One of our favorite New York secrets, back when we lived here in the early aughts, was nestled behind a red velvet curtain in the lobby of The Parker Meridian hotel. If you were going to see a show or a concert at Carnegie Hall, you’d walk through the ornate marble lobby and, against all odds, wind up in a delightful, greasy spoon called The Burger Joint.
That link will take you to a post from 2011; I even have a post from 2004, which tells you how long this place has been around. There’s a reason that it persists: why spend a fortune at mid midtown restaurant when you can spend a smaller fortune on a burger and fries?
The Burger Joint is still behind a red velvet curtain (is that velvet? I need to hire a fact checker) but it’s changed hotels. You’ll now find it at The Thompson Hotel on W. 56th Street. This proved to be the perfect location for our night out last week when we went to see Bat Boy at City Center. It was literally across the street.
As a bonus, we ran into our friends Naveen and Rob who were also about to see Bat Boy.
So what’s the menu like? I’ll give you one guess: it’s burgers and fries. The prices are high. A cheeseburger is $17.50. A double cheeseburger is $27. Again, you’re in midtown Manhattan. You’re not paying for the food, you’re paying for the location and the atmosphere.
For vegetarians, there’s a Beyond Burger ($19.50). And for poultrytarians, there’s a chipotle chicken sandwich for $17.75.
The only other decision you have to make is regular French fries or Sweet Potato Fries. I went for a cheeseburger with “the works” (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, mayo, mustard, ketchup) and the sweet taters:
I gotta say: those crinkled sweet potato fries? They were unquestionably great. And the burger is just what you want from an upscale fast food burger, a contradiction in-and-of-itself: it’s juicy, it’s salty, it’s on a toasted bun.
And it gives you just enough sustenance and nutrition to get you through a two-hour show. Though with Bat Boy, it wasn’t a chore; it was a pure delight. I’ve listened to the cast recording for twenty years without knowing the story. Now I do!
Taylor Trensch literally slayed.
A burger + sweet potato fries + running into friends + a great musical = a terrific night out in NYC. File The Burger Joint away for your next visit to New York.
The Burger Joint / 119 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019 / (212) 708-7414
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