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Meet your meaty contenders for Battle of the Burger 2015

It’s that time, burger lovers—feast your eyes on the beefy challengers of this year’s Battle of the Burger

Christina Izzo
Written by Christina Izzo
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Burgers are inherently egalitarian eats, easy manipulated to humble comfort food or haute heights and enjoyed by all. So when it came time to vote for the best burgers in NYC, it made total sense to leave it up to, well, you! From top-rate cheap burgers to highbrow takes on the American classic, these are your 50 Battle of the Burger 2015 contenders.

RECOMMENDED: See more on the Battle of the Burger

1. Alder

  • Gastropubs
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4
Alder
Alder
In certain circles—where pork belly’s sustainability and the legitimacy of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants are subjects of debate—Wylie Dufresne can be as disruptive a topic as harem pants, cilantro or Benghazi. Drop his name into polite conversation and watch the mood ripple. The chef’s particular brand of gastronomic black arts has been dividing opinion for more than a decade at wd~50—the original nucleus of North American avant-garde cuisine.

2. American Cut

  • Steakhouse
  • Tribeca
  • price 3 of 4
American Cut
American Cut
At American Cut, Iron Chef Marc Forgione isn’t turning heads so much as laying down a safe bet. Unlike his other recent debut—Khe-Yo, the city’s first Laotian hot spot—his brassy Tribeca steakhouse delivers more of the same to a city already pumped up with marbled meat and Barolo. Furnished rosewood tables big enough for a poker game await hedge-funders eager to go all in on beef and booze.
Book online
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3. BarKogi

  • Korean
  • Midtown East
  • price 2 of 4
BarKogi
BarKogi
Korean Restaurant & Bar, BarKogi specializes in Korean Fusion Cuisine & Korean Fried Chicken. Full Service Bar & Lounge with 20 Craft Beers on draft, BarKogi’s enticing menu of Asian fusion fare entertains taste buds with a tantalizing spread of fresh local veggies, juicy cuts of chicken and short rib, fresh seafood, and eclectic cocktails. The restaurant's signature Korean-style fried chicken dances across palates with the wholesome flavor of vegetarian-fed poultry free from hormones, antibiotics or opinions about whether the egg preceded it. As guests sip specialty soju cocktails or frosty draft beers, they can admire BarKogi’s ultramodern decor, which showcases onyx-black tabletops and pristine white furnishings.
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4. Bar Sardine

  • Cocktail bars
  • West Village
  • price 2 of 4
Bar Sardine
Bar Sardine
Filip Wolak
After shuttering for two weeks in July 2014, Chez Sardine shook its Asian influences to reset with a more playful snack menu and a heavier concentration on cocktails. Chef Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly remains in the kitchen to dispatch elevated bar bites like black-garlic deviled eggs, herbed french fries with maple-mustard aioli and cod fritters with lemon mayo. The mid-20th-century space now has a larger bar run by Wisco alum Brian Bartels, who whips mint soft-serve ice cream into cocoa and cream liqueurs for the Black Pepper Grasshopper.
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5. Bill's Bar and Burger

  • American
  • Midtown West
  • price 3 of 4
Bill's Bar and Burger
Bill's Bar and Burger
The menu at this chain's flagship centers on an intensely juicy burger, a custom mixture from Pat LaFrieda served on a soft, simple bun. Other offerings include hot dogs, chicken wings, onion rings, milk shakes and crispy veggie fries. The no-frills space offers refuge to local workers and tourists alike, with a bar area resembling an old-school pub lined with local paintings.
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7. Blue Collar

  • Hamburgers
  • Williamsburg
  • price 1 of 4
Blue Collar
Blue Collar
From the Miller’s Tavern team, this cheery hole-in-the-wall is the Bruce Springsteen of burger stops—a no-fuss nod to the greasy-spoon glory days of roadside diners. The Flat Top burger—griddle-pressed à la In-N-Out—is swaddled in a squishy Martin’s potato roll with gooey American cheese, lettuce, tomato, chopped onion, pickles and mayo-based special sauce. Split-and-seared beef franks get a zippy lift from tangy kraut; shoestring fries are salty and crisp; and thick milk shakes (in vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, or cookies and cream) are hand-spun.

