This joint serves up great pub food for a great price. I came here with a gang of miscreants late night after a whiskey event in Industry City, and I must say: Salty Dog did not disappoint.
I shared the fried chicken sandwich and burger with my wife. Both great. Excellent onion rings and fries too.
SALTY DOG
7509 3rd Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11209
First, check out my Ride & Review video of this place HERE:
This place used to be the original location of Black Iron Burger, I think.
My wife and I stopped in on a mini food crawl and gave it a shot. It was good!
The 6oz patty was cooked properly, with a nice crust from the flat top. The toppings were well portioned, and the bun held up, for the most part.
Fries could have used a bit of salt, but the onion rings were perfect.
I would definitely go back. I really like the cross between a luncheonette and a pub vibe that they have going here, and the staff was delightful. Next time I’ll try their signature burger that has brie and caramelized onions.
LE BURGER
540 E 5th St
New York, NY 10009
Oddly enough, I first tried the fried chicken sandwich here with onion rings, and both were awesome. Spicy honey, slaw, and great pickles.
That made me want to come back to try the burger.
This was incredible! Plus, it’s real handsome:
I highly recommend this burger – so good!
BEST BURGER NYC
53 Little West 12th St
New York, NY 10014
This old school stool seating diner has been around for a long time in the UVA area. My wife and I were in town for a wedding, so I had to try this place. We tried the Double Gus Burger, which is two thin patties, with American cheese and an egg. I’m generally not a huge fan of egg on a burger, but this one really hit home.
Great onions rings and fried hot dog too.
We finished off with a slice of lemon pie too. This joint was exactly what I wanted it to be. Cheap, delicious grub.
THE WHITE SPOT
1407 University Ave
Charlottesville, VA 22903
There’s a new burger joint in Nolita and it’s pretty great!
They’re serving Golden Packing beef burgers with cheddar, pickles and caramelized onions on a delicious house baked bun.
The chicken sandwiches are made from fried thighs, so they’re extra tender and juicy!
Great crisp on them too. They also have excellent fries and onion rings.
As well as some interesting “cheeseburger hash browns.”
Don’t skip on their shakes and homemade lemonades too. We had both basil and blueberry mint. They were incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day.
BRONSON’S BURGERS
250 Mulberry St,
New York NY 10012
I came to this cool village joint for a press dinner.
The interior is like an old world tavern, with lots of exposed brick, warm tones and wood beams on the ceiling.
The beer selection is really great, both on tap and in bottles/cans.
Chef Armando cut his teeth at STK and Five Napkin Burger before taking on the executive chef role at both this Malt House location and the newly opened, massive Financial District location.
The bar room is really well apportioned, with an L-shaped stretch that also has some tabletop seating nearby. At happy hour they offer nice food selections and cheap drink options, along with dollar oysters! There’s also a full menu at the bar for the other eats, and they offer flights of beer (four for $10), American whiskey and Scotch whisky.
Here’s what we had on our press tasting:
All the apps came out on a big platter, with the exception of the mussels, of course:
The onion rings had a nice bacon flavor to them. They were fluffy without being too bready, and the onion inside was cooked through.
The baked, fried and grilled wings were excellent – the best of the “fried stuff,” for sure. They had a mild buffalo spiced roquefort sauce on them, but that didn’t take away any of the crisp to the skin.
One of the more unique items on the menu is the fried cheese curds. You just don’t see them all that much around here. They were like small bite-sized bits of “cheese sticks,” only less melty and more airy and bready.
The fried pickles were crispy as hell! They were sliced paper thin first, and then battered and fried. These went nicely with the homemade ranch sauce.
The ranch sauce, by the way, was the best of the three sauces we had (the other two: a house sauce that was similar to thousand island, and a chipotle mayo).
The star of the openers, however, was the crock of mussels that were steamed in a sauce made from roasted tomatoes, chorizo, garlic, herbs (rosemary, for one) and white wine. Delicious.
Chef Armando hits back to back home runs with the burger and the mahi mahi tacos when it comes to the entrees.
