Rare

September 17, 2010 - SBE X

Location: 303 Lexington, corner of 37th Street

SBE Score: 72

Leila was waivering about Rare, but a long email chain later, on top of a long week, we arrived in Murray Hill, ish? To get to the rooftop bar, you go through the side entrance on 37th street, and up. It was kinda cool, the service was ok, the drinks were EXPENSIVE. $9 for a bud light? really? After about an hour of catching up, we went to the restaurant and were able to get a table immediately.

The menu is overwhelming and we anticipated that we make feel that 'overfull' feeling, similar to Five Napkin Burger. We tried to stay somewhat true and consistent, so we avoided the organic lean beef, the steak 'burger,' and the bison burger. The orders....


Kate: Artisanal Burger $11 - Cheeseburger of the day - Medium Rare (Today's was Teriyaki sauce burger with a fried onion ring, lettuce, tomato, peppers, and what tasted like fried pineapple) [side note: learn how to pronounce artisanal]

Luke: Classic $9 - Medium Rare, plus cheddar cheese and caramelized onions

Brian and Leila shared a Classic with American Cheese, and an M and M $15 (flambeyed in whiskey, with caramelized shallots, cheddar cheese, and bacon)



Above: Luke's Classic, Leila's Class
Below: Kate's Artisanal, Brian's M and M



Burger Patty:

• M and M: 7.5 [7-8] anndddd M and M wins for patty!!!
  
• Classic: 6.6 [6-7]
  
• Artisanal: 7
  

Burger Experience:

• M and M: 7.1 [6-8.5] anndddd M and M wins for experience!!!
• Classic: 6.6 [6.5-7]
  
• Artisanal: 7.5
  

Fried Potato Things: 5.5 [4-7] ..french & sweet potato fries microwaved? but waffles were good
Fried Pickles: 5 [3-7] ... (I'm not sure why Brian gave these a 7... no one seemed to like them)


Below: wine with dinner, wine with dinner, fried pickles



It's hard to describe what this place is like. Maybe it's having an identity crisis, but it has elements of a steakhouse and elements of a California Pizza Kitchen. We gave it a score of 82, because we couldn't really say it was better or worse than Five Napkin Burger. The two images below are in favor of the CPK comparison. The $15 price tag on a burger is the counter argument. Having said that, we ordered a bottle of red (from Washington State, if anyone's interested) and our total bill ended up being $120, plus tip.

It's a convenient after work location, if you do in fact work in the area, but the fact that we went out to Blind Tiger Ale House afterwards, versus staying and drinking at the bar, says it all.

http://www.rarebarandgrill.com/lexington.php

Five Napkin Burger

July 21, 2010 - SBE IX

Location: Corner of 45 Street and 9 Ave, Hells Kitchen

SBE Score: 72

Original 5 Napkin Burger - 10oz fresh ground chuck, caramelized onions, gruyere cheese, rosemary aioli, soft white roll $15





The Results:

Burger Patty: 8.4 [7-10]
Burger Experience: 7.9 [6.5-10]
Fries: 8.3 [6-9]
Onion Rings: 4.9 [3-9]
BLT Salad: 5.5 [5-7]

It's summertime in NYC and it's hot. A cactus is the daily symbol on the weather projections and standing on the street requires a cold shower... so off we went through Times Square, the swamp pit of NYC.

Luke and Kate were a beer in at the bar. Great beer selection. Throughout dinner, we ordered Abiti Light, Saratoga, Cider, and Dixie Jazz Amber Light. Leila and Brian are competing in a diet competition, so they shared a burger. SBE recommendation - SHARE A BURGER - otherwise, you will feel sick/not eat your $15 burger. Kate was a huge fan. Everyone else, not so much. Different, but too rich, was the complaint.- Environmental biases pulling both ways - we concluded.





Pros:

• Hells Kitchen (Kate's new hood) - this adds fuel to the conspiracy theories about why Kate is giving this place such high scores...
• Good beer list
• Decor
• Different style of burger

Cons:

• Hells Kitchen
• Luke couldn't manage his tab situation at the bar... we don't get it....
• Luke fears that the large burger would be difficult with wintertime chapped lips... really Luke....?!?
• The aftertaste of the sauce/patty too creamy
  

Approx $100, plus some drinks at the bar

Stand Burger

SBE VIII - June 14, 2010

Location: 24 East 12 Street, Btw 5 Ave and University Place

SBE Score: 84

Brian: Bold Burger $15
Kate: Mushroom Beef Burger $11 (Medium Rare)
Luke: Stand Burger $10 (Medium)
Leila: Stand Burger $10 (Medium Rare)



Above: (left to right) Bold, Mushroom, Stand
Below: (left to right) Fried Pickles, Onion Rings, and Fries



It was our first Monday night SBE. Monday's an off-night to do anything social, but with a fantastic happy hour that goes until 8pm, we had a great time. Seating is basic (no chair backs, just stools) and trendy cafeteria style atmosphere.