8. The Burger Bistro

  • Hamburgers
  • Park Slope
  • price 1 of 4
The Burger Bistro
The Burger Bistro
The Bay Ridge burger joint finds a second home in Park Slope. To place your order, check off selections on a laminated menu, including its signature beef and turkey burgers, plus rotating special patties, like buffalo, shrimp or elk.
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9. Burger Joint

  • Hamburgers
  • Midtown West
  • price 2 of 4
Burger Joint
Burger Joint
Photograph: Cinzia Reale-Castello
Kitsch and chichi mingle at this tiny, hidden spot in the posh Parker Meridien. It’s a perfectly re-created burger emporium circa 1972, down to the “wood” paneling, vinyl booths and iconic ingredients, such as Heinz ketchup and Arnold’s buns. The burgers are picture-perfect, too—juicy and flavorful with the perfect degree of char. Get “the works,” with tomato, lettuce, pickle, mayo and red onion. The fries are only fair, but milk shakes are thick and good.

10. Church Street Tavern

  • American creative
  • Tribeca
Church Street Tavern
Church Street Tavern
Complete with an underground speakeasy dubbed Bandit's Roost, this 1900s-inspired den churns out American fare (Cornish hen, broiled halibut) and vintage quaffs (Negroni, old-fashioned) alike.

11. The Commodore

  • Gastropubs
  • Williamsburg
  • price 2 of 4
The Commodore
The Commodore
The Commodore in Williamsburg, with its old arcade games, Schlitz in a can and stereo pumping out the Knight Rider theme song, offers the city’s best cheap-ass bar eats, served in a seedy venue where folks come to get blotto. The short menu reads like a classic collection of fryolator junk. Chef Stephen Tanner, formerly of Egg and Pies ’n’ Thighs, heads the kitchen, cooking up fried chicken that trumps even that of his former employers—three fat thighs with extra-crisp, peppery skin and tender brined flesh, served with thimbles of sweet-and-spicy vinegar sauce and biscuits with soft honey butter.
Book online

12. Corner Bistro

  • Hamburgers
  • Long Island City
  • price 1 of 4
Corner Bistro
Corner Bistro
The West Village institution, open since 1961, debuts its first spin-off. Long Island City locals will find an identical menu, including, of course, the beloved Bistro Burger (broiled beef, cheese and bacon on a sesame-seed bun), along with 12 draft beers (Guinness, McSorley's Ale and Dark Lager). The decor also takes its cues from the flagship location: The laid-back 75-seat tavern features a mahogany wood bar and booths, antique brass chandeliers and a pressed-tin ceiling.
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13. Donovan’s Pub

  • Hamburgers
  • Woodside
  • price 1 of 4
Donovan’s Pub
Donovan’s Pub
Photograph: Michael Rudin
Woodside, Queens, bustles on, but this worn Irish pub stays the same. Well-lubricated old-timers line the front bar, while the wood-paneled dining room—made all the more classic with stained-glass adornment—recalls an honest age of prechain family dining. Irish-American pub fare like steak, roast beef and shepherd’s pie dominate the menu, but it’s the renowned burger that justifies the trek: loosely formed from freshly ground New York strip, broiled to a perfect char and simply decorated with lettuce and tomato—cheese and raw onion optional. In a city lousy with buzzworthy patties, this simple warhorse is still among the best.

