City Burger Reinvents Itself With Black Label

Some big news reported by the Feedbag yesterday… City Burger, which has gotten mixed reviews since they opened on 39th St. just East of Broadway, will reinvent themselves starting tomorrow as “a temple to classic burger cookery. Griddles have replaced the grills, the menu has narrowed, and the focus is now on the glories of La Frieda beef.”

According to the owner “We’re cooking the city’s best burgers! Our rivals aren’t Wendy’s and McDonald’s. They’re Shake Shack and The Spotted Pig and Corner Bistro and the city’s other great burgers. And I’ll put ours up against any of them.” 

 

Part of the transformation? City Burger will be one of the only places you can get the special La Frieda “Black Label” burger blend, made from skirt, brisket, short rib, and a secret cut that is dry aged.  The only downside? It will be $10.99 just for the burger, making it just a little too expensive for lunch (imho)… but I will admit a bit of curiousity about this “Bentley of burgers.” 

As for the “transformation”, there is no question that replacing the grills with griddles will help the dryness issue that many have complained about- but City Burger has always used meat from La Frieda’s in their regular burgers, so I’m very curious to see how the overall quality of the place is going to effected. Either way, it’s kind of exciting to have this kind of attention placed on a Midtown Lunch joint. Early adopters, feel free to check it out tomorrow and respond in the comments.

15 Comments

  • I just cannot get excited about a $11 buck burger.

  • Yes, But ShakeShack is the Aston Martin DBS of Burgers…..wonderful to look at and make you smile.

    Bentleys are for fat guys in suits that dont fit very well.

  • This is starting to look like Top Gear: foodie edition

    How are the cup holders on a Aston Martin?

  • Nice to see Doc Chuck has created a proprietary burger blend.

  • Except that Zach is cool and Jeremy Clarkeson is pretty much a douche

    Taking an $11 risk that City Burger will actually deliver the goods correctly seems like a bad gamble when you’re guaranteed that the Shack will do it perfectly & consistently for $5

  • Has their service gotten any faster? That was my main complaint about City Burger, more so than the food itself.

  • I am salivating over the fact that Mamacita illegally downloads Top Gear. That is so sexy…

  • I’m glad to see a midtown burger place crank up the intensity. There are plenty of blah $10+ burgers in midtown. Dude’s trying to (re)claim a piece of the action! For marketing, I totally think he should do the “cheese no charge” to offset the hefty price tag. Dram Shop does that and I totally appreciate it. I always found a buck, buck-25 extra for cheese just stupid. I’m going to start carrying Kraft singles in my handbag.

  • A gallon of oil won’t make a bicycle pedal itself.

  • no way this burger is as good as burger joint or a shackburger…this calls for a ‘burger wars’ midtown lunch edition.

  • I think there are a variety of ways to look at this burger. From the Midtown Lunch perspective of a $10 lunch… I would guess a $13 cheeseburger is not for everyone.

    From a cheeseburger to cheeseburger comparison perspective, this is definitely worth trying. Yes it’s an expensive take-out burger but it tastes different. I can’t tell you if it lives up to this black label hype, but it definitely has a completely different taste. If you’re really into trying the various burgers in this city, you owe it to yourself to at least try this one. I think of those that do, many will come away with a kinder impression of City Burger.

    With all that said, there was no line when I went, so the criticism of the service may still stand.

  • Shitty service, overdone burgers and high prices is no way to survive a recession in southwest midtown. They must be aiming to be the next Sakae Sushi

  • Burger Wars it is! Shake Shack, Burger Joint, City Burger, and Five Guys. I’d be happy to partake.

  • A burger war has to take into account the two different styles: the thin double patty (Five Guys, Shake Shack) and the one big clunk kind. They’re totally different and I think they’d have to be judged differently.

  • I had this thing two days in a row. You can definitely taste the common lineage with Shake Shack burgers.

    Though I’m not very happy about the cost, I am willing to pay for it since they deliver to my office.

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