Entries tagged with 'New York'
Posted by Robyn Lee, February 17, 2009 at 4:00 PM
Photograph by Luanne M. Ferris of Times Union
Ruth Fantasia of Times Union recommends Juicy Burgers & More, a five-month old burger joint in Ballston Spa, New York:
The one-third-pound burgers are made from ground chuck and ground sirloin seasoned with Italian sea salt. They're cooked on a special broiler that's heated to 1,800 degrees. Since all the heat comes from the top, the fat in the burgers drips onto a cool surface, preventing flare-up and charred crusts. The buns are cooked on an 800 degrees searing plate before being filled with a burger (or three), a chicken filet, or a marinated portobello mushroom cap.
They also serve soups, salads, fries (regular and sweet potato), and onion rings. No milkshakes though.
Juicy Burgers & More
15 Trieble Avenue, Ballston Spa, NY 12020 (map)
518-884-0033
orderjuicyburgers.com
Posted by Robyn Lee, February 6, 2009 at 4:00 PM
At Tara Inn in Port Jefferson in Long Island, you can get a third-pound burger for only $1. It's been the same price since Joe Higgins opened the pub in 1977. How long will this deal last for? For Higgins' daughter's sake, hopefully a long time:
Higgins' daughter Pat said the price will hold as long as the place exists, since her father (now retired) vowed that after he's gone, he'll return to haunt his children if they dare raise it.
[Tip o' the hat to: Steve Z]
Tara Inn
1519 Main Street, Port Jefferson NY 11777 (map)
631-473-9602
"A Cedargrove Drive resident reported that someone smeared a cheeseburger all over her 1994 Chevrolet on Dec. 29. The resident reported that similar incidents had happened two or three times a month for the past six months." [Democrat and Chronicle]
Joan Reminick of Newsday reviews Bobby's Burger Palace in Lake Grove, New York, giving it one and a half stars. She recommends the dark chocolate malted shake over the burgers and doesn't think much of the fries.
Posted by Nick Solares, August 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
Bobby's Burger Palace
355 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove NY 11755 (map); 631-382-9590; bobbysburgerpalace.com
Price: Palace Classic Burger, $6.50; all other burger variations, $7.50; fries, $2.50; onion rings, $3; milkshakes, $5
Peoria, Illinois, is often considered the most average city in America, its population perfectly representing mainstream Midwestern and, by extension, American values. The oft-posed refrain "Will it play in Peoria?" actually dates back to the Vaudeville era but has now become synonymous with marketers looking to appeal to a broad section of the American population. It thus speaks volumes that celebrity chef Bobby Flay decided to open the first of his intended national burger chain in the upscale digs of the Smith Haven Mall on Long Island, in Lake Grove, New York. Bobby's Burger Palace (BBP) opened in July and conceptually, at least, it is an amalgam of both a fast food joint and a diner-style restaurant, it is a balance that is perhaps difficult to achieve and the potential for schizophrenia is distinct.
While BBP is situated within the confines of the mall, adjacent to the food court, it is only accessible from the building's exterior, there is no entrance leading from inside the mall itself. There is a distinct paucity of signage in the mall indicating where BBP actually is, the floor plan still indicates that the restaurant is "coming soon" and I found no other mention of the spot elsewhere. When I did finally find the restaurant I was impressed both by the clean, uncluttered modern design and the large crowd that was amassed at the entrance way. I got there around 1 p.m. during a Friday lunch hour.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 17, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Just got off the phone with Bobby Flay. I had some questions regarding Bobby's Burger Palace, which officially opened Tuesday, after a soft launch that lasted about a week.
Are you cooking the burgers only to medium there? Medium and beyond. That's because of the Suffolk County Health Department regulations. We have to cook them to 158°F.
What about future locations? If you open a BBP someplace that doesn't require cooking to 158, will you cook to medium-rare or rare? I can only comment about this location right now, since it's what I'm concentrating on.
I see you're griddling the burgers as opposed to flame-grilling. Why's that? I've always thought a griddled burger was a better burger. You don't lose the juices that way.
What about that squirt bottle you're using in the Newsday video? What are you laying down on the griddle before throwing the burgers on? It's proprietary. I'd be happy to talk about anything and everything at my other restaurants, but I don't want to give away secrets at this one.
So, the Crunch Burger looks awesome. What was the inspiration? First and foremost, I think a burger should be about flavor and moistness. After that, I think there should be a contrast of textures in there. It's like when you order a cheeseburger with the fries on the side and they get caught in the melted cheese and give the burger some crunch. The crisp potato chips with the melted cheese works like that.
Bobby's Burger Palace
355 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove NY 11755 (map)
631-382-9590
bobbysburgerpalace.com
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 16, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Screen caps from Newsday video on Bobby's Burger Palace
Bobby's Burger Palace is open. Newsday has the word. It debuted yesterday at lunchtime in Smith Haven Mall in Smithtown, New York. It's the first location of what celebrity chef Bobby Flay plans to turn into a nationwide chain of upscale burger joints.
According to Newsday, he's using an 80 percent lean mixture of Angus beef for the patties. Peep the video on the Newsday site and you'll see that Flay, known for his way with the grill, is cooking his burgers on a griddle, which is fine by me—I think griddled burgers are superior to grilled. Obviously, his love of burgers prevailed here and kept him away from the flames.
In the video, you'll see that the interior has a bit of styling to it, with undulating light fixtures to match the wavy counters that patrons sit at after placing their orders.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 9, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Pinesburger is the specialty at this charming little roadside tavern about three miles north of Ithaca on Route 89 (also known as Taughannock Boulevard).
The Pinesburger comes on Ithaca Bakery French bread—the same stuff that the famous Hot Truck French bread pizzas are served on (and what seems to be the ubiquitous bread choice for sandwiches in the area). It's topped with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and your choice of Thousand Island or mayo. I went for Thousand Island, as it seemed to be the thing to do.
Continue reading »
Posted by Nick Solares, July 3, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Editor's note: We couldn't think of a better burger to report on this Thursday, a day before the 4th of July, than the one at All American Drive-In in Massapequa, New York. Hum a Sousa march to yourself while you read Nick Solares's review. —The Mgmt.
All American Drive-In
4286 Merrick Road, Massapequa NY 11758 (map); allamericanhamburger.us
The Short Order: All American's flavor will be familiar to anyone who has eaten under the Golden Arches, but it's the freshness of the product that sets it apart. Though the Double Double (two patties, two slices of cheese) provides the perfect beef-to-bun ratio, the cheeseburger is a study in simplicity, with a soft, fresh pillowy bun that leaves a dusting of flour on fingers. If getting a quarter-pounder, be sure to get cheese on it
Want Fries with That? Yes. They're crisp and golden and actually taste of potatoes ($1.15). The onion ringsare skippable
Price: Hamburger, $1.05; cheeseburger, $1.25; QP, $2.15; QPC, $2.55; Double Header, $2; Double Double, $2.40
Despite the fact that All American Drive-In has but one location, the burgers they serve will be instantly familiar to millions, perhaps even billions of people.
You see the three burgers on offer at this timeless little drive-in in exotic Massapequa, New York, are virtually identical to McDonald's early menu. Before Big Macs and breakfast burritos, before other chains started offering to do things your way, All American was churning out burgers "their way"—pickles, ketchup, finely diced onions—at a dizzying rate to the swarms of hungry suburbanites that flock here.
You want choice? OK, you can order your burgers with or without cheese.
I often wonder if one can be nostalgic for an era that one never lived in. Is there such a word in the English language? I certainly get the feeling of nostalgia when I dine at All American. The diminutive portion sizes, the immediacy of service, the taste of the food itself all evoke in me a bygone era, unfettered by the notions of super-sizing and conversely by any need to pay lip service to a balanced diet. There is nothing remotely green on any of the burgers here, the closest vegetable aside from the onion would be, using the Ronald Reagan nutritional standard, the ketchup that is de riguer.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 29, 2008 at 10:15 PM
Took a field trip here this afternoon for lunch with Nick Solares (aka "The Beef Aficionado"). Reportage to come ...
All American Drive-In
4286 Merrick Road, Massapequa NY 11758 (map); allamericanhamburger.us
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 6, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Westchester County Location Also in the Works
Subject: Counter Burger Coming to West Hartford CT
Just talked to the northeast franchisee, and he said, permits standing, it will open in Blue Back Square in West Hartford, Connecticut, at the end of May. It is the first East Coast operation to be open. Just thought you might be interested.
—Neil R.
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 21, 2007 at 7:09 PM
UPDATE: SOLVED: Hildebrandt's in Williston Park, New York, out on Long Island.
Ask and ye shall receive.
Yesterday, I posted a phone message from Grubstreet editor Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky regarding the mystery burger pictured above. It exists somewhere in the "greater New York area."
Listen to the message:
"I'm not going to tell you." —Mr. Cutlets
AHT reader Jmunchie asked, "How 'bout a photo of this mystery burger?"
Cutlets delivers, and more. He's willing to join me in taking one of you out to grab one of these burgers. Just be the first person to comment here with the correct answer and the burger is on us.
It should be noted that I still don't know where this is. Cutlets was willing to spill, but I thought it would be fun to be kept in the dark until one of you all guessed it. My initial guess was Hinsch's in Bay Ridge, but looking at my own photos of Hinsch's, the counter and glassware don't match.
Guess away, burgerfolk!
UPDATE: SOLVED: Hildebrandt's in Williston Park, New York, out on Long Island.
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 20, 2007 at 10:08 AM
UPDATE: SOLVED: Hildebrandt's in Williston Park, New York, out on Long Island.