14. The Dram Shop

  • Sports Bars
  • Park Slope
  • price 2 of 4
The Dram Shop
The Dram Shop
Photograph: Jessica Lin
Microbrews and copious amounts of Scotch, whiskey and bourbon are the poisons of note at this woodsy, two-floor watering hole—though a frosty mug of Smuttynose IPA is an ideal match for Dram’s solid griddle-cooked double cheeseburger. Settle in at the 33-foot bar or bring your brew to a spacious booth. Attractions like pool, darts and shuffleboard, favored by the postcollegiate crowd, stand to give the bocce courts at nearby Union Hall a run for their money.
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15. Duffy's Tavern

  • Hamburgers
  • Staten Island
Duffy's Tavern
Duffy's Tavern
Rigged confidently with a clover-dotted awning boasting “Staten Island’s Best Burgers,” this Irish-lilted West Brighton staple is a neighborhood favorite for its English muffin-bookended patties, meaty Reuben sandwiches and crinkle-cut fries.

16. Eats on Lex

Eats on Lex
Eats on Lex
This jazzed-up corner pub turns out casual crowd-pleasers like burgers (dry-aged steak, Atlantic salmon), oysters and fruit-flavored martinis (sour cherry, fig).
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17. El Colmado Butchery

  • Meatpacking District
El Colmado Butchery
El Colmado Butchery
Seamus Mullen's meat-and-provisions offshoot of his Gotham West Market tapas bar lives up to its name (el colmado means "the grocer" in Spanish). Along with small-plate staples from El Colmado (prawns a la plancha, lamb meatballs), Mullen is serving whole rotisserie chickens and large-format pork rib roasts, both of which are herb-brined for 24 hours.

18. Emily

  • Pizza
  • Clinton Hill
  • price 2 of 4
Emily
Emily
Matthew and Emily Hyland follow up their former Park Slope pizzeria, Brooklyn Central, with another rustic pie shop. From the chef's table, watch Hyland dot his charred rounds with creative topping combinations, like pepperoni-and-pickled chilies and roquette-and-fig jam (a buffalo-mozz-and-basil pie is on offer for purists). The menu also includes main dishes—fired in a Pavesi copper-plated oven—such as duck breast with l'orange jus, and sausage with cheesy grits and pepper jam.
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20. The Gander

  • American
  • Flatiron
The Gander is Chef Jesse Schenker’s new American restaurant located in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. Schenker’s unique and imaginative style of cooking is reflected in his composed charcuteries, house-made pickles, fresh pastas and diverse selection of main dishes. The Gander boasts a deep, international wine program, in addition to a large assortment of spirits, all available at the expansive bar. Diners will enjoy innovative yet approachable cuisine tucked away in a warm and welcoming setting.

21. Genuine Roadside

  • Food court
  • Hell's Kitchen
  • price 2 of 4
Genuine Roadside
Genuine Roadside
Once devoid of gourmet grocery options, Hell's Kitchen got a one-two punch in 2013 with the opening of both Brooklyn Fare and this block-long food mall. The 15,000-square-foot retail-dining mecca is divided into eight culinary stalls—such as Blue Bottle Coffee and Brooklyn Kitchen—as well as a full-service NYC Velo bike shop. The food court includes Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop, where the noodle guru offers his famed shio, shoyu and chili-sesame varieties; Little Chef, the salad offshoot of Caroline Fidanza's Saltie sandwich shop; and El Colmado tapas bar from Seamus Mullen (Tertulia). Each stall has communal tables, with garage doors opening to sidewalk seating outside El Colmado and the Cannibal's cocktail-and-charcuterie post.

22. The Happiest Hour

  • Cocktail bars
  • West Village
  • price 2 of 4
The Happiest Hour
The Happiest Hour
Picture Don Draper on vacation: rum cocktail in hand, wind blowing through that meticulous coif. While you may never have Jon Hamm’s cut-from-glass jawline (sorry), you can make like a Sterling Cooper adman at leisure in this retro-kitted tiki lounge, from Tijuana Picnic partners Jon Neidich and Jim Kearns. The bi-level bar is crammed with mid-20th-century curios—a ’60s pop soundtrack; mod, half-moon booths; waitresses in Chuck Taylors—but it’s the customizable cocktails and breezy vibe that win over the crowd.
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23. Jeepney

