Entries tagged with 'tiny hamburgers'
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 30, 2008 at 1:15 PM
For $1, you could own a burger joint like this. This one's in Dayton, Ohio, but there's an old White Tower for sale in Toledo.
There's a White Tower in Toledo, Ohio, for sale for $1, but the catch is that you have to move it. The YWCA next door wants to expand and is looking for a way to get rid of this location of the onetime White Castle competitor.
If there are no takers, the building might be torn down in fall. Come on! Some history-minded burger lover out there oughtta get on this. Could you imagine grabbing a cool little building like this to open a slider joint? And it's like $0.00016 a square foot (600 square feet total). [Tip o' the hat to T.J.]
Posted by Nick Solares, June 17, 2008 at 10:00 AM
As the newest member of the AHT team, I thought it appropriate to follow in Adam's intrepid steps and venture across the Hudson on a pilgrimage to two of America's most historically significant Hamburger establishments. I speak, of course, of White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, and White Mana in Jersey City, New Jersey. Adam visited both three years ago to the month, and while he raved about the burgers he ate in Hackensack he was less enthused by the Jersey city location. While I have eaten at both places on previous occasions I did so as a civilian, without the responsibility of reviewing the joints and putting them in to the context of the modern burger landscape.
Both establishments are now operated independently of each other and indeed have different owners but they were both founded by Louis Bridges back in 1946. The story goes that the structure that houses the Jersey City location was originally situated at the 1939 World's Fair and was then moved to its current resting place on Tonnele Avenue.
White Mana opened its doors on June 2, 1946, and has been going ever since; it is open 24 hours a day. The only major change, aside from the fact that the burgers cost a little more than the 10¢ they did back then is that during the 1980s, is that the restaurant lost an n in its name as the result of an error at the sign makers. The missing n was never straightened out, and the reconfigured name stuck.
The diner proved such a success that Bridges open three more Mannas in north Jersey in the 1940s, although now only the original and the Hackensack locations remain.
In reverse order to Adam's trip I started in Jersey City and then went north to Hackensack. While I am in complete agreement that the latter is far superior, I am not sure that I would necessarily countenance against visiting the original location in favor of the White Castle nearby as Adam did. I recommend you visit both!
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 16, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Shopsin's sliders are as good or better than many on Danyelle Freeman's list.
Danyelle "Restaurant Girl" Freeman comes correct with her list of the best sliders in the city.
- Rare Bar & Grill
- The Stanton Social
- Wall Street Burger Shoppe
- David Burke at Bloomindales
- Little Owl
- Blue Water Grill
- Swifty’s
- Stand
Sliders are pretty much my favorite form of burger, so it's always great to read someone else's list. I like her choices of Burke Box, Rare, and Stand, but I'm not sure if the Little Owl is a slider slider. It's a meatball on a bun, not a burger. I'm also not that keen on Stanton Social's Kobe sliders, as they suffer from all the faults that Kobe burgers do. Meh.
The Blue Water Grill's mini lobster roll is not a slider in the least, and Swifty's, though it sounds intriguing, doesn't even place its patties on buns, so they don't even qualify as sandwiches, much less sliders.
Two obvious omissions are the sliders at Shopsin's and the O.G., the Original Gutbomb, the little lovlies at White Castle. [via Serious Eats New York]
Posted by Nick Solares, May 31, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Jesse Taylor, a mixed martial arts fighter competing on Spike TV's reality show The Ultimate Figher, was shown eating frozen cheeseburgers before a fight on this week's episode (TUF airs on Wednesday evenings on Spike TV). Burger King is the official sponsor of the show so all other branding is obscured, but the small burgers looked suspiciously like White Castle frozen cheeseburgers. While the rest of the competitors ate leafy greens and low-fat protein Taylor is quoted as saying, " I like Oreos and I like cheeseburgers." The other fighters on the show were aghast at his diet, but despite the incredulity of his rivals, Taylor went out and dominated his match, winning on all three of the judges' scorecards.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 27, 2008 at 1:50 PM
Yo, burger cheapskates: Starting at 2 p.m. today—cheap White Castle burgers. As in 27¢ each.
The Castle is tooting its 87th anniversary by offering the mini burgers cheap. But only for 87 minutes. That would be 2 p.m. to 3:27 p.m.
Date: Today (May 27, 2008)
Time: 2 to 3:27 p.m.
Where: Selected Whiteys in all White Castle markets
Limit: 10 (as if you'd want to do more than that)
Find a Castle near you: whitecastle.com/_pages/Locate.asp [Tip o' the hat to Food in Mouth]
Posted by Nick Solares, May 22, 2008 at 2:15 PM
A six pack of burgers, that is. Not content with offering the more well-heeled denizens of tony Knightsbridge London an £85 sterling Kobe burger, Burger King is offering the rest of the nation a chance at overindulgence in the caloric rather than the financial department. The 6 Pack is actually one large patty sandwiched between six mini buns all attached to each other. Although the buns are joined together, BK has attempted to allay the concerns raised by health advocacy groups who balk at the 6 Pack's 917 calories by claiming that it's designed to "tear and share." Of course the fact that BK is offering a meal deal that comes packaged with a single drink and an order of fries indicates that the chain is at least anticipating some people will make the 6 Pack a single-user product.