I received a vaguely menacing voicemail message over the weekend from one Mr. Cutlets, who edits New York magazine's Grub Street under his more prosaic birth name, Josh Ozersky:
I'm here to tell you that I now know where the best hamburger in the greater New York area is. And I'm not going to tell you. It's better than the Shake Shack. It's like the Shake Shack but better. And there's not a hamburger in Manhattan that can compare with it. This will remain a mystery—unless someone can pry it out of me. End of message.
Having steered A Hamburger Today to some phenomenal burgers in the past (Veselka, Chelsea Gallery Restaurant, and the Good Fork, to name a few), I'm sure his claim is not mere hyperbole. I only wish I could finagle the details from him.
Mr. Cutlets: Can you not write about your amazing burger discovery on Grub Street? Is it that you want to keep your discovery to yourself? For the love of burgerdom, please share!
Update: I know your weakness, Cutlets. We'll buy your intel for a White Castle Crave Case—your choice, plain or with cheese.
Update No. 2: Cutlets just gave us a photo. And now there's a contest to win a burger lunch/dinner with Cutlets and me if you can guess the place based on the photo. If you're not on the main page of AHT, click here for the photo/contest.
UPDATE: SOLVED: Hildebrandt's in Williston Park, New York, out on Long Island.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 18, 2006 at 10:00 AM
Yesterday, we used a photograph of a farmer eating a burger at a cornhusking contest in Marshall County, Iowa, to illustrate an entry here. It's from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Below, we offer a look at other noteworthy burger photos we dug up from the available online collection.
Most of the photos here were taken by Russell Lee (right; 1903–1986), who was invited to join the federally funded Farm Security Administration as part of a team of photographers charged with documenting the plight of the rural poor during the Depression. (Esther Bubley, Jack Delano, and Arthur Rothstein, whose photos are also represented below, were members of the project as well.)
These photos are truly a fascinating scrapbook of hamburger—and American—history, and they're available for reproduction online at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Reading Room (search the catalog for "hamburger"). Dig in!
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 8, 2006 at 10:30 AM
Good morning, ladies and gents. Time to take another trip to Listburg. Today's guide will be Mr. Cutlets. Mr. Cutlets (aka Josh Ozersky) is the man you turn to when you're in Manhattan and you need to know where the beef is. Why? Well, he's written the book on it. Meat Me in Manhattan, a tome whose slimness belies its weighty contents, is the consummate guide to carnivory in New York City's most hustlin' of boroughs. Here, he gives his Top 10 in the Big Apple and his Top 7 nationwide. Sink your teeth in. —The Management
NEW YORK CITY
- The Shake Shack [AHT's 2¢]
- Veselka
- Chelsea Gallery Restaurant
- Burke in the Box [AHT's 2¢]
- The Good Fork [AHT's 2¢]
- Soup Burg / Westville (tie)
- Tavern on Jane
- Schnäck [AHT's 2¢]
- Molly's
- Blue 9 [AHT's 2¢]
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 17, 2006 at 10:27 AM
Shackwatchers: a site that monitors the length of the line at the Shake Shack in New York City's Madison Square Park via images posted to Flickr. Here are the three latest views of the line:
Update (4/19/06): Gothamist has discovered that Shake Shack will be adding a webcam next week. They received the following email:
Thanks for your interest in the Shake Shack. I work for Union Square Hospitality Group and just noticed your blurb suggesting a web cam. I wanted to give you the heads up that we have purchased a web cam for our website, www.shakeshacknyc.com, and we expect this to be live on our site by Monday. It will display a new still shot of the line every 15 seconds. Let me know if you have any questions.
Not as cool in that DIY way, but way more useful.
Shackwatchers [via VJArmy.com]
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 7, 2006 at 12:48 PM
Ed Levine on the burgers at Manhattan restaurant Country:
When you order a burger in a fancypants environment and it turns out to be great, it's a sure sign that the fancypants chef in charge of the kitchen loves a good burger as much as the rest of us. So the only conclusion I can draw after having a burger at Country is that the chef there, Doug Psaltis, has eaten his share of burgers once he takes off his toque and chef whites.
COUNTRY
Location: 90 Madison Ave., New York NY
Phone: 212-889-7100
An Excellent Fancypants Burger [Ed Levine Eats]
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 1, 2006 at 6:00 AM
On March 21, we will have ignition. We will have lift-off. And the Shake Shack will rocket into the burgersphere for another nine-month meatrific mission. Here's the countdown clock from the joint's site:
[Via
A Full Belly]
Posted by Matt Jacobs, February 8, 2006 at 2:39 PM
I can't help but be skeptical when I enter a chain restaurant. The food is built with efficiency, not quality, in mind. The interior design is generic at best. The staff has a script when speaking with the customer. It's just hard to believe that something of high quality could result. Of course, there are exceptions. In-n-Out makes an exceptional burger and people rave about Five Guys. With this in mind, Adam and I decided to try Houston's, an upscale national restaurant chain.
To me, Houston's is like a fancy Bennigan's. Their menu isn't very adventurous, and you can just feel the chaininess of it all. Thankfully, the similarities end there. The inside of the restaurant we visited, in Midtown Manhattan, was tastefully decorated, and the quality of the food was far superior to anything served at Bennigan's or Applebee's or any of those chain-monsters. As a word of warning, with high quality comes high prices.
We sat down in a cushy booth and both ordered cheeseburgers. Houston's burgers are made with half a poud of ground chuck roast and served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheddar on a bun as cushy as our booth. The whole package was a bit larger than I like to push into my piehole, but you could squish it down enough to suffice. Upon first glance, the burger looked great but the patty was a little too circular. Yes, I'm being picky, but I like my burger to have some personality. 
The sandwich had the goods but was a little too perfect. I was growing concerned as even a chain that is up-upscale could overlook the importance of a hand-crafted burger.
I threw caution to the wind and took a bite. Our sources hadn't lied—this was definitely a good burger. The meat was tender and juicy, the condiments played off each other well. The experience was consistent, which is a good sign for me. Oftentimes I'll find myself two-thirds of the way through a burger and I'll just get bored. Either the meat is flavorless or it's too sloppy or any of a few dozen reasons, but it just doesn't work. When I made it to the last bite of the burger, I was still enjoying myself.
Houston's will win no points for originality, but they used top-shelf ingredients and cooked them as requested. It seems simple, but few are able to accomplish this task. This is why I am happy to recommend Houston's as a burger destination. Should you step away from the keyboard and flock to the nearest location? Nah. But it is most definitely a tasty burger.
HOUSTON'S
Location: 153 East 53rd Street (at 3rd Ave.), Midtown, NYC (other NYC location)
Phone: 212-888-3828
Cost: $14 for cheesburger and fries
Posted by Matt Jacobs, February 1, 2006 at 9:10 AM
At some point in November I heard about a burger that was unusual, but had potential, and was laden with cholesterol. It sounded up my alley. The fact that we've tended to stay on the straight and narrow here at A Hamburger Today convinced me I had to try something new. I'll admit, my favorite burgers are those that stick to the basics, but there are so many other options and I'm determined to bring a few of these to you.
Our first venture into the world of crazyburgers, is the Mo Burger from Mo Pitkin's in New York City's East Village. The Mo Burger is a half-pound beef burger topped with fried onions, a fried egg and chopped chicken liver (see? lot's of cholesterol). Mo Pitkin's describes it's cooking as Judeo-Latino, but this sandwich falls heavy on the Judeo side. That being said, I don't know too many young Jews who like chopped liver. Since I'm part of that minority, I was excited to give this burger a try.
As you can see from the picture, the burger looks great. The meat was slightly pink in the center, as requested, and the onions and egg were cooked perfectly. My only concern was the amount of chopped liver smeared on the bun. Liver is incredibly rich and I tend to be careful with my portions, but I slapped the top of bun on and put my faith in the chef.
I loved the mix of the egg, fried onion and ground beef. Both the textures and the tastes compliment each other well. Unfortunately, the chopped liver was a disappointing addition to the burger experience. The saltiness of the recipe combined with the quantity of chopped liver was very distracting. More importantly, the meat was just average. I couldn't confirm the fat content of the beef, but it tasted lean and a little flavorless. You're probably thinking, "How could you know how it tasted? It was covered in egg and chicken liver?" Well, I brought Adam along and he stuck with his stand-by, the cheeseburger.
Neither of us loved our burgers. Mine was an interesting mix of textures and a valiant effort in adding chopped liver to the burger lexicon, but it came up a little flat. Adam said his cheddar-burger was in the good-but-not-great category. We agreed on the texture and flavor of the meat. Despite being cooked properly, it wasn't very juicy, which tends to be a sign of missing flavor.
Am I telling you to skip Mo Pitkin's in your search for the perfect burger? Well, yes, but I don't think you should skip the place all together. Their other fare tends to work well and their stable of live performances are even better. If you end up here and are dying for a burger, you'll be fine ordering one. You can skip the Mo Burger unless you are completely nuts for chopped liver.
It seems our first attempt at a crazyburger wasn't quite a success, but I'm not discouraged. I know that I will at some point come across an unusual combination that will blow me away. If you have any suggestions or experiences of your own, feel free to share them in the comments.
MO PITKIN'S
Location:34 Avenue A (btwn. 2nd and 3rd), East Village, NYC
Phone: 212-777-5660
Cost: $9 for a cheeseburger, $11 for the Mo Burger (both include fries)
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 16, 2005 at 1:32 AM
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky holds a David Burke slider. Side-on, you can see the crispness of the meat and the juices soaking into the mini English muffin. A presentation befitting these artful yet no-nonsense miniburgers; $8.95 for 3 "Cheeseburkers" and fries.
Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky raved earlier this week on Slashfood, and in an e-mail to me, about the "reinvented" sliders at David Burke's new café at Bloomingdale's in Midtown Manhattan. "You have to try them!" he said.
So try them we did. Yesterday at lunch, Matty and I met Josh at Burke in the Box, as the long, narrow, handsome space is called.