  • Filipino
  • East Village
  • price 2 of 4
Jeepney
Jeepney
Photograph: Filip Wolak
Pinoy pals Nicole Ponseca, Enzo Lim, Tomas Delos Reyes and Noel Cruz have been on a mission for a while to bring the Philippine cooking they knew as kids out of New York’s ethnic-food ghetto. With fresh-faced restaurants, they’ve been spreading the word to novice diners without watering anything down. Maharlika, their first venture together, combined traditional, sometimes challenging tastes with a cool downtown vibe.

24. J.G. Melon

  • Hamburgers
  • Lenox Hill
  • price 1 of 4
J.G. Melon
J.G. Melon
The signature offering is a burger that invites comparisons to the revered Corner Bistro’s. Melon’s is pricier, at $7 for the very basic model, but it’s arguably just as tasty. Served austerely with a few slices of red onion and pickle, these handfuls must be eaten quickly, before the juice soaks through the bottom of the bun. Several of the genial bartenders, hosts and servers (in genteel ties and sweater vests) have been greeting patrons by their first names since the pub opened in 1972.
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25. Minetta Tavern

  • French
  • Greenwich Village
Minetta Tavern
Minetta Tavern
Photograph: Filip Wolak
For three decades Keith McNally’s New York restaurants have defined effortless cool, generating the sort of overnight buzz—and long-running exclusivity—institutions are made of. His hot spots have become pop culture touchstones—delivering intangible pleasures that go far beyond food.
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26. Mission Cantina

  • Mexican
  • Lower East Side
  • price 1 of 4
Mission Cantina
Mission Cantina
Like Michael Jordan in his prime, It chef Danny Bowien—who rocketed to culinary superstardom for his revelatory Szechuan at Mission Chinese Food—up and switched disciplines. While Bowien’s got more talent for Mexican than MJ had for baseball, at Mission Cantina, he’s far from the top of his game. He still plays to packed crowds of bohos and bankers, tinting them pink with neon lights, just like he did at that fun-loving weird disco of a restaurant, Mission Chinese.
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27. Navy

  • Steakhouse
  • Soho
  • price 2 of 4
Navy
Navy
Photograph: Laura Gallant
Top Chef toque Camille Becerra (Paloma) steers the ship at this 51-seat, maritime-themed restaurant, offering a seafood-focused menu. A raw bar features uni toast, sardines with seed crackers, and blini topped with house-cured fish, while the kitchen turns out plates like gnocchi with tonnato (tuna-and-anchovy sauce) and a trout en croute for two. The WWII-inspired space is decorated with walls covered with military canvas and partitions made of naval signal flags.

28. The NoMad Bar

  • Hotel bars
  • Flatiron
The NoMad Bar
The NoMad Bar
Photograph: Paul Wagtouicz
For the white-collared wayfarers wandering the streets north of Madison Square Park, NoMad is a depressingly apt name. Sure, the neighborhood has seen a much-welcome rise in upstanding restaurants, but finding an any-day gastropub that doesn’t reek of postgrad brewskies is harder to come by. Who better to fill the void than Daniel Humm, Will Guidara and Leo Robitschek, the James Beard Award–winning trio behind neighborhood stunners Eleven Madison Park and The NoMad, who expanded the latter to include this elegant saloon inside The NoMad Hotel.
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29. The Open Door

  • Gastropubs
  • Financial District
  • price 2 of 4
The Open Door
The Open Door
Burgers, sandwiches and beer-sopping appetizers (truffle–blue-cheese fries, tuna nachos) are the M.O. of this Financial District gastropub.