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 20, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Nick Solares, the guy who publishes Beef Aficionado, is on the same wavelength as I am: "Of all of the infinite varieties of hamburger I think that sliders are my favorite. There is just something about the little bombers that perfectly captures the happy confluence of beef, bun and cheese. The slider is reduction of the burger to its ideal form...."
I couldn't have said it better myself. Those words open a blog post in which Nick goes about trying to duplicate the sliders from White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, arguably one of the finest producers of these tiny, oniony hamburgers. Nick's recipe and technique can be found here.
Related
White Kastle Klones: A Recipe for Sliders
Honey-Scallion Sliders [Not Eating Out in New York]
A White Man(n)a Pilgrimage
Grilled: Nick Solares
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Remember the deep-fried sliders that made a bit of a splash when they went on sale at the Independent League's Gateway Grizzlies baseball games? Thought of trying that at home? Kitchen madman DJ Grocery reports on one of his friends who did, complete with gory detail.
Related
Nacho Cheese Fountain [Grocery Eats]
General Tso's Philly Cheesesteak [SE]
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 14, 2008 at 1:45 PM
For those in love with tiny hamburgers and with each other, Valentine's Day is a win-win situation. Or a win-win-win-win-win one, if your standard order, like mine, involves at least five sliders.
First up: White Castle is once again celebrating the evening with candlelit dinners at participating locations from 5 to 8 p.m. today.
Not to be outdone, Krystal , the reigning slider slinger of the South, is honoring three Georgia couples [second item] who have met-cute stories involving the tiny-burger chain.
Related
Woman's Krystal moment led to a lifetime of love [Columbus Ledger-Enquirer]
Love at the drive-in [Rome News-Tribune]
A White Castle Valentine [Off the Broiler]
Posted by Adam Kuban, July 24, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Friend of AHT Nick "Beef Aficionado" Solares just emailed:
I just tried the sliders at Shopsin’s in the Essex Street Market. It was really very good. Not quite White Manna quality but close. They don’t grill the potato roll à la Manna, but the cheese is from Saxelby Cheesemongers next door and is superb. The beef was juicy and moist despite being cooked through, and the patty was bigger than Manna or Sassy's Sliders. Three for $9 is probably a bit steep for sliders anywhere other than New York City.
Nick's got pix and more to say over on his blog.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 1, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Friend of AHT Joe DiStefano reminisces about his high school job at White Castle over on Slashfoods:
But it wasn't all burnt grills and onion dust. One of the perks was eating sliders during our breaks. To mix things up, I'd invent off-menu items: double cheeseburgers with the middle bun removed, double fish, fish and chicken, triples and so on. After years of topping my burgers with onion rings such improvisation was the next logical step.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 1, 2007 at 11:49 AM
He may have gotten two stars from the New York Times for his cooking, but he gets a big goose egg from AHT for this attack, which appeared on Restaurant Girl:
What trend do you wish would die already?
Sliders.
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 18, 2007 at 3:00 PM
Photograph by The Girl Who Ate Everything.
We just got a tip that this Friday, the Bouchon Bakery will be featuring wagyu sliders as a menu addition. They'll be slightly different from the ones that Serious Eats overlord Ed Levine blogged about earlier this month. The tomato marmalade from before will be replaced with oven-roasted roma tomatoes, and the cheese will be taleggio instead of ricotta.
We didn't get any word on what pricing will be, but the first time Ed had them, the meal was $15 for three sliders.
Bouchon Bakery
Address: 3rd floor of the Time-Warner Center Mall
Phone: 212-823-9366
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 17, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Give me your burgers! Arrrrrgh! Tommi Tómasson is the burger baron of Iceland and has "made and lost two fortunes flipping burgers in Reykjavík." He currently owns Hamborgara Tómasar in the country's capital. "We have had many celebrities come, even our President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and his wife Dorrit have come," Tómasar said. "Also Björk [right]. But mostly Tommi’s Burger Joint is a classless place where everyone can come and feel that he or she belongs."
Pacific Northwest's Burgerville chain wins Food Network's "Better Burger" award: "The network selected Burgerville because of its use of high-quality, local, seasonable ingredients and its commitment to sustainability as demonstrated by its use of wind power as an energy source for all its restaurants."
Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right: "McDonald’s best-kept secret may be that it offers free Wi-Fi with every meal.... Gamers using Nintendo DS systems currently account for 25% of the Wi-Fi traffic in its restaurants."
"White Castle is inferior." So says Beverly Scott, who is among 20 people inducted into the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame this year. I think her story, recounted here, is weak, but Krystal probably liked her stance on Whitey's. An even better story is the hall of famer who routinely flies 150 miles ten times a year to pick up a couple dozen Krystals.
Former Baltimore Raven Orlando Brown tackles the burger biz: "Mr. Brown plans to open 10 Fatburger hamburger stores in the D.C. area over the next six years, with the first planned for Route 1 in College Park, late this summer."
Posted by Ed Levine, April 3, 2007 at 10:34 AM
Photograph by The Girl Who Ate Everything.
BY ED LEVINE .::. I was wandering around the Time Warner Center in New York City recently and found myself at the Bouchon Bakery thinking I was going to order its terrific grilled cheese sandwich (that's the one served with a surprisingly mediocre tomato soup). That's what I was planning to order until my server said they had a Wagyu beef slider special that day.
