BareBurger

Manhattan, NY
www.bareburger.com



The Order: Pesto Red Pepper Burger with Beef, medium rare. Creamy Havarti, roasted red peppers, baby spinach and BareBurger pesto mayo.
Side Order: Onion Rings + Fries Combo ($4.5), Curry Ketchup dipping sauce ($.40)
$9.95 + $4.5 + $.40 = $14.85
Drink Order: Founders IPA, Raspberry Vanilla Shake



Despite the friendly waitstaff, the pleasant company, and the laid-back atmosphere, this was an intimidating place in which to order. This may have been due to having been really hungry by the time I arrived at BareBurger. So after thinking that I had it all together to order, all of a sudden there are all these other options that I didn't realize were available. Type of bread, side, sauce, etc. When I finally ordered, the service was extremely fast.

The place wasn't packed but it was surprising just how fast the food came. The first few bites of the burger were average. But then I started tasting all the seasoning. HOLY CRAP is this burger good. Cooked perfectly, delicious, juicy, I can't say enough about this burger. It was gone in a second, before I realized I hadn't taken a picture. Left with a pile of onion rings and fries, I dug in. The fries were definitely better than the onion rings, and definitely better value (you get a lot more fries for your money). They don't need any sauce, but you should really order one or two sauces to try, as they are excellent.

The dipping sauces cost extra but are AMAZING. Curry Ketchup and the BareBurger Special Sauce (they gave this one to us for free). Both were entirely worth it, interesting, and really different from any other sauces I'd had before.

I ordered a milkshake for after because, well why not. A decent selection of flavors, though they were out of blackberry. Really quite good, and not too overwhelming with the raspberry flavor.

BareBurger has a decent beer selection too. Their draught craft beer selection is available in pints, 25oz and 60oz, and they carry a lot of seasonal beers, though our waiter didn't seem all that knowledgeable about the beers they had.

This place is well worth the visit. I'll definitely be going again.

The Dram Shop

Brooklyn, NY
dramshopbrooklyn.com



The Order: Hamburger with handcut fries. 2 100% ground grass-fed chuck squares, shredded lettuce, tomato, diced onion, pickle, mayo, and mustard, american cheese ($1), and yummy bacon ($1)
Side Order: Comes with handcut fries, garlic aioli dip ($1)
$11 + $1 + $1 = $13 + $1 (sauce) = $14
Drink Order: Kelso Nut Brown and Smuttynose IPA



Dear readers, I apologize for the lateness of this burger review. It is not for me to hold back from you the delicious delicacies that are out there. I have been stricken by the flu, and while I know this is not an excuse, my avid bovine consumers, I nonetheless needed to postpone. After working until very late, and not getting back to my house until 4:30, and then waking up at 2pm, I was groggy and sickly all day, finally getting back into bed at 10pm. Upon realizing today that while in the influenza infirmary I had completely bypassed yesterday's post, I rushed to the computer to deliver unto you the review of the week as follows.

The two patties of this burger are thin, making it impossible to order it any other way than well done. Adding the cheese and bacon didn't really do anything for the burger (the waitress' suggestion), and though the burger comes with mustard, you don't really taste it unless you actually look for it. We ordered two of the dipping sauces and after trying them I wished that they had just forgone the mayo and mustard on the burger and instead made the bold choice to put on any one of their delicious sauces.

The sauces really over powered the fries, which were nothing to speak of apart from the fact that they were remarkably uniform in thickness, all nice meaty fries but with basically no seasoning, or taste, to speak of.

A solid burger, but not worth $13.

All American Drive-In

Massapequa, NY
allamericanhamburger.us



The Order: Double Double
Side Order: Large Fries ($1 extra)
$2.40 + $1 = $3.40
Drink Order: Dr. Pepper and Black & White Milkshake



This is by no means a gourmet burger but nostalgia for old time drive-ins and the allure of the burger brought me and fellow burger enthusiast, Alexis, here. If you like White Castle, this burger is for you. The taste is almost exactly the same but in larger form. Two thin patties, pickles, ketchup and cheese somehow combine to make this burger sweet and salty and almost seem steamed. And for the price, it's worth it. Notice that the above picture in no way looks appetizing? This picture is actually fairly accurate in how it looks, shoved into a bag and a bit smooshed. They aren't going for presentation here.

The fries were good, just plain thicker machine cut fries. They were lightly salted but the 'large' is not as big as it could, or should, be. Again the price isn't bad, but compared to other establishments' large-size fries there were not as many as there could have been.

Their shakes were also fairly cheap and pretty good. I couldn't see if it was made with real ice cream or with soft serve (they took it behind some other array of machines) but it was a pretty thick shake and worth the couple dollars.

The Pony Bar

Manhattan, NY
www.theponybar.com



The Order: Sirloin Burger, medium rare. Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and an onion roll.
Side Order: Comes with Adirondack Bill's pickles and hand-cut chips
$9
Drink Order: Sixpoint Belgian IPA, Sixpoint Cask-condition Bengali Tiger IPA



First off, the beer selection is awesome at this place. The night I went it just so happened to be a brewery night. So! Instead of having 20 or so American microbrews on tap, all of the taps had a different beer from Sixpoint Brewery. And all the beers are always only $5. Amazing. But I digress, this is about the burger.

At first, the burger was a little disappointing, having been talked up a bit, but don't let that stop you from coming here. I found that if I ate around the edges first, saving the middle for last, this burger ended up being well worth it. The juicy center I discovered was fantastic, the amount of flavor you get there is well worth the price of the burger. The onion roll, the taste of the meat and the seasoning all came together in this, the juciest part of the burger.

The pickles are amazingly spiced with horseradish. The next time I went to this bar, I wasn't that hungry and just ordered a basket of pickles to snack on. They are best when they get to the bottom of the barrel, and you can tell because of how much spicier they are, than usual. The chips are plain and simple: lightly salted and don't overwhelm you, making the focus of your meal the burger. As it should be.

It wasn't too long of a wait for my food and apparently the place clears out at around 9:30 or so on the week days but is generally still open until about 4am. The owner is here almost every night and the barstaff are really friendly. And a really diverse crowd hangs out here (I met a brewer from Sixpoint the 2nd night I went here).

Don't forget to ask for a card to begin logging and rating what beers you've had. When you get to 100, you get a shirt. When you get to 420, you get a sweatshirt.

Hourglass Tavern

Manhattan, NY
www.hourglasstavern.com



The Order: Angus Sliders, comes with 3 cheese blend, sweet pickles and ketchup on the side
Side Order: None
$13.75
Drink Order: Speakeasy Big Daddy IPA


If you're looking for a good slider, this is the place to come. The flavor of the meat wasn't cooked away at all, which is really easy to do with such a small portion of meat, and the three cheese blend was a satisfying compliment: slightly salty but sweet and melty.

The first slider, however, was excellent compared to the other three. A few bites of the slider had hints of pepper which were completely unexpected and amazing. If only the other three had the same splashes of taste.

The bread looked like it was going to be heavy, but instead I found the buns to be light and airy, and warmed just enough as to not be toasted.