As is usually the case, Josh was right when he described these tiny hamburgers: "[this] sandwich approaches perfection on its own terms, and its outside deep crunch and rich inside softness are wildly dramatic, especially in a sandwich so small."
Burke, who stepped away from expediting orders at the take-out counter, took some time to tell us how he crafts these mini masterpieces (right).
First, he starts by cutting a mini English muffin about three-quarters from the bottom. The thick part of the muffin is then scooped out, and a hearty meatball of raw Creekstone Farms Black Angus beef is nestled snugly into this spongy bed.
Burke assembles a tray of these little guys and bakes them. As the fat renders out as juice (Burke uses 80% lean beef), it is absorbed by the muffin. You'd think this would make for a soggy "bun," but no: The muffin stands up to the juices, captures them for your pleasure, and actually becomes crisp on the bottom in the process. The meat is topped with a pickle slice and just the right amount of cheese. A cherry tomato half is speared atop the whole affair, but it's more garnish than an integral part of the burger.
Because they're baked in batches beforehand, you can't order them to your preferred doneness. We asked for ours medium-rare and were told they'd be more along the lines of medium. Still, looking at the cross section (left), you can see the soft, pink interior—and the copious amount of juice melted into the muffin bottom.
This slider is almost magical, packing all the taste, juice, and punch of a burger four times its size into a fun, tiny, two- or three-bite package. In fact, it's almost ludicrous to call it a slider, as that nickname derives from the way White Castle's original Slyder, all mushy and greasy, just seems to slip down your throat—and then out your other end a few hours later. Burke's "Cheeseburker," in contrast, is all crunch on the outside and smooth and molten inside, managing to avoid the pitfall of dryness that typically plague the beefed-up school of sliderdom.
From work, Matty has only a 10-block walk to Burke in the Box. I have a short train ride. I'm sure we'll be meeting there for lunch again soon.
BURKE IN THE BOX
Location: 150 East 59th Street (b/n Lex. and Third aves.), Midtown, NYC
Phone: 212-705-3800
Cost: $8.95 for 3 "Cheeseburkers" and fries
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 7, 2005 at 9:00 AM
After eating at DuMont Burger Sunday night, dining companion/burger tester Janelle spotted the sign for Leon's Burger Hut (above), just doors down from the chic new Williamsburg burgeria on Bedford Avenue.
Janelle's got a great eye for interesting architecture and signage, so this jumped out at her. The crooked U, lion silhouette, and kitschy name merited a photo. Any Williamsburg area readers know the Burger Hut story? Good? Bad? Ugly?
AHT Photo Gallery Archives
Flickr Hamburgers Photo Group [Flickr.com]
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 6, 2005 at 2:36 PM
For the New York–based burger lover in your life (or for yourself), O'Neill's Irish Pub is introducing a Burger of the Month Club for 2006. For a subscription price of $100, you get club card that entitles you to a monthly burger-and-beer pairing when presented to the pub. Most pairings seem seasonally appropriate and include:
February: “Red Hot Burger” topped with roasted red peppers, grilled red onion, red cheddar cheese and smoked chipotle ketchup. Served with a pint of Murphys Red Ale.
March: “St. Patrick’s Madness” Gaelic burger with Irish bacon, sautéed onions and cheddar cheese. Served with a pint of Guinness.
July: “Red, White and Blue Burger” featuring tomato, onion and blue cheese. Paired with a pint of Liberty Ale.
The March burger is unavailable on Saint Patrick's Day, however, d'oh!
You can also purchase a six-month subscription for $50 or a single month for $10. Contact O'Neill's for more info or to buy.
O'Neill's
Location: 729 Third Ave. (b/n 43rd/44th), New York NY
Website: IrishPubNY.com
Phone: 212-661-3530
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 6, 2005 at 2:00 PM
During our recent zomblog period, we neglected to mention this nice slider roundup from the New York Daily News. Tiny hamburgers are a veritable art form we at A Hamburger Today have been appreciating and championing since beginning the site. Says the News:
Burgers might proliferate, but in New York, they're also shrinking. The trend toward small-plate dining has chefs trying to one-up each other in round after round of "Honey, I Shrunk the Food."
So the race to Lilliput is now toying with the hallowed burger - enter sliders.
The story highlights veteran Upper East Side slider outpost Sassy's (right) and the upscale Wagyu beef sliders at Stanton Social (top), both of which we were already familiar with, but comes through with some new recommendations ...
Michael Jordan's Steakhouse: Three prime-beef microburgers on brioche buns for $14.50. (West Balcony of Grand Central Terminal's main hall)
Metrazur: Two Wagyu-beef minis for $15. (Also in Grand Central, on the East Balcony)
P.S. 450: "The barbecued beef burgers and cheeseburgers (four for $10) were the juiciest of all the sliders we sampled; bigger-than-usual brioche buns, custom-made by Tom Cat Bakery, wrap around 2 ounces of succulent, preseasoned meat (ketchup not required)." (450 Park Avenue South, at 34th Street)
Other restaurants mentioned in the story were Punch and Judy's, Vig 27, and Dopey Benny's Steakhouse, but those were nonburger "sliders" (pastrami, roast-duck, and Philly cheesesteak versions), so AHT doesn't care.
Itty-bitty burgers [NY Daily News]
Tiny Hamburger Archive [A Hamburger Today]
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 5, 2005 at 10:00 AM
Cleaned the apartment, put up the Christmas tree, and took care of some business around AHT HQ, so I thought it was ripe time to reward myself with a meaty meal. DuMont Burger, which opened a few weeks ago, seemed a good choice.
The small space (about 25 seats total) is rustic and minimal, combining the warmth of an Irish pub with a sort of Japanese design sensibility—lots of solid wood sufaces with clean lines. Sounds crazy, but go and you'll see. Not surprisingly, it serves what I'd call a pub-style burger: large, fist-sized patties that are more barely flattened meatballs than uniformly thin pucks of beef.
DuMont Burger is a spin-off of the well-regarded DuMont on Union Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, and the burger is unchanged from the parent restaurant, with the exception that a DuMont Mini is available on the burger joint's more limited menu. Though touted as a "mini" on paper, it's definitely not a slider as was my first impression, but a more managable 5 oz. version of the 9 oz. regular burger. Both come on a large grilled brioche bun with a thick slice of tomato, a leaf of Boston Bibb lettuce, raw red onion, and sweet pickle chips. Choice of salad or fries is standard.
I ordered mine cooked medium with American cheese (cheddar, Danish blue, Gruyere, and Monterey Jack are also options), and it arrived at table more a medium-rare (which is my preference, anyway). My dining companion's was also undercooked a bit, more a medium though she had ordered medium-well. As I said, the regular burger is thick, too thick for my taste, especially with toppings added—I don't have a snake's hinged jaw. But it was good—plenty juicy with just the right hint of char from the grill. Though I kept eyeing my companion's DuMont Mini and its apparent ease of consumption.
I'm not usually one to remark on sides, but the onion rings (always a bonus in my book when a burger joint offers them) were absolutely perfect: nice rings of real, sweet onion as opposed to that nasty diced-filling bullshit, encased by a perfectly fried golden brown batter that was light and crisp yet persistent enough to stick with the onion bite after bite and not crumble apart.
Other options exist on the menu, but you're not here to read about them. Feel free to peruse the menu at right (click to enlarge) for enlightenment, however.
DUMONT BURGER
Location: 314 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn NY (Williamsburg)
Phone: 718-384-6127
Cost: DuMont Burger, $9.50 (9 oz. patty, with salad or fries); DuMont Mini, $7 (5 oz. patty, with salad or fries)
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 2, 2005 at 11:12 AM
In late October, AHT got word from a reader that a new In-N-Out clone had opened in Flushing. It was called Joe's Best Burger, and comments were that it had the freshburger formula down pat. Having never tried an In-N-Out (yeah, yeah, I know, I know), I hopped the 7 train last weekend and had a look-see, eager to try something compared favorably to the SoCal burger institution.
After trekking to Joe's, I have a couple questions:
1. How is it that this place was able to hide away quietly in The Bronx and didn't blow up like it did until it opened a Flushing location?
2. When are they opening a Manhattan branch?
The burgers here are, unsurprisingly, fast-food style, with thin patties à la McDonald's. Unlike McDonald's, however, these burgers actually kick ass. The lightly toasted buns are soft and fresh; the lettuce and tomato are crisp, cool, juicy, and flavorful and are applied in just the right proportions to bulk out the sandwich and add taste without overwhelming the meat. The patties, comparable in size to McDonald's — maybe a touch thicker, but just a touch — are fresh and beefy with a pleasant slight crispness along the edges that yields to a moist interior. Moist, but not dripping with juices — they're probably too thin for that. They are a world away from the tough, leathery pucks you get elsewhere.
Lettuce and tomato are de rigueur on the basic hamburger and cheeseburger; if you don't like these toppings, let 'em know before they cook your burger for you. Yes: Cook it for you, not retrieve it from under a heat lamp. Joe's special sauce, obviously a Thousand Island–based is applied in copious amounts yet somehow doesn't overwhelm. It can get messy, though, so watch your shirt (right).
I sampled a burger with raw onions, a cheeseburger with grilled onions, an order of fresh-cut fries, and a Dr Pepper. (Bonus points for having the Doc on call at the self-serve soda fountain.) Like the other veggies, the raw onions were crisp, cool, and fresh and played a nice counterpoint to the hot beef and soft bun. Grilled onions on the CB were good, too, but I'm not as big a fan of the cooked variety. I can report that they were cooked carefully, with no burned bits fouling up the mix. Fries aren't my strong suit. While these were fresh-cut, with the skins still visible here and there, they weren't as crisp and hot as I'd like. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because I still believe fries are the one thing that McDonald's (almost) can't be beat on — frozen or not.