30. P.J. Clarke’s

  • American
  • Midtown East
  • price 1 of 4
P.J. Clarke’s
P.J. Clarke’s
Photograph: Cinzia Reale-Castello
The celebrated saloon is long in the tooth (120 years old), but a recent face-lift (augmented menu, nightly specials) revitalized the old boy. The bar up front attracts the after-work pinstriped crowd, while the dining room pulls in a slightly older, blazer-wearing set. The hamburger is still honest and juicy; go ahead, customize it with cheese, bacon, chili or béarnaise sauce. Cobb salad, with bright greens and lots of blue cheese, is a meal in itself.
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31. Peter Luger

  • Steakhouse
  • Williamsburg
  • price 4 of 4
Peter Luger
Peter Luger
Although a slew of Luger copycats have prospered in the last several years, none have captured the elusive charm of this stucco-walled, beer-hall-style eatery, with well-worn wooden floors and tables, and waiters in waist coats and bow ties. Excess is the thing, be it the reasonably health-conscious tomato salad (thick slices of tomato and onion with an odd addition of steak sauce), the famous porterhouse for two, 44 ounces of sliced prime beef or the decent apple strudel, which comes with a bowl full of schlag. Go for it all—it’s a singular New York experience that’s worth having.

32. Petey’s Burger

  • Hamburgers
  • Astoria
  • price 1 of 4
Petey’s Burger
Petey’s Burger
West Coasters love to tout the burger-building prowess of California drive-ins, but this Astoria fast-food spot gives them a run for their money. The addictive “double cheese”—a squishy toasted bun sandwiching two juicy patties cloaked in melted American cheese and brightened by raw onion, iceberg lettuce and tomato—is a gloriously greasy retort to Golden State smugness. A Thousand Island–like special sauce, slightly acidic, with a hint of ketchupy sweetness, drips through the whole messy package.
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33. Peter McManus Café

  • Pubs
  • Chelsea
  • price 1 of 4
Peter McManus Café
Peter McManus Café
Photograph: Justin McManus
Irish pubs are a dime a dozen, but very few possess a history as star-studded as this one. The family-owned saloon, among the city’s oldest, has been at its present location since 1936 and appeared on classic NYC shows like Seinfeld and Law & Order. Sidle up to the oak bar for a few shots chased with the house’s own McManus Ale; if you get lonesome, slip into one of the two old-school telephone booths and drunk-dial.

34. Pork Slope

  • American
  • Park Slope
  • price 1 of 4
Pork Slope
Pork Slope
Photograph: Melissa Sinclair
Former Top Chef contender Dale Talde launched his own dive bar, Pork Slope, not far from his hot Pan-Asian eatery, Talde. The new project, opened with his partners in the first restaurant, was designed as a trashy homage to Patrick Swayze’s schlocky classic Road House, complete with a pool table, a PBR sign and taxidermied boars’ heads. The menu, a survey of bar-food classics, includes crisp, golden tater tots and better-than-average wispy, sweet onion strings, along with ribs, chili, fried chicken and wings. There’s also a too-faithful replica of a McDonald’s cheeseburger, right down to the gray patty.
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35. Roberta's

  • Pizza
  • East Williamsburg
  • price 1 of 4
Roberta's
Roberta's
Buzzing with urban-farming fund-raisers, local brewers pouring their ales and food-world luminaries fresh off Heritage Radio interviews, this sprawling hangout has become the unofficial meeting place for Brooklyn's sustainable-food movement. Opened in 2008 by Chris Parachini, Brandon Hoy and Carlo Mirarchi, Roberta's features its own rooftop garden, a food-focused Internet-radio station and a kitchen that turns out excellent, locally sourced dishes, such as delicate bibb lettuce with red-cherry vinaigrette or linguine carbonara made with lamb pancetta. It also doesn't hurt that the pizzas—like the Cheesus Christ, topped with mozzarella, Taleggio, Parmesan, black pepper and cream—are among the borough's best.

