If you need some extra cash, have lots of time, and don't mind waiting in a long line outside, you may be able to make a pretty penny by getting to the head of the notoriously long line at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park and charging people at the back of the line for ordering their meals. The Gloss's editors Jennifer Wright and Ashley Cardiff and video intern Paige Polesnak tried it out—using one person as the "frontman" and another as the "crowd pleaser" who takes orders from people in the back willing to pay the "liberty tax"—and ended up making $43.
The first location of beloved (and AHT, Danny Meyer, and George Motz-approved) diner-style, smashed burger chain Steak 'n Shake is coming to New York City at 1695 Broadway (next to the Ed Sullivan Theater; map), date TBD, announced Eater.
Sometimes I pick a place to review based on recommendations from other people. Other times I pick a place because I happen to be walking by a restaurant bearing a chalkboard sign in front that says, "BURGER WEDNESDAY." And by "other times" I mean last Wednesday when I unintentionally passed Lot 2 off the southern edge of Park Slope. I'd heard good things about Lot 2 before, but this was the first time I had ever walked by it—and on Burger Night, no less. It was meant to be.
If you're not hungry yet, you may be after watching the latest Food Curated video from food documentarian Liza de Guia. She goes into the kitchen at The Brindle Room in New York City with chef/owner Jeremy Spector to watch him make a dry aged burger featuring deckle fat from the outer edge of a ribeye. The patty is seared in a cast iron skillet before being transferred to an oven, them goes back on the stovetop to get topped with American cheese and caramelized onion.
Popular Los Angeles-based burger mini chain Umami Burger (AHT review) is coming to New York City at the end of 2012, reports Grub Street. Hospitality group SBE has joined with Umami Restaurant Group founder/chief executive Adam Fleischman for the national expansion, which will include a fast food burger concept called U-ko. Nation's Restaurant News has more details about the upcoming restaurants, including a combination of 25 new Umami Burgers and U-ko locations by the end of 2013, the first UMAMIcatessen (Umami Burger, kosher deli, and charcuterie bar) in Los Angeles in November, and a pizza concept called 800°.
Stuffing a burger with cheese doesn't do much to entice me, despite that stuffing other things with cheese is generally pretty awesome. But that was with beef burgers. At Balaboosta in Soho (previously reviewed at Serious Eats New York), I found a cheese-stuffed burger that I do like: their lamburger (as they call it on the menu, which makes me think I'm eating a burger made from an animal called "lam" instead of "lamb") stuffed with goat cheese.
Last week, I visited Elevation Burger, an organic burger chain from Falls Church Virginia, The Counter, a high concept design-a-burger chain from California, Go Burger, a brick-and-mortar version of the truck based on a Los Angeles burger joint, and Smashburger, the rapidly expanding Denver-based chain that just opened its first New York location in Brooklyn. At each restaurant, I ordered a few burgers, tried all of their sides and special menu items, as well as a milkshake. How'd they compare to each other, and more importantly, are they going to be key players in the New York burger landscape? Let's take a look at them one at a time and see.
Astor Bake Shop opened just shy of a year ago in an unlikely place. Far from the subway lines that serve Astoria, it's a place you might only visit if you lived in the area or took a short detour south after a day in Astoria Park. The shop is the "labor of love" of chef-owner George McKirdy, a veteran of some fancy Manhattan restaurants. Although a bakery in appellation, it serves a short menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes as well. Among them a very good burger, maybe even the best I've had so far in Astoria.
Despite $50+ prices for dry aged steaks at night (plus more for à la carte side dishes), steakhouses can offer some of the best lunch deals in town. We've previously commented on a few of Keens Steakhouse's lunch steak options, as well as the awesomely decadent Prime Rib Hash, and I'm happy to report that if you're into brick-thick steakhouse-style grilled burgers, theirs is a steal worth braving the dark, oak-covered, and suit-filled pub room for.
As we mentioned in our previous giveaway post, in honor of National Hamburger Month our friends at Rub BBQ in New York City will be serving AHT-inspired Fatty Melts this coming Monday, May 30. Rub usually only offers burgers at dinner, but this time the Fatty Melt will be available during lunch and dinner from noon to 9 p.m, for $10.25.
