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Fresh-N-Fast Burger?
Posted: 5:13 pm, November 2nd, 2009 in Eating Outside Midtown
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48 Comments
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Bumped into the owners of this place last night as they admired thier new sign. They said it was opening next week. The menu is simple and is very reminiscent af In-N-Out Burger. Though when I asked about getting a burger Animal Style - they said they do not serve that. But they likely have something similar.
Looks like these guys have taken any kind of trademark infringement of In-N-Out off the table by not using any of the In-N-Out verbage, but it feels like you may be able to get that same kind of customer experience.
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you smell that?
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smells like tasty
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Jeebus, how hard is it to shill without being so freaking obvious? My anus actually puckered when I read that load of crapola.
Aslo, I think you are INCORRECT if you believe you're not going to be sued by In-N-Out. I saw your menu sign today on the way into my gym on 23rd and Park. It's a BLATANT ripoff.
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Hey, if it's halfway decent and as cheap as In-n-Out, then I'll try it. A double-double for under $4 would be OK. Then again, I doubt their prices will be anywhere close.
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When are they opening?
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Lawrence! Where you been??!?!?! When do we finish up the wingquest? Hope all is well--haven't seen an update to your site in months.
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i'm not a shill. just a burger lover. And while the similarities between Fresh-N-Fast and In-N-Out are pretty sigificant - they are on terra firma in terms of trademark safety. There were several In-N-Out clones in the midwest that were laid waste by the mothership, not becuase of stylistic similarities, but because they were stupid enough to actually call their products the same thing as In-N-Out (Double Double, animal style etc). You can't trademark cheap and fresh double cheeseburgers.
I look forward to many fresh-n-fast double cheeseburgers to be stuffed into my mouth in the months to come.
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If you're not a shiller, then my name is Jerry Cougar Mellencamp.
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Oh, fer chrissakes, we're not idiots.
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To Pigiron and Mr. Mellencamp,
Is it so incredible to believe that a simple burger fan might just be excited about being able to get something that approximates the west coast's best burger here in NYC?
While in NYC, give me a Shake Shack anyday. Heck, starting in the spring you can get one in Miami as well. But all in all, I'm just happy to see a new entry into the scene.
You are welcome to follow my twitter feed chrisdalynyc - where you will see long trails of posts about cheeseburgers in general, and in-n-out in particular. I'm just a hardcore cheese and beef fan. Speaking of In-N-Out, there is an intereting book about thier corporate culture and business practices... http://www.amazon.com/N-Out-Burger-Behind-Counter-Fast-Food/dp/0061346713
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I caught another glimpse of the Fresh-N-Fast menu. Wickedced is correct, it is not a duplicate of In-N-Out. There's a slight difference.
A double-double at In-N-Out cost $2.75.
A double cheeseburger at the 23rd street knockoff cost....wait for it...$7.29.
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tru 'nuf. The PRICE rivals Shake Shack. Jury is out on whether the quality will match. You've got to doubt it. The Double Shack is a thing to behold. I was originally told that they'd be opening this week. Please post a review if anyone gets to actually eat one.
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Geez, for $&+ I'll just stop in line at the Shack before I even make it over to FnF. Why take a chance? Even Blue 9 knows enough to price its burgers cheaper.
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[That should read "$7+"! It wasn't a curse--shift finger got stuck!]
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I am a big burger fan and have been trying a lot of the usual suspects in the city. I like what they have done with the branding and think its definitely has its own identity while keeping things familiar. I think its great to have a fresh face on the East coast.
As for some of you guys talking about the price...yes its true that In-N-Out is cheaper but since we're all in New York, it would be appropriate to add the price of a plane ticket to California to the meal ticket if you want to compare prices of Fresh-N-Fast to In-N-Out, since that would be the cost of lunch for a New Yorker to get to an In-N-Out.
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der...um burgerman--or shojuld i say shillman?
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shill overload, i don't think i'll ever try this place
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I will still try it since it's so close to my house, provided the lines aren't as bad as shakeshack. If the lines are dumb, I can refrain....
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Its amazing how much shilling they are doing without even being open yet. Can't wait to see how many more profiles they create after opening.
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If it's so great to have a fresh face, then why did you go to so much trouble to rip off another restaurant, right down to the font and colors on the menu? The answer is that you're trying to cash in on someone else's popularity, instead of letting your product stand on it's own. It's distasteful and deliberately deceiving. Coupled that with your ridiculous prices, I'm not going near this place (and I live on E23).
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So what I am gleaning then is that this midtownlunch.com should not be used for any kind of positive comments whatsoever. If you have anything nice to say, that you MUST be a shill. And only negativity can determine if you are an actual non-shill.
Uhmmmm. Re-donk-u-lous.