In the name of research I had to order them. Ten minutes later, she deposited a long thin plate in front of me: three sliders on house-made brioche buns with a pinch of sea salt on top. The burgers' condiments included ricotta cheese, a schmear of garlic aïoli, and tomato marmalade. So, basically, these were fancy-pants cheeseburger sliders with ketchup.
Again, the egalitarian skeptic in me wanted to hate these burgerlike affectations, but damn these sliders were killer. Great salty caramelized crust, plenty of beefy, juicy flavor, and those brioche buns, topped by a few grains of fleur de sel, were soft and moist but stood up to the burger well. These sliders were $15 but were worth every penny (don't kill me for saying that, Adam).
I asked my server if they were planning to put the sliders on the everyday menu, and all she said was they hoped to. But when I got back to the office and called sous chef Jim McDuffee, he basically told me they were probably a one-time-only lucky culinary accident.
"I had some Wagyu beef trimmings from the Per Se kitchen and the pastry department had a little leftover fresh ricotta, so I decided why not go for it," McDuffee said. He told me they blew through all 45 orders in an hour.
I would like to start a movement to get these sliders on the everyday menu at all three Bouchons across the country. So write congress or call your local sous chef.
Posted by Adam Kuban, March 21, 2007 at 12:26 PM
The Gateway Grizzlies, the Frontier League baseball team based in Sauget, Illinois, are at it again.
Last year the stadium served "The Grizzly Burger," a bacon cheeseburger served on a toasted Krispy Kreme doughnut.
This year, they're raising the bar with deep-fried White Castle sliders. Called "Baseball’s Best Sliders," they'll come two for $4. A side of cheese sauce is $1 extra.
Says Darren Rovell, the man who broke the Grizzly Burger story last year, "It’s pretty awesome when it has been sitting in the studio for an hour. I can only imagine how great it is hot out of the fryer sitting at the ballpark. I couldn’t eat too much being that I’m down a gallbladder, but it basically tastes like an onion ring burger."
On deck: Baseball road trip!
Further Reading
I'm not sure where to place this post, so read more about Megaburgers on AHT or about Tiny Hamburgers!
Also, my friend Marc writes about trying the Grizzly Burger last summer. [AHT Archives]
Deep-Fried Sliders [cnbc.com; via Friend of AHT Balgavy]
Posted by Adam Kuban, November 22, 2006 at 9:55 AM
Heaven help us. Hackensack, New Jersey, slider joint White Manna now has a MySpace page: myspace.com/white_manna.
Posted by Adam Kuban, October 2, 2006 at 9:51 AM
IMG_4914-2, blogged to AHT from the Flickr photostream of jasonperlow
Jason Perlow: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=254962686&size=o
Jason Perlow: thought you'd enjoy that
Jason Perlow: had that last night at White Manna
Jason Perlow: I had eaten there for over 10 years and not once was aware you could get lettuce and tomato on a burger.
nycslice: crap!
nycslice: awesome
nycslice: thnx
Jason Perlow: I saw them taking out lettuce and tomatoes and I was like "wait, what do you use those for?"
Jason Perlow: and everyone else in the room was staring at them like "you have lettuce and tomato?"
Jason Perlow: they apparently also make egg creams there
Jason Perlow: and its not on the menu
WHITE MANNA
AHT Review: White Man(n)a, a New Jersey Pilgrimage
Address: 358 River Street, Hackensack NJ 07601 [map]
Phone: 201-342-0914
Hours: Mon.-Sat., 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun., 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Cost: Hamburgers, $0.95; cheeseburgers, $1.05
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 8, 2006 at 2:09 AM
From PRNewswire:
The winner of the 2006 White Castle Crave Time Cook Off has been crowned. Missy O'Malia of Columbus, Ohio, won the 15th annual White Castle recipe contest with her creative concoction, Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso.
Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso beat out nearly 350 entries received from across the country for this year's competition. The recipes were judged on the best use of ten White Castle hamburgers, originality, and taste. Missy will receive a Crave Case of 30 hamburgers every week for the next year for her creative use of the product.
After the jump, Ms. O'Malia's recipe...
Columbus Native Wins with Enchiladas de White Castle Burgers y Queso [PRNewswire]
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 20, 2006 at 4:02 PM
Early last month, we blogged about a family whose trip to the nearest White Castle (400 miles away) was sponsored by Globat.com as part of a promotional stunt. Conditions of the sponsorship were that the family of three had to eat 100 Slyders before leaving the restaurant. Video is now up here.
Globat.com could make you eat hundreds of hamburgers [DefyingGravity.com]
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 23, 2006 at 2:30 AM
This is the second of two belated Kansas posts from December 2005. The first can be found here: Bobo's Drive-In.
THE COZY INN
Location: 108 North 7th Street, Salina KS 67401 [map]
Phone: 785-825-2699
Website: cozyburger.com
Cost: 75¢ each
The Short Order: Sliders here are juicy, steamy, and mega-oniony. Don't act a fool and ask for cheese; Cozy don't play that. And, oooh, that smell — it will saturate your clothes. Bonus: Plenty of cool Cozy merch available
You Want Fries With That? You can't always get what you want. Grab a bag of chips as a side; Cozy doesn't do fries
One hundred fifty miles east of Salina, Kansas, and the onion smell lingered on. Like the smoke from a dive bar in which cigarettes are still legal, the pungent fumes clung to my clothes and hair. Nearly three hours' road time behind me, the lights of my hometown on the horizon, and tears began to pool in my eyes: Did I already miss that cozy little burger joint out west or ... "J.B., CLOSE THAT DAMN BAG! I CAN'T TAKE THAT AROMA!"