Service and atmosphere at Joe's were A number 1. (Disclaimer: I went on the day after Thanksgiving, around 3;30 p.m., and there wasn't a line, so I don't know how they perform under pressure.) The chipper cashier greeted me with a smile and took my order happily, asking if I wanted onions and whether I wanted them grilled or raw. I felt like she was a burger consultant, helping me build the perfect sandwich experience. She was in no way nonplussed when I asked for one hamburger with raw onions and one with cheese and grilled onions (right), or when I started asking questions about the place. By the time I had filled my drink cup at the soda fountain and had taken a few sips, my order was up. Probably no longer than three minutes, leaving me almost no time to set my camera for the lighting conditions and get off a few surreptitious shots of the counter area (top right).
The price was fairly cheap, too. At $1.75/$1.95 for a single hamburger/cheeseburger, it is a little pricier than a typical fast-food joint (like the Burger King across the street, which must be quaking in its crown). But, oh, you get what you pay for. Meal combos (fries, drink, and one sandwich) are $3.75 for the hamburger and $3.95 for a cheeseburger. The registers are similar to those found at Popeye's Chicken, where you can get "a deal." My bill, for instance, was $6.18. "You got a deal!" The LCD-equipped register announced. "Make it $7 and get a shake." (Thanks, but no, I'm already putting on the pounds.)
As I was eating, satellite radio pumped in a continuous stream of the oldies, eventually playing the Monkees' "I'm a Believer."
A fitting tune, I must say.
JOE'S BEST BURGER
Website:joesbestburger.com
Location: 39-11 Main Street; Flushing, Queens; NYC
Getting There: 7 Train to the end of the line, Main Street/Roosevelt Ave. station. Exit at the middle of the platform, and you'll come up near the corner of Main and Roosevelt. Look for a Duane Reade on the corner and then the you'll see Joe's right next to it. It's got a big enough sign, you can't miss it.
Short Order: Delicious and überfresh In-N-Out clone. "We don't believe in freezers," proclaim the house ads rotating on the joint's flatscreen TVs. Thin, McDonald's-size patties but actually delicious and moist, with lightly crisp edges. Hand-cut fries.
Cost: Hamburger, $1.75 ($3.75 for fries and drink combo meal); cheeseburger, $1.95 ($3.95 combo)
In-N-Out Burger clone opened today on Main Street Flushing... [Chowhound]
New Patty in Town Draws a Line [New York Times]
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 6, 2005 at 4:09 PM
Had to try Goodburger after reading about it on Tuesday. Went there last night. It's at the corner of 43rd Street and Second Ave., on "Yitzak Rabin Way," just across from the Pfizer building.
It's large and roomy inside with marble countertops and inch-square tiling on the floor. Cooks work off a small gas-flame grill toward the rear of the counter area and use a broiler to toast buns and give the cheese a good melt. Prefab nostalgic signs hang on the wall.
The menu is pretty straightforward and perhaps just a touch more expansive (but not much more) than that at Burger Joint, which this place is modeled after. Note: They will cook your burger to medium doneness if you don't specify your preference. I ordered mine medium-rare.
Like at the Shake Shack, the expediter at Goodburger places your meal in a sorta-handy-yet-sorta-flimsy cardboard tray. As at Burger Joint, the fries are McDonald's-like in size and taste. I suspect they're the same J.R. Simplot fries I've seen in bags at Burger Joint.
But you want the money shot, don't you? Here 'tis:
Preliminary analysis: Excellent, juicy burger. Heftier than Shake Shack farther downtown but not so insanely thick you can't get your mouth around the thing. Crisp, fresh red onion and plenty of thickly cut, sweet pickle rounds. Goodburger appears to use the same almost pocketlike buns that Shake Shack uses, and the bun is toasted, though mine had gotten a very light toasting. The fries are good, too, but this isn't a french fry blog, so I'll spare you. Will have to do a Goodburger–Burger Joint head-to-head analysis soon. More to come!
GOODBURGER
Location: 800 Second Ave. (at 43rd St.), New York NY 10022
Phone: 212-922-1700
20 Bucks a Day on Goodburger
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 5, 2005 at 9:01 AM
New York magazine is reporting on a new, Burger Joint–inspired burger place:
If Good Burger, a newfangled Turtle Bay soda fountain of sorts, seems familiar, it may be because owner Nick Tsoulos of the Patsy’s pizza-chain family took the Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien hotel as his model. Although he stopped short of draping the place behind a giant curtain, he did manage to lure away a couple of prized patty flippers from that once semi-secret but now famous burgery.
For more on New York City pizza, check out Slice, "America's Favorite Pizza Weblog."
GOOD BURGER
Location: 800 Second Avenue (at 43rd St.)
Phone: 212-922-1700
Openings & Buzz [New York]
Thanks to our Queens Correspondent for tipping us to this story.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 4, 2005 at 2:31 PM
Warning: Nonburger content follows. But stick with us. This is for a good cause.
Of interest to our New York–based readers might be the upcoming Food and Wine Tasting Benefit. In its seventh year, the event is produced by Project by Project and raises money for ECPAT-USA. EC-Wha? you say? It's an organization that fights child prostitution, child porn, and child trafficking. Certainly a cause worth supporting. And eating and drinking to support it couldn't be easy enough.
The benefit is from 7 to 10 p.m., October 13th at the Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street. Tickets are available here.
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 30, 2005 at 12:15 AM
A new expansion to tell you about. Schnäck has opened a branch inside the Brooklyn Lyceum.
The Brooklyn Lyceum is at Fourth Avenue and President Street, just outside the Union Street station on the R line, which happens to be my subway stop. I've been complaining to friends for a while now that my part of Park Slope is woefully devoid of places to get cheap and fast take-out, so this outpost of the Red Hook burger/dog/sausage joint is a welcome new neighbor.
The gentleman manning the grill said that the Lyceum Schnäck would be open seven days a week and that when there weren't events at the Lyceum (which hosts live music, theater performances, and film screenings), they'll probably just turn on the TVs to whatever game or what-not is showing.
The next thing that will be expanding in the neighborhood will be my waistline.
SCHNACK, BROOKLYN LYCEUM
Location:
[Thanks to Youthlarge for the ticket to the Calla album release show, which was the impetus for the Schnäck discovery. Youthlarge, by the way, will be coming on board AHT as a contributor, giving us a much-needed infusion of new blood in this enterprise. We look forward to good things from this one.]
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 28, 2005 at 1:26 PM
"When you're 25, you can eat hamburgers and pizza and drink beer and stay out all night and come out the next day and drink a couple cups of coffee and just play. If I did that today, my heart would stop and I'd need a stretcher and an IV. I started kind of noticing that in my early 30's, and now that I'm in my mid-to-late 30's, it's even that much more." — Mike Piazza, catcher, New York Mets
As Bodies Mull Retirement, 2 Aging Baseball Stars Play On [New York Times]
Photograph by Sue Ogrocki/Reuters
Thanks to Jen for the heads-up on this one.
Posted by Adam Kuban, August 6, 2005 at 10:24 AM
When you look into the history of hamburgers in the U.S., you'll find sources proclaiming the inventor to be (from left) Louis Lassen, "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen, or the Menches Brothers.
The history of the hamburger is truly a story that has been run through the meat grinder. Some sources say it began with the Mongols, who stashed raw beef under their saddles as they waged their campaign to conquer the known world. After time spent sandwiched between the asses of man and beast, the beef became tender enough to eat raw—certainly a boon to swift-moving riders not keen to dismount.
It is said, then, that the Mongols, under Kublai Khan later brought it to Russia, which turned it into the dish we know as steak tartare.
Several years later, as global trade picked up, seafarers brought this idea back to the port city of Hamburg, Germany, where the Deutschvolk decided to mold it into a steak shape and add heat to the equation, making something that, outside of Hamburg, was referred to as "Hamburg steak."
Of course, as it's been pointed out on the comments on this site and in John T. Edge's book Hamburgers & Fries, that's wishful thinking. As Mr. Edge writes, "The history of proletarian dishes like hamburgers is rarely explained by a linear progression of events."
But enough fishing in European and Asian waters; let's cut bait here. Somehow ground beef gets to America. Somehow it's put on a bun. But by whom? Surely the historical record becomes more clear once we cross to these shores.
It doesn't. There are currently three major claims staked on the confusing and contradictory map of American hamburger history. Each has its adherents and detractors. They are:
Louis' Lunch: This New Haven, Connecticut, burger joint claims to have invented our favorite lunchtime (and dinnertime) meal in 1900. From its website: "One day in the year 1900 a man dashed into a small New Haven luncheonette and asked for a quick meal that he could eat on the run. Louis Lassen, the establishment's owner, hurriedly sandwiched a broiled beef patty between two slices of bread and sen the customer on his way, so the story goes, with America's first hamburger."
"Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen: It's said that he started selling meatballs at the age of 15 at the summer fair in Seymour, Wisconsin. But, homeofthehamburger.org says, "Charlie was a resourceful young man with an outgoing personality. After not experiencing much success selling the meatballs, he had an idea and located some bread. He realized people could take this meal with them if he simply smashed the meat together between two pieces of bread. He called it a "hamburger" and yes, in 1885 the burger was born at the fair in Seymour, Wisconsin."
Menches Brothers: The brothers' descendents, who now operate a small chain in Ohio called, not surprisingly, Menches Bros. claim that their great-grandfather and his brother (Charles and Frank, respectively) invented the dish at an 1885 fair in Hamburg, New York. The brothers originally sold sausages but ran out and were forced to use ground beef, which at the time was considered declassé. John Menches, in a Businessweek story, says, "Faced with nothing to sell at all, they fried [the ground beef] up, but it was too bland. My grandfather decided to put coffee, brown sugar, and some other household ingredients in it and cooked up the sandwich. My great-uncle Frank served the first sandwich, a gentleman tasted it and said, 'What do you call it?' Uncle Frank didn't really know what to call it, so he looked up and saw the banner for the Hamburg fair and said, 'This is the hamburger.' "
So who invented the hamburger? Take your pick. We're too ground down at this point to choose.
