231 East

The 231 East burger bar is found in several places in France but the one which I am going to tell you about is the one in the centre of Strasbourg, a few minutes away from the Cathedral. Being a franchise, I suppose that the information is conformable with the other stores they have.

The 231 burger bar in Strasbourg and the one that I had the great pleasure to try, was the first store in this chain of franchises. It is characterised by a pop art style design of stores, very American: by fresh food, artisanal bread, hamburgers made to the client's tastes, as well as a personalised customer service considering that they call you by your name (a tradition I believe that has been created by the USA as the most well known example of this marketing tactic is Starbucks). In this way, they merge together an American style including the New York design and concept of 'burger bar' with the touch of typical French cuisine, considered one of the most exquisite in the world.

I have been to eat here several times, but the last time that I went, they had changed the design of the store. It had the same style but the decorative elements had changed. Various paintings in the style of Andy Warhol, comic book pop art drawings, posters with bright lights, the franchise's logo and bottles of unbranded red ketchup are the most characteristic aspects of the store. It's a small size and you can eat at the bar or at a table (I believe it has the capacity for more or less 20 people). The tills where you order and pay, like the kitchen are visible from the tables and are found at the back of the room.

It's motto, combined with the pop art, is that Andy Warhol thought that art was accessible to everyone and they think that of good food too.

What I am going to speak about now is without doubt this best bit - The food!

You can order the products individually or as a meal which makes them more affordable.

The hamburgers they have are: Normal, Bacon Burger, Bacon Cheese Burger and double Hamburger. However you have to add the following (if you want to, of course) which would be included in the price: done-ness of the meat (you can choose between blue, bloody, medium rare and well done); an ingredient from red onion, salad and tomato; and a sauce (ketchup, mayonnaise or mustard).

The accompaniments can be chips or salad. I recommend the chips as they are fried Belgian style with beef fat and are the best that I have tried in my life, outside of Belgium.

To drink you can choose from Coca-Cola, Dr. pepper, beer or water; and for pudding there are various American confectioneries such as muffins. Dr. Pepper is an American drink similar to Coca-Cola, although to me it tastes of syrup; a friend from Nebraska was very excited to see that they had this brand as she said it's very difficult to find it outside of the USA and of course, she ordered it and I was able to try it.

The set meals they have are:

Greedy meal: includes a hamburger of choice, chips or green salad and a drink. It's my favourite given that all that is included is too much for me. After the big hamburger and chips, I can't eat a pudding. It costs around 9 euros, although if you are a student you have a discount and I believe there is also a happy hour.

All included: includes a hamburger of choice, chips or salad, drink and pudding. The price is around 11 euros but I don't really remember.

The double hamburger would require a surcharge on the price.

The service is partly self service as you order at the till, you pay, you give them your name and when it is ready they call you and you have to go to the bar to collect it. Once you have finished, you can leave the tray on the bin or if you don't want to, you can leave it on the table.

The only thing I don't like about this place is that being very small, a lot of cold comes in when they open the doors and reaches you. Also as a result of the size, it feels as if you have no privacy. However these are very small disadvantages in comparison to the advantages it has.

The opening hours are from Monday to Sunday from 11 in the morning until 1 in the morning - A rarity as the other restaurants in Strasbourg close much earlier (and the other franchises too). It has nothing to do with Spain, but I suppose it has a lot of demand from young people and it will be profitable for them.

There are more franchises in Lyon (entre commercial PART DIEU 17 rue du Docteur Bouchut), Montpellier (4 Rue ST Come), Rouen (Centre commercial ST SeverAvenue de Bretagne), Torcy (114 Promenade du 7ème Art), Merignac (17 Avenue de la Somme), Colmar, Villeneuve-la-Garenne (St. Centre commercial Qwartz), París (2 rue de la pépinière y 6 Rue de Ponthieu), Clermont Ferrand (Rue Gonod), Provence (7 rue de la Couronne), Bègles (Centre Commercial Les Rives d’Arcins), y, Annecy (9 Faubourg Sainte Claire). If you have the opportunity to go to any of the franchises, do it. You will not regret it.

The fast food restaurant, 231 is a very good place if you want to eat quickly, on site or to go. It's found on Place St. Etienne, close to Flams and Meiselocker in the heart of Strasbourg.

I went there for the first time during the Christmas period, then a few days ago. Being in a rush, I took it to go. This meant I received a one euro discount on the menu, in other words, it was 8 euros 50 instead of 9 euros 50 to eat it in. This restaurant proposes different burgers such as a bacon burger, cheese burger or a mix of the two. Unlike at McDonald's or other fast food restaurants, you can choose your accompaniment - namely onions, tomatoes or salad. There are two possible menus - either the burger with friends or salad and drink or the same thing plus a desert. From what I could see, the deserts are mainly composed of regular or chocolate cookies. The sandwich creation is carried out right behind the counter so you can see the quality you buy.

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The 231 is proposing a black bread cooked with cuttlefish ink this week: very good. What's more, on this occasion it's possible to participate in a competition to win a trip to Paris for two people.

The young man at the till is very kind and stays this way despite the many clients. Astonishingly, he understood my name on the first attempt, in order to write it on the order - a more than positive point since it's not common. It's often mispronounced. It's a small place and you have to be lucky to find a place out of the fifteen more or less, available.

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