The burger is a blend of short rib, chuck and brisket that makes for a tender, juicy and superbly flavorful patty of beef. Topped with onion marmalade, pickles, bacon, lettuce, red onion and cheese, you really can’t go wrong.
The fries on the side, however, were a little bit lacking in comparison to the incredible burger. Not as crispy as I like, and a little heavy on the grease flavor. The truffle fries had a better crisp to them, but I didn’t get much of the truffle flavor, and they were cut a little thicker than I like for French fries.
The tacos are super refreshing, with really nicely cooked fish and fresh ingredients. I’d definitely go back for these.
We seriously tasted an astonishing amount of food on this press event. Next was the open-faced strip steak sandwich on a French baguette, topped with melty gruyere, red onion and arugula.
The steak was pre-sliced but thick, making it good for the open-faced, knife-and-fork format.
The lobster mac and cheese was topped with a generous portion of lobster claw and tail meat, and it had the flavor of truffle oil to bring some earthiness into the dish.
We even tried a salad with grilled chicken. Pretty good. It was nicely dressed and the chicken breast was perfectly cooked.
For dessert, we sampled both the creme brûlée and the chocolate cake. My favorite between the two was the creme brûlée. It was smooth and creamy, nice and evenly textured.
The chocolate cake was served warm, with a scoop of house made vanilla on the side.
The cake was slightly dry, but the ice cream was a good way balance that: eat some ice cream with each bite of cake, and problem solved.
But what can I say: The Cake Dealer really spoils me when it comes to cake and bake.
To sum up: I’ll definitely be back here for some drinks, burgers and tacos. Great shit. Awesome US craft beer selection (like Bourbon County) that rotates out often, and excellent burgers. Most likely I will come for happy hour and indulge in some dollar oysters too.
THE MALT HOUSE
206 Thompson St.
New York, NY 10012
I’ve been eyeballing this place for a while since I work nearby. I’ve been here before for some happy hour staples like $5 nachos (big), $5 sliders (4 of them), and $4 beers (Yeungling). Today I was determined to try the burger out.
I started with an order of salt and pepper onion rings.
These things were excellent – perfectly crispy, no grease, and a really nice horseradish dipping sauce that I ended up using for my fries as well.
Speaking of which, the fries were nice and golden brown, natural skin-on slices, crispy, and well seasoned.
As for the burger, it was a good size. A little sunder-seasoned, and it had an odd flavor profile to it. At first I thought it was maybe aged, or perhaps they gave me bison instead of beef. But it wasn’t a gamey flavor. Not sure how to describe it other than different. not necessarily BAD; just unexpected, perhaps?
Anyway – it was nice and patriotic with the flag toothpick. It came with bacon, cheddar, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, pickles and raw onion. Check the cut:
The pic makes it look a little overdone, but it was a proper medium.
Another thing I like about tho splice is the dish of pickles they give at the bar. Half sours, bright green, thick slices, very delicious. I put these on my burger instead of the bread and butters that came on my plate.
For dessert we did some ice cream and cookies. One cookie was chocolate chip, the other was chocolate chocolate chip. Nice and simple, but good.
Lastly, here’s a shot of my friend’s vagina meal – grilled chicken with guac on a whole wheat bun. Looks good; just like a wet snatch.
Anyhow – keep an eye out for a proper steakhouse review of this place, as I plan to come back soon and try their 14oz rib eye, along with a salad and dessert for just $29 (ask for the theater menu). Great fucking deal, if you ask me!
UPDATE – full-on steakhouse review below:
My wife and I came in for the “theater menu” deal: $29 (now $35) for three courses. Not a bad price. Check the verdict below.
Flavor: 6
My first bite of the beef rib eye was a nine, but it went downhill from there. The steak was nicely cooked and all, but the meat was a bit tough, a bit over-salted and wet. When I say wet, I mean there were small puddles of grease on the top of the steak. Also when I say tough, I mean the grain of the meat was tight and a little difficult to chew. While it did have a decent flavor, I had to drop the score because of these things. There was also a good deal of gristle on the cut, and a shitload of bleed-out once I got down on it. If it weren’t for that and the gristle I might have scored this a seven.
Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
Here, they do not offer a porterhouse, and no cuts large enough for two. there is a filet, a NY strip, a rib eye, and a “steak frites” strip, which they say is a center cut strip. There is only one size of each offering, though to their credit they do offer each as a choice of either beef or bison. If it weren’t for that diversity of choice, I might have dropped this to a five or six. Speaking of choice, I think that’s what they’re rocking here in terms of quality.
Portion Size & Plating: 8
For the price, the portions are pretty good. If I had to guess I’d say my steak was 12-14oz. The soup was a good size, as was the salad and other items for the theater menu pricing. Very fair considering this joint is nestled in the heart of skyrocket rent central.
Price: 8
If you’re not a food snob or a steak expert, this place is perfect for casual dining. The prices are super fair. For six courses and two espressos the bill came to $86 with tax and tip included.
Bar: 9
The bar here is a blast. They have a great happy hour menu with good drink specials and snack food. You can’t people-watch so well into the street, but it is definitely a lively and fun place to go after work. I’d certainly come here for the happy hour often. In fact I’ve done so twice before; good nachos and sliders, excellent onion rings, great free pickle slices, and cheap draft beer. If you never come here for steak, that’d be fine, as long as you stop in once for the happy hour. Grab a pint and some sliders or nachos and you will be satisfied. In fact, that is my firm recommendation to anyone thinking of coming here: stick to the bar.
Specials and Other Meats: 7
There’s really just chicken and ribs, aside from the bison and beef. And there are no specials, as the menu is pretty much more like an elevated and refined Outback or Fridays type of deal.
Apps, Sides & Desserts: 6
My salad was really basic: romaine, croutons and dressing. Not much else to say about it.
The New England clam chowder was nice and thick, and quite flavorful. Almost kind of like a sauce… which got me thinking… New England Clam Chowder Spaghetti… Look out for a recipe one of these days…
Desserts were pretty basic, and in retrospect I think the “adult shakes” are probably the most appealing thing in the dessert department.
I had a fudge brownie sundae (one of two options on the theater menu). The brownie was a little hard but the ice cream was good (because it is made by Haagen Dazs).
My wife had the cheesecake. Pretty good actually, except for the berry sauce on it that had a sort of processed, “from a squeeze bottle” kind of flavor to it.
Seafood Selection: 6
There’s a cedar plank salmon on the theater menu, which looked nice, but my wife went with the crab cakes. These were actually really nice. A little crisp texture on the outside, good quality lump crab meat, and the addition of guacamole made for a really refreshing bite. They also offer trout and a catch of the day, but no shellfish, raw items or anything like that.
Service: 8
Service was fine. It did feel a little rushed, like our guy wanted to take our plates early with each course. Also the hot sauce was snatched from our table without asking if we were still using it. Bummer, because I was using it with my fries.
Ambiance: 8
I actually like the feel of this place. It’s warm and inviting, there is always a decent crowd of people having a good time, and the walls have bison heads on them. Love it.
TED’S MONTANA GRILL
110 W. 51st St.
New York, NY 10020
So I got this sweet ass Groupon deal for the west village location of Joy Burger Bar.
I paid under $10 for two burgers and two shakes or fries. My buddy and I mixed it up a bit. We got one shake, one fries, and added an order of o-rings. It was also two for one beers during happy hour so we nabbed a pair of fucking Blue Moons as well.
I had a “midi” (5oz) burger with American cheese, jalapeño peppers, lettuce, onion, tomato and spicy mayo. Shit was good, but the burger was a little beyond medium. Thank God for melty cheese. Fries were better than mediocre – good seasoning but not as crispy as I like. Onion rings were delicious, and the shake was killer (B&W, bitch).
Really reasonable prices even without a Groupon deal, so I say go for it.
Check out the burgerporn below, assholes:
JOY BURGER BAR
361 6th Ave
New York, NY 10014