The Ratings...

Stand Patty: 8.8 [8-10] Stand Experience: 8.3 [7-10]
Bold Patty: 8 [7-9] Bold Experience: 7.5 [6-9]
Mushroom Patty: 9 Mushroom Experience: 9

Shoe String Fries: 4.75 [2-8]
Reg French Fries: 5.75 [2-8]
Onion Rings: 7.75 [5-10]




Total Bill: Approx $100 (includes a lot of beer)

http://www.standburger.com/

BLK MKT

March 26, 2010 - SBE VII

Location: 110 Avenue A (corner of 7 street)

SBE score: 87


Cheeseburger: $12 (add $2 for bacon)



The results...
Iceberg wedge: 8.75 [8-10]
Escarole, beet and bacon salad: 6.5 [6-8] ....fantastic bacon dressing
Shrimp cocktail: 5 [4-6]
Burger Patty: 8 [7-9]
Burger Experience: 8 [7-9]
Fries: 7 [5-8]...great seasoning - downgraded because they came out cold




shrimp cocktail, iceberg wedge and 'special' salad (above)



2010 here we come, with a bangggg.... well, we'll do better in the second quarter.

Pros: Speakeasy drinks, potato bread burger buns, friendly staff, good flare on old-fashioned.
-Drink details: Captain Lawrence beers, thennnn vodka grapefruits & old fashioneds with Old Overholt Rye - all good news.

Cons: By the end of the burger, the bottom of the bun was not there. Anddd the drinks were expensive. We got killed on alcohol.

Total Bill: $255.48 (alcohol was 2/3 of this... I mean, $12 drinks....)


Good place, great time at dinner. We all needed to unwind.
As it happened, when we initially walked in, we each thought that we were in the wrong place. This place is actually relatively new, and the 'club'/bar that we had thought we were going to actually doesn't open until 10pm. Our waiter, Spenky, said that it gets pretty crowded. But that's for another night

The Spotted Pig

December 19, 2009 - SBE VI Holiday Edition

Location: 314 W 11th Street, New York, NY 10014 (at Greenwich St)

SBE score: 91

Burger (with Roquefort cheese and shoestring french fries) = $17



This was the SBE holiday party. Luke and Kate played Wii bowling today, and Brian and Leila productively went Christmas shopping. Plus, we all had to buy our $5 White Elephant gifts.
By 5:30pm, when we arrived at the Spotted Pig, the snow was coming down hard and sticking.

Throughout dinner, Leila and Brian broke out into song, we exchanged gifts (candy jewelery, head massager, olive picks for martinis, and G.W.B playing cards), and we educated our very cool (apparently unusual for this place) waitress on D.H. Lawrence beer/movie reference.

Overall, this place would be better if you didn't have to come at 5:30 to get seated at 7:00 (a little less hipster, a little more neighborhood bar) and also if the cheese didn't overwhelm the ginormous patty (the cheese was strong and salty). Leila and Kate got points for finishing their burgers, but Brian and Luke did better on the fries.

Total Bill = $182 (priceless memories?)

The results....

• Deviled Eggs: 8 [7-9 range] ... vinegary, but awesome
  
• Devils on Horseback: 8.5 [6-10 range]
• Ricotta Dumplings: 9 [9-10 range]
• Brussels Sprouts: 9.9 [9.5-10 range .... crowd favorites
  

• Burger Patty: 8 [7-9 range]
• Burger Experience: 7.5 [5-9 range]
• Fries: 7 [4-9 range]

Drinks ordered: Mulled Wine, (Captain) D.H. Lawrence, and Radeberger

Above: Deviled eggs and devils on horseback. Below: Ricotta dumplings

New Rules: In the hypothetical situation that a team member wants to bring a non member to dinner, said team member must pick up the entire bill. One guest star, per team member, per year.

Burger Joint @ The Parker Meridian

November 12, 2009 - SBE V

Location: 119 W 56th Street, New York, NY 10019

SBE score: 75

The Results...

• Burger Patty: 5.75 [5 - 6.5]
• Burger Experience: 7.4 [6 - 8.5]
• Fries: 6.3 [4 - 7.5]

[Borrowed picture- The camera with the evidence was lost the following weekend at Leila's fantastic dance/birthday party]



We found a four person booth, and ordered four burgers (to our own customizations), large pickles and two orders of fries. Things we like about Burger Joint: We saw the dad from Gossip Girl and the people working at the counter are really nice (plus you don't pay tip).

Kate felt like the location is better than the burger. Brian thought that this was "exactly what a fast food burger is supposed to taste like." Leila said that she could have another, and Luke added, "you should not have to season your own fries."


Total Bill = $64 (including the $20 Sam Adams draft)


...After dinner, we went to the restaurant next door to order a banana split. Ended up getting white chocolate mousse, flambeed banana something, and something else. "Oh, Lukeee."

