Clicking in to the AHT inbox today, there's this. —The Mgmt.
Yo Adam,
Yesterday I was walking around Long Island City and noticed a daily special run by Jackson Avenue Steakhouse. For $7.95 you get an eight-ounce burger, fries and pint of Radeberger beer. The special is all day, every day if you sit at the bar.
I went in to try it out and was very impressed. The burger was meaty and tender, not overly seasoned with a very nice freshness to the beef. I ordered mine medium and it came out between medium and medium-rare, which was perfect for me. Even at that temperature it was very juicy, running down my hand at bite one. The fries are hand-cut potatoes fried in what I believe to be peanut oil and tasted very similar to the fries Five Guys, albeit slightly thinner. I ordered them well done. The Radeberger was, well, a good pilsner.
OK. She's not really a burger waitress. She'll just be playing one on TV. The New York Daily News has photos of the starlet on location in Long Island City, Queens, shooting a scene for an episode of Ugly Betty. And there's a continuity issue. Check it:
Is it Flushing Burgers or Flushing Burger? The show told the Daily News that the fake restaurant is "Flushing Burgers." Flushing is, of course, the neighborhood in Queens where the fictional ugster lives.
This isn't the first time that burgers have played an incidental role in Ugly Betty. In the episode "Swag," Betty arranges a very important dinner for a very important designer—at White Tassel, a stand in for White Castle. Video, after the jump.
Where the Magic Happens: Water Taxi Beach burgers, in situ.
Last night's Battle of the Burough Burgers. Part of the Cuisine of Queens (and Beyond) event in Astoria. Four boroughs pitting their burgers against one another. (Staten Island was snubbed, apparently.)
No surprise that the Queens-native burger from Harry's at Water Taxi Beach won. The Water Taxi Beach burger, as made by Harry Hawk, was up against Resto (Manhattan), 67 Burger (Brooklyn), Coals (The Bronx), and Brgr (also Manhattan). IMHO, Hawk's totes-awesome burger deserves the win. It's made exactly how I love my burgs: loosely-packed; on the thin, manageable side; served on a soft white bun; and with a great crunchy seared bits on the patty surface. If you've not had a Water Taxi Beach burger, you owe it to your lazy-ass self to get out there and try one. The view and the burger make the trip worth it.
Take the 7 train to Vernon-Jackson (first stop in Queens), get out and walk along ... oh, forget it. Here's a Google map.
The Burger Battle of the Boroughs Where: Astoria World Manor, 25-22 Astoria Boulevard, Astoria NY When: May 20, 6 to 9 p.m. Cost: $55 advance, $65 at door To reserve: 718-777-7918
When I told Adam I was stuck in jury duty, he said it might be a good opportunity to taste-test a burger I wouldn't otherwise encounter. So when I saw five or six signs proclaiming "Teriyaki Burger!" I felt I had to try it.
And, look, I knew what I was getting into. I'd never eaten at (or even seen) a Samurai Sam's before, but the area around the Kew Gardens courthouse wasn't exactly throbbing with burgertunities, and I figured a sign is a sign, right? At any rate, how could I not try it? This is the same impulse that forces me to order tacos at Le Croissant Cafe because they have a tiny "we serve Mexican food!" sign in the window. My sense of adventure has a stubborn way of manifesting itself at the most inopportune times.
Every person before and after me ordered either a Teriyaki or Yakitori Bowl. I walked up to the counter and smugly asked for the Teriyaki Burger. The cashier asked if I wanted it with cheese. I said no when what I should have said was "nevermind, I'm leaving." Cheese plus teriyaki sauce? My mind was already reeling, but I forged ahead.
The greatest hamburger mystery of our time has been solved: We have it from a high-level source near the situation that the location of the long-awaited sequel to Shake Shack is Citi Field, better known as the new Shea Stadium.
A big thanks to all you readers who made it out to the Gothamist–AHT Beach Burger Bash on Saturday. All of us here at A Hamburger Today and Serious Eats had a sin-sear-ly great time meeting you, eating burgers, and working burger-line detail.
With some volunteer help from the sponsoring blogs, Harry Hawk and the Water Taxi Beach crew formed a burger assembly line, with the evening's burgers built upon a base consisting of a four-ouce freshly ground patty cooked expertly on an ultrahot griddle. The patties were added to the griddle with an ice cream scoop, cooking for a minute or two as medium-size meatballs before getting the smash treatment with the back of a spatula. This helped create a crisp exterior crust while still leaving the coarsely ground meat loosely packed. To this base, different items were added to form the regional American burgers enjoyed by the 140-some people in attendance. Those burgers were ...
Remember last week when we told you about our upcoming Gothamist-AHT Beach Burger Bash at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City? And how we let you vote on the burgers that we'd serve?
Well, the results are in, and here are the burgers that will be available ...
After the success of our Gothamist-A Hamburger Today QBQ BBQ last year (that's Quality Before Quantity), we've decided to team up with Gothamist again this year for another burger bash at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City. At last year's event, chef Harry Hawk served up four regional burgers from around the nation.