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 18, 2005 at 10:00 AM
Adam Kuban, of number four, Privet Drive, was proud to say that he was perfectly normal, thank you very much. He was the last person you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because he just didn't hold with such nonsense.
And that held especially true if such nonsense involved flocks of New Yorkers standing in snaking lines, eager to gobble up the latest overhyped must-eat, must-attend, must-read sensation. But Mr. Kuban had fallen under the spell of a witchy woman and so found himself immersed in the cauldron of nonsense bubbling around Scholastic Books headquarters in SoHo. It didn't hurt that the Harry Potter–obsessed charmstress he was meeting that evening had sweetened the deal, luring yours truly to the Half-Blood Prince
release with the promise of a burger at nearby Fanelli's Cafe before the sixth Harry Potter book went on sale at midnight.
Like the Leaky Cauldron in the book series, with its hidden entrance to a wizard strip mall, Fanelli's is a gateway to different world. It is the second-oldest continuously operating restaurant in New York City and a throwback to a pre-glitz SoHo. As the Historic Shops and Resaurants of New York says:
By the Civil War, luxury hotels and fashionable emporia ... did a brisk business along the stretch of the thoroughfare that passed through what a century and half later would come to be known as SoHo. ... A five story brick building at the corner Mercer and Prince Street was typical, with a porterhouse in its storefront and an expensive brothel upstairs. It had replaced a more modest wooden structure that housed a grocer and spirits dealer as far back as 1847 — a genealogy that allows Fanelli's Cafe on the site today to call itself "the second oldest continuous food and drink establishment on the same site in New York."
Furthermore, the book tells us:
Calling [the] place a cafe was a smart move in 1922, at the start of Prohibition. ... The speakeasy made wine and distilled bathtub gin in the cellar, and purchased hard booze from bootleggers, keeping the stash in a secret room — which can still be reached through one of the lower cupboards in the elaborately carved backbar — hidden under the stairs.
Forgoing the bathtub gin, I ordered a beer and a burger, with cheese and onion, cooked medium, and took the fries option as opposed to the salad. As we sat in the "Ladies and Gents Sitting Room" and waited for our meal, we discussed the name Tom Malvolo Riddle with a tiny Hermione and her muggle mom. "How does 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' anagram to 'Lord Voldemort'," I asked. "There's just too many letters." But our burgers came before we divined the answer to the riddle.*
The burgers, yes. They were exceptionally thick and juicy, with a good beefy flavor. The grind of the meat could best be described as medium-coarse, and the patties were served on a chewy square onion roll with cheese slices melted on the bottom and top buns. They reminded my dinner companion of the fare at Corner Bistro, "but much thicker and not quite as good, but almost there." I concurred. We also agreed that the Fanelli burger was a bit too thick. I'm not a snake with a hinged jaw that can open to accommodate an overthick sandwich. We left with full bellies, satisfied but not particularly impressed. It seemed good for the neighborhood — and at $8.50 for sandwich and fries, a relatively good deal for SoHo — but we didn't think it was a destination burger.
Full of gruel and ale, we took our place in the book line. Entertainment for the hourlong wait was provided by a couple of preteen muggles, whose debate we eavesdropped on: One Jedi knight versus the entire U.S. military — who would win? "The U.S. military is AWESOME," the older one posited. "What if it was Yoda?" countered the younger. Indeed.
We procured the weighty tome and left. And I put Fanelli's into my book as a decent place to visit when Year 7 at Hogwarts is released — but probably not before then. There are plenty of burgers in New York to keep me busy, and Fanelli's wasn't magical enough to warrant a visit before J. K. Rowling's next volume materializes.
FANELLI'S CAFE
Location: 94 Prince Street (at Mercer Street; SoHo), New York City NY 10012
Getting There: Nearest trains are N/W/R at Prince or B/D/F/V/6 at Broadway-Lafayette
Phone: 212-226-9412
Cost: $8.50 for cheeseburger; option of fries or salad
Short Order: Good value. Delicious burgers, but just not magically delicious. A little too thick for my tastes, but should do you right if that's your sandwich style.
* The anagram, it turns out, is Tom Marvolo Riddle/I am Lord Voldemort.
Thanks to A Full Belly, for the Historic Shops Fanelli's info.
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 8, 2005 at 4:36 PM
From the New York Post:
A Bronx woman claims she was severely burned on her face, arm and upper body when a White Castle cashier threw hot water at her — and hopes to put the burger chain in some hot water of its own with a $9 million lawsuit.
The woman wanted a an egg-and-cheese biscuit minus the biscuit. That pissed off the cashier, who declared "This isn't a f**kin' restaurant!"
Last we checked, White Castle was a restaurant.
Further proof that In-N-Out, with its courteous service and clean stores would never work in New York City.
Fast-Food Scald Suit [NY Post]
Photo by tonyang
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 23, 2005 at 3:00 PM
Like most bloggers, we check our website statistics the same way Dustin Hoffman would if he starred in Rainman II: Electric Blogger Boogaloo. We are absolutely obsessed with seeing where our visitors come from.
While checking SiteMeter earlier this morning, we ran across a blog called Tangentialism and found this great story about a saved-from-the-wreckage birthday dinner at Shake Shack. Long story short: Birthday boy was told by a Shack employee that the Shack closed at 11 p.m. Birthday boy plans a nighttime picnic there for 9 p.m., arrives, and finds the Shack closing up shop. Quick-thinking Shack manager arranges Shack sister restaurant Eleven Madison Park, just across the street, to make the birthday party dinner and delivers it to attendees in the park.
Aww. What a great birthday gift.
Shake Shack, Beyond the Call of Duty [Tangentialism]
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 22, 2005 at 12:15 PM
ARCHIVES > NEW YORK CITY
Agh! How could we have missed this one! If we would have known that Martha Stewart was going to be flipping burgers at the Shake Shack in New York City's Madison Square Park, we'd have trekked down there for lunch for a photo op. As the New York Observer reports:
"Large or small?" asked Martha Stewart of the Madison Square Park Shake Shack's lunchtime regulars on Tuesday, June 21—most of whom seemed unimpressed with their billionaire burger-server. "I guess I like her," said one woman waiting in line, as her friend stared into space and tried her hardest to look like she would've been there with or without the celebrity presence.
Ms. Stewart got a new daytime show, aptly titled Martha, and she needs to get her knees dirty (when she's allowed out of the house, at least) if she wants to connect with the unemployed proles whoíll be watching it.
The idea for the segment, according to a hanger-on, was to go around the country and film "fun and fabulous" places to eat. "You never know where she's gonna be!" said a member of Ms. Stewart's team. "Hence the Shake Shack! This was perfect for her, as she loves burgers and frankfurters." Oh my God, us too!
AHT ON THE SHAKE SHACK
Behind the Scenes at the Shake Shack
Review: Shake Shack
Source: Fry, Martha [New York Observer]
[Thanks to Janelle for the tip.]
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 17, 2005 at 11:43 AM
ARCHIVES > NEW YORK CITY
So, last night was the Food Blog Panel at Makor Center. As you might know, yours truly was a member of the panel, along with Alaina "A Full Belly" Browne and Josh "The Food Section" Friedland. Andrea Strong moderated.
I don't have much to say about the event, because I didn't take notes, didn't record it, and I was a bit nervous so can't remember many details about what we all talked about. Perhaps later in the day my fellow panelists and some of our fellow foodbloggers in attendance will chime in on their sites and I'll link.
We basically talked about the role of foodblogs in food media (were they a threat—ha!—to traditional media or a complementary source of info), why we started our respective blogs, what kept us blogging, which food writers we liked, and what other blogs we liked out there.
I felt I was a bit ineloquent at times and was told I was gesticulating too much, and I wanted to name a lot of fellow foodbloggers as daily reads but then fell flat and drew a blank, even though some of them were in the audience. Sorry, folks!
Anyway, it was a fun night—for me, anyway. Audience members: I don't know how you sat through an hour of bloggity blog blab. More power to you. And thanks, many thanks, for attending. (Special shouts out to the bloggers in the crowd: Capn Design a.k.a. "Hamburger" Matty Jacobs, Miss Ginsu, The Amateur Gourmet, A Year in Food, The Girl Who Ate Everything, Anil, Lia, Kathryn, Janelle, and anyone my sleep-deprived brain might be forgetting.)
Big ups to Josh, Alaina, Andrea, and the Makor Center, too.
###
Thank You [The Food Section]
Food Blog Panel [The Girl Who Ate Everything]
Meet the F'loggers [The Amateur Gourmet]
Photograph by Slice city editor Seltzerboy. From left: Adam K., Andrea Strong, Alaina Browne, Josh Friedland
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 7, 2005 at 11:22 AM
NEW YORK CITY
From the New York Post's Page Six today comes word of an Uma-Ethan sighting in Madison Square Park.
Why does A Hamburger Today care? Read it and weep: " ... Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke playing Legos with their son by the snack stand at Madison Square Park ..."
For other folks, the bigger issue here might be whether these two are getting back together or just having a joint-custody jaunt in the park. We're more interested, however, in the "snack stand." We don't know of any other "snack stand" in that park besides the Shake Shack, so we wonder if that child of divorce was building a Lego burger stand in its shadow.