My traveling companion, J.B., had just opened the gallon-size zip-top bag (right) containing a souvenir of our trip to The Cozy Inn. Despite being locked tight inside the sealed plastic, the commemorative T-shirt had nevertheless absorbed a concentrated dose of the Cozy's signature smell. (To re-create this odor at home: Go to your spice drawer, open the bottle of dried minced onions you never use, and snort the contents.)
While it may sound unappetizing, I think it's precisely that smell that beckons burger lovers both near and far to the Cozy Inn, filling their nostrils and noggins with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Need evidence? Look no further than the three-ring binder full of testimonials from devotees. It's kept on the counter, letters slipped into plastic sleeves for their own protection:
Yeah, you read that right: 1929. This place has been a Salina institution since 1922. Check out the neon sign in the photo at right: 83 years (as of December 2005) and counting — the sign's neon gets reworked each year.
Despite an outsize sense of history, the burgers themselves are anything but large. The Cozy specializes in sliders. And though they come with a heaping throw of onions (no exceptions), they absolutely do not come with cheese. A word to those who are weak of stomach: This is not your restaurant. If nowhere else, Cozy's sliders have earned the right to be called belly bombers or gut busters.
While the strong onion dosage is a selling point, it can at times overwhelm these tiny hamburgers. And the water content of the aromatic slices can sometimes further mush-ify the small buns that are already moist with steam, having been placed atop the patties as they cook on the diminutive 18-by-36-inch cast-iron grill. About the grill: It was replaced at some point during the 1940s but the demanding clientele had a conniption and the owner quickly reinstalled the original.
As of publication, single burgers cost 75¢ but a patron with a good appetite should start with a half dozen. Or, if you're there with kids in tow, as were many of Salina's natives the evening AHT visited, you'd do well to order a sack of 30 for the family. It's never too early to start instilling a good measure of oniony nostalgia in today's youth.
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2006 at 5:56 PM
We are three marketing coordinators working for the Krystal Company. Kenny works on the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame and the Krystal Square Off World Hamburger Eating Championship, our contribution to the world's fastest growing sport-competitive eating; Tiffany works with all things Internet (including this lovely blog); and Jennifer is our in-store POP goddess -- helping to make our mouths water with those product shots. This blog chronicles our adventures in the world of Fast Food.
If you don't like Krystal You Can "Bite Me" [krystal-lover.blogspot.com]
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 19, 2006 at 5:37 PM
Longtime Baltimore–D.C.-area residents may remember the White Castle–like Little Tavern. DCist.com reports that one of the few remaining stores of the onetime 50-strong chain is up for sale.
The lonely Laurel branch has real street cred, with original (read: decaying) barstools and floor tiles. Their motto remains the same: "Buy 'Em by the Bag." Oh, and this Little Tavern is for sale.
LITTLE TAVERN
Location: 115 Washington Blvd S., Laurel MD 20707-4327 [map]
Phone: 410-792-9364
Laurel Little Tavern Restaurant [LoopNet]
[Via DCist]
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 10, 2006 at 2:14 PM
Why didn't AHT think of this?!??!? Gargh!
In similar fashion to the movie, "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," the participants, Terri Scott, a longtime eBay'er, daughter Kerri Gomez, and Kerri's boyfriend GW Whitfield, wanted to taste and experience the infamous sliders so badly that they created an auction on eBay to finance the trip. Each will be required to finish all 100 hamburgers without leaving the restaurant until they do so.
The trio will drive 400 miles from Schulenburg, Texas, to Saint Louis for the burgers.
Defying Gravity: White Castle
Posted by Adam Kuban, April 13, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Talk about burnin' rubber for burgers:
An East Texas man has reached "Hall Of Fame" status for his allegiance to tiny hamburgers. 64 year old "Philip Tidwell" of Avinger was inducted today in the "Krystal Lovers Hall Of Fame." Tidwell wrote Krystal Hamburgers of Longview telling them how, in the past, he regularly made trips to Mississippi to get their burgers.
Tidwell had to make the five-hour, 237-mile drive to the nearest Krystal, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, before regional slider chain opened a Longview location.
KRYSTAL (LONGVIEW, TEXAS)
Location: 411A E Loop 281, Longview TX 75605
Phone: 903-553-0200
Posted by Adam Kuban, February 15, 2006 at 12:16 PM
Remember how we told you White Castle would be going all lovey dovey for V Day?
Yeah? Good. Did you take your sweetheart there? Well, Jason Perlow, one of the founders of eGullet, did. Jason has recently launched a blog, Off the Broiler, and his recap can be found there: A White Castle Valentine.
The photo at right is from Jason and wife Rachel's night at Whitey's, but check his other WC-VD post on eGullet for absolutely priceless photos of the event: Valentine's Day at WHITE CASTLE! Wily yet endearing teenagers are involved.
And, Jason: No offense with the post title here. You gotta admit, it is kinda funny. But AHT thinks it's sweet and wishes we could have made the Castle part of our evening yesterday.
A White Castle Valentine [Off the Broiler]
Valentine's Day at WHITE CASTLE! [eGullet]
Photograph courtesy of Jason Perlow.
