PrintReview: Lucky Burger
NOTE: This location has closed, and the name "Lucky Burger" was purchased by new owners who have sinced revamped the menu and opened in Midtown.
NEW YORK CITY
Always keen on restaurants whose menus include nothing but burgers—Burger Joint, Blue 9, and Corner Bistro come to mind—I was thrilled to run across Lucky Burger on a recent Saturday in New York City's East Village while on my from purchasing a bicycle. (Pizza and hamburgers have started to take their toll on my waistline.) I vowed to return at a later date, unburdened by two-wheel conveyance.
At work the following Monday, I mentioned Lucky Burger to A Hamburger Today senior editor Honey P., who had heard good things about the place. "It's said that these guys strive to make the best burger and are very concerned about freshness." That sounded good, but I just couldn't make the time to hit the place up, and so for the rest of the week I dreamed about what goodness might lie ahead.
But when a friend and I finally made it to Lucky Burger, we couldn't have been more disappointed. Though a hand-lettered sign on the door read, "The best burger in town. No question. No doubt," they were anything but. First, there was an odd barbecue flavor to the burgers. At first, I thought it was only present in the special "Lucky Sauce." A taste of the concoction by itself confirmed this, but, breaking off a piece of the actual patty to taste alone, I noticed it there, too. Having grown up in Kansas City, I've got nothing but love for the BBQ, but I don't want it on my burger. And with the flavor infused in the meat at LB, there's no avoiding it.
Moreover, my friend and I found our patties dry and tough. Perhaps this was a function of not specifying our preferred doneness when ordering. Then again, shouldn't a place specializing in burgers ask you how you want them done? In trying Lucky Burger again, I'll be sure to make my request at order time. Still, it will do nothing to alleviate the strange barbecue flavor in this burger.
Breaking my own rule about not ordering fries when taste-testing burgers (that aforementioned expanding waistline prohibits it), my friend and I split an order of the golden crisp delectable potato product (left). They were very good, of the thick-cut, crinkly variety. Meaty yet light, and perfectly salted. Unfortunately, they don't begin to make up for the hamburgers here. After all, the place is not called Lucky Fries. With such a long build-up and so quick a let-down, I felt truly unlucky.
LUCKY BURGER
Location: 91 Avenue A, New York City NY 10009
Phone: 212-358-1079
Hours: Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Payment: Cash only
Short Order: Strange barbecue flavor in both special sauce and meat and dryness of patty left A Hamburger Today feeling anything but lucky.
Menu: Click here for offerings
Correction: The owner of Lucky Burger responds to our review, noting that barbecue sauce is not added to the burgers.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
11 Comments:
I was also VERY disappointed with LUCKY BURGER. A friend of mine pinpointed the bbq flavoring as LIQUID SMOKE...they put it on EVERYTHING and it really overpowers the flavor. How can a restaurant be concerned with freshness when they douse their meat in liquified hickory smoke? YUCK.
Hamburger designor at 2:44PM on 05/16/05
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I just found your site, and was scrolling down and saw the review for Lucky Burger and told myself "this review better be negative or this guy has no idea what he's talking about." I went to LB recently, and I thought it was hands down the most vile food I've had. Everything about it was terrible. The smoky flavor made me want to puke, just reminded me of smoked salmon, which isn't a good combo with beef. The bun was stale, the lettuce was too big and didn't taste fresh. The fries were terrible. I really wanted to throw up while I was eating this, so I had to stop and throw it away. I'm typically a miser, and I was pretty upset with how much of a ripoff this place is, and their gall to say they serve the best burger in town. I will be happy to see this place fail, the food made me that sick.
Hamburger Michael at 4:44PM on 05/16/05
Sucky Burger!
Hamburger Janice at 8:43AM on 05/17/05
I've tried Lucky Burger and was unimpressed, too. The atmosphere really bugged me as well.
Hamburger Liza at 10:45PM on 05/18/05
I've tried Lucky Burger and was unimpressed, too. The atmosphere really bugged me as well.
Hamburger Liza at 10:45PM on 05/18/05
Designor's friend (above) is right on -- I tasted liquid smoke on their burger. That's really an idiotic thing to do.
Liquid smoke is very strong, so even just a drop per burger would be horribly noticeable. And they seem to put more than a drop per burger at this place.
Too bad, I wanted it to be a decent place.
Hamburger burgerhead at 12:54AM on 05/26/05
I don't like coconuts, but that doesn't mean they suck! I enjoy the atomosphere of cool funky animation, action movies, etc. FOR ME...Lucky Burger is just fine. The reviewer should have been more impartial. Because you don't like something doean't mean it's not good. Guess that's why he's writing reviews for a little known site and not being the writer I'm sure he wants to be.
Hamburger Jay at 10:21PM on 10/03/05
I'm with you on lucky burger...one just opened in my neighborhood on 52nd just off 9th ave, so I decided to give them a try. Granted I've been lucky enough to have recently tried a Luger Burger (they did well with this one, MR-R), the Not Just A Burger from the Spiced Pear restaurant in R.I. (if not for the price comparison, EASILY bests the Luger burger), and more recently, the very decent Dumont Burger. Given that, I have to say that Lucky Burger's claim is some '50's style hyberbole kitsch that ends up being a joke that simply isn't funny...they're not even in the same league as Pop Burger for god sakes. Funny BBQ taste aside, the quality of the burger, and the bun for that matter, barely even rank it in the trashy but good burger lists. Thanks for taking off the Emperor's new clothes Adam...I can't stand the idea of yet another poser restaurant in my once authentically multicultural, cheap foodie neighborhood.
Hamburger girl51 at 3:08PM on 05/28/06
I'm with you on lucky burger...one just opened in my neighborhood on 52nd just off 9th ave, so I decided to give them a try. Granted I've been lucky enough to have recently tried a Luger Burger (they did well with this one, MR-R), the Not Just A Burger from the Spiced Pear restaurant in R.I. (if not for the price comparison, EASILY bests the Luger burger), and more recently, the very decent Dumont Burger. Given that, I have to say that Lucky Burger's claim is some '50's style hyberbole kitsch that ends up being a joke that simply isn't funny...they're not even in the same league as Pop Burger for god sakes. Funny BBQ taste aside, the quality of the burger, and the bun for that matter, barely even rank it in the trashy but good burger lists. Thanks for taking off the Emperor's new clothes Adam...I can't stand the idea of yet another poser restaurant in my once authentically multicultural, cheap foodie neighborhood.
Hamburger girl51 at 5:44PM on 05/29/06
business is now closed
Hamburger vesey at 6:38AM on 08/05/06
I just happened to try a Lucky burger, and I've got mixed feelings about it. I too agree that their "Best burgers on Earth" claim is practically false advertising. But fortunately, my Cheddar Burger was quite tasty. The burger was not over done - even pink inside. And it had a lot going on in the taste dept. My biggest beef is the lack of it. The patty seemed to be scrawnier than a Wendy's Single. If not for the bag of fries (which, I also usually dont get); I'd still be starving. And considering the rather steep price; I fell like I've been ripped off. Maybe I could try the double, or even the "Triple Bypass"; but, the $10 price tag is all ready enough to give me a coronary.
Hamburger Tony at 10:18PM on 09/28/06