AHT Reviews the Shake Shack
Sightings [New York Post]
Posted by Matt Jacobs, May 27, 2005 at 9:12 AM
Schnäck brings back fond memories. My first tiny burger experience occurred here only two years ago. From that point on, I was changed. I could no longer live in a regular-sized burger world; I needed diversity. I'll always love a full-sized burger, but the combination of cuteness and burger is too much to pass up. But I digress.
Schnäck sits on a quiet block in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, surrounded mostly by residences. When you get inside, the decor is kitschy, but not over the top—silly enough to be entertaining while still feeling quite homey. Unlike the other tiny-burger restaurants we've reviewed this week, Schnäck is a sit-down restaurant (if you're in a hurry, you can do delivery or take-out, though). Once you find your table, the staff, especially co-owner and manager Harry, are quick to crack jokes and make you feel at ease.
Aside from Harry, the other two owners are Alan and Jim. This duo is responsible for a number of other popular Brooklyn eateries, including Patois, Uncle Pho, the Red Rail, and the Gowanus Yacht Club. They seem to have found a couple hits in there, but Schnäck will always be my favorite.
The tiny burgers, Schnäckies, are a dollar a piece, with cheese costing an extra $0.50 (kraut or onions are free). All Schnäckies are served with Schnäck Sauce, which is a version of thousand island, like most secret sauces. Although I recommend the singles, you can get doubles, triples, or quads, which are just more patties on one bun. My one complaint about this place is that the double costs $2.50 while a single is a dollar. That just doesn't make sense.
Unlike Sassy's Sliders, Schnäck prefers to serve its burgers without too much in the way. The buns are simple, and the sauce is complimentary. This works because the meat is actually quite tasty. If you look at the photos above, you'll see that they cook the burgers pretty thoroughly, which seems to add flavor. It doesn't seem that Schnäck adds anything special to the beef, but I wouldn't be surprised if the place used some salt and pepper. Bottom line, the burgers are flavorful considering how tiny they are.
Like Shake Shack or Blue 9, I highly recommend you grab some fries and a shake to compliment your burger. I would come for the shakes, fries, or burgers alone, which is what makes this place so dangerous. On top of the typical burger and hot dog fare, Schnäck's menu features quite a few options that would satisfy your non-burger-loving friends. Although, if your friends don't love burgers, you should really question your relationship.
As an aside, Schnäck is holding its inaugural hot dog eating contest on Memorial Day. Unlike other food-eating competitions, this one is for amateurs and it's about speed, not quantity. The first to finish a 30-inch-long custom-made Stahl-Meyer hot dog wins. The contest will take place at 1 p.m., and, if you arrive between 11a.m. and 1p.m., you'll get a free hot dog. Because of the potential hilarity and free food, I'll most likely be in attendance. If you can't make it, feel free to follow along on Schnäck's blog.
SCHNÄCK
Location: 122 Union St. (between Columbia and Hicks), Brooklyn, NY
Phone: 718-855-2879
Cost: $1 for a single
Short Order: These tiny burgers are heaven sent. Great with anything.
Posted by Matt Jacobs, May 26, 2005 at 8:00 AM
There are few benefits to working on the Upper East Side. Obviously, we've got some rockin' museums and Central Park, but take those away and all you have is about a million strollers. Thankfully, there are a few above-average burger joints in the hood. We'll discuss the others in the future, but since it's tiny hamburger week we've set our sights on Sassy's Sliders.
Sassy's, along with Schnäck, are the two big shots in the tiny hamburger scene of NYC (which is why we'll be putting these two head-to-head tomorrow, after the full Schnäck review). The styles of each restaurant are quite different, in terms of both burger and decor. Sassy's, as their website explains, is shooting for a 50's aesthetic and focuses on freshly prepared food. They are set up for counter service and the dining area is quite small, which means you aren't likely to get a seat during a busy lunch hour. That being said, I've always managed to grab one of the seats while there.
Although we only came for the burger, Sassy's also offers sliders in veggie, turkey, chicken parm and bbq chicken varieties. The burger is made with 100% freshly ground sirloin and served with browned onions, pickles & ketchup. The buns are steamed. If you don't want anything on top be sure to tell your server, but I would recommend sticking with their setup as it adds significantly to the burger.
While ordering, we realized that Sassy's is a pretty good deal. For $5.79 you get four sliders of any combination you like, a regular-sized soda and an order of fries. It's $0.12 extra for cheese or $0.30 extra for cajun, garlic or sweet potato fries. It's not dirt cheap, but compared to Stanton Social or my other options on the UES, I'm not complaining.
The burgers themselves aren't terribly flavorful, but the quality of the meat is good. Eaten alone, the burger is nothing particularly special. Tasty, but not memorable. When you add the toppings, the sandwich comes to life. Michael Ronis and Herb Goldberg, the cofounders of Sassy's, seem to have found a winning combination. The steamed bun is an interesting touch, as it gives it a working-class feel, but it aids in blending the flavors together. Maybe it's a bad thing that I remember the flavors of the bun, pickles, ketchup and onion the most, but that doesn't mean it's a bad sandwich. Sassy's has put the focus on the flavor of the condiments, which actually makes sense for a mini-burger as the amount of meat usually isn't enough to get it sufficiently juicy.
While tasting, I also tried out a cheeseburger -- it was just as good, so add the american cheese if you're in the mood -- and a veggie burger, which had an atrocious honey mustard sauce on top. I could only eat a couple bites. The fries at Sassy's are quite good too, if you're in need of fried carbs.
Sassy's did not disappoint. It's far from froufrou and that's how I like it. The ingredients are fresh and the flavors are right, which is why I grab lunch here about once a month. If you decide to have your own mini-burger week, day, month or whatever, Sassy's Sliders is worth a visit. It's also a worthy stop for the NYC burger lover.
SASSY'S SLIDERS
Location: 1530 3rd Ave. (at 86th St.), New York, NY 10028
Phone: 212-828-6900
Cost: $0.99 a slider
Short Order: The sliders are tasty and worth a visit, especially if you're in the neighborhood.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 25, 2005 at 12:17 AM
NEW YORK CITY
How can you go wrong with tiny hamburgers? How can you go wrong with Kobe-style beef? Two great tastes that go good together? Yes and no.
Shortly after announcing on Monday that this week was Tiny Hamburger Week on AHT, we received a couple e-mails telling us to try the Kobe-style sliders at recently opened restaurant and lounge The Stanton Social on New York City's Lower East Side. AHT senior editor Matty and I made it down there post-haste that night.
We had read about the place on New York real-estate blog Curbed, so we knew about the place's fancy digs (see photo below). White Castle this is not. And the price tag on just one of these tiny treats ($5 a pop) would get you about seven of that establishment's Slyders. But it's Kobe beef (well, Kobe-style—a.k.a. "wagyu"—we're sure, as real Kobe beef is illegal to import), and we were prepared to pay.
We arrived shortly after work hours and were able to get a table with no problem, but if you're going at dinnertime, you'll probably need a reservation. The Stanton Social's schtick is that its fare is meant to be shared, hence the name, we guess. Dishes are therefore small and the idea is that you order many different things over the course of your meal-drinking-conversation session. That philosophy demands an attentive wait staff, and our server was nothing but. Friendly, too. As we ordered, he informed us that the chef recommends the burgers medium-rare. We took that recommendation.
Our sliders arrived at table shortly thereafter, four small and juicy looking sandwiches on small golden-brown rolls. The burgers come with a ripe plum tomato slice between the bottom bun and patty, which is topped with a diced onion mixture, a sharp cheese that we couldn't quite place, and a special sauce that tasted ketchup-based. The burgers were as juicy as they looked and were the some of the beefiest tasting burgers I've had while writing for AHT. No complaints there.
The special sauce, while not overpowering, diverted attention from the wagyu beef, though, and the burgers were almost too juicy, if that's possible. Our take on it, as is the case with most wagyu-beef concoctions be they burgers, hot dogs, or what have you, is that, sure they're tasty, but why not just savor this fancy-pants beef on its own in steak form? We liked our sliders but felt that once you'd tried them, there's nothing outstanding there that would draw you back to them. They're more a novelty item that you can safely skip unless you're curious.
THE STANTON SOCIAL
Location: 99 Stanton St. (at Orchard St.; Lower East Side), New York City NY 10002
Phone: 212-995-0099
Cost: $5 a slider
Short Order: These Kobe-beef sliders are tasty but more a novelty than a necessity
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 24, 2005 at 8:49 AM
NEW YORK CITY
For those AHT readers who live in New York City, the Hamburger America screening is tonight at Makor Center.
Posted by Special Correspondent, May 20, 2005 at 10:30 AM
NEW YORK CITY
WORDS BY SELTZERBOY .::. SPECIAL TO AHT | Wednesday night, this site's editor in chief and I finally caught up with Jim Leff, who decided to stop by (well, near) our place of business for a little chat at Coliseum Books. Good thing it wasn't the other way around, because the much-admired food sleuth does his business seemingly in every corner of the tri-state area.
What a treat to talk turkey (well, not exactly) with Mr. Leff, whose populist spirit for a better way of eating infused the room with endless possibilities for elevating the way we eat. Mr. Leff, who wears a hound mask to protect his identity, may well be the city's most offbeat food critic, a moniker he would likely shun—and who could blame him. The mental muscle behind Chowhound.com, he is more than just another guy with a palate and a pen. Mr. Leff is a careful observer of the many nuances involved in cooking, and treats it more like an art form than the science fiction to which it is customarily relegated. He looks beyond atmosphere and other Zagat niceties in favor of restaurateurs who pour their souls into their frying pans, whether they cook in star-bestowed kitchens of distinction or turn out seemingly impossible delights in out-of the way greasy spoon diners. In this world, nothing trumps eating well.
Just as Mr. Leff is no talking head, Chowhound is more than just a website. It is a movement for those determined to change the paradigm through which most restaurants are measured. It is a support group for those who can differentiate fresh from aged mozzarella, and an egalitarian network to promote the former. "Chowhound is an antidote," Mr. Leff said.