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 16, 2005 at 1:32 AM
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky holds a David Burke slider. Side-on, you can see the crispness of the meat and the juices soaking into the mini English muffin. A presentation befitting these artful yet no-nonsense miniburgers; $8.95 for 3 "Cheeseburkers" and fries.
Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky raved earlier this week on Slashfood, and in an e-mail to me, about the "reinvented" sliders at David Burke's new café at Bloomingdale's in Midtown Manhattan. "You have to try them!" he said.
So try them we did. Yesterday at lunch, Matty and I met Josh at Burke in the Box, as the long, narrow, handsome space is called.
As is usually the case, Josh was right when he described these tiny hamburgers: "[this] sandwich approaches perfection on its own terms, and its outside deep crunch and rich inside softness are wildly dramatic, especially in a sandwich so small."
Burke, who stepped away from expediting orders at the take-out counter, took some time to tell us how he crafts these mini masterpieces (right).
First, he starts by cutting a mini English muffin about three-quarters from the bottom. The thick part of the muffin is then scooped out, and a hearty meatball of raw Creekstone Farms Black Angus beef is nestled snugly into this spongy bed.
Burke assembles a tray of these little guys and bakes them. As the fat renders out as juice (Burke uses 80% lean beef), it is absorbed by the muffin. You'd think this would make for a soggy "bun," but no: The muffin stands up to the juices, captures them for your pleasure, and actually becomes crisp on the bottom in the process. The meat is topped with a pickle slice and just the right amount of cheese. A cherry tomato half is speared atop the whole affair, but it's more garnish than an integral part of the burger.
Because they're baked in batches beforehand, you can't order them to your preferred doneness. We asked for ours medium-rare and were told they'd be more along the lines of medium. Still, looking at the cross section (left), you can see the soft, pink interior—and the copious amount of juice melted into the muffin bottom.
This slider is almost magical, packing all the taste, juice, and punch of a burger four times its size into a fun, tiny, two- or three-bite package. In fact, it's almost ludicrous to call it a slider, as that nickname derives from the way White Castle's original Slyder, all mushy and greasy, just seems to slip down your throat—and then out your other end a few hours later. Burke's "Cheeseburker," in contrast, is all crunch on the outside and smooth and molten inside, managing to avoid the pitfall of dryness that typically plague the beefed-up school of sliderdom.
From work, Matty has only a 10-block walk to Burke in the Box. I have a short train ride. I'm sure we'll be meeting there for lunch again soon.
BURKE IN THE BOX
Location: 150 East 59th Street (b/n Lex. and Third aves.), Midtown, NYC
Phone: 212-705-3800
Cost: $8.95 for 3 "Cheeseburkers" and fries
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 14, 2005 at 10:48 AM
Over on Slashfood, Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky writes about some exciting news in the world of tiny hamburgers. That news is the innovative approach that David Burke of Burke Bar brings to the grill. Here are the first mad, mad steps to Mr. Burke's method:
1) A miniature English muffin is sliced so that the bottom part is three times as thick as the top. This bottom part is then hollowed out.
2) The meat, of the finest Creekstone beef, is formed and placed inside the bottom bun. The bread now covers its whole upper hemisphere; the bottom hemisphere gets smashed into a hot griddle.
3) The meat juices cook into the bread. And there are a lot of meat juices: Creekstone produces some of the juiciest beef around, and I would be surprised if these burgers were more than 80% lean (Burke says they are.)
If that whets your appetite, click over to Slashfood for the details: The Slider Reinvented. If you're a belly-bomber fan, the read is well worth your time.
A Hamburger Today will be visiting Burke Bar tomorrow with none other than Mr. Cutlets. Look for a report (with juicy photos) soon.
BURKE BAR
Location: At the original Bloomingdale's store, 59th Street and Lexington, NYC
Getting There: 4/6 trains to 59th Street. Burke Bar has its own separate entrance on 59th Street.
The Slider Reinvented [Slashfood]
AHT on Sliders [AHT 'Tiny Hamburger' Archives]
Posted by Hamburglar Hadley, December 8, 2005 at 4:00 PM
Despite what Everclear says, Summerland is not just a name on the map, though it still seems like heaven to me. Nestled in a shady nook between Montecito and Carpinteria, for years Summerland slumbered away as a small artists' beach community of quaint houses and inspired decorations. Now, as the rich get richer, Summerland has experienced a boom as everyone else becomes too poor to live in Santa Barbara or anywhere within a 20-mile radius. Today, Summerland is a patchwork of yuppie antiques stores and slowly invading cafés, but many of the village’s treasures remain to this day, including the Sandpiper Liquor Store, the Wild West burgers of the Nugget, the Big Yellow House, and the town’s two tiny burger veterans, Tinker’s and Stacky’s Seaside.
I pulled into Summerland on a hot summer weekend in July, tempted by the sign on a newer restaurant promising Burger Madness Tuesdays. At $3.99 a pop, I had trouble understanding what great deal was afoot, so I turned my attention toward Tinker’s, unable to remember which had the better burgers between it and Stacky’s. Tinker’s is a thin hallway (top right) with a sandy 1950s beach obsession and an outdoor patio. Slinging all sorts of burgertime treats, Tinker’s has quite a few devotees.
