Le Parker Meridien Hotel
119 West 56th St (btw 6th & 7th)
Visited: August 6, 2010

Besides the velvet ropes and some curtains that give nothing away, a neon hamburger with an arrow underneath is the only real indication that the luxurious Le Parker Meridien hotel in Midtown hides a tasty secret, a panic room covered in movie posters and full of customers enjoying food as different from the upper crust surroundings as it could possibly be. It’s not a very well kept secret, given the number of customers between those ropes and in those booths but the novelty of the juxtaposition earns Burger Joint a star from the get-go. Celebrating good American food that doesn’t drown in a sea of sophistication is what this Tour is all about.

We stopped by on a Friday, which might have been one reason for the long line. It was probably half an hour all told, twenty outside, ten in the Joint itself. I did have the time to take the grainy album cover of a photograph above, and to freak out some squares in town for the weekend and on line with me. From the end of the line I looked to my left and saw the half-dozen hotel staff checking in other visitors, their rolling suitcases temporarily upright and relieved. I saw some of these guests looking up and around at the beautiful lobby and couldn’t argue with their reaction but wanted to yell over at them and point at the neon sign and tell them not to forget to enjoy the full spectrum of what New York has to offer.

Two-thirds of the way through our wait, we were at the threshold. Booths and tables lined the room, with our conspicuous line snaking its way through to the counter, ahead of us in the middle of the place. The booths were all full, some with four to six people, others with merely aggravating pairs. Those that opened up were sniped by people further back on the line, leaving their friends to order. While we wouldn’t be able to sit in there, I was happy to see pitchers of beer around, families, patrons full from their meals and in a daze, a really thorough and good mix of people.

It was loud in there. I’d have to yell my order. A handy written guide instructed us in which details to provide, and ideally in which order, and a knowledge of “The Soup Nazi” episode encouraged me to state my order crisply and succinctly, then shuffle off to the side. I got my burger with cheese, lettuce, onions and pickles, fries, and a chocolate shake. The shake was made not with chocolate ice cream but with vanilla and chocolate syrup, blended together, but I was okay with that. I picked up my order as soon as it was called, one because I wanted to keep the line moving, two because I wasn’t keen on waiting in that small crowded space, given my height, and three because I was starving and four because it smelled amazing.

We walked out into the center of the lobby where there was scattered seating, chairs and couches, the walls all lined with mirrors. No sooner had we approached two of these nice chairs when a helpful hotel staff member reminded us that there was seating for diners on the benches closer to the side door. We understood how it was. So we sat down and dived into the bags. Phenomenal. The burgers were good-sized, easy to eat and perfectly cooked, crisp and seared but juicy, too. The toppings were in excellent proportion and, less occasionally being more, gave just the right amount of added flavor and texture. The fries were so good, I brought the rest home. The shake, not being so liquid, didn’t force me to wash any of this food down, so I got to savor it that little bit longer.

This was the best Tour burger I’d had to date, arguably the best meal outright. An unsung part of any of these meals is whether I feel good after, satiated but not stuffed. The spread from Burger Joint is a great example of this: I could easily have eaten three or more of those burgers for how excellent they were, but I didn’t want to. The burger, fries and shake were just right. It’s rare that that’s the case, especially when it’s not an overwhelming amount of food, but it was that day. Maybe it was the setting. Maybe the opulence and elegance around me made me soon realize that enough was going to be enough no matter what. Maybe you should go see for yourself. Nah, definitely.

GRAFT: Burgers
1. Burger Joint – New York, NY
2. Donovan’s Pub – Woodside, NY
3. Ted’s Restaurant – Meriden, CT