Fanelli's Cafe

Fanelli’s Café
94 Prince Street @ Mercer



I had been meaning to head to this place ever since it graced the cover of Time Out NY’s 100 best burger issue. It just looked so big and tasty. Such a sexy bun, such firm tomatoes, The mag also ranked it as the 7th best burger in the city so I was certainly expecting a dam good burger.
The old time booze hall style Fanelli’s Café is not what you might expect to find in SoHo, but then again the rent was probably a little less back in 1847.
So how about the burger? Pub style thick hunk of fresh meat. Good fresh veggies, crisp pickle but the interesting twist is the large onion bun that they serve it on (funny… the term bunion never caught on). It was a nice touch, added some flava, even for somebody like me who isn’t really even a big fan of the O-bun.



The other reviews I had checked all described this burger as a dripper. Unfortunately my burger, ordered medium rare, was actually on the dry side. Now perhaps it was an off day but I didn’t get a single drip of burger blood. I was rather disappointed to tell you the truth all of the other Time Out 10 members I had tried had all been great. This burger just seemed like an above average pub patty.
On a side note, the fries tasted great. Skinny but fresh cut tasting and they came at no extra charge while other pub buger joints such as JG and PJ charge.

If you have had a different experience post a comment… I know some people love this place. It just didn’t stand out to me.

Type: Pub Burger
Price: burger fries coke tip 14
Recommended: Perhaps it was just a bad day, but I wouldn’t call this a must eat.