The one-item food establishment has become an integral part of the Manhattan cuisine scene—restaurants devoted exclusively to macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, or cupcakes are charming in their gimmicky glory. A primary player in this class of restaurants, established long before its peers, is the burger joint. Manhattan is teeming with them.
And while an only-macaroni restaurant becomes stale after a visit or two, the caché of the burger joint remains very much alive. Up and down the West Side, New Yorkers flock to these often dimly-lit establishments to gorge themselves on beef patties and salty french fries. But the quantity of the restaurants should not be confused with abundant quality—while a hamburger is not very hard to find on this side of the city, a really good one is.
First stop: BRGR (7th Avenue between 26th and 27th streets), an airy, narrow burger joint in the heart of Chelsea. Located right by the Fashion Institute, BRGR certainly tries its best to make beef chic. While the menu contains some prefabricated burger options, most visitors opt to make their own. Customers start off with their choice of veggie, turkey, or beef patty and then add their toppings, ranging from bleu cheese to herb mayonnaise.
A sign declares proudly: “Everything we serve is prepared to order. We won’t start cooking your burger until you order it. We think it’s worth the wait!” The burgers arrived surprisingly quickly—but the quality was consistent with the amount of time they took to cook. The large, thin patties, served on sesame-seed buns, were overcooked—instead of the rosy pink color one hopes to see inside a burger, these were an unnerving gray. And although the menu contained two kinds of mayonnaise, the sauce list had one glaring omission: barbecue sauce. Ironically, BRGR’s saving graces were its non-burger items—the thin, golden french fries and thick, velvety milkshakes.
The next contender for best West Side burger, Five Guys Burgers and Fries (55th Street between 5th and 6th avenues), is a Washington, D.C. transplant. Five Guys certainly places less of an emphasis on ambience than BRGR, but it seems this energy is instead placed rightly on the food. The toppings are classic—like onions, tomatoes, green peppers, and jalapeños—and customers can pick as many as they want at no extra charge. The burgers come in two sizes: “little,” which contains one patty, and “regular,” which has two. While the regular burger ends up offsetting the delicate meat-bread ratio, the little burger contains the perfect balance between bun, patty, and toppings. With its well but slowly cooked burgers, Five Guys is a fine addition to Manhattan’s burger offerings.
The simply named Burger Joint is a hidden gem. There’s no way you could find this spot unless you knew what you were looking for. Located inside Le Parker Meridien Hotel (57th Street at 6th Avenue), one must walk through a cavernous, marble hall and past the concierge desk—the dimly-lit restaurant is tucked behind a red curtain. The contrast between the restaurant and the hotel is striking. While the lobby is hushed and highbrow, Burger Joint couldn’t be more different—the entire room is abuzz and every booth is packed.
The burgers are students of the smaller-but-juicer school to which Five Guys ascribes, rather than BRGR’s bigger-is-better strategy. The toppings are more limited than those at either establishment, but the patties are perfectly cooked and served warm on fluffy buns. The best way to eat these burgers is messily, stuffed with “the works.” The mayonnaise contains a bit of horseradish to give the sandwich a bit of a kick. The best restaurant of the three, Burger Joint is an establishment for those in the know.
The last stop of the great burger quest, Corner Bistro (W. 4th Street at 8th Avenue), located in the heart of Greenwich Village, may or may not have burgers as good as the rest—but it was impossible to tell because one could barely squeeze through the door, let alone order a hamburger. After an epic journey downtown, Columbians are unlikely to want to wait in a similarly epic line. Corner Bistro, regardless of the quality of its meat, is one to skip.
High-end culinary efforts notwithstanding, making the burger chic does not substantially change the quality of the product. Burgers are meant to be eaten sloppily in a booth on a table covered in a thin film of dried beer, and that is how they continue to be enjoyed. The West Side’s best—Five Guys and Burger Joint—know not to trouble themselves with such distracting pursuits as décor and posh sauces. They know that a classic food merits classic treatment, and their wares don’t disappoint.