Midtown Lunch

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

I’m normally not one to host a happy hour in a bar and grill, but when you call yourself “Best Bar & Burgers” … well, this “fat kid” just can’t help herself. With a flashing “bar” sign hanging above its door and a hookah silhouette on its awning, you’d be amiss not to instantly spot this place.

Walking into the patron-less bar, I wondered if this would be a huge mistake. Curiously (and more selfishly, looking out for the future of my stomach), I asked the manager, David, if and when the restaurant would pick up. Being that the restaurant opened just four months ago (taking over what formerly was 36 West), and offers happy hour specials ($4 well drinks and $3 domestic bottles, which consisted of Bud/Bud Light and Coors/Coors Light) starting at 7 pm when most other bars end theirs, Best Bar & Burger lights up around 7:30.

The crowd at Best Bar is certainly an eclectic mix, consisting of friends of the people who work there, hungry burger lovers, hookah smokers ($25/hookah, which sounds expensive to me, but as I know absolutely nothing about hookah smoking, who am I to say?), and random passer-bys.

Accommodating a few tables both up front and in the back, the restaurant itself is narrow, but with its high ceilings and long bar, it can definitely accommodate a far larger crowd than was present without the feeling of being squished. Playing music from their individual iPods, the bartenders are friendly, accommodating and just as eclectic as their customers.

You won’t find frills with their food selection, but I can assure you the food here is pretty darn good (for a midtown burger and shakes joint anyway). Burgers are made with 100% beef and are 8.5 ounces each.

Combos seemed to be the “thing to get” within the group, with the winning combination being the Black Spice Cheeseburger, fries and soda, all for just 10 bucks. To quote my friend, “This baby definitely packs some heat,” unlike my choice of wings with “Death,” sauce ($4.50 for 5; $8 for 10 or combo it – $10.50 for 10 wings, fries and soda). Either I no longer have taste buds or Buffalo wing sauces are just no longer made the way they used to be.

Overall, I recommend coming to Best Bar when you’re down and in need of a few shots (their bar is well-stocked with liquor), if you want a quiet place to bond with your friends, or if you’re hungry and waiting for that next pay check to be deposited.

Best Bar & Burgers, 314 West 36th Street (between 8th and 9th), 212-582-2446