First Look: Zen Burger
Amid rumors of financial problems (the Union Square Zen Palate closed two weeks ago), Zen Burger is scheduled to open the weekend of November 24th on Lexington btw. 45+46th. Here’s a look at a mock up of the inside:
Courtesy of The Angel Group for Branding & Design
It’s a lot more McDonalds’ish than I expected (down to the photos on the overhead menu, which don’t look like veggie burgers to me).
From the looks of a photo of the entire interior, leaving Zen Burger may require some sort of teleportation (achieving Nirvana perhaps?). That photo, after the jump…
Courtesy of The Angel Group for Branding & Design
Related Post: Zen Burger Takes the Madness to a Whole New Level
Posted by Zach Brooks at 8:22 am, November 9th, 2007 under *Lex btw. 45+46th, Burger, Vegetarian, Zen Burger.
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36 Comments
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Went into to Zen Burger today not realizing it had just opened, so it was very crowded. Although, it only took 15 minutes to get my food. Ordered the basic Zen Burger meal w/fries and iced tea. The burger was on the cold side, probably from being prepared way in advance for the swarm of customers. Overall the taste of the burger was pretty good, a decent clone of beef but not dead-on. I was yearning for a cheese clone, but the Zen sauce was a nice substitute.
Nice selection of alternative beverages; 3 kinds of iced tea.
All for a price that you would normally see at a fast food joint in the city. -
During my 25 minute wait for my food I kept looking around expecting to see Trump’s camera crew filming for another NYC episode of “The Apprentice.” I’m guessing they were driven out by the theme colors, which are even more seizure inducing than in the pictures. If the colors weren’t enough, the rugby scrum to actually get your food finished the job. I actually heard one lady yell “BINGO” when her order number was called out.
The food itself was so-so. The “meat” was more like ham than beef, but it was better than veggie burgers I’ve sampled in the past. The fries were as Blair put it, “reminiscent of Burger King fries”..you know…the old ones that usually ranked the worst of the big 3 fast food joints. The one bright spot of my eating experience was that I didn’t get that “why the hell did I just do this to myself….again?” feeling I usually associated with fast food burgers.
Despite all the craziness, the staff remained helpful and courteous, so there’s hope for Zen Burger, but let’s see how raw nerves are after a week or two more of the madness.
Good Luck Zen Burger….I’m not holding my breath.
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Yes, I have complaints about Zen Burger, but I think they’re fixable, and I’ll be back. I’ve been vegetarian for over 5 years, and this definitely has the potential to cure my heretofore unsatisfied craving for “meaty” fast food.
After a 15-minute wait, I got my $10 Zen Burger lunch which consisted of: (1) an allegedly “crispy” zenchicken sandich, (2) zenshrimp sans tartar sauce because they forgot to put it in my bag, and (3) fast-food potato french fries. My sandwich had one, lone wilted leaf of lettuce and a thin, dime-size whisper of aioli that my tastebuds located, with great difficulty, in the otherwise bare sandwich. The shrimp is reminiscent of overcooked, tough, breaded shrimp from Long John Silver’s. The fries are, at best, ordinary and, I suspect, frozen.
My main objection is the COMPLETE ABSENCE of the yam fries for which Zen Palate is famous. According to the manager/investor who was guiding the line today, this was because of price. But ya know what, I WOULD PAY EXTRA FOR THE DAMN YAM FRIES!!!
Nevertheless, I have to say that I did feel the kind of greasy satisfaction I used to get when I ate at BK or McD or Wendy’s. And it’s really wonderful to be able to order ANYTHING off a fast-food menu for the first time in ages. So yes I’ll be back, probably in a month, after the mobs have dispersed, and after they’ve worked out the kinks in the (over)cooking.
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Went to Zen Burger yesterday for lunch and it was a mad house, not to mention they were doing a photoshoot smack in the middle of the lunch rush. Our order was wrong, instead of a tuna wrap we ended up with a crispy chicken. They ran out of tall three teas and ketchup while I was there and it took them an insane amount of time to replace them. Two different people went to get me ketchup, a third person was pulled in and I still went back to my table with no ketchup. I had a grilled chicken sandwich with enough mayo to choke a horse that actually drowned my dried-out tufu chicken and fries that may be the first batch I have ever left behind. There was NOTHING zen about my dining experience.
I threw out over half my lunch and headed to starbuck’s to get my Zen back.( now that’s sad)
I honestly don’t think I would go back, unless it’s to try the all-natural milk shakes. If so, I think I’ll wait a month or two or three. -
I just ate the sausage egg biscuit from Zen Burger. The sausage tasted like dogfood.
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I had fried shrimp they are smell good and delicious. I will go back to eat other food soon.
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The problem with zen burger is that they need to change there GM he has no control over his workers me and my family stoped by 1 friday to try the place out when a big fight broke out between the “GM” and some thugs it was crazy and unsafe you have some of the kitchen staff running out the kitchen with knifes in their hands i mean come on your buiness is never going to go no where with someone like that running it….
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“Good for you. Good for the Earth” is their tag line. I’m not at all sure about the Good for you part… just check this out.(Taken from their website).
Zen Beef Burger = 388 Calories
Southwestern Zen Beef Burger = 487 Calories
Zen Tuna Fish Sandwich = 551 Calories (Almost the same as a Big Mac!)
Zen Shrimp = 638 Calories!! Wow… That’s MORE then the big mac.It may be vegetarian, but zen burger is NOT healthy for you.
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I have been vegetarian for 5 years and I went this restaurant when I had business trip in New york. I love the Tuna Fish Sandwich. It’s delicious!! I will come back again try other foods next time.
I stopped into ZenBurger today. The wait was about 30+ minutes for food, which was expected because it was their pseudo-opening day (tomorrow official opening day).
I ordered a #5, ZenChicken Wrap w/fries. The ZenChicken had the texture and the taste of real chicken and even had cute, little grill marks on the pieces. The sauce in the wrap sort of reminded me of the Big Mac special sauce but more vinegar-y.
The fries were good, nothing special — reminiscent of Burger King fries.
Other than that, I’ll probably try a ZenBurger next time because I probably wouldn’t order the wrap again.