Burger Joint has two locations in NYC – one hidden behind the curtain in the atrium lobby of Le Parker Meridien Hotel in Midtown and the other in Greenwich Village on 8th St.
On Christmas Eve, I took a break from the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and checked out the Midtown location. We spotted the curtain and headed down a dark, narrow corridor towards the bright neon burger sign which pointed to the entrance. On the side wall is a set of order cards in different languages including Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and French. As you get closer and closer to the register, you’ll notice a big cardboard sign with the 3-step process for ordering:
Step 1: Hamburger or Cheeseburger
Step 2: Temperature
Step 3: Toppings
Well, you can see it below:
The line wasn’t very long – probably about 15 people (both tourists and locals) ahead of us, but it took about 15 minutes to get to the cashier to place our order. With enough time to decide what I wanted to eat, I ordered a cheeseburger and fries, lemonade (only because they didn’t have any milkshakes available) and brownie. The food is made to order, and the brownie is already made – displayed on a glass cake plate. When I lifted the dome, the condensation dripped onto the brownies. The brownies were freshly baked and still warm as I picked my corner piece with a sheet of wax paper and placed it into a brown bag.
Now the next feat was getting a seat. With about 30 seats and a busy lunch crowd, it was tough. Fortunately we got a seat in about 10 minutes; the time it took to get the food. When I took a bite into my cheeseburger with lettuce, tomatoes, raw onions, pickles and mustard (my usual toppings) I was thinking to myself: Why haven’t I come here sooner. This burger is awesome. The fries were classier-McDonald’s fries. Yep, tasted similar but with less salt. But that phrase came to mind when I munched on a few. Heck, we were in a 5-star hotel.
Cheeseburger
With a long queue, I’d recommend not going when famished. My 30 minute wait time from ordering to getting the food was well worth it. Heck, I’ve waited on the Shack Shack line at Madison Square Park for that long once before, but the burger at Burger Joint is way better. Even Anthony Bourdain has stopped by this place in the New York episode of The Layover (though he thinks the opposite).
You can see more of the photos taken during my lunch at Burger Joint on the WerYoo iPhone app. Just look for the hashtag #BourdainWasHere.
Burger Joint
Le Parker Meridien
119 W 56th St
New York, NY 10019
Tel: 212.708.1400
Hours:
S-Th 11:00 to 11:30
F-S 11:00 to 12:00
