Worst Hamburger I’ve Ever Had in Midtown

Arome Cafe

In case you missed it, on Friday I was grilled over at A Hamburger Today– giving them my thoughts on the almighty hamburger. Here were my picks for best and worst burgers in Midtown:

“Tough to say. Fast food, thin burger: Five Guys (on 55th btw. 5+6th). Fast food, thicker burger: Burger Joint (on 56th btw. 6+7th). Burger from a Cart: Carnegie John’s (on 56th & 7th). As for the more expensive, sit down burgers, I haven’t had very many. But HB Burger (on 43rd btw. B’way+6th) and Beacon (on 56th btw. 5+6th) are both really good. And the worst burger I’ve ever had in Midtown was at this place called Arome Cafe on 32nd between Broadway and 7th Avenue. Somebody twittered @midtownlunch that their burger was “$5.50 and bangin'”. Against my better judgment (Arome Cafe is one of those terrible generic delis that Midtown is famous for, and Midtown Lunch does its best to fight against) I tried the terrible terrible burger. Bad meat (not unlike what I got in my Jr. High Cafeteria), bad flavor, poorly cooked. Couldn’t even finish it. Damn you, Twitter!”

Check out the worst burger I’ve ever had, after the jump…

Arome Cafe

I guess it’s not the worst burger I’ve ever had… clearly somebody likes it enough to recommend it to me on twitter. And for the price, it’s a great deal ($6.25 for a really large bacon cheeseburger w/ fries). But the meat was overcooked into this strange gray matter, and after eating half of it I gave up (it was that unappealing.)  I suppose if it was halfway decent, these generic delis would put the more expensive places like Goodburger and Burger Joint out of business.

Part of me thinks that there must be a decent one of these cheap deli burgers in Midtown, but there’s another part of me that thinks you get what you pay for. Maybe $6 is too little to pay for a giant burger (w/ fries) that also tastes good. On the other hand Carnegie John’s Cart seems to have no problems putting out a really tasty burger for under $5.

Thoughts? Anybody have a great deli burger recommendation? Put it in the comments. (As long as it’s not “bangin'” we should be ok.)

25 Comments

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    Cavonberry’s on 45th between 5th and madison has a great burger. They don’t skimp out on the freshly ground beef and they have pretty tasty fries.

    A coworker and i used to walk over from the met life building to go there on a weekly basis and people on our team got jealous every time we had them. Eventually the entire group started ordering them every friday without fail.

    I always get them with grilled onions and american (medium). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    I just had a completely decent $6 hamburger and fries at Pranzo on 50th btw 6th and 7th. Burger was big, made fresh, and not too overcooked. Fries were skinny, crispy, and plentiful. I put some fries on top of the burger and enjoyed the whole thing very much.

    BUT the best thing about Pranzo, and the only real reason I recommend it, is the FREE bread basket. There are always sesame dinner rolls and fresh cut warm trimmings of flat bread in a basket in front of the pizza/brick-oven sandwhich station. Go in, grab a roll or four while you wait in line. I love bread! And things that are free!

    Also, Timmie’s is next door. Iced Capp makes a good desert, just saying.

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    best burger in midtown:
    bxl cafe on 43rd btwn 6th and broadway. very deep

  • Cyzl, I’m sure BXL’s burger is good, I’ve heard good things about that spot and their beers (especially the Belgium beers). But a $12.00 burger is way too steep for me. Anything over $10 needs to inspire such passions in me that I’d want to take on that dirty, meaty goodness in the back seat of my car.

  • 53rd Gourmet Deli on 53rd between 7th and 8th avenues has a pretty decent burger (for a deli) and have specials like they did today – $5.75 for a cheeseburger delux.

    they also have make your own salads and pay by weight that always seem to work in my favor (cost wise)

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