www.bltburger.com

Proprietor/Chef: Laurent Tourendel

Category: Burgers

Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
470 6^th Ave New York, NY 10010
(212) 243-8226

Mood: Self-explanatory… burgers & fries…and maybe a milk shake too.  My least favorite BLT restaurant, but if you’re looking for a restaurant without a wait, safe bet here.

Tastes Like: ironically non-greasy, average tasting burger..with my pick of blue cheese & mushrooms.  It’s nothing spectacular and nowhere near great.  I don’t understand… BLT steak is supreme and those damned popovers are amazing.  Even the seafood was excellent. What the hell went wrong with their burgers?  I still ate it, because I was hungry.  And I was mildly satisfied.  Would I go back?  Sure…but I’d be running to shake shack first. My first love & craving in NYC.

Must Haves: sweet potato fries

Stay Away: the regular fries are OK

Ambiance: Typical burger joint with a slight edge on class.  What can I say, but fun?

Service: Great.

Rating: 3 stars

Caveat: None

http://www.stmarksburger.com/

Proprietor/Chef: ?

Category: Burgers

Neighborhood: St. Marks
33 St. Marks Place New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-3132

Tastes Like: Enthusiastic, all hands on deck, cheap and messy eats!  It’s fun junky food you can eat drunken or sober, so don’t expect this place to be gourmet because it’s not.  With that being said, the sliders here are an awesome bite-sized morsel, tasty from the buttery bun, smoked onions, cheese, bacon and beef with your choices of sauces: jalepeno, bbq, chipotle ketchup, or plain.  The real winner of Mark is the ever so affordable price points, $2 generous sized sliders or $2.75 with bacon.  And only you, my friend are in control of the quantity.  After my food adventure around East Village, we stumbled upon Mark by accident and just could not resist this newly addition to St. Marks.  We harmlessly ordered one slider with bacon to split.  The minced meat was freshly grounded, lightly mixed with bacon bits. I could have done without the bacon, but some of us preferred the sweet scent that lightly hinted and lingered after each bite.  With only one mini slider for the night, it sufficed my appetite in a big, hearty way.  It’s also worth trying the Guinness milkshake.  No traces of the taste of alcohol, not too thick and still super sweet.

Ambiance: Very hip and colorful.  Rainbow cow.  Rainbow stacked bottles.  Beer or wine.  I’d say it’s artsy fartsy… If you weren’t on LCD… not that you’d need it to enjoy the food.

Service: Bar service is completely the way to go.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Caveat: NONE. Another no frills joint that assimilates nicely in the neighborhood… I love their menu…so simple,  no BS

http://shakeshacknyc.com/

Proprietor: Danny Meyer

Category: American/Burger

Neighborhood: Flatiron Madison Sq. Park
E 23rd St & Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
(212) 889-6600

Tastes Like: Truly gourmet heaven meets fast food.  If Shake Shack had an antagonist, it would be Johnny Rockets, lagging way the hell behind in taste & quality.  The burgers are about 4 oz, with your usual fixings on a potato bun.  I get my usual “veggie” option, the infamous shroom burger, portabello mushroom, fried and battered with muenster and cheddar cheese oozing in the center.  To successfully top it all off, the secret “Shake” sauce that adds to the burger’s overall flare.  It’s so bad for you, but so purely a crunchy bliss in your mouth.  The cheese fries are good (not anything special), but the milk shakes (my choice of chocolate) are hard to miss.  Thick & frothy, it’s a must have to complete the meal.  While I like their regular burgers, I don’t find it anything special.  It’s just a burger.  I once got the Shake Shack Stack… shroom burger topped with a plain meat patty topped.  Delicious, if you’re overzealous and in the mood.  It’s a lot of food plus the fries & shake.  Overall, some will say that the burgers are very comparable to the West Coast version of Inn & Out, but many (including myself) will contest that it is shameful to even make such a comparison.  Inn & Out is purely FAST FOOD … while Shake Shack is very much gourmet.  The one thing they both have in common?  Damn tasty burgers.  Get a complete satisfying meal: burger, fries & shake.

Must Haves: the SHROOM burger is simply amazing! a meal that will melt in your mouth.  give it half the chance it deserves.

Stay Away: Who the hell gets a hot dog here?

Ambiance: A little outdoor shack in the middle of Madison Square Park.  The line is extremely LONG, but it’s fast food, so it’ll move, but be prepared to wait at least 45 minutes on a peak day.  There are tables and benches, so grab a table to eat within the park.  It does the job.

Service: In and then you’re out…

Caveat: There is actually two lines here.  One if you’re ordering burgers, and the other line is express if you are only ordering milk shakes, ice cream or drinks.  Kind of odd–why would you ever come here to get anything else but a burger?  And do you ever wonder how this place stays open in the winter time, considering Shake Shack is outside in the Madison Square Park?!

Rating: 5 stars

Abstraction: Pop-a-licious