Good Burger
Eating out all the time will wreck you if you're not careful (cf. "Super Size Me"). After several months of restaurant dining, a few months ago I decided it was time to return to a more Californian diet.
So when a craving for grilled ground meat hit recently, I tried to resist. But as the Borg say, resistance is futile.
Off I sauntered to the Burger Joint, a little faux hole in the wall hideaway tucked in the corner of the otherwise sleek and 'spensive Le Parker Meridien hotel. It's probably the best burger in Midtown for your money, though like everything in New York, it's arguable.
The menu is bare-bones. Your choices are a burger with or without cheese, and your choice of lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, mayo or mustard. Want it all? Order "the works." Finger-thick fries come separate. The beverage selection is limited to a dark beer (I want to say Sam Adams, but I don't remember), lemonade, soda and a chocolate or vanilla shake (only available after 4 p.m.).
The price of a burger is $6, $6.50 if you want cheese. That's up a dollar from when I was there two or three years ago. For Midtown, that's not bad at all.
To get the goods, you have to find the only entrance. There's a semi-secret neon sign hidden away near the concierge desk. I suppose it sort of adds to the mystique.
Walking in is kind of a shock. Compared to the rest of the hotel, the place is grubby, dim and cramped. But unlike the rest of the hotel, it's also a little microcosm of the city itself. Office workers, construction workers, the stylish, the students and tourists alike jockey for seats in the low-occupancy space.
A tip: go after the lunch rush, but before (or after) the dinner crowd. Around 6:30 in the evening is perfect. So is about 10 p.m. And be sure to order your burger one degree more done than you want it. Trust me.
The London Times recently did a review and called Burger Joint's offerings the best in the city.
Nice to see that good taste knows no bounds.
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