One of the most revered burgers in the city is the one created by April Bloomfield at Spotted Pig, so when she opened another burger joint uptown, there was a lot of excitement. But the Midtown location deterred me from really checking it out but when Aarti and Will had friends in town who wanted to go, I was all-in.
First off, it's definitely NOT Spotted Pig, so don't come here expecting a cozy but hip West Village joint. This has more of a chain restaurant feel - it's big and spacious and doesn't have a ton of personality. The booths on the left hand side have these weird mini flat screen TVs with a yule log like you would see during the Christmas holiday - only it's freakin March, so I have no idea why they had it on. The menu is what you would expect - burgers, hot dogs and a few salads if you really want to be somewhat healthy. In terms of burgers, they have beef burgers, fish burgers, and a veggie burger, so a little bit of everything. I had just had a day of drinking and eating fries at another bar, so I decided to stick with a classic burger instead of a salvation burger that had bacon on it. Most of us got the classic burger ($17) and Will got Salvation burger ($25) - someone had to do it! We started with popcorn ($3) and cheese crisps ($4) and Aarti got a chocolate milkshake ($7) while one of their friends got a toasted marshmallow milkshake ($7).
The popcorn snack was kind of a waste - it was a small cup of popcorn with some paprika and spice sprinkled on top and didn't really do it for me. Similar with the cheese crisp, they actually turned out to be crackers with a cheese flavor to it - again, a waste of space in your stomach to prepare for the burger. After ordering, we realized that the waitress never asked us how we wanted our burgers cooked but apparently we were getting TWO thin patties - so it didn't really matter too much. I didn't realize it was going to be two patties but there wasn't any other choice in the matter - so regardless of what meat burger you order, be prepared to clog your arteries. As I mentioned, the classic burger is two thin patties with cheese, special sauce and pickles. If this sounds like a Big Mac from McDonald's, you wouldn't be wrong. It was essentially a fancy version of a Big Mac - right down to the sesame seed bun. Now don't get me wrong - there is a time and a place for a Big Mac and the burger really wasn't that bad at all. But when you put into context that it's just an adult version of a Big Mac it makes you wonder why you are paying $17 for it. Plus did I note that it doesn't come with fries?! You have to order them separately. Unfortunately, while we were chomping on our classic burger, Will's Salvation burger came out and it was pretty much super rare - to the point it was almost black and blue. He asked us if he should take it back and all of us agreed that he should - normally I am a fan of rare meat but this was really pushing the limit. The waitress was very apologetic about it but they didn't comp us or bring anything out while he waited for his food. Once it came back, it was still pretty rare but better. I had a bite of his burger and it was definitely a better burger than the classic - maybe it was the smoked bacon and beer cheese that went with it but it felt like a much heftier burger than the classic. As for the milkshakes, none of us were huge fans of the chocolate milkshake because it wasn't made with chocolate ice cream - instead it tasted like it was made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup poured on top of it. But apparently the marshmallow one was a bit better.
All in all, I wasn't really super impressed with my meal here. While the quality of the ingredients were high (the meat was provided by White Gold Butchers), the notion that I'm paying all this money for a burger with no fries that was kind of a rip off idea of a Big Mac didn't really do it for me. Plus the Midtown location was a turn off for me. Even with the crazy wait, I'll still stick with the burger at the Spotted Pig instead. Total bill: $41/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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