PrintReview: The Burger Joint
NEW YORK CITY
I wanted so much to like The Burger Joint, on Third Avenue at 20th Street in Manhattan's Gramercy neighborhood. This purveyor of tiny hamburgers was hoppin', with Police Academy cadets rubbing elbows with doctors, rubbing elbows with what appeared to be college students. It has, as our friend Tien reported on his site, an amazing soda fountain, with RC, Bosco Chocolate Soda, and Stewart's Root Beer on tap. Its manager, constantly refilling patrons' soda cups at no extra charge, is straight from the New York school of friendly but feisty, gruff but gracious. Feeling welcome in the joint from the start, I ordered two burgers plain and two with cheese and fought my way onto a stool at the counter once some of our future Finest exited.
As Tien pointed out on Gothamist, one should not confuse The Burger Joint with Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien hotel in Midtown. To do so is to ignore cartography, burger size, and quality. When my mini burgers arrived, I was ready to make quick work of them, and I plunged into one of the cheeseless sandwiches first, for a better assessment of taste. The meat was fresh and tasty and cooked nicely to about medium doneness. It was juicy, with seemingly more fat in it than most burgers, and I speculated that this might be necessary because smaller burgers cook faster and have a tendency to dry out easily.
Had I stopped with just that one, this review would be different. But as I tore into the second sandwich and the first of my cheeseburgers, I noticed a considerable amount of gristle present. Well, these things happen, I thought, and how much different is it from a juicy strip of fat on a delicious steak? As long as it's isolated in this burger...
Third burger? Uh oh. More gristle. I would have stopped eating at this point but, sitting at the counter and clearly visible to the manager, I didn't want to appear rude (I was taught to finish everything on my plate). So, fourth burger? First bite, and I've got a mouthful of gristle and something that was either very hard gristle or, more likely, a bone chip. At this point, what remained of my appetite vanished for good. I paid my bill and left, wondering how long it would be before I'd be able to go back to burgers.
I could go on about their little grill and the fact that they quickly turn out so many burgers at once on so small a surface. I could talk about their grilling technique. I could list the prices ($1 hamburgers, $1.25 cheeseburgers). But all that pales in light of the gristly meat. I'd like to go back just to see if this was a fluke, a once-in-a-blue-moon case of inattentive meat trimming before grinding. But I don't know if I could bring myself to do so. We at AHT would be curious to hear from other readers regarding The Burger Joint.
THE BURGER JOINT
Location: 241 Third Ave. (at 20th St.), New York City 10003
Phone: 212-228-1219
Extras: Check out this photo of the place below. See the doctor? Do you think he's a cardiologist? Heh. To top it off, when he left, he picked up a cigarette off the sidewalk that he must have left there while he ordered inside! This would be one doctor who would never bug you about your bad habits.
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11 Comments:
that's kind of disturbing and something i didn't notice when i ate there.
Hamburger tien at 12:19PM on 05/19/05
Just went there for the first time. Burgers were juicy and well-spiced. Didn't notice much gristle at all and definitely none that was hard. I thought they were pretty tender. Definitely not the leanest meat but when you consider that you get 2oz. for $1, it's a great value (especially for Manhattan). Fries and soda were solid. While I was there a person from Zagat called and said they wanted to put the place in their book. It will be interesting to see what they say...
Hamburger agp at 3:54PM on 05/19/05
Been there a few times and never had a problem with inedible meat, consistantly good each time. Seems like a fluke.
Also, it's 3rd Ave and 20th st, the article says 30th st twice.
Hamburger Joe at 4:25PM on 05/19/05
The most bizarre thing I've noticed the last few times I've been is the Playboy magazine in their newspaper rack. That was the biggest WTF for me. Considering more than half the customers were women during my last visit, having that there seemed stupid.
Hamburger Joe at 4:28PM on 05/19/05
Well, that's three people who haven't had gristle. Maybe my unfortunate experience truly was just a fluke. I'll have to go back to try it again soon.
AGP: I wasn't complaining about the fat content of the meat in the review; I liked that they were juicy and flavorful.
Joe: Thanks for the tip on the street number. I think the Third Ave. thing had me thinking 3's for some reason. It's fixed now.
Adam Kuban at 4:40PM on 05/19/05
I've been to Burger Joint many times, and never had a gristle burger. The quality has varied a little though, especially when it's insanely busy. They're always at least good, sometimes great. The chocolate soda & RC rules, the non-atmosphere is pleasing, and the Playboy in the newspaper rack only makes me love it more. It's there for the ARTICLES dammit!!
honestly someone probably stuck it in there as a joke, I'm sure the management had nothing to do with it.
Hamburger will at 8:30PM on 05/25/05
i went there last weekend and also did not have a gristle burger. i found them juicy and very tasty (i had the grilled onions on mine, and i've never had better grilled onions on a burger before). The overall flavor was wonderful (something about the combination fo the onion and meaat flavors was like nothing i've ever tasted. and i've had many many many burgers in my day).
Hamburger monkistan at 11:51AM on 06/01/05
Count me in with everyone else; I’ve had nothing but good eating experiences at the Joint.
Hamburger Corey at 10:06AM on 06/02/05
I stopped in today and had a double cheeseburger, fries and a Stewarts. Firstly, no gristle and the meat had a nice beefy steak-like taste. The fries are the super-skinny type and were tasty, though it was odd that the pile of fries was bigger than my burger. If I go again I will order two cheeseburgers rather than the double. It's a little awkward handling two patties in the little bun. I sat at the window so I didn't get any refills on the Stewarts, though it's great to that they have it "on tap." I would go again if I was in that area and I wanted a couple of wee burgers. But if you are in that neighborhood and want a fantastic, more substantial burger, Molly's Pub is a couple of blocks up 3rd. Their burgers are very near the top of my list so far.
Hamburger Mike Kenny at 8:01PM on 09/25/05
Those burgers look..... kinda bad. They look like the ones I make on the grill. Whats so special about them to have a restaraunt serving them?
Hamburger Charlie at 7:30AM on 11/07/05
I'm a little creeped that out of all the things relevant to a food review 'Joe" was offended by the Playboy in the magazine rack "even thought more than half the customers were women". Maybe the only way "Joe" has to get lucky is by sucking up to wounded birds and taking care of them but I think it's fatuous at best. I'm more offended by "Joe" protecting me than any NY woman should be by a copy of a silly, obsolete magazine like Playboy. Don;t do me any disingenuous favors "Joe"
Hamburger Susan at 6:07PM on 10/05/06