Mr. Leff was at the Midtown bookstore to plug The Chowhound’s Guide To The New York Tristate Area. (He didn't actually write the book, save the foreword, but helped to edit it based on countless postings to the eponymous website.) Admiration for Mr. Leff aside, one has to wonder if New York really needs another book chock-full of restaurant tips; any bookstore in town has several dozen of them on the shelves. But one perusal of the book will change your mind. What New York doesn't need are the dozens of other books on the market. The Chowhound's Guide offers a great starting point for anyone, regardless of cuisine preference or locale. Its main section is oddly alphabetized by pretty much anything: ethnic cuisine, neighborhood, landmark, even specific dishes; the back is indexed by restaurant names and neighborhoods.
Mr. Leff's way of thinking has long been an inspiration. More than the great food he has pointed us toward—I can't even count how many burgers I have eaten at Donovan's of Woodside and Molly's of Gramercy Park over the years, the latter of which I owe entirely to Mr. Leff's indispensable first book, The Eclectic Gourmet Guide to Greater New York. I asked Mr. Leff how we can win the burger battle when 95 percent of Americans learned about hamburgers through Burger King and the other 5 percent doesn't have the money to wage an equally effective marketing campaign. Ever the optimist, Mr. Leff said that we're not trying to put chain stores out of business; we're just trying to get the remaining 5 percent to spend its money wisely, never to settle for the corporate food chain.
Since the book isn't really his per se, Mr. Leff read but one segment from it. Listed under X for "eXtremely Important," it sounded more like a sermon in which our spiritual leader preached his shiny outlook, at one point, even making us raise our hands in the air to pledge an oath: "It's extremely important that we never settle for anything undelicious when there are so many geniuses, holdouts, and proud crafsmen investing hearts and souls in cooking edible treasure that can sate our deepest hankerings. Just venture a bit farther and care a bit more, and all occasions can be special ... and the good guys will win."
Seltzerboy is city editor at Slice, America's Favorite Pizza Weblog.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2005 at 3:00 PM
LOS ANGELES
Attentive readers will have seen the Yahoo! News feed in the left-hand sidebar, just below the strip of photos. Too often the stories that come up on that wire are about profit margins at the big fast-food chains or some football club in Deutschland. But sometimes, stories like this justify the presence of that newsfeed.
In this week's "Counter Intelligence" column, L.A. Weekly's Jonathan Gold highlights pljeskavica:
Pljeskavica is a thin, Balkan hamburger, as big and round as a phonograph record, flavored with salt and onions and peppers and briefly cooked over a hot charcoal fire, a chewy meat patty that still has all its juice. Pljeskavica and its cousins can be found throughout the former Yugoslavia, feeding swarms of Serbian teenagers on a Saturday night or adding ballast to the table at a Dubrovnik café, but the outstanding examples of the breed are generally acknowledged to come from Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the Turkish Muslim influence has insinuated itself as firmly into the kitchens as it has into the culture. Bosnia is where you find the tastiest cevapi, grilled ground-meat capsules that are tucked into bread, the juiciest grilled lamb, the most succulent kebabs. It has been hard to think of Bosnia as much of a food destination in the last decade or so, but reliable people tell me that the charcoal-grilled pljeskavica in Sarajevo is still worth the trip....
Tucked into its sturdy, focaccia-style bun, a steroidal construction that bears the same relationship to a supermarket roll that Barry Bonds' left arm does to the musculature of a ballerina, Aroma's pljeskavica is an awe-inspiring unit of consumption, almost as daunting in its appearance as it is difficult to pronounce. Outside of an El Tepeyac burrito, Oaxacan tlayudas and the kind of tenderloin sandwiches found in some precincts of central Iowa, pljeskavica may command more acreage than any other foodstuff on the planet. Imagine a sausage pizza built from sausage, a minced-beef Frisbee, a sizzling 50 Cent platter fabricated completely, entirely of meat. Eat enough of a pljeskavica, and youíll know what an anaconda feels like when it passes an entire capybara through its system.
Sounds delicious, but this reporter is based in New York City. I know we have Bosnians here, so we've gotta have this dish. Never fear: Doing some quick research on Chowhound, A Hamburger Today came across this post about a place called Samra's in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn. That's not too far from AHT's BK HQ. We'll be sure to hit it up soon and make the full report.
Counter Intelligence: Bosnia's Big Mac [L.A. Weekly]
AROMA CAFE
Location: 2530 Overland Ave., Los Angeles
Phone: 310-836-2919
Website: aromacafe-la.com
SAMRA'S
Location: Church Ave. near Dahill Road, "a couple blocks west" of the Church Avenue Station on the F train; Brooklyn, NY
—photograph from L.A. Weekly
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2005 at 12:00 PM
NEW YORK CITY
I wanted so much to like The Burger Joint, on Third Avenue at 20th Street in Manhattan's Gramercy neighborhood. This purveyor of tiny hamburgers was hoppin', with Police Academy cadets rubbing elbows with doctors, rubbing elbows with what appeared to be college students. It has, as our friend Tien reported on his site, an amazing soda fountain, with RC, Bosco Chocolate Soda, and Stewart's Root Beer on tap. Its manager, constantly refilling patrons' soda cups at no extra charge, is straight from the New York school of friendly but feisty, gruff but gracious. Feeling welcome in the joint from the start, I ordered two burgers plain and two with cheese and fought my way onto a stool at the counter once some of our future Finest exited.
As Tien pointed out on Gothamist, one should not confuse The Burger Joint with Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien hotel in Midtown. To do so is to ignore cartography, burger size, and quality. When my mini burgers arrived, I was ready to make quick work of them, and I plunged into one of the cheeseless sandwiches first, for a better assessment of taste. The meat was fresh and tasty and cooked nicely to about medium doneness. It was juicy, with seemingly more fat in it than most burgers, and I speculated that this might be necessary because smaller burgers cook faster and have a tendency to dry out easily.
Had I stopped with just that one, this review would be different. But as I tore into the second sandwich and the first of my cheeseburgers, I noticed a considerable amount of gristle present. Well, these things happen, I thought, and how much different is it from a juicy strip of fat on a delicious steak? As long as it's isolated in this burger...
Third burger? Uh oh. More gristle. I would have stopped eating at this point but, sitting at the counter and clearly visible to the manager, I didn't want to appear rude (I was taught to finish everything on my plate). So, fourth burger? First bite, and I've got a mouthful of gristle and something that was either very hard gristle or, more likely, a bone chip. At this point, what remained of my appetite vanished for good. I paid my bill and left, wondering how long it would be before I'd be able to go back to burgers.
I could go on about their little grill and the fact that they quickly turn out so many burgers at once on so small a surface. I could talk about their grilling technique. I could list the prices ($1 hamburgers, $1.25 cheeseburgers). But all that pales in light of the gristly meat. I'd like to go back just to see if this was a fluke, a once-in-a-blue-moon case of inattentive meat trimming before grinding. But I don't know if I could bring myself to do so. We at AHT would be curious to hear from other readers regarding The Burger Joint.
THE BURGER JOINT
Location: 241 Third Ave. (at 20th St.), New York City 10003
Phone: 212-228-1219
Extras: Check out this photo of the place below. See the doctor? Do you think he's a cardiologist? Heh. To top it off, when he left, he picked up a cigarette off the sidewalk that he must have left there while he ordered inside! This would be one doctor who would never bug you about your bad habits.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 18, 2005 at 9:00 AM
For those AHT readers who live in New York City, here's something for you: Burger biopic Hamburger America will be screened at Makor Center as part of its Food on Film Salon next Tuesday, May 24.
The film wil unspool at 7:30 p.m., followed by a post-screening discussion moderated by Gotham's own guru of meat, Mr. Cutlets.
Tickets are $15 and are available through the Makor site and probably at the door, we'd guess, provided it doesn't sell out first.
This event will take place at the Steinhardt Building, 35 West 67th Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue).
SIDE ORDERS
AHT reviews Hamburger America
For a while, Mr. Cutlets' site was AWOL. Looks like it's back, complete with the Mr. Cutlets theme song, some valuable info, and a link to buy his excellent book, Meat Me in Manhattan.
Posted by Matt Jacobs, May 16, 2005 at 6:23 AM
NEW YORK CITY
Believe the hype. Said hype, which was reported on before, made the entire staff of AHT twitch with desire. The long lines held us off for only so long, but the staff gave in last week.
The burgers at Shake Shack, like Blue Nine, follow the west-coast style. What really separates them from the pack is their choice of meat. Instead of ground chuck or something similar, they use a mix of sirloin and brisket, which is freshly ground across the street at Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park. The unusual choice results in a higher fat content, which produces a fantastically tasty burger. Although it's fun to pile a burger high with condiments, this one can stand alone. My favorite part is that although the burger is juicy, the hot griddle seals it in so the juice gets in your belly and not on your plate.
Having been twice now, I tried both a plain burger and a Shack Burger, which includes their Shake Shack Sauce. The sauce is mayo-based, but the ingredients are secret. It was good, but not an essential part of the experience. I'm more of a mustard guy, anyhow. All of the other condiments—lettuce, tomato, bun—were tasty. The bun was very plain, but a perfect compliment for the flavorful burger.
The line is, as expected, long. From my local scouts, the line is still about half an hour during the peak lunch times (12 p.m. to 2 p.m.), but when I've visited at 2:30 p.m., I was ordering in about 10 minutes. When I visited for dinner —Shake Shack is now open until 9 p.m. for the rest of the summer—I hardly waited at all. Don't worry about grabbing a table right away as there are usually some available and turnover is quick if there aren't.
Shake Shack is an essential part of the NYC burger experience. It is not to be missed.