Taking my place in line before a gang of pre-pubescent surf rats, the first things to catch my eye were the cute high school girls working the counter (left). Smiling with teeth full of glimmering braces, they were sweet and funny, even allowing me to snap a candid photo or two. I placed my order for a cheeseburger and ordered a plate of mini-burgers for myself and my friend Cody, visiting from Vero Beach, Florida. After a ten-minute wait outside baking in the sun and watching the weekend traffic saunter by, our burgers arrived in nostalgia-inducing red plastic baskets piled high with fries (below).
Unfortunately, the warm fuzzy feeling did not extend toward the burger. Despite a great-looking presentation of glimmering traditional-style burgers, mine was not only less-than-remarkable, and I was sad to discover more than a couple gristly bites that I’d rather not have taken. The grilled bun was a nice touch, but the patty did not hold up, it was noticeably inferior in quality. It also had grilled edges that tasted nicely charred, but the thinness of the meat was also somewhat shady. The sauce (Thousand Island?) and fixings—onion, tomato, lettuce—came correct (above right), but the burger rated about 5 out of 10. The mini burgers (above left) were a tad better, their diminutive size obscuring any inconsistencies in the patty. At more than $6 for a meal, however, it doesn't seem worth it. Upon realizing my follies, I figured that it must be Stacky’s that had the legendary Summerland burgers.
Coming back to Summerland is a treat. With the Nugget (where presidents Clinton and Reagan went for burgers), the place announcing Burger Madness Tuesday, and the expectation set by Stacky’s and a lackluster flavor at Tinker’s, it will be a pleasure to return soon and settle who is slinging the best burger. Until then, I’m recommending Stacky’s. Maybe they can hire these two cute cooks and have the best of both worlds!
TINKER'S BURGERS
Location: 2275 Ortega Hill Road; Summerland CA 93067
Phone: 805-969-1970
Price: $5 burgers
Short Order: Beachside 1950s grill could have better patties, but still high on ambiance and charm. Better burgers in neighborhood worth exploring.
Posted by Adam Kuban, December 6, 2005 at 2:00 PM
During our recent zomblog period, we neglected to mention this nice slider roundup from the New York Daily News. Tiny hamburgers are a veritable art form we at A Hamburger Today have been appreciating and championing since beginning the site. Says the News:
Burgers might proliferate, but in New York, they're also shrinking. The trend toward small-plate dining has chefs trying to one-up each other in round after round of "Honey, I Shrunk the Food."
So the race to Lilliput is now toying with the hallowed burger - enter sliders.
The story highlights veteran Upper East Side slider outpost Sassy's (right) and the upscale Wagyu beef sliders at Stanton Social (top), both of which we were already familiar with, but comes through with some new recommendations ...
Michael Jordan's Steakhouse: Three prime-beef microburgers on brioche buns for $14.50. (West Balcony of Grand Central Terminal's main hall)
Metrazur: Two Wagyu-beef minis for $15. (Also in Grand Central, on the East Balcony)
P.S. 450: "The barbecued beef burgers and cheeseburgers (four for $10) were the juiciest of all the sliders we sampled; bigger-than-usual brioche buns, custom-made by Tom Cat Bakery, wrap around 2 ounces of succulent, preseasoned meat (ketchup not required)." (450 Park Avenue South, at 34th Street)
Other restaurants mentioned in the story were Punch and Judy's, Vig 27, and Dopey Benny's Steakhouse, but those were nonburger "sliders" (pastrami, roast-duck, and Philly cheesesteak versions), so AHT doesn't care.
Itty-bitty burgers [NY Daily News]
Tiny Hamburger Archive [A Hamburger Today]
Posted by Adam Kuban, September 30, 2005 at 12:15 AM
A new expansion to tell you about. Schnäck has opened a branch inside the Brooklyn Lyceum.
The Brooklyn Lyceum is at Fourth Avenue and President Street, just outside the Union Street station on the R line, which happens to be my subway stop. I've been complaining to friends for a while now that my part of Park Slope is woefully devoid of places to get cheap and fast take-out, so this outpost of the Red Hook burger/dog/sausage joint is a welcome new neighbor.
The gentleman manning the grill said that the Lyceum Schnäck would be open seven days a week and that when there weren't events at the Lyceum (which hosts live music, theater performances, and film screenings), they'll probably just turn on the TVs to whatever game or what-not is showing.
The next thing that will be expanding in the neighborhood will be my waistline.
SCHNACK, BROOKLYN LYCEUM
Location:
[Thanks to Youthlarge for the ticket to the Calla album release show, which was the impetus for the Schnäck discovery. Youthlarge, by the way, will be coming on board AHT as a contributor, giving us a much-needed infusion of new blood in this enterprise. We look forward to good things from this one.]
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 7, 2005 at 9:30 AM
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so of course we were buttered up to no end by this blog entry on I♥Bacon.com.
I♥Bacon followed the Wite Kastle Klone recipe we posted last week. True to the blog's name, its proprietor, "Megwoo," topped her tiny hamburgers with bacon. She had never had a slider before. Did she like it? Click over there to find out.
While we were perusing I♥B, we noticed an entry about boar burgers. That's her boar burger above, in the bottom right photo; the other photos are of her slider experiment.
Ah, a blog after our own heart.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 6, 2005 at 12:30 PM
We get quite a few e-mails at A Hamburger Today, but we thought we'd highlight this one, first because it's from overseas (proving that burgerloving is a global phenomenon) and because it points out that during the last couple of weeks, we've talked about sliders without having defined the term:
First off, I have to say I LOVE AHT quite a lot. The writing makes me laugh and the burgers make me absolutely starving.