Royale Burger

October 2, 2009 - SBE IV

Location: 157 Ave C, New York, NY 10009 (near 10th street)

SBE score: 91

Burger "The Royale" = $6.50
Bacon Royale = $8.50 (pictured below)

The Results...

• Burger Patty: 8.3 [7-9 range]
• Burger Experience: 9.3 [9-10 range]
• Fries: 7.3 [6-8 range]
• Onion Rings: 7.3 [5-9 range]

This is our first SBE Friday after everyone's busy weeks. We made a stop at the Sunburnt Cow's $20, 2 hour open bar (this may have influenced our judging later in the night). The conversation throughout the night crossed into uncharted territories...

Our thoughts:

Brian: "That is the best basic "non-designer" burger"
Luke: "Buttery and delicious"
Leila: "That was a delicious combination" (addendum: the mayo helped)
Kate: "The bacon was good news" (addendum: think almost Canadian bacon)


Plus = outside seating: Heat lamps when it gets cooler under a deck and open roof area below.
Cons = Avenue C (plus, there was a plastic bag tied to a pole bothering Leila...)


Total Bill: $76.60 ...cheapest drinks and burgers so far!

Luke's

August 27, 2009 SBE III

Location: 1394 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10075 (at 79th Street)

SBE score: 74

Burger = $7.95
Bacon Cheeseburger = $9.95

Brian had his bartending debut later this night and spent the majority of dinner obsessed with 'boxes'. Everyone else pretty much had mediocre days (Luke was late because he napped and overslept). Over the course of dinner, no Yankees came in to eat (supposedly a hangout of theirs) and we also thought that the Enya music/sports on the tv was weird. FYI s - outdoor seating, cash only.


The Results....

• Burger Patty: 5.4 [4-6.5 range]
• Burger Experience: 6.3 [5-7 range]
• French Fries: 4.9 [2-6.5 range]
• Shoe String Onion Rings: 4.5 [3-7 range]
• Mac & Cheese: 8.3 [8-9 range]
• (iceburg wedge was not rated)

While no was was raving about this 10 oz patty at the end of the meal, I think that everyone finished their burger.... We thought that the restaurant as a dinner place is cool and, if we were to come here, we would get the burger (addendum: every time).

The burger ratings are beginning to experience a bit of deflation, and so, even though the scores are lower than JG Melons, I think that we would all vote for Lukes having a better burger than JG Melons.

JG Melon

August 5, 2009 - SBE II

Location: 1291 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10021 (at 74th Street)

SBE score: 57

Burger = $8.50
Bacon Cheeseburger = $9.50


The Results...

• Burger Patty: 6.5 [6 - 7]
• Burger Experience: 7.75 [6-9]
• Fries: 6.25 [3 - 9]

We thought that the meat quality of the burger was good, but it could have used more seasoning. We also thought that the plate of sauteed onions for the burgers was a great addition and Lei and Kate liked the pillow fries (we may have ordered more). Luke liked the side of mayo, but downgraded the fries because they were lacking seasoning. Kate liked the Grey Poupon burger combination. Leila thought that the cheese made her burger. Brian was generally down on this place, though, he increased his 'burger experience' rating because JG Melons has "the best spicy bloody mary."

FYI - JG Melons is cash only (Brian needed a 40 spot)

P.J. Clarke's

July 15th, 2009 - Inaugural SBE

Location: 915 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10022

SBE score: 91*

*the old regime, before the menu change

Burger = $8.95
The Cadillac = $11.35 (picture below)




The Results:

• Burger Patty: 9.25 [8-10 range]
• Burger Experience: 8.5 [7-10 range]
• Fries: 5.25 [4-6 range]
• Onion Rings: 8 [7-9 range]

915 3rd Ave, New York NY10022 40.759171 -73.968709

(At 55th St)

Read more: P.J. Clarke's - New York Restaurant - MenuPages American (Traditional), Bar Food Restaurant Search http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/pj-clarkes/#ixzz0co67lc08

915 3rd Ave, New York NY10022 40.759171 -73.968709

(At 55th St)

Read more: P.J. Clarke's - New York Restaurant - MenuPages American (Traditional), Bar Food Restaurant Search http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/pj-clarkes/#ixzz0co67lc08

What type of burgers do we order?

Brian: Medium-rare with american cheese (sometimes bacon)
Leila: Medium with american cheese
Luke: Medium-rare with either bleu cheese or cheddar (sometimes bacon)
Kate: Medium-rare with cheddar cheese (sometimes bacon)

How do we rate our burgers?
The score is out of 10. The scores are averaged. Highest and lowest scores are listed in the range bracket beside the average score. We additionally score the restaurant on a 0 - 100 scale which is a combination of everyone giving their own 0 - 100 score and a dynamic discussion because the final score is not a simple average.

Burger Patty: JUST the meat (quality, seasoning, cooked to order)
Burger Experience: Used to include restaurant atmosphere etc, now only the bun and everything in between

Fries and Onion Rings: seasoning, originality