36. Rogue Bar

  • Chelsea
  • price 2 of 4
Rogue Bar
Rogue Bar
Bridge-and-tunnel boozers seek out this Flatiron bar for its pub standards (steak sandwiches, fish and chips), available to wash down with craft drafts (Captain Lawrence Pale Ale, 21st Amendment IPA) and cocktails like blueberry martinis and whiskey-spiked iced tea.
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37. Rose's Bar and Grill

  • American
  • Prospect Heights
Rose's Bar and Grill
Rose's Bar and Grill
Restaurant power couple Francine Stephens and Andrew Feinberg coined a new food genre with their farm-to-table Brooklyn pizza icon Franny's in 2004. Now the trailblazing twosome is taking on the traditional neighborhood bar and grill, refurbishing the former home of their shuttered trattoria Marco's with salvaged school-auditorium seating, an Edison-bulb EAT sign lighting up one striped wall, and a selection of board games and card decks at the ready. Feinberg returns to the kitchen line for the first time since 2008, overseeing a pubby menu of cheese toast, ham-stuffed fried olives and a burger with Gruyère on a butter-toasted sesame-seed bun.

38. Shake Shack

  • Hamburgers
  • Flatiron
  • price 1 of 4
Shake Shack
Shake Shack
Photograph: Shake Shack
Danny Meyer’s wildly popular Madison Square Park concession stand is mobbed with hour-long lines during the summer; in chilly weather, heat lamps provide all the warmth you need. Sirloin and brisket are ground daily for excellent patties, and franks are served Chicago-style on poppy seed buns with a “salad” of toppings and a dash of celery salt. Frozen-custard shakes hit the spot, and there’s beer and wine to boot. It’s worth waiting in line for, if you ask us, but if you’re in a rush, the Upper West Side’s wait rarely exceeds 20 minutes. While the first Shack caters mostly to a working clientele, No. 2 is designed with families in mind: There’s a playroom and stroller parking.
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39. Smashburger

  • Hamburgers
  • Fort Greene
  • price 1 of 4
Smashburger
Smashburger
Burger obsessives have a fresh joint to put on their to-do list: This cultish Denver-based chain delivers its signature smashed specimens at its first New York City location, in Fort Greene. Here, fresh, all-Angus beef patties are flattened and seared on the grill—a technique prized by patty aficionados for producing a crunchy crust—and then stuffed into butter-toasted buns. Pair your smashed sammie with toppings like applewood-smoked bacon, fried eggs or thin crispy onions, and sides including fries spruced up with olive oil, rosemary and garlic. Unique to this location is a specialty Brooklyn Burger, which is crowned with grilled pastrami, Swiss cheese, pickles, onion and yellow mustard, and sandwiched in a toasted pretzel.

40. The Spotted Pig

  • British
  • West Village
  • price 2 of 4
The Spotted Pig
The Spotted Pig
Photograph: Alex Strada
Blame talented toque April Bloomfield for the inevitable wait at this still-hopping West Village gastropub—a pioneer in the kind of meaty go-big-or-go-home grub that’s proliferated since the spot’s 2004 opening. The Pig still serves one of New York City’s best burgers, a rare patty heaped with intense Roquefort cheese and served with a tower of rosemary- and garlic-kissed shoestring fries. Equally legendary is the crispy pig ear salad—among the city’s first cultish offal dishes—napped in a lemony caper dressing. Bookend this prodigal feast with pints of proprietary cask-drawn bitter ale and a spiced ginger cake with a dollop of whipped cream for dessert.
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41. Standard Burger

  • Hamburgers
  • Staten Island
  • price 1 of 4
Standard Burger
Standard Burger

Despite the name, this Great Kills patty purveyor goes beyond standard hamburgers, tricking its burgers out with elevated foodstuff like grilled plantains, goat cheese and truffle aioli. Diners can also DIY their own burger, with choice of bun (potato, pretzel), protein (beef, lamb, veggie) and toppings (sautéed onions, jalapeños, angry mayo).

