There’s just too much to say about hamburgers in NYC. There are some entertaining documentaries Hamburger America,blogs about them, and tons of people in clubs who love them. Nothing I write is going to tread any new ground, but who cares? Of the newish places, I dig the Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridian, the sliders at the Burger Joint on 19th St., and Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. The Better Burgers, Lucky Burger, Blue 9 are just ok in my opinion.
But when you’re lost in the West Village, Corner Bistro, White Horse Tavern, and Chumley’s are classics. I like the CB and WH for their meaty burger and classic bar atmosphere. But it’s taken me a while to go to Chumley’s. Hidden on the corner of Bleeker and Barrow, Chumley’s was an old speakeasy where writers galore used to hang out. Book covers and photos line the walls.
The best time to go is before 8 pm. The first time I went, at 8:30 p.m., it was pretty loud and full of yuppies. In fact my friend David and I were seated by this kid whose parents did nothing about his high pitched shrieking. That sucked, but the burger was worth the resulting deafness. The meat itself tasted good and had perfect grill marks, but the tomato slice struck me the most. It was a big thick round of red juicy Jersey tomato.
A couple days later on Saturday afternoon, I tried the burger again and the same yummy tomato was on the plate. I’ll be sad come winter when the pink tomatoes are back on the scene. Until then, I’m going back to Chumley’s for their atmosphere and burger with tomato. Their fries were the run of the mill shoestring and I’m not crazy about the sour pickle. I’ve read that the rest of the food ain’t so great and if it’s anything like the French onion soup I tried, then I’d stick with the burger.
Oh yeah, I saw the movie "The Baxter" a couple of days ago and Chumley’s was one of the locations!
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