The best burgers in New York City
The hamburger. A divine dish direct from heaven made to delight your palate. The popularity of the burger joint, be it fast food outlet or otherwise, has grown over the years. Nowadays, there are more original recipes and hamburger diversity than ever. Still, the best burgers are certainly to be found in New York City. Some restaurants not only offer hamburgers made from luxurious ingredients but also strangely wonderful colourful buns and burgers the size of a Manhattan building!
By choosing accommodation in New York, you will be able to stay in a district that has the most appealable burgers for you. But where? At Wimdu we thought: “How can we help those visiting New York City taste at least one great American burger?” That is why we put together THE locations where you can have the best burgers in New York City.
We won’t reveal the menu. Instead, we would prefer for you to discover the specialities by yourself. We also need to clarify that this list is not in order of our personal preference but based on the global ranking that internauts gave to the restaurant after their visit.
Burger Joint
4.2
1505
+
$15
119 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019, United States
Sunday to Thursday: 11:00-23:30; Friday and Saturday: 11:00-00:00
No
Back in 2002, the New York food scene was totally different. There was no “Black Label”, nor Shake Shack. Steven Pipes, founder of Burger Joint, was an unquestionable fan of burgers even back then but had come to the conclusion that a good burger just couldn’t be found in his neighbourhood. This is why he set up his first restaurant on the corner of Le Parker Meridien hotel’s lobby in Manhattan. With Emile Castillo, the hotel chef, they embarked on a journey to discover burgers. Emile created about thirty recipes, comparing each one until they elected the winner.
Nowadays, there is still only one Burger Joint restaurant, hidden away from view, behind a red curtain in a hotel lobby…
Corner Bistrot
4.2
861
$16.25
331 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10014, United States
Monday to Saturday: 11:30-04:00; Sunday: 12:00-04:00
No
Located in Greenwich Village, Corner Bistrot is a bohemian bar that is serving burgers to famous locals for more than a century. Their website claims that the “original atmosphere is almost unchanged”. Perhaps so. The wooden bar and panelled ceiling are vintage and have welcomed Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound and EE Cummings as regular customers.
Five Guys
4.2
806
$13.70
– 43 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019, United States
– 36 W 48th St, New York, NY 10036,
– 253 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036,
– 316 W 34th St, New York, NY 10036,
– 296 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014,
(other addresses available in Manhattan)
: 11:00-22:00
No
This is a chain is very present in the United States but began in France some years ago. In 2012, Five Guys had more than 1500 restaurants all around the world, with the same number projected as opening soon. There are dozens of Five Guys restaurants in Manhattan alone. As well as the burgers, be sure to sample a milkshake, available in rather surprising flavours.
Note: Five Guys are not five but six men. Sometime after launching the first restaurant, Tyler, the last son, was added to the family business. Jerry Murrell, the founder, now says that Five Guys refers to his five sons.
The Fiddler
4.2
575
$14
266 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036,
Monday to Sunday:
The Mean Fiddler is not only a restaurant offering dreamy burgers but also a merry place where you can dance all night (or at least until 4:00 am). There is also karaoké in the basement and it is possible to challenge your friends to beer pong?
Note: At lunchtime, the restaurant has a special offer: for $12 you can order the burger of the day and a craft beer.
Shake Shack (Wimdu favourite!)
4.3
4209
$15
– 691 8th Ave, New York, NY 10036,
– 600 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016,
– Madison Ave & E 23rd St, New York, NY 10010,
– 154 East 86th St, New York, NY 10028,
– 51 Astor Pl, New York, NY 10003,
(other addresses available in Manhattan)
*: Monday to Sunday: 10:30-00:00
(*check specific restaurants for individual opening hours)
No
This is the direct competitor of the famous In-N-Out, which is only present on the west coast of the United States. The first Shake Shack restaurant opened in 2004 and is located in Madison Square Park. It is very easy to find as it stands near the emblematic Flatiron building.
In the past, you had to wait for hours to taste the specialities that this little hut offers. Nowadays the brand is present in several countries worldwide and can be found in many parts of New York City.
Note: Recently the chain decided to offer customers the possibility to buy dog food called “Pooch-ini” and “Bag O’ Bones“.
