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Time Out NY's 100 Best Burgers

bpearis

By bpearis
in New York: Dining

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bpearis

bpearis

Posted
Posted

This week's TONY cover story is "NYC's 100 Best Burgers."

The Top Ten are:

1. Donovan's Pub, Woodside Queens

2. PJ Clarks, Midtown

3. Soup Burg, UES

4. Pastis, Meatpaking District

5. J.G. Melon, UES

6. Rare Bar & Grill, Murray Hill

7. Fanelli's Cafe, Soho

8. Paul's, East Village

9. Blue Ribbon Soho / Blue Ribbon Brooklyn

10. MetroCafe & Wine Bar, Flatiron Dist.

After that, they have different categories: "Plain & Simple," "All Dressed Up," Mini-Meals," "Steakhouse Fare," "International Style," "At the Diner," "Outer-Borough Burgers," "Old-School Flavor" and "The Modern World."

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've never had any in the Top Ten.

Not included in the list is my favorite "specialty" mini burger -- the Popsie Burger at Snacky in Williamsburg (on a slightly sweet chinese bun with Japanese spicy mayo).

"If it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's a Fall gig'' -- Mark E. Smith

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jogoode

jogoode

Posted
Posted
Very interesting.  I have to admit I'm a little shocked not to see my favorite on the list: Peter Luger.

Dude. You go to Peter Luger, and you have a burger?

Hey, you have to have something to accompany your porterhouse instead of that odd tomato-onion salad. :wink: And it's only $6!

JJ Goode

Co-author of Serious Barbecue, which is in stores now!

www.jjgoode.com

"For those of you following along, JJ is one of these hummingbird-metabolism types. He weighs something like eleven pounds but he can eat more than me and Jason put together..." -Fat Guy

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slkinsey

slkinsey

Posted
Posted
Very interesting.  I have to admit I'm a little shocked not to see my favorite on the list: Peter Luger.

Dude. You go to Peter Luger, and you have a burger?

It is a serious work of discipline not to order a steak. But the burger is only available for lunch anyway, and I've not had much success at staying conscious through the end of the business day after I've packed away a porterhouse.

Besides, sometimes you want to spend sixty dollars on lunch... sometimes you want to spend six.

--

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Dave the Cook

Dave the Cook

Posted
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Very interesting.  I have to admit I'm a little shocked not to see my favorite on the list: Peter Luger.

Dude. You go to Peter Luger, and you have a burger?

. . . the burger is only available for lunch anyway . . .

So you can't get it as a dinner app. Damn.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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whimsity

whimsity

Posted
Posted

Hmm. And all this time the number 1 burger I haven't eaten was in my neck of the woods? must. recitify.

Though I have to say my all time favourite burger involved beets and eggs... which I'm probably not going to find on this end of the hemisphere.

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richl2214

richl2214

Posted
Posted (edited)

Can't say much about the rest but Pastis and Blue Ribbon certainly know how to serve a burger.

Edited by richl2214 (log)

"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." ~Winston Churchill

Morels- God's gift to the unworthy human species

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Brooklyn

Brooklyn

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Posted
Can't say much about the rest but Pastis and Blue Ribbon certainly know how to serve a burger.

This list is outrageous, Parker Meridian isn't in the top 10? Crazy talk. Now, I eat at Blue Ribbon probobly more than any other restaurant, and I think the burger there is an absolute joke. How that made it into the top 100, let alone the top 10, will always be a mysterty to me.

JG Melon is my #2 burger in NYC, and I am happy to see they got at least that one right. If anyone is looking for one of these to try - that is a tried and tested choice.

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Dryden

Dryden

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Not to mention, they seem to have omitted the Shake Shack, which would get my vote for the best. Although I'll admit I've never had Luger's burger, either.

I want pancakes! God, do you people understand every language except English? Yo quiero pancakes! Donnez moi pancakes! Click click bloody click pancakes!

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bpearis

bpearis

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Posted
Not to mention, they seem to have omitted the Shake Shack, which would get my vote for the best.  Although I'll admit I've never had Luger's burger, either.

Luger's and Shake Shack are in the 100 list, just not the top ten.

"If it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's a Fall gig'' -- Mark E. Smith

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Suzanne F

Suzanne F

Posted
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. . . the burger is only available for lunch anyway . . .

So you can't get it as a dinner app. Damn.

Of course not! What do you think the lamb chops are for?

Gotta agree 100 percent!!! :laugh:

Does anyone know if the "researchers" talked to any of our current or former members? I sort of suspect not, given the list of 100 and the opinions stated, many of which are diametrically opposed to those we had.

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted

JG Melon is my #2 burger in NYC, and I am happy to see they got at least that one right.  If anyone is looking for one of these to try - that is a tried and tested choice.

I feel like I'm finally vindicated, as I've always placed Melon's burger in the top 5, and had to listen to a lot of shit over the years about it! They allegedly use the same supplier as Luger.

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

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Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

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brooklyncook

brooklyncook

Posted
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After reading this, I figure you've got to take it only half-seriously. Nothing against the writers, but this "Top 100" wasn't a Top 100 -- it was a Top 10 with 90 runners-up, sans ranking. And the entire article was based on the eatings of two people.

I suspect that if you'd worked it out to be a bit more empirical, the rankings would drastically change. I mean, check out the tiny burgers sidebar. I've eaten at both Schnack and Pop Burger, and there's no question: Schnack is the better burger, both physically and financially. Paying $5 for a Pop Burger is ludicrous. It's not worth it at all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not presuming people place much faith in Top 50/100/500 lists of any sort (isn't this the time of year for them anyways?) -- but I'd love to see a Top 100 burger list with a bit more meat...pardon the pun.

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phaelon56

phaelon56

Posted
Posted
I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've never had any in the Top Ten.

I you should happen to visit Sripraphai Thai restaurant in Sunnyside... Donovan's is just a short walk away. I'd start with the burger and then move to Thai food :biggrin:

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Dryden

Dryden

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Corner bistro, as anyone in the burger club can tell you, isn't worthy of being a top 1000 burger, let alone top 10.

I want pancakes! God, do you people understand every language except English? Yo quiero pancakes! Donnez moi pancakes! Click click bloody click pancakes!

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Nathan

Nathan

Posted
Posted

best burger in NY, bar none -- Bar 89 (I prefer the APV II -- au poivre with bleu cheese and bacon)....its the only reason to go to that benighted place.

Bar 89 is the sister restaurant to Elsa's on the Park in Milwaukee with an identical menu -- best burgers in the midwest...

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Blondie

Blondie

Posted
Posted (edited)
Corner bistro, as anyone in the burger club can tell you, isn't worthy of being a top 1000 burger, let alone top 10.

I participated in a number of the Burger Club outings and I still think the Corner Bistro makes a very good burger. So there :raz:

Fanelli's was a longtime favorite of mine. The onion rolls are fantastic, but my last burger there (6 months ago?) wasn't as good as I'd remembered. Still worth keeping on my list though.

The one I don't get is Paul's Palace. I've been there 3 or 4 times in the last year or so. I kept thinking I must have hit it on a bad night, but the burgers I've had were never better than ok.

Edited by Blondie (log)

Sometimes When You Are Right, You Can Still Be Wrong. ~De La Vega

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