We're doing something similar this year, but this time you get to choose which burgers will be served, with the top three vote-getters across Gothamist and A Hamburger Today/Serious Eats making the menu. Some are regional specialties, and some are original Water Taxi Beach creations. I'll get to the candidate burgers in a bit, but first the nitty-gritty details.
But before the details, can I tell you that later in the evening, Grandmaster Flash will be spinning at WTB? OK, the deets:
Date: Saturday, July 28 Time: 5 p.m. Place: Water Taxi Beach (map) Cost: $13.50 for 3 burgers Payment:Tickets are available through TicketWeb Important Details: Please be sure to bring your ID when you come; no one is permitted on the beach without an ID or an of-age legal guardian Quality Before Quantity: Because the griddle is small and we're cooking these burgers the right way, we're emphasizing quality. If last year's event is any indication, the lines will get long. But with good company, the wait seems to fly by Getting There: Water Taxis depart from East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan on a varied schedule (visit nywatertaxi.com). Subway riders should take the No. 7 train to Vernon Avenue/Jackson. Walk along Vernon Avenue to Borden Avenue, turn right. Look for signs for Water Taxi Beach. For more travel options, visit the beach's site
Instead of four burgers, we're serving three this year. What will they be? Here are the candidates that you get to choose from:
The Motz Burger: A four-ounce fresh-not-frozen burger served with Schnäck sauce and pickles. This burger hails from Long Island City and was invented by burger expert and filmmaker George "Hamburger America" Motz.
The Onion Burger: Popular in El Reno, Oklahoma, the Onion Burger was born of frugality. Throw a half an onion on the griddle, add to that a ball of ground beef, and smash it all together with the back of a spatula. You've essentially extended your meat by mixing in onions. The onions caramelize as they cook embedded in the beef, giving you a sweet, crusty oniony patty.
The Pimento Burger:Pimento cheese is big across the South, usually as a spread eaten on celery stalks or as a filling between two pieces of white bread. But in Columbia, South Carolina, they use it as both cheese and condiment on the burgers. Pimento cheese, for all you Yankees here in New York City, is a mixture of grated cheddar, chopped pimento, mayo, hot sauce, and black pepper. (Horseradish, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce are three common options.)
The Guber Burger: We served this one at last year's bash, and it seemed to be a hit, so we're putting it on the ballot in 2007. Made locally famous by The Wheel Inn in Sedalia, Missouri, the guber burger features a heaping dollop of peanut butter applied to the burger right as the hot patty comes off the griddle.
The Nut Burger: George Motz discovered this candidate in while researching his upcoming burger book. It was, he said, "like eating sundae topping on a burger. It's coarsely ground peanuts mixed with mayo, topping a burger. It's great!" (Related:The Nut Burger on AHT.)
The Butter Burger: A regional delight originating in—where else?—Wisconsin, the Butter Burger takes a very liberal dosing of butter after coming off the griddle. Those of you who have visited the Midwest recently may have had one at the rapidly expanding Culver's chain, where it's a specialty. (Related: Video of Solly's Grille butter burgers)
The Hammmburger: A burger topped with Jubilat Polish slab bacon—essentially Canadian ham, hence the extra mmmeaty name of this burger. This one is the creation of Water Taxi Beach's Harry Hawk.
Vote now! Polls close Friday, July 20 at 6 p.m. One vote per person.
Special thanks to Six Apart, who have donated a keg of Orlio Common Ale for sponsoring the event.
Five Guys Address: 132-01 14th Avenue, Queens NY 11356 [map] Phone: 718-767-6500; fax: 718-767-6502 Getting there: LIRR to Flushing Main Street, Q20B bus to 14th Ave. and 130th Street. But really, if you don't live in College Point or have a car, it's a pain. The short order: D.C. chain's first store in NYC opens in Queens, makes crunchy-crusted burgers that rival Shake Shack's. Want fries with that? Yes! A resounding yes. As longtime AHT readers know, I'm not the biggest fry guy, but these are definitely worth getting. Freshly cut and twice-fried, they're crisp with a nice, mealy interior. Don't bother getting the "regular" size. Five Guys's M.O. is to put your burger and cup of fries in the bag and then throw in a heaping handful of extra fries on top. The "Cajun" spiced fries are overspiced.
"If your burger blogging crew ever makes it down to the nation's capital, you've GOTTA try Five Guys."
Over the weeks, months, and, now, years that I've been plugging away at AHT, I've probably gotten more emails like this than for any other burger chain. And in all those months, I've never had the occasion to truck down to D.C. Instead, I've watched as the red states on the Five Guys locator map (right) grew in number and up the East Coast. At one point months and months ago, New York lit up red, but that first Empire State Five Guys was in Schenectady—upstate and still not easily accessible for a nondriving city-dwelling burger dude.
So when news hit that a 5G would open in Brooklyn Heights on Montague Street, I was jazzed. Finally, a Five Guys branch I could try that would involve only a quick subway ride. (Word is that the Montague Street Five Guys will open June 2.)
But did you know there's already a Five Guys in New York City? On Wednesday, I consulted the chain's store locator map for the Montague Street number and saw a Queens location. WTF!?! When did THAT open?
Yo Adam,