Is Fresh-N-Fast trying to get on an In-N-Out style bandwagon. Obviously. Are they going to get sued? Maybe. Are these elements that should preclude you from trying the place? No.
I'm not a shill. But I do own a business on the south side of East 23rd street b/w Park and Madison. I can give you the adrress and you can come see for you're damn selves. And there is a nice hipster-ethical reason to avoid most of the lunch places in that area. Hale & Hearty soups, for example - a nice mom-and-pop place that got bought out by big venture capital and is now being franchised to bejesus. Chipotle opened a location on E23. Too bad they were spawned by McDonalds. Shack Shake? Great food - but the cool factor is so 2006. Pax? Used to be good until they became identical to Cafe Metro and every other friggin' lunch place in the city.
Really people? get over it. I'll be happy to try Fresh-N-Fast because as far as burgers go in the Flatiron - outside of the Shack, I'm left with limited options. New York Burger Co - which might have the worst milkshakes in history. The 1MadPark building closed the Wendy's. Burger Joint on 3rd ave was good but closed like 2 years ago. I could walk to Kool Blue - not bad, and actually the Mr Big Burger is good and their chili is first rate. I could walk the other way to BRGR on 7th ave - also pretty good, though the patty's are tiny. Maxie's Grill down Park Ave has s good selection, but is pricey.
I'd love a 5 guys to open in the area, and I would assume that's only a matter of time. But what's the deal with no shakes there?
So hence, I am on baord to try FnF. And if they are serving fresh meat double cheeseburgers and cheese fries. Great. If they happen to have even 50% the taste that In-N-Out has. Even better.
FYI, the closest In-N-Out burger to NYC is in Las Vegas. The flights to there are cleaper than to LA as well.
Some posts on grubstreet are saying FnF opens on Nov 23. I'll likely be there since I work across the street. The only thing I'll be shilling for is a tasty goddamn burger.
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Hey Wicked--what do you own?
Positive comments are certainly different than "shill" type comments....
True Midtown lunchers don't give kudos to marketing in their posts! Nor do they talk about having "fresh faces." Nor do they talk about "plane tickets to California" justifying the hefty price. This is so obviously NOT a real ML post it is pathetic. If you can't get that, I hope, for your sake, you have better business savvy than your ability to detect self promoting BS. This was so obviously a shill it is just stupid....
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I don't think people understand what a shill is:
shill Slang. n. One who works as a decoy, as in a confidence game, by
posing as a customer or an innocent bystander. -intr.v.shilled shilling
shills To act as a shill. [Orig. unknown.]For example:
- The challahbackgirl or whatever, working for a beef company saying "OH THE BURGERS AT THIS RESTAURANT ARE AMAZING" where the restaurant in question is a customer of the company she worked for.
- Kolache Mama's PR guy posting positive reviews on a bunch of the posts about KM.
- kwikmeal posting two positive reviews from the same ip address within minutes of eachother.There's nothing wrong with promotion or self promotion. The sweets truck, the schnitzel truck, the queen frostine gals, all are upfront about their offerings in their promotions. Some guy pretending to be a loyal customer and raving about the food when the guy has some sort of financial interest in the success of the company is a pure shill and rightly gets called out on it.
So who knows if this burger fan is a shill. But if it looks like a shill, and posts like a shill, chances are it's a shill.
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These blatant shills by "Burgerman" and "wickedced" with the idiotic references to airfare for In-n-Out burgers are quite annoying. And no, you're not fooling any of us. "ML shouldn't be used for any positive comments whatsoever"? Puh-LEEZE. ML shouldn't be used for BASELESS positive SHILLS for a place that hasn't even opened yet! How can you praise this burger place when it hasn't served up a single patty? Shilling while pretending to be a "burger fan" or a strangely-interested nearby business owner, that's how. In fact, if I see one more stupid shill for this place, I'll make it a personal (and fun) hobby to visit every relevant website and blog I can find to totally trash this place. Go ahead, try and stop me.
Oh yeah. If you guys (yes, you, I'm not fooled one bit) are using the In-n-Out fonts, colors, similar menu, etc., then you will likely be sued for infringing In-n-Out's trade dress, even if you don't use the same verbiage (that's the correct spelling, btw). As an IP attorney, I know this stuff pretty well. What the heck, I'll make sure In-n-Out is aware of your copycat design as soon as you open up for business, if you haven't wised up and changed it to a non-copycat decor by then.
Man, I can't recall the last time I was ever so annoyed by a place that hasn't even opened yet!
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BTW, if you're on E 23rd and craving a good burger (besides the Shack), NY Burger Co. does have very good burgers (who gives a crap about their milkshakes?) and Molly's is right around the corner--best burger in the 'hood if you're really hungry!
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And as a fellow IP attorney, I too will act against Stale and Slow by sending a quick note to their GC---Their GENERAL COUNSEL! BOOYA! FTW!
