Midtown Lunch

New York Magazine singles out the double burger as a “trend” in their latest issue.  While Five Guys (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is a legitimate entry (their regular burger is a double), the inclusion of City Burger (on 39th & B’way) is kind of a reach.  I don’t know anybody who would order a double at that place (and even NYMag admits that the patties are too thick for that treatment.)  Plus saying “not since the advent of Bob’s Big Boy in 1937 (and its copycat Big Mac in 1968) has the double burger been so popular” omits a pretty popular burger known as the In N Out Double Double (which you could argue was inspiration for Five Guys.) The whole piece seems like a stretch to me, but I’m not against looking at some nice double burger porn.  [NYM]

If you have ever dreamed of watching a video of Josh Ozerksy eating 7 hamburgers, your prayers have been answered. The editor of The Feedbag did a blind burger taste test, and Five Guys (on 55th btw. 5+6th) beat out P.J. Clarke’s and the Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien. Veselka came in first place.  Surprisingly City Burger (on 39th just East of B’way), which Ozersky is a big fan of, wasn’t included in the taste test. [Always Hungry]

Both Grub Street and TONY’s Feed Blog give you a first look at the newly opened HB Burger (on 43rd btw. B’way+6th) in the old Spanky’s BBQ space.  The owner brags that “nothing on the menu tops $9″ (good, I guess), and they have sauteed onions (for free), tator tots, homemade sodas, and milkshakes with liquor in them (also good).  But I just can’t get excited about a burger place that is owned by the Heartland Brewery. Is that wrong?  (Admittedly I’m still mad about the onion ring incident.) Plus, items individually may cost under $9, but a burger, fries, and a drink will altogether cost you quite a bit more.  Any ML early adopters willing to take one for the team, and let us know how this place is?  Either that, or we’ll just wait for A Hamburger Today to weigh in. (I’m pretty sure they are legally obligated to go to all of these places…)

HB Burger, 127 W 43rd St. (btw. B’way+6th), 212-575-5848

New York Magazine has released their annual ‘Best Of’ issue, and while there isn’t much in the way of Midtown Lunch’ing honors, editor Robin Raisfeld chose Beacon as her favorite (bargain?) burger in New York City. I don’t see how it fits in the “Best Bargains: Cheap Food” category, but then again NYMag and Midtown Lunch have always had a different idea of what cheap means.

Related: Beacon’s Burger Bar Attempts to Gain Coveted Midtown Lunch Status

TONY is reporting that Flip, the new burger place in Bloomingdales (on 3rd or Lex btw. 59+60th), is set to open on Monday (2/23). It will feature “three different Pat LaFrieda beef blends—hearty (short rib), sweet (brisket) and refined (Wagyu)—With toppings like a fried egg, chili, Canadian bacon, and multiple cheeses.” My heart hopes that these burgers will be under $10, but my brain says there is no way.  And here I was thinking that the black label at City Burger was the last over $10 burger I’d be splurging on (what can I say? I’m a sucker for the fried egg topped burger.) [via Eater]

The Blarney Stone’s Burger & Fries

This email was sent to the old ML Inbox before the bad news about Five Guys, but it’s still a good question (especially if you’re craving a burger today, and were thinking about hitting up Five Guys).

“I haven’t had a burger since the summer (eating healthier; not salads or crap like that, just chicken instead of beef). I got a ridiculous craving yesterday, but it was miserable outside. I’m trying to decide which great burger I am going to unleash myself on. I’ve narrowed it down to Blarney Stone, City Burger (the black label is so intriguing) and Five Guys. I know you list Five Guys as your Midtown pick, but I just want to be sure that it’s a better option considering I’m both a steak (Black Label burger) and onion ring fanatic. I’ve been to AHT, but they give too many options. Any advice? Sincerely, dougiec”

This is a tough one Doug. My favorite is Five Guys, but I admit it’s a specific kind of burger for a specific kind of burger craving. None of this is new territory… but let’s weigh your options after the jump. After all, you can never have too much burger talk.

