If there were no Shake Shack, I might have different feelings about New York Burger Co. Shake Shack is on 24th and Broadway in Madison Square Park. New York Burger Co., a chain, recently opened up near me on 21st and 6th. So you see one avenue behind this facade and three avenues up is the best hamburger in New York. How can it compete?
The answer is: it can't. I mean, it's fine. Really. This burger, called the Chicago Burger, has Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar and 1000 island dressing. Perfect for the health conscious:
According to their informational pamphlet, "New York Burger Co. is keeping it real: starting with Coleman All Natural Beef, we're trailblazing and doing things the old-fashioned way. No artifical anything!...Our Idaho fries are freshly cut & prepared in cholestral [sic] free soybean oil."
Well that's their first mistake (and it's the same mistake they make at Good Burger): what's the point of eating fries if they're healthy?! Please, bring on the cholesterol (or cholestral) and make your fries better.
As for the burger, it cost $7.75 and in combo with drink and fries $10.75. Shake Shack charges $4.16 for a Shack burger which is "ground daily from sirloin and brisket." I realize I ordered a special burger at NY Burger Co. so, to be fair, a plain "New York burger" costs $5.75. But that's still more money than a special Shack burger and a million times less good.
If you live in an area with a NY Burger Co. and without a Shake Shack, I don't frown upon you if you eat there. You're doing what you must. But for me, it's basically sacrelige. NY Burger you are dead to me. Long live Shake Shack!
