There aren’t many restaurants with the word ‘burger’ in their names; maybe JR Burgers is the only one. But a lot of places with the words ‘fast food’ or ‘snackette’ in their names sell burgers.
I chose two seeming favourites: Jerries Snackette and JR Original Burgers.
If you want more burgers around town you can find them at Church’s Chicken, Royal Castle, White Castle Fish Shop, Francine’s Fish Shop, KFC (not recommended, but still some Guyanese are brave enough to eat there) and thousands of other small joints around the city. This review was done in February.
Remember that each restaurant was reviewed based on Environment, Customer Service, Efficiency and Food, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. I kept it simple and made it as fair as possible: I ordered a Chicken burger with everything on except Cheese and Pepper.
Jerries (All Night Long) Snackette
Just the name might make you say, “Eh?” but I am not going bonkers. This is not a ‘restaurant’ per se so don’t go all dolled up. But in terms of the atmosphere Jerries is the place to be.
The customer service… hilarious! The staff (mostly women) greet you as though you’re their long lost sibling; smiling and cracking jokes. They are quick since they usually have a lot of orders to take and would hear you right away although Jerries can get a little rowdy at times.
If you want the kind of burger where your hand will get all messy, your jaw must open as big as it can get and there will be slush all over your chin and chest then seriously – Jerries is it. The chicken burger is to die for! With rhythm in your ears, cool beer to wash down and the friendliest people in town it is no wonder that the name Jerries transformed from a snackette to a local franchise.
I have honestly never had a bad experience at Jerries.
Environment: 4, Customer Service: 5, Efficiency: 5, Food: 4. Total Review: 4.5 Stars
JR Burgers (City Mall)
Okay, to begin with the City Mall’s food court is always packed and hectic, finding a seat is always a problem but that was not the biggest problem there. The cashier at the JR Burgers’ stall was!
I mean, when people are frustrated or angry I tend to tell myself they had a bad day so I should be less of a bother. I approached the scary-looking cashier to order, “A chicken burger, with cheese and fries, and a drink” – the classic.
I thought she was just the cranky type but at this point it appeared she was the unprofessional type. Right after I stated my order she ignored me, turned around to talk to the cooks behind her then had the audacity to ask, “Wha you seh you want?”
I never answered, just walked away – she was lucky I wasn’t that hungry because some good Guyanese answers would have come out.
Environment: 2, Customer Service: 0, Efficiency: 0, Food: 4. Total Review: 2 Stars.
For a fair review on the franchise, I wouldn’t recommend eating in the mall with your family; you can if you’re alone or with a couple of friends but geez! That lady! If you want a JR Burger (which, to me is one of the best) I recommend you go to their Sandy Babb Street location, beautiful atmosphere, scenic and some really great staff. (Jairo Rodrigues)