I'm a Brit living in the UK, however, which brings me to why I'm writing. We don't have a clue what sliders are, nor tiny burgers (although it doesn't take a great leap of intellect to work out that tiny burgers are, well, small burgers.)
But would it be possible for you guys to give us Brits a clue about what all these burger things are? Our experience of burgers is limited in this country, so we're not up to date with the cutting edge burgerology. Hell, its rare enough to actually find a pickle in a burger over here, let alone get a choice of burger buns.
Keep up the eating!
Rich
Well, Rich, a slider is just as you guessed: a miniature hamburger, the patties of which generally weighing in somewhere around 1 oz. (for metric-minded readers, roughly 28.35 grams). Why are they small? That's just the way White Castle started making them, probably to keep the cost down, even though customers would end up eating more than one burger and thus negate the perceived value.
Why sliders? We had always heard that the nickname came about because the burgers were so greasy and small that you could just swallow them whole and they'd just "slide" down your throat. Other folks claim that the moniker stems from the burgers' method of locomotion on the other end of your alimentary canal, cha-cha-cha.
No matter what the origin, the term, as spelled with a y, was eventually trademarked by White Castle. From the book Selling 'Em by the Sack:
Over the years, customers coined a multitude of derisive or sarcastic terms for the company and its hamburgers, including porcelain palace and sliders. (After successfully dodging the term slider since the 1930s, White Castle finally embraced it and featured it in its advertising but changed the spelling to Slyder for copyright reasons.) These commonly used nicknames in themselves are enough to keep many queasy diners at bay. Interestingly enough, White Castle aficionados use these slang terms with great affection, not deterred by the criticisms of the weak stomached.
So there you go, mate. Hope that clears things up for you. Now go have yourself some sliders and chips!
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 4, 2005 at 8:00 AM
HACKENSACK and JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
We asked, and you delivered. Oh yes, you delivered, you dear, dear greasy-handed readers. Among your tips on finding good sliders was one that led us to tiny diner White Manna in Hackensack, New Jersey, which in turn led us to the similarly named White Mana (one n, mind you) in Jersey City.
And so this reporter worked all day yesterday as visions of tiny hamburgers danced in his head. Sliders were also doing a jig in the head of Honey P., who works with me. This trip was especially important to Honey P. because her friend has been badgering her for years to try White Manna and HP wanted to get it over with to put an end to the nagging. I was looking forward to her company on the trip, but she had to go to some art thing instead. (Hmmph: Warped priorities if I ever seen 'em.)
Well, she missed out, because White Manna in Hackensack was worth all the hassle I endured getting there. The pilgrimage involved the NYC subway and trips on two different commuter trains in Jersey before I met up with one-time Slice Garden State bureau chief Amanda G. and her dad; their help and generosity was greatly appreciated. We drove from the North Hackensack train stop to White Manna, at the intersection of River and Passaic Streets and were greeted by the cutest down-at-the-heels art deco diner I've seen in ages (see photo above).
Opening the door, we were hit with the unmistakable aroma of onion, and quickly plopped down on stools at the U-shaped counter. We ordered an assortment of hamburgers and cheeseburgers—with onions (unlike White Castle, whose burger stylings White Manna aped in the 1940s, you have the choice of forgoing the pungent topping). We also put in a couple orders of fries with the friendly cooks there (see photo at right).
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 2, 2005 at 8:00 AM
[SKIP THE EXPOSITION AND GO RIGHT TO THE RECIPE.]
As you may have noticed, A Hamburger Today looooves White Castle. Unfortunately, none of us lives close enough to a Castle to enjoy a sackful of Slyders on a regular basis. Heck, Hamburglar Hadley, based in Los Angeles, is 1,800 miles from the nearest "eating house." Seeing as how many of our readers live outside the chain's limited area of coverage, we thought we'd experiment with a copycat recipe that can be made at home. I like to call these homemade sliders "Wite Kastle Klones."
After Googling "White Castle" copycat recipe and perusing the results, I decided to go with this one, despite the fact that it calls for 3 oz. of strained-beef baby food. (Yuck!)
The first step was assembling the ingredients (right), the hardest part of which was choosing an appropriate pickle chip—some were too thick for such a tiny burger, but I finally found an acceptable product. The weirdest ingredient in this recipe is strained-beef baby food; I followed the recipe as-is but will probably omit this component in future versions. I can't imagine it makes that much of a difference, and it just seems nasty. While you'd think finding buns for the sliders would be difficult, I knew from my trip to The Burger Joint that Martin's Potato Rolls would work perfectly. If you can't find these, try cutting hot-dog buns in thirds.
Alright, let's cut to the chase. Making hamburgers is pretty straightforward, and these just have a few added twists, namely mixing the beef with beef stock and the, ahem, baby food. Do this in a large bowl. It makes a sort of mushy mixture, but that's OK; it helps when you spread the beef out in a thin slab (above and right; click images to enlarge). I used a 10-by-14-inch rimmed baking sheet, which seemed to be the perfect size. Line the sheet with plastic wrap before transferring the beef mixture to it; this will help prevent sticking and aid in the spreading process. Use a spatula initially to flatten the meat (above left); then cover it with an additional sheet of plastic wrap, and use a rolling pin (above center) or your hands to spread the beef across the entire sheet (above right). Remove the top layer of plastic wrap, and use the spatula to make squares (right).
