SHAKE SHACK

Shake Shack
Inside Madison Square Park
@ Madison ave and 23rd
(though line will probably be near Bway)


It’s a great day in NYC. Its Friday, the temp is currently 68, The DeLaVega fish are out, and of course Shake Shack is open!!!
Having the day off it only took me a few min to realize where I needed to go for lunch. I sent out some emails to put together a lunch crew and by 11:20 I was off to Madison Square Park.
At 11:35 the line was not too bad. It looked like a 30-40 min wait. I was expecting much worse. It was nice out, I had my dog and I didn’t mind waiting. 25 min later the line had tripled in size. Around 12:15 I was ready to order and my friends were on the way. After letting a few people cut the group arrived and it was time to order.
I went with the Shack Burger without cheese, the Chicago Dog, fries, an Arnold Palmer, and A Brooklyn Larger…yes it was a lot of food but this is cause for celebration. Before I get into the burger I want to bring attention to the Chicago Dog. I am not from Chicago, and I have only been 3 or 4 times but I am a huge fan of the Chicago Style dog and all its toppings. Unfortunately I have not found many (any) in nyc Here is the description from the menu:

”Vienna all-beef dog on a poppy seed bun. Drag it through the garden! Topped with lettuce, tomato, sport peppers,green peppers, pickles, onion, neon relish, cucumber,celery salt and mustard”

Of course the dog was great. It was all over the place. While places like criff dogs and F&G (is that what its called?) sell crazy hot dogs all of them leave out the large poppy bun!!! The bun is very necessary for a well topped dog…anything else just falls apart.

Ok and now on to the burger… I am sorry that my review will suck for 2 reasons.

1) I ate the burger too fast to even think about it
2) It doesn’t matter what I say because you will go anyway and love it!!!!

Ok anyway… The burger was better than I had remembered. Unfortunately it was still just as small but whatever get two and suck it up. Lettuce tomato special sauce great beef soft yellow bun what a combo…somebody tell New York Burger co its not worth opening up for the next few mo.
You can see from the picture that they could have maybe thrown on some more special sauce after grilling ..that looks like just mayo but still it was great...Grilled onions would have helped too.

The Big Question…is it worth an hour and a half of your time. I was asked that question like 4 times by people passing by and here is the short answer…MAYBE… haha what a cop out.
The burger is great, can you find a better burger with a shorter line…probably esp if you know a word that rhymes with “urger oint”. Would I wait an hour and a half to just get the burger and run it back to my office to sit at my desk to eat..No. If it was a nice day like today and I had time to wait 90 min to order and then another 45 to sit outside in the sun, eat my burger and drink a beer or 3…yes by all means not much could possible be better.

So go…but don’t go half ass. Go make a day of it, bring a book, some friends, sit out in the sun, eat like a pig and get a little tipsy…its not here all year ya know.

Type: slow fast food…outdoor eating Mecca
Price: Not bad at all
Recommend: YES YES YES




P.S Opie loved the scraps

Girls......

My attepmt to hang out with a westchester friend....


Girl (10:51:16 AM): I dont' know if I want a movie too
Girl (10:51:20 AM): I mean we might not make it
Girl (10:51:24 AM): if we just get dinner
ME (10:51:36 AM): maybe we can eat at the pallisades
ME (10:51:39 AM): and see a movie there
Girl (10:51:43 AM): ? no
ME (10:51:45 AM): they have fatburger
Girl (10:51:46 AM): that is too far
ME (10:51:50 AM): ill drive you
Girl (10:51:52 AM): I"m not eating fatburger
Girl (10:51:55 AM): forget it
ME (10:51:55 AM): haha fine
Girl (10:51:57 AM): no plans tonight'
Girl (10:51:59 AM): cancelled
ME (10:52:00 AM): what
ME (10:52:02 AM): !
Girl (10:52:03 AM): you are like college boy
ME (10:52:11 AM): have you ever been to fatburger
Girl (10:52:19 AM): I ask you to go out for dinner w/ me and you say you want fatburger
ME (10:52:20 AM): the one in the pallisades is the first one this side of LA
Girl (10:52:21 AM): I can't deal
Girl (10:52:28 AM): I have to go
ME (10:52:32 AM): ugh!!!!!!!


