Review: Island Burgers and Shakes

Posted by Matt Jacobs, May 12, 2005 at 9:00 PM

NEW YORK CITY
Purists, be gone. If you're looking for a lump of meat between two pieces of bread, turn around and find another burger joint, because Island Burgers and Shakes is all about the toppings. Unlike Blue 9 Burger, where you have three choices on the whole menu, Island has over 63 burger combinations. In the last three hours, I've tried all of them. OK, not really, but my dining companion and I each had one, so that should get you started.

One could spend hours poring over all the options, deciding on the best concoction. Instead, I went with the first one that looked good. When you're hungry and there are hamburgers on the premises, time is of the essence. I chose the Tijuana burger, which is topped with bacon, Jack cheese, guacamole, and sautéed onion (with an optional hooker on the side). Jori, my dining partner and then some, had the Mike's Pool Hall, which is served on dark rye bread and comes with Jack cheese and onion.

The whole affair is served open face, which is a nice touch. It lets me piece together my burger without having to pry the top bun from the cheese. Once assembled, the burger was quite tall. Tall enough that I wished I could unhinge my jaw. Since I cannot, I applied the smashing technique, which is exactly as it sounds. The guacanike serving was plentiful, which meant I had a green goatee after my first bite. The mix of toppings was tasty. I definitely made a good choice.

The meat was pretty good quality. Nothing special, but it was fresh, juicy, and actually medium-rare, as I had ordered it. The flavor was difficult to decipher, as the burger was smothered in avacado-y goodness. I'm fairly certain it was cooked on a flame, but even that was difficult to tell. The fire was likely a bit too hot though; one side of my burger was a bit overcooked.

Unlike my favorites in the city (Shake Shack, Soup Burg), I walked away from Island Burgers a little unimpressed. Everything tasted good going down, and the presentation was nice, but the burger itself just wasn't anything special. Good, but not great. Still, it beats the pants off Silver Spurs, which is also known for its plethora of burger combinations.

If you're in Hell's Kitchen and looking for a fun burger spot, this is a good pick. If you're in from out of town and hitting up the best burger joints in New York, you can leave this Island unexplored.

Island Burgers and Shakes
Location: 766 Ninth Ave. (between 51st and 52nd); New York City
Phone: 212-307-7934
Closest Subways: C, E, 1, 9 at 50th St.

Photo: This will be you. The burgers are totally messy.

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