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I did forget about Molly's. That IS a good burger. And very good Irish fare in general there. Though in addition to the shit-shakes at NY Burger Co, I don't really like their burgers either - the patties seem too processed or something.
Speaking of the IP issue, here's a neat list of alternate names FnF should have considered. http://www.blogowogo.com/blog_article.php?aid=2453545&t=8
I think McDowell's is the winner there (home of the Golden Arcs). Odds are In-N-Out is well aware of FnF already. I follow and am followed by a twitter fan group of In-N-out that I think is actually run by In-N-Out themselves. They found me through some previous In-n-Out tweets, so I am sure they saw my (and others) tweets about it and what ever legal process that could start is already under way or at least evaluation.
Am I burger fan? Yes - very much so. Have I been reading the A Hamburger Today blog for years well before they became part of the Serious Eats network? Yes. Would I rather tuck into a monster juicy Cheeseburger from Kozy Soup-N-burger on B'way than a top sirlon at Ruth's Chris? Yes. Am I a shill for FnF? No. Do I run a business on 23rd Street - yes. It's a fitness (Pilates and gyrotonic) space above Hale and Hearty Soup. Feel free to stop in and say hi - ask for Chris (that's me, the non-shill).
Did I ever say the food there was good? No? Did I say I look forward to them opening? Yes. I looked forward to Energy Kitchen opening on W23rd as well (decent Bison Cheesesteaks!) And a new location of Press panini grill is opening on my block on 23rd street - I'm psyched about that too.
As for BurgerMan. I don't speak for him. but comment #11 on the grubstreet article about nF looks pretty much like the post above. http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/11/will_fast-n-fresh_be_new_yorks.html
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Shill says: "I'll be happy to try Fresh-N-Fast because as far as burgers go in the Flatiron - outside of the Shack, I'm left with limited options"
Limited burger options. Around 23/Park. Really. Except of course for:
Better Burger
Burger At Its Best
Burger Heaven
Captain's Cafe
Coffee Shop
Coopertown Diner
East Side Cafe
Jackson Hole
Maxie's Bar & Grill
Molly's
Mulligan's Pub
New York Burger Co.
Old Town Bar & Restaurant
Rare Bar & Grill
Shake Shack
The Hairy Monk
The Watering Hole
ZiggizActually, here's a list of 257 restaurants with burgers on their menu in that area:
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Yo Wicked---I know Juanita! One of your trainers! She dated a friend of mine!
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having a burger on your menu does make you a burger place. Here's a run down.
Better Burger... excellent ostrich burgers, but this place is predominatly health food.
Burger At Its Best... not tried it
Burger Heaven... there is no burger heaven near 23rd street. though i like this diner-esque chain and really like the classic Patty melt
Captain's Cafe... not sure what that is
Coffee Shop.. You mean in Union Square? that's not 23rd street, nor is it a decent burger place
Coopertown Diner... don't know it, I imagine it's on 1st ave near Peter Cooper Vill and Sty town.
East Side Cafe... You can add Cosmo's and Gemini Diner to this list as well - all three are decent diners, but not burger specialists.
Jackson Hole... Was really good in 1995 when i first came to NYC, not so much any more.
Maxie's Bar & Grill... mentioned them, good selection, good food, but a buit pricey for a go-to lunch
Molly's... mentioned them in post 2, should ahve listed in my first list. good stuff there.
Mulligan's Pub... not familiar.
New York Burger Co... gawd awful
Old Town Bar & Restaurant... don't know it
Rare Bar & Grill... don't know it
Shake Shack... love it, usually go at night when's raining to avoid lines.
The Hairy Monk... meh. this is a frat-boy bar and little else
The Watering Hole... don't know it
Ziggiz... middlin cheesesteaks and the burgers are cardboard.
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Goats - is your friend a black belt in a dojo kind guy? if so I know who you are talking about and he trains with my wife a lot!
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Yep----he sure is!
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Captain cafe is right across from my office...32nd btwn mad and park.
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Goats - please let Tenchi know that Chris and Jen say hi - and he should come get his Gyro on (the workout not the sandwich!)
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LOL will do!
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Ah-HA! Pigiron - you gotta consider that a solid vouch from Goats. Only thing left to do is bury the hatchet over plates of fries and burgers. The Maxie's Grill 30 Slider combo special comes to mind as a good idea.
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OK=== One of the BEST ML threads ever, IMNSHO... Anyway, read this article which sounds VERY similar to what wickedced said... But then, you do have the Goats props so...
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/11/will_fast-n-fresh_be_new_yorks.html
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so, no one has heard of it?
Anyone ever hear of it? Sign is up across from my office on 23rd and park. Google search only pulls up this:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/fbh/1438981949.html