ABC Kitchen

The Meat: Texan Akaushi wagyu

The Cheese: Aged Bloomsday

The Bun: Sesame seed brioche from Eli's Bakery

Flip Tip: Try the salty-sweet sundae.

ABC Kitchen's burger is like everything else on their menu: innovative, well-executed, and a pleasure to eat. The meat, sourced from Texan cows with Japanese wagyu roots, is juicy, flavorful, and a perfect medium-rare. In this burger's case, however, the patty takes the back seat to its accoutrements. ABC chose grated aged Bloomsday cheese, a nutty, slightly sweet, and totally delicious divergence from the usual choice of cheeses. On top of the melt lies an artistic array of pickled jalapeños; aside from their aesthetic merits, the peppers add flavor without overpowering with spice. Finally, the fluffy brioche bun is coated with a light layer of ABC's homemade herb aioli, which combines arugula, chives, and basil to excellent effect. The burger is well-balanced, amply sized, and a welcome change from the more-often-than-not disappointing burgers at similarly "hot" restaurants.

Follow up with ABC's irresistible sundae -- salted caramel ice cream, candied peanuts & popcorn, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream -- for an old-fashioned, honest to goodness ABC food coma.

Minetta Tavern

Minetta Tavern's Black Label Burger

The Meat: Chuck, skirt, short rib, brisket, and 45-day dry-aged ribeye

The Cheese: None

The Bun: Sesame Seed

Flip Tip: The Black Label Burger.

One month later after my visit to Minetta Tavern, the sweet, oniony taste of their legendary Black Label Burger (26$) can be conjured in my mouth almost instantly. Its highly distinctive, rich-in-sodium-high-in-deliciousness makes it fit for King Arthur's table (oops it's french, King Louis'). Stacked between two brioche buns, this meat (chuck, skirt, short rib, brisket plus 45 day dry aged ribeye), caramelized onions, cigarette fries (piled high) combo satisfies all burger receptors at first chomp. Hang on for the next few and the butter laced gout coma settles in. Nurse your new medical condition with a dark-and-stormy and cancel any planned evening activities.

-EB & LS

Extra juice:

If dry-aged steak isn't your thing, try the Minetta Burger, a more conventional but seriously delicious [read: cheesy] Minetta creation.

Black Iron Burger Shop

The Meat: 80% lean chuck

The Cheese: Cheddar

The Bun: Sesame seed

Flip Tip: Try the black & blue, I guess...

Alphabet City's Black Iron Burger Shop is one of those places that just screams "burgers!" Dark lights, 19^th century locomotive-chic, and $4 beer specials entice passers-by, promising a serious burger experience. Sadly, the burger did not live up to the facade. The meat was dry, the bun too bread-y, and the lettuce and tomato - instead of enhancing the experience - merely diluted the flavor.

However, a broader trial of the Black Iron offerings brought some hope. Their Black & Blue burger, sampled by an equally burger-inclined pal, offered far more flavor and satisfaction. Blue cheese and a sprinkle of cajun seasoning should not make or break a burger experience, but perhaps in this case a little spice went a long way.

Extra Juice:

Black Iron serves a crisp house brew straight from Wilkes-Barre, PA's Lion Brewery, a PBR-like Pennsylvania favorite.

Sheep Station

The Meat: 80% lean chuck, from Union Meat Market

The Cheese: Australian cheddar

The Bun: Sesame seed

Flip Tip: Grab some Sheep's Milk!

Sheep Station, located in up-and-coming Gowanus in Brooklyn, serves up an eclectic “Australian” burger. Topped with grilled pineapple, beets, caramelized onions, and a fried egg, this burger is an exercise in both balance and flavor. Despite its laundry list of ingredients, the burger maintained its shape and stack surprisingly well through the experience. And although many overloaded burgers suffer from the “kitchen sink” effect, the myriad toppings blended together quite nicely, enhancing the meat’s flavor without overpowering it. Several bars and restaurants have opened up in this neighborhood recently, but none have a burger like Sheep Station!

Corner Bistro

The Meat: Chuck and sirloin

The Cheese: American

The Bun: Sesame seed

Flip Tip: $2.50 beers can't be beat!

