TNBC -- The Burger Joint

Though hardly a secret anymore, The Burger Joint, hidden behind a dark curtain within the lobby of the fancy Le Parker Meridien Hotel, has become a sort of burger lovers clubhouse, with only a neon sign (and huge ass line) to indicate it's locale.




Madelyn and I met uptown on the streets, and though I had been to the burger joint once before, I was a little lost. Not my home turf, we wandered the block a bit (reminiscent of our wandering in the west village, god why am I so bad at navigating NY?)

The menu is concise, which is good because you need to be ready to order by the time you get up to the register (or, in soup nazi fashion, back of the line!). Simply tell them what you want on your burger (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, or mustard) and how you want it done (medium rare, as if it were a question), sodas, fries, beers, or milk shakes.



Our burgers have a flavor that reflect the method of cooking, over a real flame. The fries came in paper bags, hot to the touch. Just they way everything should be. The tiny space makes competing for a table a necessity (I had Mad snap one up while I placed our order), the bad wood paneling, the walls of autographs, and the movie posters make for a fun, kitschy environment. It certainly puts one at ease when compared tot he stuffy air of the hotel lobby. Fast food for the fancy I suppose. In fact, it was just like a high quality fast food burger (and makes me miss The Habit even more). No brioche bun or kobe beef, just an attention to how to prepare a tasty burger. Indeed, the style of presentation, the long lines, and the notoriety make it easy to draw parallels to Shake Shack (some would argue Burger Joint serving as Shake Shack's 'father') and that's not too unfair. And while Shake Shack still stands as the standard to compare everything else to, I will concede that I really (really) enjoyed everything about the fries at Burger Joint.

So yes, burgers still reign supreme in Madison Sq. Park, but don't count The Burger Joint out. It still has a certain je ne sais quoi that makes it a worthy destination for anybody interested in eating their way through NYC.