A "Joint" Account
MIDTOWN WEST | Sometimes it's just an urge. This one prompted by a memory. As of late I've been eschewing more creatively imagined menu items for the more "basic" good stuff. The tried-and-true. As many of my favorite dining out meals still, gratefully, are.
And every once in a while, a memory of such a simple, classic meal will prompt me to stop whatever I'm doing and make a quick trip to satisfy the sudden culinary urge to be happy.
One of those meals is the cheeseburger and fries combo, still being executed expertly in a non-fussed manner at burger joint (at the Parker Meridien).
Serving one of my all-time (and probably forever) favorite NYC burgers, The Burger Joint, located on the ground floor of the pristine Parker Meridien hotel in Midtown, bothers with very few variations, but the few it offers it still does near perfectly.
Meaty, crumbly fire-grilled beef patties—running with clear, flavorful juices once bitten into—evoke the most simplest of primal, carnivore pleasures. This day I elevate the experience with "The Works" (lettuce, onion, pickle, tomato, ketchup, mayo, mustard), not to be "fancy" but to be more lo-fi, harkening long-appreciated traditions of backyard barbecues with friends and family.
And to that end, whenever I make it back to The Burger Joint, it always feels like taking a trip home to hang and catch up with friends.
(And at still almost $20 for a single patty cheeseburger, fries, and fountain, I am reminded exactly in what city that home is.)
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BURGER JOINT | 119 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019 | (212) 708-7414 | burgerjointny.com
