a strong ego, who has not yet learned to let go of that which he cannot control. An obsessive compulsive personality trait. Poor fellow.
hey, herb’s not going to let reality get in the way of his worldview!
today he cites an article about US labor conditions from the UK’s Daily Mail, of all places.
let’s remember the last big scoop the Daily Mail had:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228359/Romney-campaign-internal-polling-puts-Republican-nominee-point-ahead-Ohio.html
Let’s recap: Herb throws out a potential explanation for Elevation Burger’s demise that 1.) has not been claimed by the company and 2.) seems like it just maybe might fit with a story run by a British tabloid that shows it has no regard for the truth.
At best, it has to be increasingly difficult for you to live in that fantasy land, Herb…
I think Montclair isn’t a fast food friendly town in general, when there are so many other great options. But, when you do want fast food, you want easy parking. Thus, Popeyes can stick around because there are two lots for them. And, Smashburger can stick around because there’s easy parking there. Five Guys and Elevation? No easy parking.
And, Elevation just wasn’t that great. Not many options. Smashburger offers so much more, if you’re going to go the fast food route.
Another biz bites the dust. Is Marrakech closed too?
Looks like $8 burgers and $4 orders of fries were not such a good idea after all. (no matter how progressive the cows and potatoes were)
http://bit.ly/SYgMdy
ROC,
It’s a shame that all you can offer is smug glee at the closing of a business that contributed to our schools, the high school sports program and community. Perhaps you are still smarting from the historic loss on election day of the policies and people that populate your side of the political divide. Time to give it up dude. The progressive agenda won handily, the wackos lost mightily and all is right with the world.
The only informative bit of your post is the revelation that the parking and location of Elevation Burger had nothing to do with it’s closing. There was plenty of parking in back and few except “whowantwhat” had issues with it being too far east on Bloomfield Ave (I’d venture a guess as to why the poster made that veiled comment, but I digress…). It is rather the company as a whole that went under. A pity too – they had delicious fries.
Relax make a couple of good points, there….
relax people,
I don’t think it was the company as a whole that went under. There are other franchise locations still open and some that just recently opened.
I regularly paid about $6 and change for a burger and fries at Elevation. I think it only topped 8 bucks or so if i threw in a soda. So ROC, why do you believe that the burgers and fries were $8/$4?
I am genuinely curious – why state such a wildly inacurrate cost?
Relax People
Yes it is shame. I liked EB too.
BUT, I don’t think the progressive agenda won. Clearly “war/hate” policies of Talk Radio has been put on notice, we can even say that the wackos lost. Nonetheless there does not appear to be a clear cut victory for the spend and drain agenda.
Hopefully Republicans will re-emerge without Rush Limbaugh & Co. We need a strong party to keep an eye on Government Spending, Debt etc., but we can all do without interference in our social/personal matters.
http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/elevation-burger/menu
i too love ny but frequented the montclair Elevation. never paid 8 for a burger there.
Does it disturb anyone else that the fantasy bubble is so thick that to make a point about an $8 burger in montclair nj, a menu from a location in nyc was linked and yet still doesn’t show an $8 burger.
I went once. Fries were bad. Fried in Olive oil- low smoke point. Fries were bad.
Funny, Starbucks charges a premium for it’s coffee, yet they manage to do alright.
@ relax, RoC is right on the money on this one. I don’t think his comment re: progressive politics was political as he referenced the two reasons why EB probably failed: no parking, over priced. It was EB that tossed it’s politics in the customers face. So it makes sense to reference it.
I would add again: Fries were bad.
Smashburger, however, is always a winner!! (Though Tierney’s is the best.)
Anyone for 5 Guys?
I’ll miss Elevation Burger. They offered veggie burgers for my non-meat eating friends and their fries were always hot and tasty. I guess I’ll go to Smashburger. I like that they offer chicken sandwhiches as an option but more often than not their fries are cold. Also, if they ask me one more time “is this your first time at Smashburger?”, I might scream.
I’m not particularly tuned into the “burger scene”. However, when my wife has a craving, she insists upon a place on Bloomfield that I believe is called [something like] Next Door. The burgers from there are terrific (at least in my uneducated opinion), and I’m told that they’ve won some sort of award.