Nestled in one of the West Village’s many chaotic crossroads, Corner Bistro is a hole-in-one for a night of meat, beer, and good chat. Its no frills attitude, beers priced for consumption, and Bistro Burger keep hoards of patrons happy until the wee hours, every night of the week.

The burger itself is rather traditional: a sesame seed bun, American cheese, bacon, and a sirloin/chuck blend. But, the bacon is the perfect burger crispness, and the patty is hot, thick, and impossibly juicy. Paired with their shoestring fries and a few pints of McSorley’s, it requires some will – even from the most willful burger eater – to abstain from round #2.

Blue Ribbon Bakery

The Meat: 100% chuck (all natural, grass-fed cows in PA)

The Cheese: Choice of cheese

The Bun: Sesame Seed Bun

Flip Tip: Admire the bakery in the basement; it claims one of Manhattan's oldest ovens!

The burger at Blue Ribbon Bakery was very solid. The bun was one of the tastiest buns I've ever had; made in the restaurant's own bakery, it's a hybrid between a brioche roll and a sesame seed bun. The meat was savory and shaped into a manageably sized patty. The fries were crispy but soft, salty but not too salty. 

This was not a messy burger; in fact, it was notably easy to bite and hold. Moreover, this is the perfect burger for picky eaters because they leave the veggies on the side and allow you to pick your cheese. Finally, however, while each of the components was well executed, the burger failed to be more than the sum its parts -- the ultimate test of a burger.

The Palm

The Meat: 80% Lean Sirloin

The Cheese: Cheddar

The Bun: Sesame Seed Bun

Flip Tip: Check out the caricatures on the walls

The Palm is known for its steak, lobster, and Italian dishes. It had never occurred to me to order one of the restaurant’s six burgers. But, when I was finally wise enough to try the “Classic burger,” I was thrilled with my selection. It was absolutely delicious. It has a steak-y taste that one would expect of The Palm. And while this burger is not as glamorous as the restaurant’s reputation would suggest, the sirloin blend was definitely high quality, as well as very rich in flavor. 

Nectar of 82nd St.

Cheeseburger Deluxe


The Meat: *Super Secret*
The Cheese: Choice of cheese
The Bun: Sesame seed
Flip Tip: Grab a chocolate milkshake for a killer combo

The physics of Nectar's burger give an otherwise single-minded burger brain new food for thought. The bun, though a conventional sesame seed type, is sealed shut on its insides by a thorough coating of melted cheese (in this case, cheddar). The effect: while an ordinary bun absorbs most of its burger's juice, this one has no such sponge-like qualities. One might worry that the deluge of succulent burger "nectar" lost with each bite would take away from the taste, but this is not the case. Nectar's creation has more than enough juice to go around, covering the eater's hands, fries, pickle, as well as any other stray accoutrements that might otherwise have been deemed  "too veggie".

No plain-Jane

The Meat: 81% lean Sirloin from GreenTree

The Cheese: Choice of Cheese

The Bun: Sesame Seed Bun from Fink Rolls

The burger at Tavern on Jane is the kind of burger you crave after a long night of bar hopping, bottle popping, and booty bopping. In short, it's awesome drunk food. The juicy 81% sirloin oozes onto the plain sesame seed bun in a way that might make you cringe -- if you were sober. 

Tavern on Jane has been (and will continue to be) a West Village destination. Unlike many of the other burgers in this neck of the woods, however, these burgers are prepared to order. And the staff doesnt fail to please!

Somewhere over the rainbow ... Burgers will be this good?

The Meat: 85% lean ground chuck
The Cheese: Vermont Cheddar, Swiss, Pepper Jack, or American
The Bun: Sesame seed bun

Veselka is the ultimate example of why it’s not ok to judge a restaurant by its façade. While its décor doesn’t attract passersby with strong electromagnetic force, this restaurant boasts delicious Ukrainian fare – and a seriously exceptional burger. Veselka is a no-frills kind of place – and one of the happiest places I’ve ever seen in New York City. 

The burger is an apt reflection of the restaurant’s atmosphere. There are no fancy-shmancy accoutrements; the burger is composed only of its traditional elements (the bun, the meat, the pickles, etc.). However, each element is executed to perfection. Veselka means rainbow in Ukrainian – and their burger is a true pot of gold!