Midtown Lunch

The lunchtime juggernaut that is Zigolini’s on Pearl St. (at Coenties Slip) is one of the few places that I will go to knowing that I will have to stand in a line snaking out the door because I know that the food is generally worth it. I’ve reviewed the pasta, but they also make a mean Italian sandwich and I’d heard good things about the burger. Since the basic model is exactly $10 and comes with fries, I was sold, but in the end I broke the ML Downtown budget. Why? I blame the garlic parmesan fries.

Yes, I paid $12 for my lunch of a burger and fries, but they didn’t skimp on the portions. As you can see there was a large amount of fries and the burger, while not the largest I’ve ever seen, was big enough and came with some better-than-average toppings of lettuce, tomato, red onion and two large slices of pickle.

Let’s talk about the burger first, before we get to those fries. The patty is on the thin side and although I’d requested it medium it was cooked completely through, but still fairly juicy. It’s the toppings that get you in the price department: If you want cheese or other toppings like bacon it’s an extra $1 apiece. Normally I don’t like brioche buns for a burger, but this one wasn’t too sweet and was a nice change of pace from the squishy white supermarket variety.

Regular fries are included with all of the burgers, but when asked if I wanted the garlic parmesan fries ($2 extra) I couldn’t resist. It was a Friday and fries with garlic and cheese sounded pretty great. On their own these fries would be good, but the slivers of slightly melted parmesan and roasted garlic that flavored these made them so much better. If you don’t like garlic, you’re probably not going to like these – as I was walking back to my office I could smell the fries through the takeout container and a plastic bag.

This was one of the best burger and fry combos I’ve had in a while, and if I would have gone simpler I would have only gone slightly over the $10 limit which is a rarity in the FiDi unless you’re at a fast food place.

Zigolini’s, 66 Pearl St. (at Coenties Slip), (212) 425-7171, www.zigolinis.com