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 1, 2005 at 9:00 AM
Tiny hamburgers are just be too big to be confined to one week's worth of special coverage. This entry begins our second week of Tiny Hamburger Week on A Hamburger Today. — Ed.
Much more meaty than a White Castle burger could ever hope to be, Selling 'Em by the Sack
is the history of the original tiny-hamburger chain and the history of the hamburger as well.
Shortly after mentioning this book last week, A Hamburger Today received a copy for review in the mail. We devoured it almost as quickly as a sack of Whitey's. While a tad more academic than entertaining, David Gerard Hogan's book is nonetheless fascinating and worth picking up for anyone interested in hamburger history. It is a must-read for White Castle fanatics.
Selling 'Em by the Sack details the rise of the hamburger as the defining "ethnic cuisine" of the American people in the 1920s. Before the Castle's rise, the burger was viewed as an icky, inferior food made from all the parts of a cow no one would eat. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, published in 1906, 15 years before the first Castle opened, wasn't the greatest endorsement of our favorite sandwich, either, what with its brutal look at the meatpacking industry in the early-twentieth-century United States. Mr. Hogan's book shows us how the Castle's founders, Edgar W. "Billy" Ingram and J. Walter "Walt" Anderson, used clever marketing, attention to detail, and novel business practices to elevate the burger in the eye of the American public. In so doing, they created the market for fast-food hamburgers and then dominated that market until the 1950s.
We learned some surprising facts about The White Castle System of Eating Houses, as the chain was officially called. Walt Anderson (at left in photo at left), for example, was an avid pilot who bought a fleet of biplanes to make impromptu quality checks at the far-flung garrisons of his empire. Mr. Ingram invented paper napkins and the paper hat that has long been associated with burger-joint employees. He then founded the Paperlynen Company as a subsidiary of the Castle; it supplied the chain with napkins, hats, and paper aprons and also made a tidy profit selling the same items to other foodmakers.
The book goes on to recount the Castle's near undoing during and after World War II (a labor shortage and changing wartime consumption habits cause the chain to falter) and then its resurrection thanks to a singleminded return to the founding principles of quality, cleanliness, and value.
I could go on and on about what a fascinating story this is, but I'm starting to bore myself here. If you're "one of us," that is, a Castle fan, put this book in your sack.
Posted by Matt Jacobs, May 27, 2005 at 9:12 AM
Schnäck brings back fond memories. My first tiny burger experience occurred here only two years ago. From that point on, I was changed. I could no longer live in a regular-sized burger world; I needed diversity. I'll always love a full-sized burger, but the combination of cuteness and burger is too much to pass up. But I digress.
Schnäck sits on a quiet block in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, surrounded mostly by residences. When you get inside, the decor is kitschy, but not over the top—silly enough to be entertaining while still feeling quite homey. Unlike the other tiny-burger restaurants we've reviewed this week, Schnäck is a sit-down restaurant (if you're in a hurry, you can do delivery or take-out, though). Once you find your table, the staff, especially co-owner and manager Harry, are quick to crack jokes and make you feel at ease.
Aside from Harry, the other two owners are Alan and Jim. This duo is responsible for a number of other popular Brooklyn eateries, including Patois, Uncle Pho, the Red Rail, and the Gowanus Yacht Club. They seem to have found a couple hits in there, but Schnäck will always be my favorite.
The tiny burgers, Schnäckies, are a dollar a piece, with cheese costing an extra $0.50 (kraut or onions are free). All Schnäckies are served with Schnäck Sauce, which is a version of thousand island, like most secret sauces. Although I recommend the singles, you can get doubles, triples, or quads, which are just more patties on one bun. My one complaint about this place is that the double costs $2.50 while a single is a dollar. That just doesn't make sense.
Unlike Sassy's Sliders, Schnäck prefers to serve its burgers without too much in the way. The buns are simple, and the sauce is complimentary. This works because the meat is actually quite tasty. If you look at the photos above, you'll see that they cook the burgers pretty thoroughly, which seems to add flavor. It doesn't seem that Schnäck adds anything special to the beef, but I wouldn't be surprised if the place used some salt and pepper. Bottom line, the burgers are flavorful considering how tiny they are.
Like Shake Shack or Blue 9, I highly recommend you grab some fries and a shake to compliment your burger. I would come for the shakes, fries, or burgers alone, which is what makes this place so dangerous. On top of the typical burger and hot dog fare, Schnäck's menu features quite a few options that would satisfy your non-burger-loving friends. Although, if your friends don't love burgers, you should really question your relationship.
As an aside, Schnäck is holding its inaugural hot dog eating contest on Memorial Day. Unlike other food-eating competitions, this one is for amateurs and it's about speed, not quantity. The first to finish a 30-inch-long custom-made Stahl-Meyer hot dog wins. The contest will take place at 1 p.m., and, if you arrive between 11a.m. and 1p.m., you'll get a free hot dog. Because of the potential hilarity and free food, I'll most likely be in attendance. If you can't make it, feel free to follow along on Schnäck's blog.
SCHNÄCK
Location: 122 Union St. (between Columbia and Hicks), Brooklyn, NY
Phone: 718-855-2879
Cost: $1 for a single
Short Order: These tiny burgers are heaven sent. Great with anything.