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Earlier this week I had an email exchange about the new changes at City Burger(on 39th just East of B’way) with Josh “Mr. Cutlets” Ozersky. Not only is he editor of The Feedbag, but he is also the self appointed president of the Pat LaFrieda fan club:

Josh: “You better get on down to City Burger… Went there with a few other people the other day. It is SICK! Really, really good now.”

Me: “I don’t know.  [The black label burger] is a little pricey for my cheap-ass blood… but yeah, I’ll probably break down and try it this week.  Have the regular burgers changed at all?”

Josh: “Listen to this! I like the regular burgers BETTER than the black label. They’re top-three burgers in town right now.  They got rid of the grills and brought in griddles…started warming the buns… oh man I wish I had one now.”

That is a bold statement… top 3 burgers in the city?!?!  (Not even just Midtown?) The truth has been narrowed down to 2 possibilities.  1)  City Burger has significantly improved their burger.  Or 2) The Abitino Brothers (who own City Burger) have some serious dirt on our good friend Mr. Cutlets.

Only one way to find out which is true…

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Photos by Kathy YL Chan

The out of bounds block of 53rd street btw. 2nd and 3rd Avenue is quickly becoming a mini-restaurant row for east side Midtown Lunch’ers.  A while back I wrote about Spoons (which was replaced by Good Health Burger) and Uncle Marky’s Organics (which is still there.)  There is also LTK (Little Thai Kitchen) and , where you can get under $10 Thai and Indian lunch specials, as well as the recently opened second branch of the East Village’s Brick Lane Curry House. 

But I think the cheapest option on the block is the Hawaiian Island Grill, a take out only place that is also home to the overpriced “Gordon Chen’s Kitchen.” Both are owned by the same company that owns the Hakata Grill, and while I didn’t necessarily have high hopes, a tipster suggested I check it out. Seeing how it was supposed to be Hawaiian food, and I’ve never been to Hawaii, I enlisted my friend Kathy YL Chan (from the blog A Passion for Food & Serious Eats: New York) to accompany me.

Between the two of us, we ordered most of the lunch specials… and our thoughts (plus food porn) are after the jump. Mine, from the perspective of a fat guy- her, from the perspective of a Hawaiian.

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Speaking of burgers…. I guess I knew it was only a matter of time before somebody stepped up and complained about the mini-post we did a few months ago about the Ruby Tuesday Burger:

“I don’t usually feel the urge to comment on anything directly online, but I feel compelled here to make sure that everyone understands just how awful the Ruby Tuesday’s burger is. I had their triple meat burger (ooh 3 types of meats ground together!) a few months ago, or whatever they call it, it’s awful, don’t do it to yourself, it’s not worth the money! Any money! I wouldn’t eat it if it was free (that’s a lie – but I would hesitate). It was just a not-good tasting burger, not seasoned well and didn’t taste like good quality meat. Soggy bun, sad lettuce…. go anywhere else and save your taste buds!!!”

Considering that it’s Ruby Tuesday, I wouldn’t have thought this needed to be said.  But I trust A Hamburger Today when it comes to burgers, and they said it was decent.  (It has problems, but nothing that would be considered “awful”.)  Have any other lunchers subjected themselves to a Times Square tourist lunch, and want to weigh in?  Sure, Midtown Lunch is against crappy chains like this in theory- but I just want to make sure they get their fair shake.

Photo by Food in Mouth

One question has always plagued me (and no doubt many other hamburger lovers who work in Midtown):  Can you make it down to Shake Shack and back in 60 minutes from Midtown during lunch.  The short answer is no.  The longer answer is no… definitely no.  Sure there are going to be those few miraculous exceptions, but for the most part- if you want to eat at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park during a time that would acceptable for lunch’ing, the wait on line is too long to make it down there and back to your desk in Midtown proper.

But what about the new Shake Shack?  That’s right… the Shack has expanded, opening their long awaited Upper West Side branch this past weekend on Columbus Ave. btw. 77+78th Street… a five minute walk from the 79th Street 1 station, and the 81st B/C station.  My hunch is, with fewer large office buildings on the UWS, and the Shake Shack’s new technology (which will surely decrease wait times for your food) this could be do-able for the Midtown Lunch’ers whose offices are close to the 1, B or C lines. 

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