I’m a bit frightened that nobody’s mentioned it. Has it closed?
Personally, I still miss “soup and a burger” at Charlie Browns, though I confess it was more often “soup and salad bar” in my advanced years (which is most of them {8^).
…Andrew
I agree. THe fries were bad. Soggy. THat’s why I never went back more than once.
I like Smashburger because there are so many more options. Even with fries, you can have regular or rosemary seasoned or veggie frites or fried pickles or onion rings or sweet potato fries. All that beats a soggy EB fry any day.
my kids loved the vanilla shakes
I’ll miss EB and I’ll miss running into half of Montclair everytime we went.
Hrh,
a comment on that menu site said “The menu omits the additional 90 cents for lettuce and tomato on the plain hamburger; the fries are terribly oversalted”
the double cheeseburger (as pictured on Baristanet) would be $6.99 + .90 for lettuce and tomato plus .64 in tax makes it $8.53.
As hrh noted, the menu cited is from the New York City location.
This review from their 2009 opening indicates that the “basic burger” was a little over $4, and the fries under $3.
http://www.nj.com/homegarden/entertaining/index.ssf/2009/10/elevation-burger-in-montclair.html
But hey, maybe everything doubled in the intervening years.
I’m going to nail down the answer by consulting the daily Gallup tracking poll.
This review from their 2009 opening indicates that the “basic burger” was a little over $4, and the fries under $3.
http://www.nj.com/homegarden/entertaining/index.ssf/2009/10/elevation-burger-in-montclair.html
But hey, maybe everything doubled in the intervening years.
I’m going to nail down the answer by consulting the daily Gallup tracking poll.
I’m just going to go to Zinburger…after hitting the new Trader Joe’s.
We always enjoyed the fries and the burgers. Trusting that the meat really was organic and grass-fed, and loving that the veggie burgers were to my taste and I could add onions and pickles and so on (I don’t remember being charged for the condiments), it was an easy way for us to say we’d “gone out to dinner with the kids.” I loved the fries a little too much. And that red pepper relish….Mmmmmmm.
I’ll miss Elevation Burger – Partly because it was so easy (perhaps too easy?) to get a free burger with the card stamps.
Good riddance ! Consistently awful food service hygiene practices IMHO. Surprised no one died
That’s bizarre. Chuckles is a smash*burger’d clown, of course. The grass-fed burgers were great, the sodas were spot on. My kids loved it as did I. The place always had a decent number of folks, never packed, but certainly enough to pay the bills unless the franchise owner was an over-leveraged idiot which sounds likely.
By the way, you should be looking at the prices for the kids burger, unless of course you are a fatty. That’s plenty of meat for any adult unless you need to stuff yourself with super-size Big Macs, Karl Rove style.
So sad. They had it figured out, just clearly somebody asleep and the wheel and crashed into the center divider.
the double cheeseburger (as pictured on Baristanet) would be $6.99 + .90 for lettuce and tomato plus .64 in tax makes it $8.53.
Is that what you really think, ROC, or is that just some math you do as a Republican to make you feel better?
Remember Five Guys? You know that square town on the far end of Essex County – West Caldwell? Five Guys isn’t in Upper Montclair anymore, but it’s now in West Caldwell. SHAZAM!
Elevation Burger was unimpressive.
Elevation Burger fans can relax. From their Facebook page -
We regret to inform our loyal customers that the Montclair Elevation Burger location has temporarily closed. We plan on re-opening this location to the public by early February 2013 under new management. We are grateful to our local customers and are looking forward to serving you again very soon. Please watch for our grand re-opening event. Thank you! -Elevation Burger
yippy!
Hoping EB opens back up in February – it would make a nice birthday present!
I had a really tasty burger at Joe’s American Bar & Grill at the Short Hills Mall last weekend. Aside from waiting over 45 minutes to get into the restaurant I gave it a thumbs up. I ordered the Black-n-Bleu burger and it was full of the awesome
Yay! I miss EB so much. Going through withdrawal.
Got a text message today saying they will open next week. There is justice in this world.