The $26 Burger at Minetta Tavern

Let's play a game. Finish this sentence. This burger is so good it ___________. 

Minetta Tavern's Black Label Burger w/caramelized onions and fries

Just fill in the blank to describe how the best burger you have ever tasted in your life changed your life. Yes, I know it is a bit silly to proclaim food revelations but sometimes food can make a statement or at least make you stop for a minute to really enjoy the presence of life. I went over the fill in the blank sentence a few different ways just to stress how good Minetta Tavern's Black Label Burger is. Folks, I am talking about the $26 Pat La Frieda burger. It's worth every dollar and is the best burger I have ever tasted so far. I thought it was so good that I promised my friend's husband that I would forgo all cheap meat burgers for a year just to justify the cost and to prove to him that it was a burger worth waiting for. 


THE PROMISE: No meat burgers until December 2011


THE REWARD: Dinner at Minetta Tavern in December


GUESS WHAT?: I failed. I lasted 7 months. I hadn't had a meat burger since November 2010. I don't crave red meat so this was not particularly hard for me to do. But my friends were in town last month and we had stopped in at Mark to kill some time before dinner. This bar's specialty was sliders. Everyone ordered sliders and there were no meat substitutes. Fries, which were on the menu, would not be a stand in for my burger. I caved. I am weak. I realized how hard it is to be a vegetarian in NYC. I am a whiner. Sue me.


So before I continue rambling on, here is the burger that broke my streak and it was PRETTY DAMN GOOD.

Slider w/bacon, cheese, onions, jalapeno/chipotle/barbeque sauce

Juicy, charred, and topped with bacon, onions and cheese. The bun had grease on it. I added jalapeno, chipotle, and barbeque sauce to it for some spice. GAME OVER. Heaven is all about now.


Photography Credits: The Outdoor New Yorker, Roxwriting
Gluttony Link: Sampling Dishes Along St. Mark's Street


Minetta Tavern
113 MacDougal St.
New York, NY 10012


Mark's Sliders 
33 St. Mark's Place
New York, NY 10003