Burgers and Cupcakes
458 9th Ave, at 36th st.
Distance from Shake Shack: 0.94 miles
Travel Time: 27 minutes
# of People in Line: 9
Burgers and Cupcakes is humorous only to New Yorkers, who can't help but smile at the gall of building a restaurant that caters solely to the big apple's idiocy to stand in line for the most obscenely simple things. I was spurred to undertake the odyssey out to Hell's Kitchen specifically to combat the ludicrous Shack Shake line, so in whatever humble way I can manage, I like to think that the kind people at Burgers and Cupcakes started this venture for me.
The ying and the yang - the burgers are large and the cupcakes small - converge at this decidedly feminine locale. Nearly all the employees are fresh faced, smile-donning, pink-wearing girls that never flak in their happy attitude no matter how hairy the crowd becomes. And it gets bad.
As things often go in New York, word travels fast (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) so in a cruel twist of fate, a restaurant seemingly created in response to the long, long lines of Shake Shack and Magnolia Bakery, now has a line.
The wait is so long we decide to get the food to go, which still takes a decent 15 minutes to get. During that time we stand awkwardly in the aisle, bumping into other people confused about where to stand, order, get a table, or even see the menu. These are the necessary pains of a new restaurant. Once we get the food we learn that we can't get a table -you have to order from the waitress to do that--so we walk outside, and instead of being surrounded by beautiful Madison Square Park, we're squatting on the curb eating a $7 cheeseburger and a mini cupcake with brown paper bags under our feet so they won't blow away in the middle of Hell's Kitchen.
It's about this time I seriously pondered what this obsession had done to me. Why do I go to the end of Hell's Kitchen for a lunch that any fast food restaurant littered around the city could provide for cheaper? I know I'm searching for the alternative to Shake Shack because I wanted to experience my favorite burger without waiting for it, but all I'd eaten for four days were heavily charred, thick burgers that were mostly dried out, boring, and heavy. I'd gained about five pounds, so now after work I've had to start running again, which I'm wasn't too happy about, and then when I got back I'd be hungering for fruit salads with no oil. I've got to stop.
Then I picked up the burger and looked at this:
This is why. The meat was medium rare, the vegetables crisp and fresh, the cheese perfectly melted, the bun soft on the outside, toasted on the inside. True to form, the burger was likely cooked on a griddle, keeping all those lovely juices in the meat. This was the cheeseburger.
It will be said: this was the closest we came to Shake Shack all week. And, of course, it was also the furthest away, at just under a mile.
Apart of Beating the Waiting Game: Alternatives to Shake Shack
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You gained 5 pounds? I wonder how much I've gained…
…not really. Don't wanna know.
Good burger, eh? I WISH I GOT TO TRY THE CUPCAKE! It's too bad that there aren't any nice places to sit around there.
I've been telling people for years that this place (When it was the catering branch of Mitchell London) make solid burgers that are comparible to Shake Shack and West Coast based In-and-Out. The burgers are no-frills, but utterly fantastic. I think a lot of it has to do with the quality of the beef (I've heard they have the same distributer as Peter Luger). Also, they're not afraid to cook it rare if that's what you ask for. Mayo fans will want to ask for a side of their special home-made spicy mayonaisse (stop looking at me like that) which is really nice if that's your thing. I just ran by there to get a menu (they have them now) and noticed no real line (2:00 pm on a Friday) and plenty of seating, plus a few tables outside if you want to deal with the locals (mentally deranged bums, third-rate prostitutes, et al). All in all, some of the best burgers in city. You have to try it.