Black Oak Nights – New York

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Cheap Eats: Burger Hotspots in NYC

Posted by Black Oak On September - 4 - 2009

Burgers! How can you not love them? They are the common man’s food alternative to steak and filet mignon, and sometimes, they’re even better than the real thing. Besides, unless you work for AIG, who can afford to cough up $35+ for a decent steak in Manhattan these days?

I didn’t think so.

So to help you out, here are some of New York’s best, and cheapest, burgers:

M2M – 2935 Broadway, New York, NY 10025
Yes, that’s right! Travel on up to the Upper West Side to get one of the best burgers in Manhattan. Columbia students already know about this diamond in the rough, but allow me to share it with New York City’s masses. I don’t know what they do, or how they do it, but somehow these seemingly amateur short-order cooks serve up one of the best burgers I have ever had in New York City. In a place where they’re selling Tropicana fruit punch and sushi, you can still go to the order station, ask for a cheeseburger deluxe, and be blown out of your mind as to just how tender and flavorful the burgers they make are. Not to mention, any deluxe burger order comes with fries, which just happen to be some of the most addicting fries I’ve ever had, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure they come straight out of wholesale bag. I usually go for the ultimate death nail of a burger, a double-patty with cheese and bacon. Sure, it doesn’t do much for my heart, but my stomach never complains.

Blue 9 – 92 3rd Avenue, New York, NY
Blue 9 doesn’t have the biggest burgers or the most tender burgers either. But what they do have is a piece of meat that is so full of flavor, oils and is prepared with a careful touch right up until they stuff it in the greasy bag they give it to you in. Their burgers are placed in a nice little bun, served with tomato and onions, and you have the option to turn it into a heat-producing firecracker or you can simply get the “Blue 9” burger, a double cheeseburger with more taste in a single bite than just about any other burger in Manhattan.

Shake Shack – Multiple Manhattan Locations
I wasn’t sold on the merits of the Shake Shack burger at first—that is until, of course, I tried it! With several Shake Shack locations now in Manhattan, you really have no excuse not to have tried this L.A.-style burger. Loaded with everything from lettuce, tomato, shake sauce and Portobello mushrooms, the Shake Stack burger is my favorite. Like Blue 9, they aren’t the biggest burgers in the world, but the Shake Stack burger is a double-stuffed. The fries here make the burger, and if you’re feeling extra risqué, you have the option of adding cheese to those fried potatoes. So the next time you see that giant line oozing out of the Shake Shack venue during lunch time, don’t question those patrons’ merits. Just grab a spot in line next to them!