5 Napkin Burger
4.4
1522
$18.50
– 630 9th Ave, New York, NY 10036,
– 1325 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10021,
– 150 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003,
– 2315 Broadway, New York, NY 10024,
Monday to Sunday: 11:30-00:00
Yes
5 Napkin Burger prides itself on quality ingredients, which probably is why they are so successful. Their burgers are completely prepared on their premises and they are very proud of this. French fries are cut by hand daily and antibiotic and hormone-free beef is used. Enjoy!
Note: The name “5 Napkin Burger” was chosen because the founders believe you need five napkins when you eat a burger. So, at this establishment, you will always get five napkins on the table.
Black Tap
4,4
850
$21
– 529 Broome St, New York, NY 10013, United States
– 136 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019, United States
– 248 W 14th St, New York, NY 10011, United States
– 177 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002, United States
Sunday to Wednesday: 11:00-00:00; Thursday to Saturday: 11:00-01:00
Yes
Black Tap owns four restaurants in Manhattan and they are managed by star chef Joe Isidori, well-known for his gastronomic burgers. You probably heard about this restaurant because of its milkshakes. The restaurant was described as a “cult restaurant” by the New York Post for its creatively decorated milkshakes.
Note: Milkshakes at Black Tap can easily reach 1600 calories – the daily recommended calorie intake for a woman.
Black Iron Burger
4,4
790
$18.95
245 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018, United States
Monday to Friday: 11:00-23:00; Saturday: 12:00-22:00; Sunday: 12:00-21:00
540 E 5th St, New York, NY 10009, United States
Monday to Thursday: 17:00-22:30; Friday: 17:00-23:30: Saturday: 12:00-23:30; Sunday: 12:00-22:00
Yes
Black Iron Burger opened the doors of its first restaurant in East Village, Manhattan in 2008. When strong competitors like Shake Shack and others migrated downtown, Black Iron Burger was not able to keep up with the competition and the owner was forced to sell the restaurant. In 2013, several partners gathered in order to reformulate the concept by revamping the menu to include healthier and more natural options for classic American burgers and Mediterranean inspired dishes. Since then, Black Iron hamburgers are made of meat that is totally natural, free from antibiotics, steroids and hormones.
Note: Black Iron Burger was a bit sceptical about the fact that all the classic hamburger recipes had been created by a group of Spanish chefs. They feared that people would be reluctant to eat at their restaurant and that they would lose the fame the former owner had built.
Bareburger
4,4
779
$15.50
– 366 West 46th St, New York, NY 10036, United States
– 155 William St, New York, NY 10038, United States
– 153 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011, United States
– 173 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002, United States
– 514 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10016, United States
Sunday to Monday: 11:00-23:00; Friday and Saturday: 11:00-00:00
Yes
Bareburger created a family of farmers and partners in order to offer clean and healthy food. Together they imagined a menu that is over one-third vegetarian and plant-based. Bareburger wishes to offer a range of choice for all carnivorous, vegetarian and gluten-free customers.
Burger & Lobster
4,4
391
$23
– 132 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036, United States
– 39 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011, United States
Monday: 11:30-22:00; Tuesday to Thursday: 11:30-23:00; Friday and Saturday: 11:30-00:00; Sunday: 11:30-11:00
No
The story begins with four classmates on a London rooftop in 2011. The idea was to create a restaurant where the focus would be on improving one or two main ingredients. In a small Irish pub in Mayfair, the first Burger & Lobster was born. The concept is to offer burgers made out of lobster. However, if you don’t want a lobster burger, you can order a regular one.
Conclusion
Finally, you have a definitive list of the best burgers in New York City. Here, you will discover flavours that can’t be found in Europe because of the origin of the different ingredients used in each of these restaurants. Over the last years, the restaurant owners focused on the quality of the product rather than on the quantity because people are more concerned about the origin of the products; the way the vegetables were grown, the cattle raised, etc. Next time you are in New York City, visit one of these places – you won’t be disappointed!
Index
= Restaurant: the above restaurants were selected according to their ranking on Google Maps and TripAdvisor.
= Ranking: the ranking is from Google Review, where the restaurants are rated out of 5.
= Number of reviews: taken from Google Review. In relation to the specific chains, we took those with the highest number of reviews.
+
= Price: the price is based on the sum of a cheeseburger and a regular portion of French fries.
= Addresses: the addresses were taken directly from the restaurant website.
= Opening hours:
= Vegetarian burger: indicates if the restaurant offers a vegetarian burger.
All information enclosed was compiled in June 2018. It might happen that the ranking, as well as the price, the menu and/or the opening hours, may have changed by the time you read this article.
