[Photographs: Ed Levine]

Quietly, without much fanfare, Bill's Bar and Burger started serving the Short Rib Burger ($8.50), a seven ounce bar-style burger hand-formed with a new blend that, as the name entails, includes a fair amount of short rib. The bigger burger (the regular burger at Bill's is five ounces) is by dint of its size and make-up beefier, juicier, and more substantial.

Two other pluses to the new plus-sized burger at Bill's: It can be cooked to order (I like mine medium-rare), and it comes on a new, chewier, pretzel-like roll that successfully holds the bigger burger without falling apart. All in all, the new burger at Bill's is one not so small, seriously delicious step for New York burgerkind.

Bill's Bar and Burger

22 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY 10014 (at 13th Street; map)
212-414-3003; billsbarandburger.com