SIGH oh well

New York Burger Co.

NEW YORK BURGER CO
303 Park Ave South (btw 23rd and 24th …yes one block away from Shake Shack)

Welcome to Gramercy’s other burger place. New York Burger Co. was the number one NYC Burger for 2005 according to AOL CityGuide but is it any good? While the menu offered 9 different burgers I kept it simple and went with the 6oz burger served with plum tomatoes, romaine, lettuce, and a brioche bun. Apparently the beef was “Charcoal Grilled” but I didn’t taste it…I mean I guess even Burger King is “Flame Broiled” so no big woop.
My burger ordered medium was a little dry, not as juicy as I would have liked. The size was right but in general the burger itself was nothing special. Better than at a diner but not one of NYC’s Elite.
I was a fan of the variety of sauces the joint offered. Chili Ketchup, A Maple Dijon sauce, 1000 island, Chipotle Honey, BBQ, and the NY Burger Co Special Sauce. I added a dip of this sauce with each bite to cheer up the otherwise only slightly better than average burger.
NYBC also served up fresh cut Idaho Fries cooked in 100% soybean oil. Apparently that is healthy or something…though if you’re worried about that sort of thing why bother at all. I liked the fries; they were thick and a little soggy…probably not for everybody though.
I might be tempted to try one of the more fancy specialty burgers at some point…they did look good. GQ Magazine also rates the onion rings here as the best in nyc…but I think they also say you can get rock hard abs in 4 weeks so who knows.

While the burger wasn’t bad I see no reason go here when you could just walk one more block over to shake shack.

Type: Slower fast food
Price: Burger Fries Drink 8.75
Recommend: No. Go to Shake Shack even if they have a line / don’t open for a few weeks

Burke in the Box

Burke in the Box
150 E. 59th st (inside Bloomindales)



So what’s a guy todo?…for whatever reason you agree to go shopping at Bloomindales with a friend of yours and after 2 hours of “no your ass doesn’t look fat in those jeans” you are about to go nuts. Well I say you have earned a treat even if a burger fries and a coke will set you back over 15 bucks. Welcome to Burke in the Box, the city’s latest entry in the mini burger market, located inside Bloomindales.
The total amount of food is not much different then Pop Burger…3 tiny burgers vs pop burger's 2 slightly bigger ones. If you are really really hungry you might not be full afterwards and unfortunately you cant just order one extra burger like you would be able to do at Sassys or White Castle. It’s a shame I know.
So the burgers….the beef patties resemble little meatballs and the inside even had a little pink! Something you don’t see too often in mini burgers. The beef was covered with some sprinkle of rub or seasoning that I didn’t really care for or have the ability to recognize ( I tried using the very complicated Bergermelier technique of holding the beef at a 90 degree angle while licking it…but no luck, only that crazy guy look from the people around me)….anyway a squirt of Heinz 57 fixes all.

In my mind the highlight of the burger was the bun it was served on. In order to create the patty caddie I think Burke had to mate a KFC Biscuit with an English Muffin. It was buttery and crusty and full of nooks and crannies.
The fixins fell short of my expectations. On top of the beef was a pickle slice or two and that was it. Speared on the outside of the bun was a cherry tomato. While this made the burger look rather fancy smancy it was a pain to eat. Simply moving the tomato to the inside of the burger just made a mess…ketchup all over my ipod. I tried to smoosh the tomato before it went on the burger. That helped a little but I wish they just used a slice of tomato instead.
Overall I enjoyed the burger. If you’re in Bloomindales by all means try one at least once. The meal wasn’t cheep…but then again not much in the store is.





Price:16ish burger fries drink

Type: Fancy Food Court / mini burger

Recomended: If you see no difference in paying 8 or 16 for a burger meal go for it. Otherwise stick to pop burger.