Your First Look at The Counter, Opening Monday
On Wednesday we gave away the chance to win a sneak preview of The Counter, the new build your own burger place opening on Broadway and 41st on Monday. And yeesterday and today dozens of Midtown Lunchers are cashing in their prize. One of them, Lunch’er “Matt”, got to go yesterday and sent in this account…
The space! Very nice location, well lit inside and super clean.
Chili cheese fry appetizer. The one thing I like about the Counter more than all the rest is their fries. They’re crispy and thin. This app is around $6, and would feed 3 people as an app, and two small people as a meal, and one very hungry person. Its insane the amount of food you get for the price of this thing. It was also good!
Coworkers burger 2/3lb burger with cheese, onion rings, and sauteed onions. He enjoyed it a lot but said it was impossible to eat. I agree with him, 2/3 of beef on one burger is impossible. And they go up to 1lb!
I tried to stay on the lighter side with one of their “bowls.” You have the same choices as the regular burgers but can get it on lettuce or organic greens.
Burger cooked medium-medium rare
Overall writeup is I just don’t like their burgers unfortunately. I had them once in CT about a year ago and decided to give them another shot (bad day the first time around?). They’re all grass fed, free range, hormone/anti-biotic free which I can get behind, but I’m pretty sure they’re using something like 90/10 or 93/7 beef. For something that is that rare to come out dry is nearly impossible to do with anything other than an almost zero fat beef blend. There is very little seasoning on the burgers, with no sear at all either. The toppings, veggies, and cheeses can make for some interesting and well thought-out dishes (or complete travesties) but the star of the show, the reason why you’d eat there, is completely lifeless and bland. The counter will do well in the location though. It will get a lot of foot traffic and the food is just good enough to draw in a crowd. I will be sticking to Shake Shack. (by Lunch’er Matt)
I don’t know how much we can trust somebody who orders a burger bowl! But that’s the beauty of opinions… everybody has a different one. Did you win a slot at the preview lunch? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:45 am, December 17th, 2010 under The Counter.
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Less than 10% fat, light on the salt and no sear? Pass