42. Steak 'n Shake Signature

  • Hamburgers
  • Midtown West
  • price 1 of 4
Steak 'n Shake Signature
Steak 'n Shake Signature
Photograph: Jakob N. Layman
The 75-year-old Midwestern chain brings its steakburgers, made with rib eye and New York strip, to New York with this midtown outpost. Get a single or double patty, or opt for a steak frank instead.
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43. Superiority Burger

  • Hamburgers
  • East Village
  • price 1 of 4
Superiority Burger
Superiority Burger
Photograph: Lauren Spinelli

In a white-tiled slip of an East Village eatery, former James Beard Award-winning Del Posto pastry great and erstwhile punk-rock drummer Brooks Headley gives his über-popular veggie burger pop-up the brick-and-mortar treatment, offering the namesake patty, tofu-cabbage wraps, vegetarian sloppy joes and vanilla-labna gelato.

44. Trading Post

  • Contemporary American
  • Financial District
  • price 3 of 4
Trading Post
Trading Post
Housed in a historic chandlery—a supply warehouse for ships—this three-story restaurant delivers New American fare to the FiDi. Slide into a green-and-burgundy banquette for dishes turned out by chef Stephen Woods. Bartenders pour classic cocktails, wines and craft beers from a 30-seat walnut bar on the first floor, but whiskey enthusiasts should head to the brick-lined cellar, where they showcase 50 small-batch sips from Irish and American producers.
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45. '21’ Club

  • American
  • Midtown West
  • price 4 of 4
'21’ Club
'21’ Club

After more than 85 years, this clubby sanctum for the powerful remains true to its past while thriving in the present. Chef Sylvain Delpique offers revived classics like Caesar salad, crab cakes and chicken hash with mornay sauce. The famous burger boasts a prime-aged blend on a Amy's Breads challah roll with sautéed onion, sliced tomato and house-made pickles. Act like a magnate and sip an after-dinner drink in the front lounge Bar 21, where original Remingtons line the walls.

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47. Umami Burger

  • Hamburgers
  • Greenwich Village
  • price 2 of 4
Umami Burger
Umami Burger
Burger buffs, brace yourselves—Adam Fleischman's L.A. patty sensation has finally come east with this much-hyped Village outpost. A champion of umami—that hard-to-place savory "fifth taste" found in everything from Parmesan to mushrooms—Fleischman spotlights the funky flavor bomb in sixteen burgers, including the beer-cheese–and-lardon-topped Manly Burger; a mook-baiting truffle-and-roasted-garlic variety; and an NYC-exclusive five-spice duck burger with peach-apple chutney.

48. Upland

  • Contemporary American
  • Flatiron
Upland
Upland
California cuisine has always been a curious thing. It’s local but globally inflected, lean but filling, as driven by its ingredients as by the chef seasoning them. The vague concept is more an aura than anything else—for a homegrown likeness, see the farm-to-table Brooklyn-eatery stereotype—a Golden State glow that radiates throughout Upland, a glossy tribute to chef Justin Smillie’s hometown nestled at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains.
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49. Van Diemens

  • American
  • Kips Bay
  • price 2 of 4
Van Diemens
Van Diemens
This vaguely-Tasmanian Kips Bay bar—named after the original name European settlers gave the eponymous Australian region—operates in standard sports-lounge territory, offering pub grub like buffalo chicken nachos, bacon-and-blue burgers and sweet-chili wings alongside craft beers, including Dogfish 90 Minute, Left Hand Milk Stout and Rogue Dead Guy Ale.

50. Wilma Jean

  • Soul and southern American
  • Carroll Gardens
  • price 2 of 4
Wilma Jean
Wilma Jean
When it comes to the menu: fried chicken is king, served as a dinner platter, in a sandwich or on a stick. Comfort-food classics like corn bread, cheddar-cheese grits and tater tots round out the offerings, alongside lighter salads like a raw-collard-and-roasted-peanuts combo. Natural light floods the minimally adorned space, which gets a boost of Deep South hospitality courtesy of communal tables and original Hatch Show Print pieces.
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