Shake Shack
Location: The southeast corner of Madison Square Park at 23rd St.; New York City
Phone: 212-889-6600
Hours: Daily, 11a.m. to 9 p.m.
What's Cookin': The hamburger. Don't dirty it up the first time you try it. In non-burger land (what's that?), the fries and shakes are also excellent.
Extras: More photos from the Shake Shack trips; Liao Yusheng's shack trip
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.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 7, 2005 at 9:40 PM
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.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 6, 2005 at 6:29 PM
A Hamburger Today loves Burger Joint. How could we not? Besides serving some of the best hamburgers we've had in New York City, the place has a kooky—if very deliberate—down-at-the-heels charm (right) that runs squarely at odds with its surroundings, namely those of fancy-pants hotel Le Parker Meridien (top left).
While Burger Joint is a touch difficult to find, tucked away behind a curtain to the north of the lobby desk with only a small iconic neon sign pointing the way, it's never empty. Between besuited Midtown businessfolk on lunch break and travelers grabbing dinner downstairs from their rooms, you're lucky to grab a stool or a booth in the wood-paneled, '70s rec room–style diner. The Meridien, just off Sixth Avenue, has doors on 56th and 57th, and though its easier to access Burger Joint from the 56th Street side, we recommend you make a grand entrance from 57th Street. That's because you'll find yourself in a soaring mirror-walled atrium with marble floors (top right)—all the better to enhance the cognitive dissonance you'll experience once inside the restaurant.
We also recommend grabbing any open table right away, if you're with someone who can hold it while you stand in line to order. It's counter service, and there's no host to seat you or take names. While you stand in line, you can contemplate your order, but that won't take long. The menu's simple: a hamburger or cheeseburger (both $5 at the time of this review) topped with any or all choices of lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, pickles, mustard, ketchup, or mayo. Also on the menu: Fries, shakes (after 3 p.m. only), beer, and brownies.
On a recent afternoon, I visited Burger Joint to grab some photos along with a late lunch. I ordered a hamburger, cooked medium-well, keeping in mind that Burger Joint's doneness scale skews toward the underdone, at least from what I've observed. A medium-well here, for instance, comes out more what I'd call medium; a medium more along the lines of a medium-rare, etc. While we're talking about doneness, Burger Joint is not a place that denies your wishes. While eating my burger, I witnessed a fellow connoisseur order a burger and a cheeseburger rare, to nary a bat of an eye from the BJ staff.
That's probably because, as all good burger places should, Burger Joint uses fresh, high-quality meat in its hamburger sandwiches, and those sandwiches are among the best I've had—plenty juicy and thick, but not annoyingly thick. The bun gets a light toasting over the same flame the patties cook over and is otherwise soft and fluffy.
While taking photos at my hard-won table, I attracted the attention of another Burger Joint patron. "Excuse me, but may I ask why you're taking photos of your burger?" he asked. Turns out this fellow was none other than filmmaker George Motz, the man behind burger biopic Hamburger America. Mr. Motz and I had been in contact since I placed an order for the DVD of his movie, and when I revealed my photographic motivation, he knew at once who I was. After suggesting moving my burger to a spot with better lighting (which still didn't help in the dim light of Burger Joint), he told me that his movie had been picked up by for airing by the Sundance Channel. So, congrats to Mr. Motz, whose film we review here.
Had I been in a better headspace, I would have chatted more with Mr. Motz and asked him for his thoughts on Burger Joint. As it was, I was late in getting back to work and had to rush. As I rode the subway back to the office, I couldn't think of anything Burger Joint could do to improve upon its formula. The men and women behind the curtain run a grade-A operation. If only New Yorkers and hungry hotel guests would pay no attention to them, then A Hamburger Today editors could more easily walk the road to this hamburger haven.
BURGER JOINT
Location: 118 W 57th ST, New York City NY 10019. Which is to say, in the lobby of Le Parker Meridien hotel, behind the curtain to the north of the check-in desk
Hours: Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m to 11:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m. to midnight
Payment: Cash only
What's Cookin': This hidden gem serves some of New York's best burgers. Don't let the fancy address put you off: You'll feel right at home in the rec room–like dining area of this burger shop. The burgers tend to come a little less done than you ordered; that is, a medium burger here might be more like a medium-rare burger elsewhere.
Menu: Click here for offerings
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 5, 2005 at 3:59 PM
Blue 9 Burger is often compared to California-based In-N-Out Burger, and for good reason: Both shops use fresh (never-frozen) beef, select the freshest ingredients for toppings, and, for fries, hand-cut the potatoes in-house.
While this reporter has never had the opportunity to sample In-N-Out* and cannot, therefore, make a head-to-head comparison, I do know that the freshness Blue 9 Burger strives for makes all the difference and, surprisingly, doesn't add that much to the price of a typical hamburger meal.
When I went recently, I ordered what is listed on the menu (see right) as "Hamburger," as opposed to the "Blue 9 Burger," which is a double cheeseburger.
After asking if I wanted onion (yes, please), the cashier gave my order to the cook, and I had a chance to take some photos while my burger was grilled (like any good hamburger place, but unusual for a fast-food joint, Blue 9 makes your food after you order it, not before). This gave me time to read the shop's mission statement, writ large on its southern wall, avoidable only by the blind:
At Blue 9 Burger we believe fast food should be made from scratch. We start with 100% beef which is never frozen. Every burger is made to order. At Blue 9 Burger there are no heat lamps or microwaves. Your french fries are cooked from fresh potatoes and are peeled and diced in the store. At Blue 9 Burger we only use the highest quality, freshest ingredients to make the world's most delicious burgers and fries. Blue 9 Burger—always fresh, always delicious.
I've had Blue 9 many times before and have always enjoyed it, but have never really eaten it with a palate toward criticism. When my burger arrived, accompanied by lettuce, tomato, and raw onion, I found that the test subject upheld my favorable impression. Lettuce, tomato, and onion were noticeably crisp and fresh, providing just the counterpoint to the soft bun. The meat—a thin patty with a bit of exterior crunch—tasted fresh, as well, and was very good, if a bit dry. I then recalled that I hadn't been asked how I wanted my burger cooked. Perhaps in the future, I will specify medium or medium-rare and see if that makes a difference.
BLUE 9 BURGER
Location: 92 Third Ave., New York NY 10003
Phone: 212-979-0053
Hours: Sun.-Mon., 11 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.; Tues.-Wed., 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.; Thurs., 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 4 a.m.
Payment: Cash only.
What's Cookin': The Blue 9 Burger (double cheeseburger) can get a bit messy. They deliver, but there's a $6 minimum, which shouldn't be too hard to make. Click here for menu.
Extras: Photo outtakes from Blue 9 trip.
* For shame, for shame, I know. West Coast editor Hamburglar Hadley, however, has had both. I'll get him on a comparison right away.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 9, 2005 at 6:55 PM
Detail of a mural behind the McDonald's on Fourth Avenue between Garfield Place and 1st Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 9, 2005 at 1:33 AM
NEW YORK CITY
The recent snap of nice-for-a-change spring weather had me jazzed to do some al fresco dining. What better place for open-air eating (and drinking) than the Bohemian Beer Hall & Garden? Unfortunately, when I arrived at the restaurant, only a portion of the garden was open—and it was packed.
Fortunately, I found another nearby option, one that served burgers. French restaurant 718, on the corner of Ditmars Boulevard and 35th Street in Astoria, Queens, seems an unexpected choice for hamburgers, but the tasty sandwiches can indeed be found on the menu there.
Listed under the tapas section (is there not a French word for tapas?), you'll find the 718 Burger ($8). Don't let the singular noun fool you: You'll actually receive two small (3-inch or so) cheeseburgers on rolls with a slice of tomato. Think White Castle gone upscale, Chateau Blanc, if you will. The 718 Burger is served with fries and a salad of mixed greens.
Juicyness registered low on the scale, perhaps because of the patties' diminutive size, but their mildly pungent spices added interest, lending the tiny hamburgers an almost Middle Eastern or Mediterranean air—I swear I was tasting chickpea in there somewhere, too. The fries and salad are nice additions and provide balance if you're worried about your consumption of meat. I wasn't so worried and would rather have lost the sides in exchange for a couple more miniburgers.
The bottom line: For a full-on burger experience, it might be wise to dial around. 718's baby burgers definitely belong on the tapas menu, more a snack than a meal.
718
Location: 35-01 Ditmars Blvd.; Astoria, NY
Phone: 718-204-5333
Getting there: Take the N/W trains to the end of the line; exit station, walk north to Ditmars. Right on Ditmars; walk a few blocks east.
Short Order: The 718 Burger—actually two mini hamburgers. Served with fries and salad. $8.
Posted by Matt Jacobs, April 8, 2005 at 11:12 PM
In New York City, the title of best burger changes every fifteen minutes. Danny Meyer's Shake Shack seems to be the king of the mountain these days. After officially opening on July 1st last year, people flocked to try all of the delicious creations, but everyone came away raving about the burger. Thanks to some serious buzz and being named best burger by New York Magazine, Shake Shack has been completely packed since reopening on April 4th.
Liao Yusheng, whom I just linked to, reported waiting 40 minutes for food and folks on this eGullet thread reports anywhere from 20-55 minutes. But what do they think of the burgers? The reactions seem to be mixed, with a lot of folks being underwhelmed. Still, hype has to start out somewhere, so there must be a few burger lovers out there who dig Shake Shack's west-coast style burger.
All of this indecision means the best burger crown isn't quite ready to settle upon the Shack just yet. It's just as well, as I'd rather be surprised by an un-hyped burger than disappointed by one that's universally lauded. That, and I have no intention of using up my full lunch hour in line. I guess I'll have to wait until May when they start staying open until 11pm, instead of just lunch, before I give it a shot.
Photo by Liao Yusheng
